Nine!

Della turned 9 a few weeks ago, and life with her could not be more fine.

She is the kindest, most wonderful spirit and one of the smartest, most eager-to-learn kids I know. For all of her seriousness, it is absolutely hilarious when her goofball side comes out, which is more and more every day.

9 doesn’t sound that old to me, but to say she’s going into 4th grade does. She loves school, which makes my heart so happy. I just hope and pray that she continues to have friends as good as the ones she’s had so far. Kids can be cruel, and I hope Della never learns that lesson the hard way. Or any of our children, for that matter.

She loves to read and adores all things Harry Potter. She enjoys putting Lego sets together, drawing, learning about nature, swimming, gymnastics still even though she hasn’t taken them in a while, and learning to cook. She loves mermaids, fairies, and the wonderful world of childhood imaginary play.

Della is the most amazing sister, and all 4 of her siblings are lucky beyond measure to have her as their example. Her help has gotten me through many days with her twin baby brothers, that’s for sure!

She got to have the time of her life for her birthday this year and spent an entire long weekend at Grandma and Grandpa’s house all by herself. She had an all-day adventure in downtown Chicago, they went shopping at Target (a girl after my own heart!), got ice cream at the Plush Horse, and had a couple dinners out. She looked forward to that trip pretty much all year, and I know it did not disappoint!

Happy 9th birthday, our sweet Della Jolee! Squeaker, peanut, sweet pea. We love you more than words will ever be able to say, and I hope you had not only a fun and wonderful birthday but will have the best year ahead yet!

Eight!

Della turned 8 years old on August 1, and 8 truly is great with her!

We had her 8 year well check at the end of that month, so here are her official 8-year-old stats:

  • Height:  53″ (87%)
  • Weight:  60.5 lbs. (64%)
  • BMI:  15.1 kg/m2
  • Blood Pressure:  109/69

She continues to be the sweetest girl on earth, and I really don’t think I could possibly love her any more. Her heart is made of pure gold, and that is probably the singular character trait I hope she carries with her forever.

She has the soul of an angel, and she is truly a friend to all. It was so cute – one of the room moms for her class this year is putting together a book for their teacher, who is getting married later this month. It’s a book of marriage advice from 3rd graders. Della’s quote was “Sometimes it will be hard, and sometimes it will be easy. Always be nice to the person you’re married to.” Wise words, my love.

She is also still the sensitive girl she’s always been. The other night after I’d tucked them all in, Morrison came out telling me Della was crying. I could tell she was kind of quiet at bedtime and I thought she was a little sad, but she said nothing was wrong. I was right. When I went in and asked what was the matter, she was practically sobbing and said that no one ever believes her. I said oh sweet pea, I always want to believe you, what are you talking about? Apparently earlier that night Lana didn’t believe her when she said one of Lana’s Shopkins toys was on the front porch when Lana was looking for it, and shortly before bed Ryan and I didn’t believe that his magazine gave her a cut on her finger when he jokingly waved it at her. It did hit her hand, but when she showed us the cut it looked like it had been there for a while. No way did we think it was fresh, let alone from a freak brush against a magazine.  But I guess she put her arm behind her to block the magazine, and when she did so it kind of swung around on the edge of the pages and got her. So I apologized and assured her there was no way we thought she was lying or we weren’t listening to her on purpose, we just honestly thought there was no way it could’ve happened. So I promised that we’d listen to her from now on, because I know she doesn’t make things up just to be heard, and she is such a good kid and always wants to be doing the right thing.

She is the most amazing big sister to all these little ones, and they are beyond lucky to have her. She adores the twins and is my biggest helper, carrying them around and snuggling them in, giving them pacifiers or whatever they need, and generally playing with them as much as she can. Lana and Morrison would follow her to the ends of the earth, and my heart practically jumps out of my chest when I watch the 3 of them playing together.

She has been really into gymnastics the past 2 years, but this fall she decided to switch things up and give dance a shot. She and Lana are in the same hip hop class, and they just started last week. I can’t wait to see the end-of-session performance for this one! We also just started back up with swim lessons, and she is loving it again and doing so well.

She still loves her Shopkins and Happy Places, learning about nature and especially studying the ocean, playing outside with all our neighborhood friends, cooking, reading, doing cartwheels. She has recently started to like doing her own hair, and her new favorite style is pig tails with a headband. So cute! Her favorite colors right now are mint green and coral, and her favorite animal is a cheetah. She wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up and live in Australia in an apartment with some of her best friends. I will definitely go visit! I think she needs to be some sort of organizer, though, because she is constantly organizing things. I took her to the grocery store with me last weekend and I swear every time we stopped in an aisle she turned to the shelves and started straightening the items, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be based on the labels, etc. I thought wow, she’s even tidier than I am! I see so much of my younger self in her. However, life and 5 children have certainly mellowed me out significantly, ha!

We hit the jackpot a million times over with this one, and I feel so lucky to be her mama. I watch her with such love and adoration every day, and I am so proud of the wonderful, kind, smart girl she is. We love you so much, sweet Della Jolee! Happy 8th birthday and many, many, many more, peanut!!

 




Summertime, and the livin’ is easy

Unfortunately, those days are over for us this year, as school started for both Della and Lana yesterday. Waaahhhhh!!!!

I really hate seeing summer go, but I’m actually looking forward to this school year. Both girls are so excited – Della has been ready to get back for a while now to start 2nd grade, and Lana is happy to be going with her big sister this year for her turn in K4. Lana got the same K4 teacher Della had, who we loved, so we’re all really happy about that. And we’ve heard some great things about Della’s teacher, so she should have a great time, too.

