Happy 8th Birthday Isabel!!

Isabel turned 8 years old yesterday! I can hardly believe how quickly my "baby girl"(that has been her nick name since she was a newborn) is growing up! As much as I wish that she will stay a baby forever, she continues to grow. For example, for her birthday party this year she wanted to invite a few friends and go to the nail salon to get pedicures and manicures. I thought this was a really fun idea, but told her only two friends. She was thrilled and picked her two very best friends, Courtney and Savannah. (It also happens to be Savannah's b-day also!) After school we headed to the mall to Trendy Nails. The girls were so excited and talked and sang along with her new CD. (Miley Cyrus, a birthday present) This was so funny to me, I tried very hard not to laugh, remembering all to well how I would do the same with my friends at that age. When we got to the salon the girls picked out there nail colors and sat in the big massage chairs for their pedicures. The ladies that were doing their nails were very sweet and laughed and giggled right along with the girls. Each of the girls got little flower details over their painted toe nails.

Isabel! The poor girl is still really small for her age. She couldn't get her nails done and a massage from the chair at the same time because she is to short. Savannah told her, "it is good to be little, because then the boys can carry you around and take care of you." Yes!! They are only eight!

Courtney is the tallest one of the bunch. She had no trouble getting her massage.

Savannah was pretty quiet during her pedicure. She said it was because she was enjoying the massage. This girl is so funny!

The finished product, They looked so pretty!

The next thing was nails. It was pretty much the same, the girls picked out the color and the nail techs got started. The only difference was, Isabel got acrylic nails. She has been asking me for a while now, and I know it's kind of a waste for an eight year old, but it was her birthday and I'm a push over. I have to say they are really beautiful! She can't wait to show Grandma Brown. (since Grandma always has pretty nails) All the girls got flower details on their finger nails as well.

This is Savannah, she is a little camera shy. Every time I'd take a picture, she would look away. She has been one of Isabel's best friends since they were two. Isabel and her witch nails! This was before they cut them down to a normal length. She said for Halloween she wants to go back and get really long ones like this and have them painted black! I'd be scared!

This is Courtney, It was actually her idea for the nail party. She invited Isabel to do this last month for her party. Courtney has been one of Isabel's best friends since they met in pre-school. They later found out they were cousins! (second or third, I'm not really sure!) The Finished product, Oh so pretty!

I had to take a picture of this little shrine in the salon. Now, I'm not trying to mock or make fun of this, I'm just not understanding this whole concept. You cant really see it very well, but they gave it offerings of incense, a cigarette that they lit, a cup of coffee, flowers and candles. Does anyone know what the deal is with this? Interesting....

Before heading home, we stopped for some cold stone ice cream. The best ice cream ever! On the way home the girls were really rocking out to Miley Cyrus (AGAIN) and I had to get it on the camera. It was just to cute to pass up. As soon as I turned on the camera, they mellowed out and as you can see got very camera shy. It was much funnier before the camera was on. They had their spoons from their ice cream and were using them as microphones. Singing their hearts out. Oh well, you still get the picture.

Later that night we took Isabel to dinner. This is something we just started doing last year with the kids. On their birthday they get to pick where they want to eat and we all go and celebrate over dinner. Isabel picked The Olive Garden. She loves this place, her favorite thing is the soup, salad, and bread sticks meal. She has always had adult tastes ever since she was little. Grandma and Grandpa Erickson and uncle Liberty joined us. We ate, talked and laughed as Isabel opened presents and got sung to by the wait staff. It was a lot of fun.

This video is really dark, the restaurant had the lights low. Sorry, I know it's hard to see, but you can still hear the song they sang to Isabel. I wish that you could see her face. She got really red!

We are so lucky to have Isabel for our daughter. I have so many things that I love about this girl. Here are a few things you might not know about Isabel:

- She is really loving and has a tender heart.

- She is a huge help around the house and with her younger siblings. She is their second Mom!

- She is a girlie girl and a tom boy at the same time. She loves to dress up and get her nails done, but is the toughest soccer player on the field. (football, baseball, all of them) She doesn't let anyone push her around.

- She is super smart and loves to learn new things. She loves to read and loves math (she didn't get the math thing from me!)

- She is VERY competitive!! She wants to be the best at every thing she does (most of the time she succeeds)

Happy Birthday Isabel! You will always be my baby girl no matter how old you get. I couldn't have been happier the day I found out I was going to have you or when I found out you were a girl or the day you were born. You have added so much joy to my life and I can never thank you enough for that. I love you honey.