Anisten is FIVE!!!!

Well I cannot believe it, but my baby girl Anisten is FIVE years old!!  To think that I have a five year old is just kind of surreal to me.  So crazy. 

This was the present that was supposed to be on her door in the morning, but it was too heavy for me to hang, so it was by her other presents.

And here is the rest of her haul (the big cupcake in the back is actually her pinata that she helped stuff with candy the night before - we were going to do the paper lanterns like on Tangled, but since it was so cold and since we did them on New Years, I talked Ani into a pinata instead).

She had a special request this year that she get no balloons.  This girl is so funny about balloons.  She has this weird love/hate relationship with them.  She likes them while they're floating, but she doesn't like it when they float away (out of reach or in the sky) or when they pop.   So she'd rather have no balloons at all then deal with the tragedy of losing it.  I don't really get it, but I make sure to steer clear of giving this girl any helium filled balloons. :)

And here is the professional cake I paid $50 for.  Actually, my mom made it for us for free, but it was believable that it was professional right?  She is amazing.  Seriously, such a pretty cake (and tastes soo good too!).  Anisten still loves the movie Tangled so we went with the Rapunzel theme again.  This is one of our favorite scenes in the movie and it went perfect with her birthday...Hope all your Dreams Come true!  So cute.

Here she is with her cake (my mom brought it by in the morning, hence the sleepy eyes and pajamas).  The girls were so funny, all day they'd just climb up on a stool and stare at the cake.  They loved looking at it.  I felt bad because I asked Anisten what she wanted to that day for her birthday and all she kept saying was "I want everyone to come over for the pinata and cake" and "I want to open my presents."  I had to explain to her that we would have to wait for everyone to be able to come over which would be after dinner that night, so was there something she wanted to do during the day?  She couldn't ever come up with anything, so it was a pretty normal day for the most part.  I did a lot of cleaning, getting ready for the party and the girls played and waited in anticipation for the fun to begin. 

Once daddy got home, Anisten said she wanted pizza for dinner so we went to The Pizza Factory.  It was actually our first time going there and we really liked it.  Anisten got a free sucker for her birthday!  Then we headed home and waited for the guests to arrive.  Once everyone was here, we headed downstairs for the pinata!

Birthday girl got to hit it first,

then Aivree...

and Fisher,

Tyler having a go at it,

then Wesley gave it a good hit,

then it was Sara's turn,

...and finally Cody.  Big tough Cody was the one to finish it off..

Candy!

 Then we went back upstairs and Ani opened her presents.  She got spoiled

And here was her final gift..

 So cute on her new bike

 And we can't forget that beautiful cake...Happy Birthday dear Anisten!

 And then it was time to try out all the new toys and practice riding that bike.  It was pretty hard to get her off of it to get ready for bed and it was the first thing she did the next morning.  It will be really nice when we can take it outside.

Happy Birthday my beautiful Anisten girl.  We sure love you!

Here's some fun facts about Anisten at this age:

- Here are the stats from her doctor visit:

Weight: 34.6 lbs  13%

Height: 43 inches  58%

She is getting tall!  Previously her height has been around 25% so she has made quite the leap.  Her weight has always been pretty low, so normal there. :)

She was super nervous about this appointment (and so was I) because she knew she'd have to get shots again.  She did really well though.  She did cry and was pretty dramatic about it afterward, but not too terribly bad.  Usually I have to deal with it for an hour before and after.  Fortunately, the next time she has to get immunizations isn't until she's 12!  They also checked her vision and hearing which were both good.  Such a big girl.

-  She has already started reading!  She knows all the sounds to the letters so she sounds them out and can figure out lots of little words and has others memorized already.  She's pretty excited about it and so am I.  She'll be reading before she gets to Kindergarten.

- She and her sister play together all day along.  They come up with all kinds of imaginative things to do and it's crazy (and wonderful) how they stay occupied for hours at a time.  Often times they'll fight during their play time, but they usually get it over it quickly and keep right on playing.

- Anisten loves to dance and looks forward to going to dance every week.  She now goes to the Beginners class instead of the Mini class and it's an hour instead of just 45 minutes.  She is really improving and just loves it.

- Anisten loves going to Primary each week and lately she's had to stay home because she's been sick and she's been pretty upset about it.

- She is in a bossy phase right now (hopefully it's just a phase) and she is CONSTANTLY bossing her sister around.  It's a wonder Aivree wants to play with her at all.  We have to remind her all the time that she is not the mom and she does not tell Aivree what to do.

-  She still loves to work out with Rob or me.  Or sometimes just on her own.  She will sometimes just go down and stick in one of our workout videos and start working out.  Pretty cute.  She's pretty good too. She can do awesome push ups! Real push ups too, not on her knees or anything.

- She's such a tender heart.  It always works to tell her that she made me sad or disappointed me because it always effects her.  She gives me a hug and says sorry.  The other day she watched Charlotte's Web and started crying when Charlotte died.  It really broke her heart (and mine, I almost started crying just because it made her cry that the spider died.)

- Anisten is a whiz with technology.  She knows her way around the computer and loves to play games.  She loves her Leapster and always tries to get to the next levels.  She also knows how to use any phone she picks up.  It's amazing how she knows these things.

- She has a great memory.  She's seriously a little sponge.  I think that's why she's so darn smart.  She just hears something or I'll show her something on the computer once, and she remembers it forever.

Anisten really is a very good girl.  I am so grateful that she is my oldest and I know that she is my oldest for a reason.  I know that if I'm away or doing something else for a few mintues that I can trust her with Aivree and know that she will be responsible.  It's good to know that she will do the right thing (except for getting into the treats every once in awhile :)

We love you so much Anisten.  You truly are a light in our lives and such an important part of our family.  Happy Birthday!