six

six

yes it's time to come to the realization yet again that both of the girls turn a year older every March and April
and now my older daughter, Madison, is turning six

I love to celebrate their birthdays
but they all seem to always come too quickly year after year

each year I have moments where I just want time to stand still,
 grab their little hands
and hold onto those precious things

just exactly the way they are in that moment

so tiny

so innocent

and so sweet

but reality is...birthdays come whether we are ready for our children to grow up or not

Madison is

six

today

and just like Hayley a month ago...

Madison is beyond excited

she is usually sooo hard to get out of bed in the morning but she popped right up this morning

excited to see her balloons above her bed

and her new lion friend hanging from her chandi

she was grinning ear to ear this morning

as she woke up to her hooting owl alarm the Easter Bunny got her a few days ago

as a matter of fact the first thing she said to me yesterday after I picked her up from school was

I told Miss M--- that "I got an owl alarm and it hoots to wake me up"

I felt as though she was saying it with the Junie B attitude
{we are reading that series together}
and the Junie B attitude makes all the difference when reading that statment
trust me

it was so cute!

As we were talking about her birthday yesterday

 I said

"today is your very last day to be five...can you believe it?"

she said

"I know mom!!!"

Ummm...Hayley seemed more shocked about that statement
{when I told her about her very last day to be three}

I guess I need to get with the six-year-old times now
it's not quite as cool to keep reminding her of such things

 I don't seem to say such surprising things to Madison any longer

she is getting too old and smart like that

so I continued and said

"So what do you think six means?"

Madison said "well, I'm another year older and then comes even better things"

ooooooo...I think I need to be taking her advice when it comes to birthdays

I love this little girl so much

Over the past year I really took it to heart how hard she always was
{and still is}
on herself

it's a hard road to continue on

and I didn't want her being stuck on it
feeling like she has to be perfect

so I made it a mission to help her come out of her shell more

to relax

to enjoy

to know it is perfectly fine to not get things right all the time

and have to work at them

I seem to use myself as an example of not getting things right all the time
it definitely makes her laugh
and to me that's worth her knowing that grace is for everyone's mistakes
or other times when things have to be practiced and tried again

over the past year she has started taekwondo

which has been the best thing for her and her confidence

I'm so proud of how far she has come

from the beginning of class not wanting to get up in front of others

to now she loves to do so
{most of the time}

she still has her moments of struggle but she has come a long way

I truly think it is amazing

Madison is my mama bear

focused and on point all the time
all.the.time

I seem to joke with her a lot

I love her silly side because when she shows it...

 you can really see her unique and wonderful personality

 

 it is the most beautiful thing because her face shines and sparkles

 her confidence and belief in herself grows every.single.day

a couple of months ago her class was on Channel 5 doing 5 is #1

and when I picked her up from school I asked her because I knew it would make her laugh

"Did you get wild and crazy on camera and do your Taylor Swift dancing and singing?"

She replied "Mom!!!...now you know we weren't supposed to do that...
we talked about this...

My teacher Miss M said we were not supposed to be wild and crazy on camera"

I said "darn...now I won't get to see your Taylor dance moves"

she laughed and said "I'm silly with you guys!"
and yes she is

Kindergarten has done more than wonderful things for Madison

she has had the very best teacher

and the perfect fit to Madison's personality ~ I couldn't be more thankful 
for Miss M---

 Madison makes friends so easily 

 she is so caring and sweet

you know... a likeable girl

{that statement reminds me of Hope Floats...but it's true}
here is part of a note Madison's friend wrote her...I just love it

Madison loves reading, school work, and projects

she loves to always have a pad with her to draw and write in

she loves to joke around

except when the jokes on her...
she wasn't too fond of Hayley and I's spider in her car seat joke we played on her a couple months ago
but she loves to stand around the corner, jump out, and scare the daylights out of me

where I'm literally screaming because she did such a great job

she is the very best helper
and loves her sister more than words could ever describe

she couldn't be a better big sister or friend

Madison's special gift is the way she makes others feel

she always cares how someone is and loves to do nice things for others

she definitely is a beach and summer lover

but occasionally and randomly talks about snow
in the middle of summer

odd, perhaps
...but cute because she can be so random with thoughts

she loves Taylor Swift like her sister loves Eric Church,

 loves to dance and put on fashion shows for me in my high heels

 and loves to take pictures with her camera she got for Christmas

she loves, loves to be outside,
ride her bike,
 and run with me

I say all the time that another 5-6 years she will be kicking my hiney on runs

I can't wait for that as it will make me a proud mama

Madison is insightful at times but so very literal at other times

the other day I had to run an errand for work after the girl's class

we were driving on the back roads and came to a stop light

there were absolutely no cars around

and she asked

"Mom why is the light red when we are the only ones here?"

I said "kind of silly isn't it"

so of course I just keep talking with them about this and that
and sooner or later

both of them say at once...

"Mom...mom!!!...you can go...the light is green"

I said "oh ~ thank you!!
What would I do without you both?"

Madison said "Well...you'd still be sitting at the light Mom!!!"

oh for the love of her...I couldn't stop laughing

Today I most definitely cannot wait to celebrate her and how caring and sweet she is

she makes everyone feel special everyday

today will be wonderful to celebrate her

she is so excited about her beach cake

to have quesadillas tonight with family

and she said....."as soon as I wake up tomorrow...I am six

and cannot wait for all the fun"

she is definitely a chocolate lover over vanilla
like her daddy

loves cheese, yogurt, broccoli, strawberries, and cheeseburgers

 she loves to wear my sunglasses and come up with her own poses

as I was taking pictures the other day
"Miss Director" said
"I get to do my own poses right Mom???"

