I know its a bit over due on the blog posts lately --- but between pregnancy, my naughty 2 yo boy, and pure laziness I have skipped out.
I seriously cannot believe how fast time has flown. I remember the first time I looked at her --- head full of dark brown hair, perfect eyebrows, perfect lips, perfect everything. She was everything I had imagined and wanted. I am so grateful that she is mine. For 5 years I have had a little best friend and companion in Araleigh. Although I am the bad guy most times and daddy is the hero ---- I truly feel we will be close always. I love her so much and only want the best things for her. I want her to grow up knowing she is a daughter of God and is worthy of every opportunity. I find myself amazed all the time at her pure love for those around her and those she cares about. She truly knows our feelings and cares for us. Although, at times I have felt I have failed her . . . I want her to know that my love for her is deeper than anything I can ever imagine. I want her to know we are here and we love her more than anything else. I am trying my best to be the mother that I know I can be and to make sure that I am in tune to know what is best for my kids. Everyday she is so determined to learn. I find that she gets frustrated with herself for not knowing things--- such as reading. She gets so upset when she doesn't know how to do things that others do. I have a feeling this will be a good and bad thing for her in the future. But everything she has set her mind to learning, she has conquered. I have become truly protective of Araleigh and know that she is special.
Now that Araleigh is finally 5. This is a number she has been waiting for . . . why? Because thats when you go to the "big school" unfortunately for her -- she didn't make the cut off which she does NOT understand. I truly cannot believe I have had her in my life for 5 years. Times flies when you have kids. I have realized that she is a lot more like me than I thought . .. which sometimes is not the best thing for the two of us. We seem to fight a lot more than usual lately. Mostly because she has found her attitude and will only listen to her dad. And she will bluntly let me know that. "I ONLY listen to Dad." Is a frequent phrase in my house. BUT she is a girl and she is my first . . . so this is bound to happen. I love her so much and know that even though the next 13 years of her life will probably consist of ups and downs we will be best friends. I am so grateful for her innocent and soft heart. She loves everyone around her and I know wants the best for everyone. Right now she is really into Hello Kitty and doing her make up. She loves shoes . . . especially tying her own shoes. She gets smarter by the day and gets super sensitive and hard on herself when she doesn't know how to do something. She is a bit of a perfectionist in that she will try and try until she gets it right. This year for her birthday we had a great time! On her actual birthday Araleigh woke up to presents . . which she was so excited about. She got a new BIG girl bike (Canden was THRILLED to have her small one), she got roller blades that she LOVES, a barbie, and a doll head for her to do its hair. Then on Wed. night Araleigh got a suprise and my family all showed up at our door for the weekend to help celebrate her birthday. She was so excited. Then on Thursday we had her "friend" party at Chuck E Cheeses. It turned out really great. Everyone enjoyed themselves and Araleigh had so much fun between her cousins and her friends. We spent the rest of the weekend just spending time and playing with the family. . and in the end actually ended up driving home to Idaho with them for a week because of Cory having to go to Utah for work. She got a little too spoiled with friends and sleep overs every night that it was hard to kick her back into school mode with a schedule . . but now we are back to normal so everything it good.
