5 Years Old?!?!

Oh my, Jordan... 5 years old!!!  It does not seem right to type that number!  It brings bittersweet tears to your momma's eyes because, on one hand, I am SO very proud of the sweet, nurturing girl you are growing up to be, but, on the other hand, I am sad at how quickly those 5 years have seemed to go.  This past year has really changed you.  You have really grown up.  Sometimes I look at you and just cannot believe how tall you are, how long your hair is, how grown up your expressions are... like when I looked in the backseat and saw you with your sunglasses on your head.  What in the world?!?!

At your 5 year old checkup you were pretty stinking tough with your finger prick, tb test, and shots!  You weighed 35 lbs (25th percentile) and were  42.5 inches tall (50th percentile).  You were pretty honest about how little you eat, but we are working on that!  Haha.  You are just a petite little thing!

 You are truly becoming a such an amazing little lady!  You have a love for life and make sure to go slowly enough to enjoy each moment!  I joke that you don't have a hurry up bone in your body, and, although sometimes it may drive me a little crazy, I love it about you.

You are brave and will try just about anything.  You are always the first to catch a worm or hold a snake/turtle/frog!

  

You really love animals of any kind.  You currently are pretty set on being a veterinarian when you grow up. You would be a wonderful one! You were really wishing for a dog this year, and I guess God heard your prayers because this one showed up the day after I had just said we couldn't get one.  Funny how that happened!  You are not always crazy about cleaning up after her though. Haha.

You LOVE to draw, color, paint, craft!  You could do it for hours and are so meticulous about your results.

You are a smart little cookie, and you love your little friends at school.  You had great teachers this year which helped your feelings some when you weren't sure about leaving momma.  You learned so much, and you are excited about being in Jr. Kindergarten next year!

You tried out gymnastics this year, were a cute little gymnast, but found your true love with ballet.  I could have sat at your recital for hours watching you!

You are one of the most expressive people I know.  Sometimes it gets you into a little trouble.  I can feel the eye rolling coming in the teen years, but I love the way you tell a story and how animated you become.  

You are a waterbug!  It doesn't matter if it's the pool, lake, or even bathtub... you could stay in forever!

You have amazed us this past you with what an absolute sweet, little momma you have been!  You are such an awesome helper with Kyndall, and she adores you.  We thought your interest in her might wane a little as the newness wore off, but that has definitely not been the case!  In fact, you have decided that you definitely want to have lots of babies when you grow up!  You will be an awesome mom!

 You are also great with Hayes.  You definitely are brother and sister and have your moments where you aggravate each other, but you guys also have a lot of fun together!  You have really been working hard to get him to use the potty.  Haha.  And have on more than once occasion, let him play dress up with you!

 And let's not even get started on how big of buddies you and Cole are!  You guys have the best time playing together, pretending to be all sorts of animals, and coming up with all sorts of games.  You sleep in the same room every night and often times in the same bed.  You have decided that if you can't marry your brother, then you will both have to marry someone else but the 4 of you live together in the same house.  You two are the best of friends!

 You love playing with your siblings, but you are also your daddy's girl, love to have some alone time, and play great on your own too!  I love seeing the things that you come up with and the intricate stories you create.

 You also have a very strong opinion about your clothes, shoes, and accessories.  You love girly clothes and dresses, but then you also will put on workout clothes and say, "Now this is my style!"  Haha.  You have also already made me change my outfit before because what I chose wasn't "pretty enough."  And don't even get me started on your love for nail polish, makeup, etc. You are a mess girl!

Your favorite color is pink followed closely by purple.  You love all things sparkly.  Your favorite Disney princess is Jasmine, and your favorite tv show is Lion Guard.  My favorite word you say is "girl." Your best friends are Emery, Millie, and Nora.  Your favorite food is "candy," and you LOVE your chocolate milk! You love to dig in the dirt, and the dirtier you get, the better! You love to swing- especially on the tire swing. You are hilarious- sometimes intentional, sometimes not.  There are so many special things about you that I want to remember.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Jordan, you are one of the greatest blessings God has given us.  You keep us on our toes, fill up our buckets, make us laugh, and melt our hearts.  You are so beautiful inside and out.  We hope that you always seek to be as considerate and helpful as you are now.  We can see how much you love and are so proud of the way you show Jesus to people around you.  God has big plans for you, sweet girl!

Kyndall's Birthday!

Kyndall's actual birthday hit on Sunday this year so after naps we spent the afternoon/evening at the Botanical Gardens.  If there is one thing Kyndall loves, it is being outside so we thought that she would love some time there to celebrate.  She definitely did!  She loved watching the fish swim, and we even saw several baby geese!

 All the kids really enjoyed exploring the gardens...

Kyndall enjoyed a little slower, more scenic route thanks to her big brother!

Everyone was very excited to close the place down playing in My Big Backyard!  The picture at the beginning of this post was from that area.  Kyndall thought she was big stuff, and had a ball!  These next two pictures have nothing to do with Kyndall, but oh how they melt my heart!  Sweetest boy LOVES his Daddy!

 Happy Birthday Kyndall Lynn!  I hope that you always know how truly loved you are!

Birthday Party Time!!!

We celebrated both Kyndall's and Jordan's birthdays with a joint party since their special days are just 2 weeks apart.  It was the big 1 for Kyndall and the big 5 for Jordan.  Both milestones and fun to celebrate together!  Jordan, of course, had a little more of an opinion about what the decor and theme should be like so we went with her ideas... My Little Ponies!  It turned out super cute, and we loved having so much family in our home to love on our sweet girls!

Thanks to Aunt Kelsey, I actually made these pretty cakes myself!  I really like to make the kids' birthday cakes, but I wasn't sure I could do the smash cake for Kyndall how I wanted it.  Kels (aka Susie Homemaker) assured me we could, and it turned out so cute!  

Time for the birthday song and cake!

Kyndall didn't dig right in at first, but she did seem to enjoy it.  It wasn't until the very end that she seemed bothered by her messy hands.  And she left that cute hat on the whole time!  I couldn't believe it!

The other kids enjoyed the cupcakes!

There might have been a few presents too!  Poor Jordan didn't get anything she liked.  Haha.

Jordan's favorite part of the whole party... holding Baby Joie!

So thankful for my two precious girls and the chance to celebrate them!  They have each grown, learned, and changed so much in the past year.  Love the little people they are and pray that as they continue to grow that God will help us mold them and shape them in to kind, compassionate, Christ-following servants!  Happy Birthday Jordan and Kyndall!!!