Happy 5th Birthday, Staci!

Dear Staci

You turned five just a couple of weeks ago. You are sensitive, loving, imaginative, compassionate, wise beyond your years and downright hilarious at times. You give your love freely without hesitation. You rock the crap out of that ballet class and are ready for the next level. You've grown SO much in preschool this year, I'm so amazed. You've made great friends with awesome parents. You've started to recognize several sight words and just this morning did simple math (3+3) in your head very quickly. That shocked me, but it shouldn't. You sing Frozen at the top of your lungs just like your sister--only you're starting to understand pitch and musicality. You. Love. Dresses. I have to share this collage of photos because I think it shows how amazing you are as a sister. You are so great with your little sister, and she is so lucky to have you!! And you are lucky to have her, too.

Photo Courtesy Mandy Leonards Photography www.mandyleonardsphotography.com

Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Food: Pizza
Favorite TV Show: Strawberry Shortcake
Height: 42.5"
Weight: 45lbs
Size: 5T

You want nothing more than to ride your bike you got for your birthday in a circle in the driveway for hours on end. But I have to watch you. Every. Single. Second.

I cry every time I think about your going off to kindergarten next year!! Happy Birthday sweetheart. You are loved beyond measure.

Happy 3rd Birthday Olivia

It's been a long time since I updated over here, but wanted to get my happy birthday letter in!

Dear Olivia,

You turned three years old about 6 weeks ago. You are vibrant and full of life. You have the most infectious laugh! You started taking ballet and show off your impressive skipping skills without hesitation. You finally decided to start using the potty, have given up nursing, and you tell me I'm your best friend. You love sharing a room with Staci and you guys play effortlessly together. You are so lucky to have a sister who loves you so much--and she is lucky to have you, too.

Photo Courtesy Mandy Leonards Photography www.mandyleonardsphotography.com

Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Food: Mac'n'cheese (also, honey nut chex)
Size: 4T in most, 3T in Gymboree or others that run big
Shoe size: 9.5!!!
Height: 39"
Weight: 36lbs
Favorite TV Show: Jake and the Neverland Pirates

You amaze me every day with your intelligence, imagination, and sense of humor. I love you so much! My favorite game to play with you is Running Hug. You sing 'Let It Go' from Frozen at the top of your lungs. You make my heart happy--now if I could just get you to eat your dinner...

Staci-ism #4,576

Tonight. Oh tonight. I almost died tonight. Laughing, that is! My wonderful mama (Grandma E) came over to see me on my birthday and brought me an awesome gift (a brand new can opener!!! Don't smirk. If you had seen our old can opener in action, you'd be just as excited as I was about this new contraption--and some bucks to buy a new top!). She stayed for a while after dinner and played with Staci. Staci is in a book phase, happy to sit while you read her story after story after story after... you get the picture. They sat down to read 'Let's Go All Around the Neighborhood'. It's a cute little book from my childhood which I have fond memories of also reading with my mom. In this book, Susie and her mom spend the day running errands. Susie gets a new pair of red shoes, they go play at the park, and even get to have a special lunch at a restaurant. 

Grandma E is doing a great job of stopping every few words and letting Staci fill in the blanks. She has most of her books memorized and loves to help read. They get to a point where Susie and her mom go out to eat. I hear this exchange: 

Grandma E: Susie has a...

Staci: Hamburger!

Grandma E: with a....

Staci: pickle!!!

Grandma E: and a glass of...

Staci: WINE!!

And for the record, no. I do not let me 3 year old have wine at lunch time. Dinner time would be more appropriate for that! I kid, I kid. 

One of my favorite things...

I L.O.V.E it when my girls play  nicely together, and even more so when they crack each other up. Something about little girl giggles echoing in my house gives me an almost indescribable feeling! The closest description I have is joy. This is a video of them playing a game they made up tonight after dinner. Love love love this SO much!

Olivia's first pigtails!

Olivia, 16 months old

Dear Olivia,

  You are 16 (and a half!) months old. You blow my mind with your vocabulary of words you understand, and the words you speak are becoming more and more clear every day. It's so much fun for us to watch you learn new things, and the recognition, pride and joy on your face when you realize what you've accomplished is priceless!
--You can sign more, please, milk, thank you, drink, and all done.
--You can say more, Daddy, Mama, door, book, ball, this, help, yeah, and no (no no no no nooooo! along with shaking your head and waving arms frantically). I am sure there are more that I am not
thinking of right now, but those are the ones you use the most frequently.

 --You rarely sit down for more than a minute or two. I tried to take you and your sister to see Brave, but you wore me out running up and down the movie theater aisles and I finally had to take outside the theater. Luckily, both Grandmas were also in attendance so Staci could still watch the end of the movie.

--One of my favorite sounds is when you and Staci are laughing together.

--You love to dance and twirl. You will turn your own music on and just dance around the living room. Or 'ask' for a dance party by going to the keyboard in our room and letting us know. I love it!

--You have started to like playing dressup. You will bring me the purple fairy costume or a tutu and say, "this! this!" and then happily step into it and run back to whatever you were playing with before.

--Your favorite foods are sausage and squeezy applesauce

--You still wake frequently at night but are finally beginning to let your mama sleep a little longer. Last night you were only up twice which was heavenly.

--You are still nursing between 6-8 times a day. Sometimes more, but probably never less than 6.

I just wanted to take a moment and write this all down before you changed again! Here is a mega-cute video of you and Staci twirling to music. Most of the time, when I ask you to give Staci a hug you grin and take off and tackle her, but this time you decided I was the one who needed a hug. It made Staci a little sad, but then she came in for a group hug so everyone was happy :) I love you miss Livi, and so your Daddy and sister!

Last night at bedtime...

Olivia went over to the guitar case and said, "Hep! Hep!" (help) while trying to get it down herself. It was her way of asking for music before bed, so this is what we did!