Our sweet girl Jillian turned 5 on May 16th!
To see all the photos I took for Jillian's 5th Birthday photo shoot,
click HERE!
And if you have not already seen them,
click HERE for the photos from her birthday party.
Jillian's birthday was full of fun. The day started with a surprise mini watermelon waiting for her by in the kitchen (awhile back I had a mini watermelon that I drew a face on for Jillian. She carried it around the house and pretended it was her baby. A couple days later I told her the watermelon was going to rot if we didn't eat it. She was a bit crushed and had a hard time eating our lunch that day. HAHA! I promised her I'd get another one and draw a new face on it for her, so these photos are featuring watermelon baby #2...)
and birthday cake for breakfast. A few pictures of how big she looked, and Ryan took her to school. (Photo LINK) Later, I brought Jello to her classroom to share with her preschool friends for snack (Photo LINK). After school she had soccer practice (Photo LINK) and then we went to the park (Photo LINK). After the park we brought the little two home to our babysitter, and headed into DC to see her monument of choice for this year- The Jefferson (Photo LINK)!
To say we were exhausted by the end of the day would be an understatement. It was a wonderful celebration for a wonderful little girl!
Photo highlights from her 5th Birthday shoot:
(her birthday letter is below all these photos...)
Dear Jillian,
Happy Birthday sweet girl- another year of growing and changing! Your Dad and I stare at you in disbelief over the things you are able to say and do. You amaze us. You are incredibly smart, thoughtful and helpful. We could not ask for a better example for your sister and brother. We adore you.
You are a very mature little person, but you also know how to be silly. Very silly sometimes! You like to read, play with your sister, play with baby dolls, legos, and make art and crafts. You love to be fancy and wear ballet clothing around the house the majority of the time. You like to dance. You like to sing. You often remember the lyrics of songs before the tune and create some very interesting song 'mash ups' where you blend together lyrics and different tunes. It's very creative. You like everything about nature and often talk about what things we should be doing to help the planet. You sing to plants and animals and have written a special song to sing to butterflies in order to make them land on your finger. When you're singing this song, you've had about 7 butterflies land right on your index finger. It's really unbelievable, but I think your song really works!
You've been a fluent reader for years now. I know that sounds ridiculous when you're just turning 5, but it's true. I asked you if you remember not being able to read and you said, "When I was in your belly?" I guess it just feels like something you've always been able to do. What a gift!
You are empathetic and optimistic. I hope these are life long traits. When something sad/bad happens you are quick to verbalize how it made you feel, or how another person must be feeling. Sometimes you even cry. But before even a minute passes, you shake it off, and think of what the silver lining of the situation could be. I'm so proud of you for this. Your heart is purely good.
You like to point out when things are "similar". You often use the phrase "such as" when you are talking. You often "anticipate" what I'm going to say and like to "make a prediction" about things we are going to do. You start sentences with the phrase, "Speaking of ____". You're incredibly well spoken.
This year you went to preschool and rocked it. You're an amazing student. You are very respectful to the teachers and the other children. When you first started school you were very quiet during the day and upset at drop off. Both of these behaviors faded as the year went on. You are soft spoken in group situations, but you always answer any questions asked of you and have fabulous manners.
Outside your favorite things to do are swing, and play in the sand. You like to "bake pies" with your sister and "explore for new worlds" in our backyard. You also really enjoy monkey bars and can make it all the way across by yourself. You can also flip around when holding a bar and land on your feet.
Your favorite foods are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, quesadillas, carrots, raw bell peppers, turkey sandwiches, thinly sliced cheese, spaghetti (with LOTS of parmesan!), chicken strips with ranch to dip in, pinto and kidney beans, salad with blue cheese dressing, steak and cheese fries from Outback, rolls and peanuts from Texas Roadhouse, and burrito bowls from Chipolte. You favorite treats are ice cream with cherries and sprinkles and popcorn.
You are incredibly complimentary to your Mommy. It's just about the sweetest thing and I really appreciate how much you appreciate me. You like to say, "Ugh... MOM. I just CAN'T BELIEVE how much I love you!" and "Being a Mom is a lot of work- you're so good at ________ Mom..." or "Wow, this dinner is really great. I seriously like everything you make." Talk about sweet. You make being a Mom the best job on the planet.
Your future profession has been changing a lot this year- you seem to be leaning toward being an artist at this point. You have also promised me "many many grand babies.... maybe 6. They will be crawling all over the floor talking to you". Can't. Wait. -smile-
You try really REALLY hard to be a good big sister. You are very patient with your siblings and only need a reminder to "use kind words" or "be patient" occasionally. The vast majority of the time you do whatever is asked of you without questioning, and you are eager to be helpful however you can be. Thanks for that, baby girl.
I could write about all your wonderful qualities for pages and pages. I hope you know how much we love you, how proud we are of you, and how much our hearts swell with pride when we think of you. Thank you for being the first baby to ever call me Mommy. We're the luckiest parents on the planet to call you our daughter.
Happy Birthday big girl! This next year is going to be amazing!
Love,
Mommy