I laughed and said "why of course"

so here are her favorite poses she did

Happy sixth birthday my beautiful butterfly

I love you

I'm proud of you

and I will always, always believe in you

Happy Birthday

Madison Ella

four

four is the number today...

my baby girl turns four today

...and she couldn't be more excited

she was so excited to show me four when taking pictures last Sunday afternoon

it really was the perfect day to take some pics of them outside

it has been awhile since I took a few pics of them and I think they forgot

that "mama goes overboard in how many she takes"

because I took a ton...
I mean a whole lot of pictures
{smile}

but we had the best time

lots of laughter

silly dancing

a bit of craziness and stress at some points during the pictures when Hayley decided she was done

"done taking photos mom"

completely done she said:)

I don't blame her because I'm the first person to jet when people start taking photos

As I was going through the photos in the wee wee wee hours of the night

 I liked around 67 of them

yes 67

some were of just Madison too
which I'll save for her birthday

because how can you not take photos of both of your sweet girls

anyhoo...

Hayley Elisabeth is four today

yes four

{I keep typing that I know...perhaps I'm in denial just a little bit

...thought you should know that}

 I feel a bit rusty at writing since it has been awhile

but I wanted to blog today

to celebrate Hayley

she is my sunshine

who has a true gift of humor and silliness that I just love

we dance silly all the time together

whether in stores

at home

or in the car

it's our fun thing we do together

to make one another laugh

Hayley loves to share her gift of making others laugh...especially with Madison and I

she makes us laugh all of the time

so when she is in trouble

she makes me laugh on purpose because she thinks I'll forget and let it slide

 and there it goes...I of course laugh and can't hold it in

completely not effective when you are trying to parent just letting you know

so when I have to get it together to talk to her
without laughing,

I start laughing all over again

and then its pointless and I'm not effective

she runs our house if you can't tell

on the way home from my grandparents a couple of weeks ago

she was so goofy and if you know Hayley this is a normal thing she says

and is so proud of the fact that she toots

yep I said it

 she started praying this prayer in the car on the way home probably 50 times

not kidding

so Madison's reaction was the best...after the 50th time

H: "Dear God...thank you and bless me for tooting because I'm a tooting machine"

so after about the 50th time in a row of her praying this prayer

M says: "Dear God...please have Hayley stop praying that!"

it was so cute

she calls herself the Queen of Tooting

and she even has a King of Tooting and his name is Parker

almost on a daily basis she reminds me of these titles that Parker and her have
{King and Queen of tooting}

I told her I'm going to remember this story when she starts dating 70 years from now
{yes they are not dating until they are 76 and 74}

 this week she's been saying..."and now I will be four just like Parker"

so you can see what is important in her world:)

what I loved most about that prayer...

she was just being her... silly, fun, and cute

but most of all a kid

Hayley brings so much sunshine and kindness to us

she always has a compliment and sweet things to say to Madison and I

I love her heart and all that comes with it

her favorite color is purple

although she loves yellow and red too:)

and as I brought cupcakes to her school yesterday

all of her friends asked imediately and without even thinking about it...

"are they all purple Hayley???!!!"
she said "yes, YES!!! they are"

Hayley is our sweet dragonfly

and we are blessed every day that we have her

she is fiesty

 most definitely independent

but she also has to be around people

all.of.the.time

she loves to go on a run with me and play outside

she loves her taekwondo class

Hayley is a summer and beach girl most definitely

with the brightest of blue eyes

She doesn't know a stranger as she talks to anyone she meets

especially the people that work at Trader Joe's

she was upset one day because she forgot to tell the checkout guy this last detail of what she was sharing with him and then goes..."what was his name mama? I forgot to tell him____" 

this was after being home 45 minutes she was still talking about it

my dad calls her NST

{non stop talker}

which is very much appropriate

she even told the dentist the other day she had 12 brothers and sisters

the hygenist immediately came out to verify with me

and I had a horrified look on my face when she asked me

that the hygentist laughed pretty hard at my reaction alone

she is so proud of her sister Madison

I couldn't ask them to be any closer...they are besties

everyday as we pick Madison up from school Hayley cannot wait to run up to Madison to give her a hug...it makes me smile

she is a lover of vanilla cake and vanilla ice cream

just like her mama

she loves my homemade macaroni with fancy cheeses

feta on her salad

 mahi mahi

{I think she likes to say mahi mahi more than anything}

and always is ready for dessert after dinner

{that's from her daddy}

I can't hardly wait until she wakes up this morning as I have her room filled with balloons above her bed {only like 10 but her room looks filled when they are all above her bed...
and yes they are purple}

four of the ballons have notes tied to them

about things we love about her

she has a new stuffed giraffe hanging by it's arms from her chandi

she loves giraffes and always her must see at zoos

her giraffe she got at the San Diego Zoo last year is named Gigi
so now she has one more to add to her collection of about 5 now

I can't wait to see her face light up when she sees all the balloons

because it has been so hard for me not to tell her what her surprises are
{I'm not great at holding surprises in and neither is Hayley}

Today is the day to make her feel so special

for all the specialness she brings to us

we are so blessed and thankful for  Hayley

she is our sweetheart and sunshine that is full of life

and today we are so happy to celebrate her

when I had the girls out taking pictures Sunday it started to rain just before we were done

and when I said I'm finally done taking pictures

this was their reaction:

I love you our dragonfly

Happy Fourth Birthday

Hayley Elisabeth

I always love you
I always believe in you
and I am always proud of you
xo