Ariana's birthday party

So, Ari's birthday party... I have tons of pics, and a video. But first I have to tell you what she did the night before her birthday. I got a call from Tony that afternoon, shortly before I was ready to leave work, telling me that Ari had gotten a bead stuck up her nose. He had tried unsuccessfully to get it out, and was on his way to our doctor's office to see if they could help. I have no idea what possessed her to do such a thing, but it seems like the kind of thing a kid needs to do at least once, right? At least she told him what she'd done... other than that, we might not have even known.

The doctor's office was not able to remove the bead either, so I met Tony and Ari, and all 3 of us headed off the ER. I was bracing myself for a long wait, since the last time we were there (shortly before she turned 1, when she got a nasty cut on her forehead), we waited for hours and hours. But to my surprise, we were led right in. The nurses swaddled her in a sheet to keep her arms from flailing around, and Tony held her head while I lay next to her and cuddled her. The doctor told us he was going to insert a thin, flexible catheter up her nose, past the bead, then inflate a balloon and pull the catheter out, dragging the bead with it. But he actually ended up pushing it back so far that she swallowed it. At least, that's what we assume--it was definitely gone from her nose, and she wasn't choking on it.

She did really great, too. I mean, yes, she screamed bloody murder as they did the procedure, but up until then, she was fine. And even afterwards, she was asking the doctor a million questions, so I guess that means she didn't hold a grudge. And she got a real toy as well as some stickers for being such a good patient. Crazy little monkey. I'm hoping she's learned her lesson, but I wouldn't put it past her to do it again.

Anyway, once we got that fixed and got her home, she went right to bed and slept through the night... and even slept in the next morning. When she wandered into our bedroom, we wished her a happy birthday and she seemed thrilled to realize that it was FINALLY the day we'd been talking about for so long.

First of all, a quick video that I took while we were preparing for the party. She wanted to put her own candles on her cake.

Ariana 7-3-10 from Sariana on Vimeo.

I took a couple pictures in the morning, before the party. Ari wanted a picture with her 2 doggies, but they just wanted to wrestle...



Tony bought a Slip'n'Slide, and it was a big hit.



We've had this giant basketball set for a while... can't remember where we got it...



See? The Slip'n'Slide was a hit. Also... can you spot Ari in this picture? ...Yup, that's her in the left corner, and yes, she is pouting.



I call this picture "It's my party and I'll sulk if I want to." (She was pouting because she said the other kids weren't letting her have a turn on the Slip'n'Slide, so I told her she just needed to get in line like everyone else, and all was well.)



This orange float came with the Slip'n'Slide... it's meant to be used as something to flop onto as you run and dive. Ari sat on it, and then said, "Hey, it's not going by itself." And before I could explain how it was supposed to be used, 2 of her friends jumped in to help her. I thought it was sweet.



Ari made a new friend at her party... this little earthworm. She wanted to keep him, and was a bit disappointed when I told her no. (Also... I don't know what her crazy expression is about.)



You can't really see in this picture, but she was cooing over her little wormy friend.



We had water balloons, too, which were also a big hit (and a pain in the neck to clean up afterwards). Somehow, our friends Greg and Jason ended up on balloon-filling duty...



A shot of Ari with her cousin Micah, who's going to be 2 in September... and my brother Dave supervising.



Ari, cradling a water balloon, trying to decide what to do with it...



Ari throwing another water balloon at our friend Meghan (who's also one of her teachers at church). I love this action shot... see the yellow balloon to the left? It actually bounced off Meghan and broke on the ground.



Present-opening time! Ari loved these little binoculars... we have a pair she likes to play with, so now she has her own.



She got $15 in a card, and for some reason, decided to put the bills on her shoulders.



One of several dresses she got. She is SO into dresses lately... I love it.



This fairy costume was another favorite gift of hers. In fact, she liked it so much, she insisted on putting it on right away (as you'll see in the next few pictures). The little girl who gave it to her was so pleased that Ari loved it so much--it was the cutest thing.



Cake time!



Blowing out the candles... I wonder what she wished for?



And look, you guys! She's eating her birthday cake! For the first time!



Pinata time! This was the only picture I got, but I got it right as someone pulled the string that released all the candy... great timing.



And lastly, my favorite shots of the day. This was from our morning photo shoot... I wanted to get a good picture of the birthday girl, and figured I might not be able to once the party madness started. (Yes, this is the same one I posted in the last entry.)



An "artistic" shot... don't you love the balloons growing out of her head?



I love love love this shot... it's so hard to capture a real smile out of her, because when you ask for one, she just makes weird faces or gives a fake smile. I caught her on the tail end of a ridiculously-cheesy grin... again, perfect timing.



And that was the party. Ari had a great time, and it seemed like everyone else did too, so it was definitely a success.

Our 4th of July was fairly quiet. We had church in the morning, as usual, but in the afternoon, we napped, then ran to Wal-Mart and the grocery store, and then just came back home. We watched some neighbors setting off fireworks for a few minutes... our town does its huge fireworks display next weekend, so we will definitely see a full show then.

Today, we all slept in, and in a little while, we're heading to the theater to take Ari to her first movie... Toy Story 3. I'm hoping she'll enjoy the whole experience. Then, after that, we're going to do a little shopping--we need to return a dress she got for her birthday (it's a duplicate, so we'll return it and let her pick out a new one), and then hit up another store that she got a gift card for (it's called Justice... seems like it's more geared toward older "tween" girls, but I'm sure she'll find something she likes). Then, after that, who knows. This is kind of her day--our chance to do something as a family, just the 3 of us--so we'll see what she feels like doing, I guess.