SIX

The day has come. My baby is six years old. It's been a fantastic day for her and pretty fun for me! I can't believe that the tiny baby I met six years ago today is this beautiful, fun, smart, social butterfly who loves to tell me all about her day, play games with me, read mystery books together, and giggle or guffaw depending on how funny something is to her. Yes, I'm bragging and every mother has the right. :) I just love her so much and I wanted her for so long and she was the beginning of fulfilling my dreams of motherhood and I couldn't have asked for anyone better. I LOVE YOU JILL!

The week started off with her Texas grandparents coming to visit a couple of days early and celebrate her birthday. We went to dinner and the wait staff sang to her and she was a bit embarrassed at first but enjoyed the chocolate cake! I think she was shocked because the waitress asked her to stand on her chair so the whole restaurant could see her. She looked at me like, "You're not supposed to stand on chairs at dinner!" Ha ha. What an obedient child! But she got up once I said it was ok. :) Then she got their presents and enjoyed starting her birthday early! Today I took Miranda and Natalie to playgroup and my friend Eliza offered to watch them at the park while I went to Jill's school to have lunch with her in the cafeteria. Yay for friends who are so generous!

I walked into the school and passed the library where a cute girl was chatting with friends and holding her library books. It was Jill! :) I tapped on the window and she saw me and started telling her friends that her mom was in the hallway! She knew I was coming but was totally thrilled. Made my day! So she showed me where to get my tray, where to get my chocolate milk carton, and where we needed to sit. They have a parent's table, so she didn't sit with her class today. I met a lot of her little friends in line and they were hilarious. Some were quite friendly and wanted my attention; others were shy but curious about this adult in line with them. :) I loved putting faces with all the names I hear about daily.

Then after school, we worked on her Student of the Week poster for next week, decorating it and coloring it. Then we went to IHOP for dinner and ate her favorite food--pancakes! We came home and gave her presents from us. No cake because her "friend" party is Saturday and there will be cake there. Plus, I'm bringing the Friday snack for her class tomorrow and I'm making cupcakes. So because I wanted to do something different (and because I totally procrastinated putting the presents in bags!), I had Jill cover her eyes and Miranda and Natalie handed her gifts one at a time. Jill thought that was great and the little girls loved participating. Miranda kept insisting the Barbie clothes were really for her Barbie though.

I bought Miranda a Barbie as something to work toward. She has a sticker chart and if she gets a small sticker in each category each day (morning routine, obedience, kindness, evening routine), then she earns 1 BIG sticker. We've been doing this chart for about two months. She usually gets 2 or 3 stickers every day; rarely four. I told her she could earn the Barbie with three big stickers. I'm afraid it's never going to happen! She does so good for a while and then is talking back to me, throwing a tantrum, hitting a sister. *Sigh.* I know it's typical for her age but I though the Barbie was such good motivation! She has earned one BIG sticker and today she did pretty good, so I'll probably give her one for today too. Maybe I need to lower the bar a tad. :)

Anyway, the party was fun and I just love my kids. I really need to appreciate them this much every day. Enjoy the pics of my cute girl! (I added two adorable pics of my other cuties for your enjoyment too.)