Five Years Old!

Why yes, this post is indeed 6 weeks overdue. LOL? I'm just happy I'm getting it done!

Our sweet Audrey turned FIVE YEARS OLD a few weeks back. Unbelievable. Where did five years go? There is so much talk about how time flies and "don't blink" but I never truly understood it until after Audrey was born. First she was 5 weeks old and I couldn't believe how much she'd changed since birth. And that made me emotional. Then she was a year old, and two...and I lamented the loss of my "baby" to the birth of a toddler. And I loved those toddler years so much!! They are wonderful at that age! And then she turned 3 and left home for preschool, she talked and began expressing her thoughts and her feelings more. She grew so much that year and I felt it in my gut..the "oh no" feeling...its coming. She's growing. Time is speeding up and the world keeps spinning and I cannot stop it. 

Before we knew it, she turned 4. This was a big year. New school, new house, many new friends. More self expression, the beginning of the "WHY"s. She began asking existential questions like "Why did God make us?" and "Can we come back after we die?". She's such a spiritual person, very in touch with her spirit, I think. This year we watched Audrey grow more than any year before. Her surgery occurred at 4.5 years and after that she blossomed into a little girl. Her voice changed, she experienced smells that she'd never known before. She began to sleep better and be more alert and awake during the day. She also started attending school "full day" at this same time - another element that added to her new change.

And then we had an AWESOME Summer and I was worried she wouldn't want to go back to school. But she did. And she came home saying school is her favorite thing to do and that she gets so excited when we drive to school. She opened up about some things at school, and she easily made new friends at school. She now works on things in the classroom that she'd previously refused to look at. She leads other students in new lessons - something she is SO PROUD of. She is exploring numbers and makes notes and cards for people. She is proud of the chores she does at the end of the day at school, and she's eager for us to create chores for her at home. She helps with her brothers (especially Nathaniel) and she wants to help us in the kitchen any time she can. 

For her 5th birthday, we wanted to do something special. We decided to give her bedroom a makeover and really make it something special for her since she spends so much time in there. Josh painted her room while she was at school that day, and when she got home we had hung up her decorations and she was so surprised!! Josh built her a large barn for her ponies and horses and it looks great in her room. Her birthday party was perfect this year. We invited a few of her friends over for pizza and some playtime. They colored their hair with special markers and they played dress up and other things. Then they made ice cream sundaes and we put on a movie for them. They kind of came and went while the movie was on. Mostly they just wanted to play. Audrey went to bed saying it was the best night ever.

The next day we had our family over for more celebrations. We had food and fun and then all walked down to the playground to let the kids run around. We even had a quick game of kickball! It was so much fun and I loved having so much of our family together. There were many missing but were there in spirit!

On Audrey's birthday I went to school with her and participated in the modest birthday celebration that they do. It is quite unique and special, and Audrey was just beaming as she got to light the candle and hang her photos up on the display board for the week.

It has been such a blessing to watch Audrey grow so much these past 5 years. We love her so much and cannot wait to watch her grow another year!