Happy 4th Birthday, Lily!!!

Happy Happy Birthday, Lily!

I think you've had a pretty great 3rd year.  We love your silly personality and how sweet you can be.  You love preschool.  You love dancing and gymnastics.  You sleep in your bed all night (most nights) and you are overall pretty easy going (except when you're just having a 3 year old tired moment then you are not easy going at all :-) ).  You and Brenna have a love/hate relationship right now.  The love is much stronger than the hate.  You are each others best friend and if we're out in public you get along soooooo well.  But at home, there is lots of fighting and arguing.  Brenna's got a strong personality so in a way I'm proud of you that you can hold your own and can give her a dose of her own medicine sometimes. 

You  really loved your first year of preschool at CEC.  Ms. Cheryl and Ms. Alexis were your teachers  in the 2's and you just started the 3's with Mrs. Donham and Mrs. Willis.  Here are your school pictures from last October (turning 3) vs this October (turning 4).

 Seeing this pics from last year makes me realize how much bigger you've gotten this year!  You're sooo adorable.

 

 Your first preschool field trip to Publix

 Easter

 I loved watching you in your dance recital.  You took Ballet at the Community Center and both you and Brenna were in the recital.  You even had a special part where you got to be a Lobster hiding in the pot and you ran across the stage to get away from the Chef.  It was super cute and elicited many "awww's" from the crowd. 

 For Grammy and Grandpa's 40th Anniversary, we had some family pictures taken and here you are with your cousins Jaden and Jordyn.  Whenever you see baby clothes in the store you always say, "Awww, this would be so cute on Baby Jordyn."

An exciting thing that happened this year was you decided to get your ears pierced!  Brenna waited until she was almost 6 and liked to remind you a lot in an annoying-sister-sort-of-way that she had hers pierced and  you didn't.  Well I think you got sick of her always bragging and you decided that you were going to get it done so she couldn't rub it in anymore.  Here you are getting them pierced.  You weren't nervous at all before and cried for about 20 seconds after.  You were so proud of yourself and loved showing them off to everyone afterwards.

You are the cartwheel queen!  You've always been really coordinated.  At 2, you were zooming on your scooter all over the place.  At 3, you are doing cartwheels every place you go!  Ms. Liz at CEC pulled me aside and told me you were really amazing at gymnastics and we should seriously consider putting you in a good gymnastics program, you're that good.  Then the same week at Keep Flippin, your tumble tots coach told me she has never seen a 3 year old be able to do a one-handed cartwheel.  I told them you get a lot of practice in at home!  You LOVE your cartwheels.


You are very patient. loving, sweet, and well-behaved.  When you are home, you like to watch Daniel Tiger, color, and "do homework" like Brenna.  We love you so much and can't imagine how you could get any cuter.  Happy Birthday!  Love you!!!!

Happy 7th Birthday, Brenna!

Another year has come and gone and today we celebrated your 7th birthday!  Look at how much you grew this year.  The skirt length makes me laugh...below the knee at the beginning of Kindergarten and above the knee at the end. You also look so much more grown up with your front adult teeth that have come in this year. 

You had a great first year at Limestone Creek Elementary School.  You loved your teacher, Mrs. Francis, and met a whole new set of friends.  You are not the little girl you were a couple of years ago.  You gained such confidence and independence this year.  Your reading really took off in kindergarten.  You had the most Reading Counts points in the whole kindergarten and as a reward got to throw a water balloon with your Assistant Principal at the end of the year.  I think it started because you liked hearing your name on the announcements as a points leader and so you set a goal to get 100 Reading Counts points by the end of the year.  I love that at just 6 years old, you can set a goal and work hard to achieve it. Mrs. Francis always had really nice things to say about how responsible and smart and kind you are. 

The Daddy/Daughter dance was another highlight of your school year.  You and Daddy had a great time and you looked so beautiful and grown up that night. 

You are still diving and won a first place medal at a Miami dive competition this year.  You stay really busy with diving and dance, and you also played another season of t-ball in the Spring with Daddy as your coach. 

This is also the year of the cartwheel for you.  I think I've witnessed 100 cartwheels a day.  I'm glad you'll be starting gymnastics classes soon because you definitely need a place to get all those cartwheels out of your system!!!!

You and Lily are still best friends but you guys fight A LOT when you are home.  If we go out, you're fine.  If you are somewhere together without Mommy or Daddy, I know without any doubts that you will take excellent care of her.  But at home...it's pretty exhausting with all the fights.  I know it's probably hard because Lily is 3 and sometimes she is impossible but I definitely hope this next year brings less fighting at home.

You move your body with a lot of beauty and grace.  Here you are rocking the crow pose in Yoga.I just love to watch you dive and dance.  I think you are so pretty and graceful.

One thing you did this year which BLEW MY MIND, was jump off a 10 meter board at a dive camp this summer in Coral Springs.  I would have bet a lot of money that there was no way on Earth you would ever do that.  Lesson learned, I will never bet against what you can do.   This takes my breath away every time I watch it. 



One "low point" that happened this year which I'll never forget happened a few days before your 7th birthday.  You got  hurt at dive practice.  You accidentally got knocked off of the 3 meter board by another diver and landed on the cement.  I didn't see you fall but ran over when I heard you cry.  I was soooo scared you were hurt.  We went by ambulance to St. Mary's and you were soooooooooooooooo unbelievably good and brave.  The paramedics and Drs and nurses were wonderful  and a head-to-toe CT scan determined that you were just fine.  I'll never understand how a fall like that did hardly any damage.  I think you had angels looking over you that day.

After a nice summer break, first grade here you come!  There was a rainbow right outside of school on the first day and you said "I bet God put a rainbow in the sky to wish us all good luck on our first day."  I love how sweet you can be.  Happy 7th Birthday.  I love you with all my heart.  Shine on!