Happy 9th Birthday, Bella!!

My baby is growing up!! Today was Miss Bella's 9th birthday. This is a picture of her at the Olive Garden today. (Her very favorite restaurant!) Mike, the kids, and Grandma & Grandpa and I took her out, then went back to the house for presents. It was a lovely day.

Last night, I got to take her out by myself. As much as I work these days, I make sure that each kid gets a "date" with mom on their birthday. We had such a good time, too! I always feel so guilty when I don't get to spend much time with the kids, but this is the one day a year that is just theirs. And it was really nice. Bella and I went to dinner at Perkin's. Then we had some time to shop. So I took her to Border's so she could pick out some books (Mom ALWAYS buys books for birthdays!). We hit Bath & Body Works for some smell goods and lip gloss. Then off to a movie. We went to see The Proposal. Kind of surprised me when she picked this one out. Cute movie. We had a wonderful time!!

She got some great presents....including some Barbies, a couple of movies, the new Season 3 Hannah Montana soundtrack (Ewwww, I can't believe I actually spent money on it!), and a super-cool Twilight Messenger Bag (don't get too jealous, Michelle!) All-in-all, I'd say that it was a perfect couple of days. Now...it's back to work for mom!