Well, this sweet girl has been five year old for over a month now, but life gets pretty busy at the end of the school year with two kids, so I am just now getting to type up our excitement!
It is tough to wait when you are almost five years old, and it doesnt help when your baby brother has a birthday two days BEFORE yours! Whitney did a great job waiting as patiently as any five year old I know.
For the past four years, we have thrown a big shebang birthday party at a park in my parents' neighborhood, affectionately deemed "the birthday party park!" But this year, we decided to spend that party fund on a Disney "staycation" instead. But our girl wasnt quite ready to give up on a true birthday party, so we had three friends over to have pizza and cake and a "birthday cake playdate" with a Frozen theme :)
We ordered balloons on Amazon (poor Olaf had several holes and wouldnt blow up, but the kids had fun tossing his deflated body around anyway).
And at the last minute, I couldnt "Let it Go" that I wouldnt have birthday tees for the kids this year, so I chained myself to my sewing machine and made these sweet kids some cute Frozen tees and their "5" and "2" tees. I know they wont let me create cuteness (and I doubt I will have the time!) in the years ahead, so I had to do it this year.
Whitney has always been such an awesome girl. SO smart and crazy well-behaved. Shes madly in love with her baby brother, always kissing him and holding his hand and giving him hugs. She's friendly to everyone and cant understand when someone would ignore her or be intentionally nasty (towards her or anyone else). She is tenderhearted and has been known to cry at an episode of My Little Pony when one pony isnt being nice to another pony. She introduces herself to kids at the park or at the pool on vacation. She just wants to have fun and laugh with everyone she meets :)
She has started reading books, which is a huge source of pride for her! She is so proud of herself, but humble and careful not to brag. She is smart and she knows it, but she doesnt rub it in anyone's face. She sometimes doesnt want to try new things because she is convinced she wont do it right or get the answer or cut it perfectly. She is a perfectionist, which comes with good and bad traits.
She loves God and knows more Bible verses than I will ever know! She loves going to church and our Small Group on Sunday nights. She says awesome prayers, including sick friends or family members, Bailey in heaven, and all the things we are grateful for. She is such a gift in so many ways!
She is certain that she does NOT like certain foods, even if she hasnt tried it or hasnt tasted it since she was a baby. She was tricked into eating shrimp and mango last weekend and admitted she liked them....but we definitely had to fib in order to get her to eat them. She eats a lot of healthy foods, fruits veggies, meats,...she has a balanced appetite...but she just doesnt like to try anything new because she is convinced she wont like it. We encourage her by telling her stories of all the adventurous things her Uncle Jay likes to try :)
(this kid LOVED his Dusty Crophopper balloon!)
She was awesome at one year old. She was the best two year old little girl ever. Three years old was great, too. Four years old was good. And five years old is already my new favorite age with Whitney! She has a confidence that is awesome. She has retained so much information from our experiences and from movies and television and books, and she whips out all kinds of facts and information in the right context, and its so cool to really see and hear how smart she is.
We had her besties, Faith, Natalia, and Emma over for pizza and cake and a playdate, and all four girls got along SOOO nicely! They giggle and play and dress up and laugh and sing...OH the singing! They color pictures and compliment each other so nicely saying, "Faith, that picture is really beautiful!" and "Wow, Emma! I love that picture of Sven youre coloring!" lol
Whitney is the epitome of "she is beautiful inside and outside!" She is constantly trying to "fill people's buckets" by offering to help or giving hugs or "I love you, Mommy" throughout the day. She has chores each week, wiping the kitchen table, taking out the recyclables, and cleaning up after herself. Eight out of ten times, she does these chores with a happy heart and without complaining. She earns an allowance ($5) and takes pride in dividing her income among her "Offering", "Saving", and "Spending" cans in her room. It has been a great way to teach her about giving to those who arent as fortunate, and gets us off the hook when she asks for a new toy at the store. "You have allowance money in your spending canister. You can buy it with the money you've earned for doing your chores!"
She was able to buy an Elsa doll at the Magic Kingdom when we went on vacation the week after her birthday, and she is so proud that she bought it herself (and still has money leftover!)
Speaking of Disney...we have found the one thing that trumps Disney World in our girl's heart.
Her bestie, Faith!
We asked Whitney "Do you want to go to Magic Kingdom tonight, or have Faith sleep over?" and without skipping a beat, she shouted, "FAITH!! I want Faith to sleepover!!"
Whitney has tons of friends. Even a ton of close friends. But no one can beat the bond that Whitney shares with Faith or Natalia. Its like they speak the same language or share a brain lol They laugh at the same goofy stuff and agree to play each other's princess/fairy/Frozen/lego games for hours on end. I remember having "best friends" growing up, and I love that Whitney shares a special bond with nice girls her age, who also happen to have awesome parents who we love :)
These girls have us right where they want us. ;)
At her Frozen birthday play date, we played a little "pin the nose on Olaf", thanks to Eric's artistic work :)
The girls thought it was so funny, and Olaf hung out on our walls for weeks after the guests had all gone home.
LOVE, love, LOVE these girls.
Silly girls with the best giggles! I love watching them make memories and laugh and crack each other up!
After the guests went home and little brother laid down, the gifts were just begging to be played with! Eric and Whitney tackled the first of many Lego creations she is currently loving!
Seriously? How can she be FIVE already!?
The night before her "real" birthday, we snuggled in bed and talked about all the things that might happen when she's five. Losing teeth, ride a two-wheeler, reading chapter books, jumping off a diving board. She has big dreams and I couldnt be more proud to be her mommy.
Last night as a FOUR year old!
Her actual birthday was on a Monday this year. She was sooooo excited to wake up to balloons again for the third year in a row :)
And she happily went to school to spend her day with school friends!
Chapel dancing melts my heart :)
Always moving in for the hug...
And she shares her exact birthdate with a special school friend, Miss O, who is hilarious and beautiful and silly and fabulous. The girls really loved sharing their day!
Grady couldnt handle big sis being on stage without him....
...so he moved in for the spotlight, too.
They had cupcakes in her class and they all sang "Happy Birthday", and our girl was all smiles, all day!
That night, because we can and because it was beautiful weather, we grabbed Mac and Gramps and headed straight to the Happiest Place on Earth!
Our two birthday kids! We spent a few hours, did some rides, and talked about all the things we wanted to do when we went back to visit for a "real vacation at a hotel!"
I am so grateful that my parents are the kind of grandparents who ENJOY doing these things with us and our kids. Watching the love that my kids share with their grandparents is one of my biggest blessings. I always knew my parents would love my kids. And I knew they would be awesome grandparents. But to see just how much my kids ADORE my parents? Awesome.
Between her best friends and her grandparents, Whitney would have sleepovers night after night if we would let her!
I dont know about you, but I know *I* never got to ride a rollercoaster with MY grandfather! Lucky girl!
FIVE!!!
Hands up, Gramps!!!
The. Best.
Does it get better?? My dad and my daughter.
And one of my favorite parts of her fifth birthday happened when Whitney was still at school and I was picking Grady up from my mom's house. For the first time in as long as I can remember (maybe ever?), a ladybug landed on me. I was sitting in my car and it was randomly crawling across my arm, tickling me. Weve always called Whitney "Whitterbug", which quickly shortened to just "Bug". She was a lady bug for her first Halloween, and she has always loved books and stuffed animals and anything that has to do with lady bugs. And this happy little bug was a reminder that OUR Bug is meant to be ours and she is right where she belongs. She blesses us in so many ways every single day, and we are so incredibly, deeply proud and honored to be her parents.
We love you, Whitterbug! Happy 5th Birthday, Honey Girl! :)
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