Della’s so happy to be back seeing her friends every day, and it fills my heart to exploding to see her thrive at school. Lana is just such a goofball, I am beyond curious to see what her experience is. I’m just so grateful that we already know her teacher, so I am perfectly comfortable telling her anything and everything and making sure I’m giving and getting enough feedback for how Lana is doing. This is pretty surprising to me, because I honestly thought I was going to be a mess sending little Lana, my fairy girl, off on her own. But thinking back, I was much calmer than I thought I’d be when Della started K4, too. So who knows why my mind thinks the way it does.

But please stay tuned. I have a whole post planned about our summer, including plenty of pictures; I just haven’t had a chance to get it written yet for the world to see. Life has been busy around here lately, but it’s coming, I promise. In the meantime, I’m hoping we get a little taste of summer warmth to enjoy again before it’s gone for the year!

 




Seven!

Della turned 7 years old on the 1st, and she is growing into the most wonderful, smart, adorable girl.

She had a couple things on her birthday list, but at the top was a gift from Daddy. She wanted him to teach her how to make lasagna, about which I was so excited. I love lasagna! And if my kids can learn how to cook at this young age, I will be thrilled. It’s a skill I somehow never acquired, and Ryan is so good at it they can’t have a better teacher. So we got all the ingredients, I got her Hello Kitty apron out for her, and they got to work. Ryan said Della did about 85% of the work, and it turned out deliciously! I was so proud.

There’s really not much to say about this girl besides singing her praises. She loves school and can’t wait to start 2nd grade; she loves to read and is an excellent writer; she loves to ride her bike and play outside, especially if she can turn cartwheels and practice her gymnastics; she loves to help around the house and is always asking for a list of chores (seriously?? how did we get so lucky?!); and she is the best big sister to Lana and Morrison that could ever exist.

Happy 7th birthday, my peanut #1! We all love you so very much – to the moon and back doesn’t even begin to describe it! You are a blessing, and our family is so very lucky to have you in it!

 




1st grade

Della started 1st grade today, and I missed her the second she walked through those doors to begin this new school year.

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I miss her like crazy every time she goes to school, but I know she’s going to have a wonderful year again. After meeting her teacher, Mrs. Tauscher, the other night at meet and greet, she is dying to get started on their classroom travel adventures and getting her passport stamped.

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One of her good little girlfriends from K5 is in her class again this year and they’re even sitting at the same table, so Della is very happy about that.

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I hate it when these giant chunks of my heart leave me to walk around in this big, wide world all by themselves, but at least I can rest a little easier knowing she’s in such good hands at this school. I just pray that it forever stays the safe haven it has always been for her and all the other kids there.

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Good luck this year, sweet pea! 1st grade looks beautiful on you! (feel free to slow down on this growing up thing any time, though…)

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Six!

Our beautiful firstborn turned 6 on August 1, and she just keeps getting more amazing by the year.

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This past year has definitely been one of much growth for her. Not only is she getting taller by the day, but she had her first year of all-day school with K5 and absolutely loved it. She adored her teacher, Mrs. Murphy, and really thrived. She is such a good student and loves to learn. She’s so looking forward to getting back there in a few weeks and starting 1st grade!

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She loves the monkey bars, riding her bike, scootering all over the place, running around the yards with her neighborhood friends, any show on PBS Kids, America Ninja Warrior, Masterchef, and still all things Frozen and Hello Kitty. She has become the best reader, with the Magic Treehouse series being her favorite. And she is the most wonderful big sister, constantly playing with Lana and Morrison.

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Della is one of the kindest, sweetest, most conscientious, and gorgeous people I know, inside and out. And I’m not just saying that because she’s my daughter. The size of her heart and the limitless expanse of her mind inspire me and make me prouder every single day. She truly is a friend to all.

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Happy 6th birthday, our sweet Della Jolee!! Words can’t even describe how much we love you!

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The real deal

Della started K5 last Tuesday, and it’s the real thing, folks. All-day school. Wow.

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Just like last year, I had no idea how I was going to bear having her at school, let alone for the full day now. The night before the first day, I was a complete wreck. I couldn’t focus my mind – get her backpack ready, get her dress out for the day, get her snack in her backpack, make her lunch, figure out what time to get up so that I was able to get ready before anyone else needed me, how to get us all to school on time, where to go now that she goes in the doors in the back of the school with all the other kids, how to survive the back of the school with all the other kids.

I asked her as we were waiting in line that morning if she was getting nervous because she had gotten really quiet and I could tell she was looking around at all the chaos, trying to take it in, but she said no, just excited. I’m glad one of us was, because I still wasn’t even sure we were in the right line! I couldn’t see her teacher for all the seemingly millions of parents and kids back there. Then when she walked up the steps and that giant building swallowed her up, I thought I was going to lose my mind.

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But thankfully, as usual, she put my mama heart at ease at the end of the day when she chattered the entire walk home, telling me everything they did, step by step. She had walked out the door after school that first day looking like a little zombie with a panda sticker on her forehead, and she was very proud to show it to me when she was dismissed from her line. What’s the sticker for? I asked. For sleeping so well at rest time! Coincidentally, that was her favorite part of the day and continues to be thus far. I think she’s secretly happy she gets to take a nap again.

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As I was tucking her in that night after her first full day of school, she was saying how much she liked her teacher, and, as if she were telling someone else how much they’d like her, too, she said, “Mrs. Murphy is the best. You’d just be amazed by her.”

I hope you feel that way about all your teachers, peanut. And I hope the excitement with which you’ve embraced kindergarten is something you’ll carry with you through all of your school days. I love you so much, sweetheart, and Daddy and I could absolutely not be prouder of our big kindergartner!