News to Share

Our family is very much looking forward to hopefully starting 2018 on a much more positive note than we did 2017...

We've got another baby on the way.  And it's another baby girl at that!  The girls are so very excited, and talk about their baby sister everyday.  I have zero personal space as they are all constantly trying to 'hug and kiss' baby sister.  I plan to do a separate post about how this pregnancy has been in regards to the miscarriage, but for a now I'll answer a few of the regular questions I get...

When are you due?  January 21st!  My OB's office claims the 19th, but I'm pretty certain I didn't ovulate quite that early.  We'll see how early this baby gets herself kicked out, but it is pretty likely that she'll be a 2018 baby.

How did you find out the sex so early?  Early genetic testing, aka free cell DNA testing.  It isn't always covered by insurance for women under 35, and I couldn't get a clear answer on what our cost will be, but we haven't seen a bill yet.  Hoping it isn't more than $100-$200.

We're you trying for a boy?  Four kids has kind of always been my number.  After Thea was another girl we were hesitant to have a fourth, simply because four girls sounded slightly terrifying, but when it really came down to it we were happy to bring home a baby of either sex.  We won't keep having kids.  Four was our max.

Do you already have a name picked out?  Nope, feel free to leave suggestions.  :o)  Preferably not in the social security top 100 list, and nothing that starts with a B.

I have written a handful of pregnancy updates.  They are now posted, but back dated.  If you'd like to easily read through them, click pregnancy #5 in the sidebar.

Four kids, four girls, it is going to be quite the crazy ride.  But we're very much looking forward to bringing home another baby and praying for her safe arrival.  And I mean seriously, how much crazier could it get?

sixteen weeks | baby five

written August 6th
 
how far along:  16 weeks (compare to 16 weeks with Ryann, Elsie, and Thea)

size of baby:  Perhaps a dill pickle, but I feel like those can vary in size quite a bit.  I don't think the app has actual measurements on it which drives me nuts, because the older girls always want to know "but like really, how big is she mama?" 

weight gain: Last time I checked, which was earlier this week, it was +5 pounds.  But I also had a craving for bread and butter the last two days so.....  

maternity clothes:  I found my maternity shorts!  So yes.  Not fighting it anymore and enjoying letting my waist breathe again.

symptoms: Some headaches and tiredness, but overall not too much going on.  I do get some round ligament pain here and there.

exercise:  I've tried to do two videos a week, plus a daily walk or run.  Still nothing extensive, but moving none the less.  It has been hard when I wake up with headaches because bending over just makes my head throb.

cravings/aversions:  Fruit and bread with butter.

movement:  Not yet.  Last night I might have maybe possibly felt a tiny twinge, but I think I imagined it.  Or it was gas.  Who knows.  I'm hoping in the next two weeks I'll be able to really feel something!

sleep:  I've been falling asleep on the couch or in one of the kids beds and then waking up in the middle of the night.  Overall my sleep is ok, I just need to actually sleep in my bed.  And naps feel so good.  

gender:  Girl

looking forward to:  Our ultrasound, which is still like five or six weeks away.  Even though that doesn't guarantee this pregnancy will go to term, I think if we have a healthy report at the ultrasound I'll feel like I can really move forward with what we need to do to prepare for this little girl in our life.  It's going to be a bedroom shuffle around here.

worries:  Last night that I dreamed I was in the hospital to have a D&C.  I haven't really had any dreams about miscarriage or anything this pregnancy, so it caught me off guard and scared the hell out of me.  Thankfully I was able to find her heartbeat right away with the doppler, but it still just left me feeling a little vulnerable.

best moment this week:  On Friday I posted this picture on social media...

Honestly I had intended to share our news in my 14th week, because the belly was starting to take shape, but, it just felt scary to actually put it out there.  Despite several people already knowing.  I'm not ashamed or scared to talk about the pregnancy, or my miscarriage, but that doesn't mean it is easy to start either conversation either.  I've had a difficult time connecting to this pregnancy, despite truly wanting to embrace it.  I'm sure that is completely normal.  But I still feel so detached.  Putting it out there, it just makes the whole thing so real, and now I have to face it a little more head on.  I'm excited to be expecting, there is no doubt about that.  But I don't think I'll really truly relax until I'm holding my girl.

