Halen Rae Carol...you are four years old today. My gorgeous, vibrant, busy, talkative, strong-willed, leader. I am so proud of you. This year has been a tough one, but you have been such a joy and light in my life and the lives of those around you.
You are loving pre-school at Bethany, you talk about being the line leader, loving movement, singing songs in music class, art and playing mommy at pretend time. You really love your friend Sheridan in class.
You are thick as thieves with your daddy, you tell us he is your prince and you will marry him one day. You love using daddy as a jungle gym, riding bikes together, going to the coffee shop and trips to Home Depot.
You are mommy's helper, I love spending my Tuesdays and Thursdays with you, we try to have fun outings, bake, play games, watch movies and play in the playroom. You love playing outside, swinging, collecting bugs, looking up at the trees, watching our windmill blow in the breeze, pull Henley in the wagon and have picnic lunches on your picnic table.
You and Henley are becoming the best of friends...you are playing together more and more. You love momming her (which frustrates mommy and daddy sometimes, but we know you mean well), she loves you so much. You are the first words out of her mouth in the morning, "Where's Halen?" It is the sweetest.
You love your friend Piper June, neighbor, Brooklyn, and Camryn. They are your favorites so far in life. We play dress up with Piper, play outside with Brooklyn, and have playdates with Camryn.
We are enjoying our small group this year with Capri, Charley, Owen, Jayden, Cayden, Bennett, Oliver, Ophelia, Clover, Josiah, and Brielle.
You have grown so much this year, you are truly your own person...determined, you love structure, you love being given responsibilities, you love helping others, you love doing bible study, you LOVE to perform. You are in swim lessons at Emler, and they just moved you up to the next class. You are in gymnastics and you seem to love it. You want to start dance, and we got you a real ballerina tutu leotard to wear to dance classes we are putting you into in the fall.
Our relationship has grown so much this year as you've watched mommy battle cancer. We talk about everything. We have cried together, hugged, cuddled, laughed, played, rejoiced, and prayed.
We really love living back in our house, spring break was a blast in Colorado, we are excited to head north for our summer vacation to Michigan in a month.
Today you woke at 6 am with pink balloons everywhere, you had pink roses and gifts on the kitchen table... from daddy and I you got dresses, supergirl panties, summer stickers, a ballerina tutu leotard, a pretty diffuser, athletic shorts. From Henley you got swim shoes and a rash guard for this summer. Nene got you a cute jumper and flip flops. Our neighbors, Jan and Al got you princess books. Then you had chocolate chip waffles with blueberries. Yaya came over and on our way to Sweet Berry Farm you got a chocolate "brossant" (your favorite), then we met your cousins, Crash and Jager at the farm. You jumped on the giant jumpy, went on a tractor ride, fed goats, said hello to horses, painted a flower pot and picked strawberries! It was so much fun. You were so excited to spend the day with your cousins, you all held hands and laughed so much today. We had lunch by the lake and Yaya brought you a special cupcake. Then we drove back into town and you went with mommy to get your nails done. You chose sparkly purple for your toes and sparkly gold for your fingers. It was beautiful. We looked at pictures of you in my belly and your birth-day and when you were so little. Then we came home to celebrate you being born at 4:43 pm. We played out front with our neighbors, Mr. Adam, Ms. Rachel, Brooklyn and Parks...ate popsicles, played on bikes. Then we went inside for family showers before your birthday dinner of corndogs, mac n cheese, green peas and blueberries. Then you had an ice cream cake with chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream and light pink icing that read, "Happy birthday Halen!" Then we played in the playroom and you got to fall asleep cuddling in mommy and daddy's bed. I think it was a pretty spectacular day my love bug. We have your ballerina birthday party on Saturday to celebrate too.
I love you my blueberry eyed baby girl. You are my darling, my star, my beloved sweetheart. Thank you for being my daughter, thank you for choosing me. I am so grateful to God for your presence in my life. I am looking forward to watching you grow, our talks and memories we will make this next year.
I love you more than every star in the Rocky Mountain sky and every grain of sand on the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Love,
Mommy
