Hadley's 8th Birthday!

On March 19th, we celebrated EIGHT years with our sweet Hadley Mae! I snapped this picture before Hadley went to bed the night before her birthday--her last picture as a 7 year old! And I'll apologize in advance--almost every single picture in this post was taken in "portrait" mode on my phone. My friend Nicole had just taught me how to use this feature on my phone, and I was a little excited! ;)

Just as she did with Spring Break, Hadley LOTS of ideas of how we should celebrate her big day, ha!

We started the day with birthday balloons, streamers, cinnamon muffins (per the birthday girl's special request), and opening one present--the graphic novel of Little Women! Balloons & streamers are a family tradition for us, but we weren't able to get balloons for Hadley last year as it was at the very beginning of COVID. So it was extra sweet getting her balloons this year. :)

After school, we fulfilled Request #2--a birthday lunch at Dairy Queen! 

After lunch, we came home & baked Hadley's birthday cake. Then we had dinner (a giant bowl of mac & cheese for the birthday girl!), opened a few presents & had our traditional Friday movie night. Hadley picked Cinderella for us to watch.

{Shelby made this at school for Hadley for her birthday}

Saturday morning was pancakes (which is our Smith Saturday morning tradition) & more presents followed by a much-anticipated birthday dinner at Chili's, which did not disappoint!

{Birthdays are exhausting!}

And I took precisely zero pictures on Sunday, but we of course had birthday donuts (we can't have a birthday in our family without donuts!) and dinner at Chipotle per Hadley's request.

We had so much fun celebrating our EIGHT year old! Hadley radiates joy & is so easy to celebrate! We tell her all the time, but she is truly the best little sister AND the best big sister. She is a graphic novel connoisseur, jewelry aficionado, hair styling expert, and a lover of all things handwork--finger knitting, crocheting, sewing, etc. Her favorite color is still blue, she loves playing games every Saturday & Sunday afternoon with us while Brady naps, and her love language is physical touch through & through! We are so thankful she's ours. Hadley Mae, we love you!!!