All that being said, the loving and warm responses I received definitely filled my cup, and I appreciate it so much.  So thank you, everyone, for showing myself and my family so much love.  The internet and social media can be a dark and evil place, where people feel as though they can say anything to anyone.  But it is also a community filled with loving and caring people.  Thank you thank you.

I did want to mention that I was also apprehensive about 'announcing' on social media, because I know it can be a trigger for people who have also dealt with miscarriage, or infertility, and many other things.  But for myself, personally, I would much rather come across an announcement on my social media channels than find out from someone in person.  I appreciated having the time to process and feel in my own way before having to have a conversation about someone's pregnancy face to face, whether it be with that person directly or in conversation with a friend.  I also wouldn't want anyone to cover up their joy and happiness, simply to protect my feelings.  Though it may be hard for some, every new life deserves to be celebrated.  If it is too tough to handle, look away.  Unfollow.  I absolutely don't blame you.

Again, thank you to everyone for your support.  It is very much felt and appreciated.

thea - twenty four months

Two.  She's TWO!  I can't believe you're already two Miss Thea.  Of course I can't remember life without you, and I certainly wouldn't want to go back to life without you.  You bring the family so much joy.  But man, how can you already be two-years-old?

I just... this kid is so damn cute.  I'm sure her older sisters were equally adorable, but Thea just gets to me in the best ways.  She is still my best cuddler, kisses my booboos, lovingly plays with my hair, and is just all around awesome.  Yes, she has her moments.  Often trying to get clothes on her is like trying to wrestle an alligator.  And her favorite past time is running into the pantry to steal food.  Should you come between her and her quest, watch out.  Definitely need to come up with a better pantry locking mechanism.  She has just plain ripped the knob cover straight off the door.

Despite Thea's absurdly picky eating habits, the girl is still growing like crazy.  She measured in at 35.5 inches (93rd percentile) and weighed 29lbs5oz (81st percentile).  Seriously, her doctor asked if she loved eating (well yes) because she is growing so well.  How she continues to get taller without getting wider is beyond me, the carb and chocolate fanatic.  Last night she hurled herself at my feet and cried "I just want choc-wit!" I fell ya girl, I really do.  This morning she was playing in her closet and wanted to try on all the shoes in one of the bins.  They are fall shoes, size six, which I was expecting her to wear in the next two months, but not a single freaking pair would squeeze on her chubby little feet.  She hasn't worn ANY of them! I know she is in opposite seasons as Ryann and Elsie, but I can't believe she just missed all of those. I need to pull out the 7's to see if we're going to have to invest in some new ones.  Which sounds ridiculous when you're on your third child of the same sex.  She is solidly in size 2 clothing, but size 3 pajamas certainly don't seem big.  I have a feeling we'll bust out of the 2's before I'm ready.

Thea has absolutely ZERO interest in potty training.  She still freaks out any time we attempt to sit her on the toilet. (Ok I swear I just have to start typing the crap in a post and then she has to prove me wrong before I post. I thought I'd finish this post last night, but didn't. Today she has willing sat on the toilet twice, even though she hasn't done anything.)  I ask her regularly if she wants to be a big girl and wear undies like her sisters and she pretty much just says nope.  One day she looked at me and said "I not a baby IN-eee MOWRE!" So I responded, "Not a baby? So you're going to be a big girl and wear underwear and sit on the potty seat?!?!?"  She pondered for a moment, "Ee-uh a baby.  I wear diapers."  Alrighty then.  She also excitedly took a nap on a toddler bed at my Aunt and Uncle's house over the 4th of July.  Went right to sleep and napped something like three hours.  I asked her if she wanted a bed like that at home.  "No, I sweep in my cwib."

