High Five for our Big 5-Year Older Whitlee May

My baby turned 5 and I can't stop bawling when I think about her abandoning me for Kindergarten!

My baby girl was born on April Fools Day, so she is our little fool baby and we have to play a few tricks on her every year.

Bronson added some blue food coloring to our milk and Ian took it one step further by adding vinegar, which made it separate and curdle.... fun.

This year the kids also thought it would be funny to wrap an empty box of crackers and give it to her as a gift in the morning.

I thought she would be upset, but she was just like, "Hmm, cool a box."

Since she was such a good sport, we let her follow it up with some real gifts from her siblings.  Charlotte gave her a Light Bright.  I am so glad that Light Brights came back from my childhood.  We have all had a lot of fun with that Light Bright.

Whitlee ended up with some nice prizes... a Barbie fishing pole, a Barbie boat, a Princess puzzle, some sidewalk chalk, stuffed animal, a necklace, and some bubbles.

While the kids were at school, Whitlee and Josie and I decided to play some April Fools tricks of our own.  And the girls made some fake hamburgers out of Nilla Wafers and Chocolate Cookies and some fake french fries with yellow peppers.

Whitlee is really into Barbies right now, so when she saw a Barbie cake on Pinterest, she knew that was the cake for her.  Here is what we came up with:

Barbie was a good sport and held the candles for us, however when the kids couldn't get the matches to work, I pulled out the torch and accidentally melted some of Barbie's hair... whoops!

Ten Things We Love About Whitlee:

1. This girl lives for snuggling.  At least once or twice a day she trails me around the house with a blanket asking if it is time for a snuggle.  I LOVE it.  I love that this little girl makes me slow down and breath her in.  I love that she isn't too old to cuddle and play with me.  I wish I could put a pause button on our snuggle sessions and live it forever.

2. Whitlee has a twin sister named Josie.  We have been watching Josie every weekday for the last 3 years and these girls think they are sisters.  They can't wait to start the day every day because they just love playing together so much.  Whitlee has been so blessed to have never been bored a day in her life.

3. Barbies, Babies, Tea Parties and Princesses, every day all day long.  These are the four main categories of play with the girls and it is so hilarious to watch them and listen to their story lines.  They really are so creative.  Just today they were pretending to be moms taking their babies for a ride on a Ferris Wheel.  So cute!

4. Just like any other 5-year old girl in this decade, Whitlee is enamored with Unicorns and Mermaids.  Josie gave her a giant stuffed unicorn for Christmas and some Mermaid Barbies for her birthday.  She also has several unicorn shirts and pajamas, and just got a mermaid swimming suit with a mermaid tail!  When she blew out her birthday candles, she wished she could have a unicorn.

5. Whitlee is in her second year of gymnastics and she absolutely loves it!  She has mastered her splits and will demonstrate them for anyone who will watch her.  She has also learned how to do a cartwheel with STRAIGHT legs.  Her back bends are phenomenal and she can even walk herself down the wall into a back bend.

6. She is 100% a daddy's girl.  If daddy is home, she wants to be on his lap, driving the truck with him, and sneaking into bed to snuggle him in the morning.  She will always pick dad over mom and sometimes we have to pretend fight over who is daddy's favorite girl.  Needless to say she is quite spoiled, which she likes to rub in the faces of the kids.  The other day they asked her to do something, which she refused and said, "I don't have to, I'm SPOILED!"  When the kids relayed this story to us, she started to bawl and said, "Don't tell Dad the bad things I do!!"

7. She is hugely into tattling right now.  She loves to tell Mom and Dad every bad thing that all of the kids did and she has a loooong memory and can tell us things that happened from days ago.  However, if the tables are ever turned and she gets tattled on, she comes undone.

8. Her favorite food is Mac and Cheese.  It is what she requested for her birthday dinner and she would eat it every day if I let her.

9. Whitlee also has a very amazing sense of humor.  She is a big tease and is very mature in her humor.  She can also make the funniest faces I have ever seen and she can make at least 100 different faces. 

10.  This girl can't wait for Kindergarten!!  She is constantly asking me how many more days until she can go.  She loved going to Kindergarten registration and was even very brave when she got her Kindergarten shots.  She has been working very hard at preschool and has even started reading and spelling simple words.  While I can't wait to let her go embark on this new challenge that I know she will love, my heart is breaking.  Zac once said when the twins started Kindergarten that it is just one blink from Kindergarten to Senior year and he wasn't far off!  I remember those two starting Kindergarten so vividly and now they are finishing off their Freshman year.  I really need that pause button!

Love you Whitlee May, Happy Birthday!