In the sleep department things haven't changed much.  Thea is incredibly easy to put to bed which is great, and something I never could have imagined a year ago when I was still nursing her to sleep.  We read two books, since three very short songs, and into her crib she goes.  She almost never wakes up in the middle of the night.  There was one night last week that she was crying (in her sleep I'm pretty sure), and Chris and I just looked at each other like what on Earth do we do with that?  I haven't had to tend to her in the middle of the night since I don't even know when.  And she is still content to just play in her crib for an undetermined amount of time when she wakes up in the morning or from nap.  There was one day when she was singing and babbling to herself, and after about 15 minutes I finally realized she was standing up yelling "Mommy I need you!"  Whoops.  She had a super saggy wet diaper and wanted it off.  Lol.  She generally sleeps from 8pm until 5:45-6:15am, and naps from 1-4pm ish.  I've tried cutting her nap a bit shorter, but it hasn't seemed to make a huge difference in when she wakes up in the morning.  Sometimes she'll sleep until 7:30am and there is no correlation.  So we'll just roll with it.

Though her speech can still be incredibly hard to understand, she is stringing together pretty mature sentences.  I've counted 7-8 words in a row, and really she can hold a conversation, you just have to be patient.  The words do not come out in a fluid manner, her phrases are very staccato in delivery.  And really sometimes I just don't have a freaking clue what she is saying.  For the most part she doesn't get upset about it though.  If it is something she can show me, she will tell me such, and direct me to whatever it is she is wanting, or trying to tell me about.  Or if it wasn't important, eventually she just gives up and moves on.  Sorry kid!  Some of my favorite phrases as of late are, "Come on, let's do it!"  and "I no want to do dat!", mostly because I can appreciate the fact that she can verbalize her likes and dislikes.  She still throws incredible fits but she CAN use her words, especially if she is reminded to do so.  And I still have a soft spot for her "Why you do dat?"  I tend to use it with everyone in the family now, if they do something they shouldn't have.  And a cute little conversation we had the other day...

Thea:  "Where Dada go?"
Me:  "Daddy had to go to work."
Thea:  "I wuv Daddy."
Me:  "Daddy loves you too girlie."
Thea:  "Daddy wuv mama too!"

She occasionally tries to sing the alphabet, but just repeats a few letters over and over again.  She can count to 13, but almost always skips 5 and 10.  I think part of it is out of spite now, we correct her so often that I'm pretty sure she does it on purpose just to get a reaction.  Her listening ears at dance class have improved.  She is still often the ring leader of the not following directions club, but I can tell she gets enjoyment out of the songs and movements we do every week, and mostly just loses focus when we have to stand in a line and do things one at at time.  Then she is hanging off the ballet bars like a monkey.  I'm not sure we'll go every week throughout the school year, but thankfully her class would be during the same time that Elsie is in class, so it is something we can easily do frequently.

Yellow and purple are still her preferred colors.  She is obsessed with the Disney princesses.  We got her several little figurines that we found in the check-out aisles at Walmart for her birthday, and she carries around a ziploc bag with them on the regular.  Actually one day she woke up from nap in tears and when I asked her why she was crying she said "I want my pwincesses!"  Haha.  Elsa and Anna remain the favorites, and we are now the proud owners of several Elsa dolls.  Thanks friends, she is loving it.  The day after Thea's birthday, my parents took the girls to the Toy Store because there were going to be some princess actresses there.  My mom said Thea absolutely lost her mind freaking out when she spotted Anna.  Her excitement over things is just the best.  Ariel is her next favorite, and then Belle.  Everyone else is just icing on the cake.

She says Elsie is her best buddy, but she really loves both her sisters and always wants to know what they are doing.  Of course she is learning to fight back more and more when they take her toys, and has ripped out several chunks of Elsie's hair (karma).  But she loves to hug tackle them to the ground and wrestle them and just play with them all the time.  She gets sad when they go places and we're home by ourselves.  "Where Ryann and El-ee go? I want dem come home and pway wit me."

Thea girl, despite our rough start and what seemed like months of endless screaming, I wouldn't change these last two years for anything.  I love you so much and I'm so grateful that God chose me to be your mommy.  I LOVE YOU.

bow | bracelets | shirt

fourteen weeks | baby five

written July 25th

The cat is officially out of the bag as far as friends and family go.  We told the girls about the pregnancy and let them do a little gender reveal while we were in Georgia.  They were all so excited it made me happy.  And no one complained a bit about it being another girl.  One of the first things Elsie said to me was "The baby is going to drink milk out of your BODY." Yes, yes child, that is the plan.  I just thought it was cute that her mind went there right away.

I know that Thea doesn't really understand what is going on.  But even the night after we told them, when I was putting her to bed, she looked up at me completely unprompted and said "I gonna have a baby sister!"  And she has continued to say it at random times since.  At first she thought the baby was in her belly, but she has since stopped saying that.  She still gets so excited when she sees babies out in public, and wants to hold them all, so I can't wait to see her as a big sister.  But imaging her not being the baby is really hard as well.  Actually one of Elsie's friends looked at me and said "You're going to have TWO babies!" Initially I told her no no no, just one.  But then I realized she still counts Thea as a baby.  So yes, I'll have two babies.  :o)

I had a basic OB appointment on July 17th.  We could hear a strong heart beat and there aren't any other issues at the moment, so my next appointment is mid August at just shy of 18 weeks.
 
how far along:  14 weeks 2 days (compare to 14 weeks with Ryann, Elsie, and Thea)

size of baby:  A brilliant beat?  Ok Ovia app, whatever you say. 

weight gain:  I don't want to talk about it.  I don't even know today.  Probably something like +6 pounds.  Looking at those posts above I was clearly in MUCH better shape when I was pregnant with Elsie and Thea.  I'm trying not to dwell though, and keep moving, and know that after this baby (and when I'm done nursing) my body will belong to me and I have the rest of my life to be fit.  Not that I'm going to sit on the couch for the next six months or anything, but I'm not stressing. 

maternity clothes:  Still have no idea where my maternity shorts are.  My regular ones are uncomfortable, even my workout pants are kind of uncomfortable around my waist.  Loose elastic shorts or yoga pants are the only things I want to wear.  I'm ready for fall weather simply so I can bust out all my maternity jeans.

symptoms: Overall the symptoms are much much better.   I had a crappy couple days over the weekend (including a bout of dry heaving), but if I stay on top of Tylenol my headaches don't get too bad.

exercise:  I've gotten myself to do two videos on Beachbody on Demand, and gone running a few times thrown in there as well.  But mostly just walking.

cravings/aversions:  My preference is fruit, salads, and peanut M&Ms.  Heavy stuff just usually ends up making me feel sick, but I wind up eating it anyway.  Because I'm a glutton for punishment?  I don't know.

movement:  No, but we can hear her wiggling around like crazy on the doppler.

sleep:  If I fall asleep in my bed then I usually stay asleep, waking up once to pee.  But for the most part I haven't been awake in the middle of the night which is nice.  I have woken up with a headache several times, annoying.  

gender:  Girl

looking forward to: An ultrasound.  Trying to convince Christopher to bring a portable machine home because my ultrasound won't be until 22 weeks.  And movement.  Very ready to feel movement.

worries:  Too many to list, but they aren't making my anxiety flare too much so whatever.

best moment this week: We let the girls listen to the heartbeat on the doppler and the way their little faces lit up the moment they heard it nearly made me cry.  They were both in awe (Thea didn't really care).  And of course then we had to listen to all of their hearts with the doppler to hear the difference.  That was kind of fun.

thea - twenty three months

 Here we are.  Less than a month from two.  And Thea's current personality definitely shows it.  HA!

Miss Thea can definitely be a sour patch kid sometimes.  She is THE absolute sweetest little girl.  I get so many hugs and kisses and I love yous, and she can still be a great cuddler.  But my word if that child doesn't get her way be prepared to feel her wrath.  She is stubborn and headstrong and knows what she wants.  And can throw a tantrum like the best of them!

She is fully in size 2T clothing, which the exception of a few 18-24 month items that I still liked and couldn't quite convince myself to put away yet.  She is wearing size 5 diapers and between a 5-6 shoe.  Still no 2 year molars, though her hands are shoved in her mouth all the time.  I'm sure there really is no connection there but I'll just keep pretending.  Thea is great at going to sleep for nap and bed, and I can't remember the last time she has woken up in the night, but her definition of morning and my definition of morning are sometimes not the same.  She has regularly been up in her crib around 5:30am (just like her early bird sisters, weird), but she rarely ever gets up set/calls out to us or anything.  She just plays with her baby dolls and stuffed animals until someone comes in to get her.  I'm sure the early morning wake ups have nothing to do with the fact that she can easily nap three hours a day.  I have to wake her up at least 3 times a week, if not more.

It is funny that Thea stays in her crib so happily, because that girl can definitely climb out.  I'm not sure what to do with that.  The other day I put her in her crib for a time out as a last ditch effort to try and get her to cooperate with something, and she just immediately swung her legs over the top and climbed down like it was no big deal and she does it all the time.  She is such a dang good little climber.  We have some book ledges in the playroom, and she climbed to the top one, and then without her feet touching the shelves, came back down cliff hanger style, just walking her hands to the next shelf.  I was baffled.  I tried to hide some stuff she wasn't supposed to have on top of the 8 cube ikea shelf, and she just scaled the damn thing.

Thea also believes she can jump off of anything.  It still baffles me, as Ryann seemed basically incapable of jumping until after she was three years old.  Whereas Thea has been getting air for who knows how long, and has no fear when it comes to taking a flying leap off a random piece of furniture.  I want to try and curb the habit, but I also get tired of pulling her off of stuff nine million times a day.  So I guess we're going the natural life lessons route, and hoping that if she totally bites it that maybe she'll reconsider the next time.  But she probably won't.

Thea's vocabulary is HUGE (enunciation can still be rough) and sometimes her conversations and phrases are just so damn funny.

Discussing going out on the boat for fireworks...
Me (to Christopher):  "Maybe you should just stay here and put Thea to bed and I'll go out on the boat with the big girls."
Chris:  "Yeah, not a bad plan."
Thea:  "I want go on da boat.  BYE! I weaving you!"

Thea:  upset at lunch time "Want squeeze pouch!"
Me:  "You want a squeeze pouch?"
Thea:  sobbing "Yeah!"
Me:  "I'm putting one on your plate for lunch, ok?"
Thea:  still sniffling "Otay."
Me:  "And some apple AND some chicken nuggets!  Deal?"
Thea:  sobbing again "No deal!"

Meal times with her pretty much suck.  She likes squeeze pouches and blueberries reliably.  And sweets.  Definitely sweets.  Everything else, well your guess is as good as mine.  I mean I can almost guarantee she won't eat grilled meat or any vegetable.  For some reason she also dislikes mango (what is wrong with you child?!?!?!)  But these days even mac 'n cheese is hit or miss.  I truly, truly thought I couldn't get a child pickier than Ryann.  I was wrong.  So I guess we'll just feed her a steady diet of squeeze pouches and hope for the best.

I pulled little miss I only do what I want from gymnastics after three classes.  Stubborn Sally did not want to do anything that was requested of her, and I couldn't deal.  One of the coaches tried to give me the 'eventually they get better at following directions' speech, but yeah, no thanks.  We'll try again in a few months.  Dance is also kind of an absolute disaster, but slightly less so, and I preferred it over gymnastics, so we'll keep that up for now.  It's only mildly (horribly) embarrassing chasing her all over the room trying to convince her to participate when pretty much everyone else is sitting and doing what they're supposed to and managing to wait in line and take turns, etc.  Come on Thea, give your mama a break!  She's lucky that she is dang cute in a leotard and I enjoy seeing my friends.  :)

Yellow still seems to be Thea's favorite color, followed by purple, I think.  She is in love with all the Disney princesses, and thinks Belle's yellow dress is so pretty.  She recently told me she wanted to have an 'Elsa, Anna, No-man' birthday party, unfortunately I've already been planning an ice cream one!  Mermaids also rank high on her love list, my little girly girl.  And babies, real and fake, still make her little heart happy.  She hugs and kisses all the babies she sees on instagram with me.

Love you sweet girl!!

twelve weeks | baby five

I haven't been taking pictures mostly because I didn't have a plan or a cute/easy spot to do it in.  But that is lame so bathroom selfie it is. Apparently 5th pregnancy = BELLY

written July 9th

It's been a few weeks, and quite a bit has happened.  Let's see if I can remember every thing I wanted to write down...

I found out one of my best friends who experienced a miscarriage shorty before I did is also pregnant, due just a few days after I am.  I am thrilled for her, and hope that we both have uneventful pregnancies and kiddos who are born around the same time.

I had another appointment with my OB on June 26th.  She was able to easily find the heart beat, and said it sounded wonderful.  In her opinion the pregnancy seems to be progressing without issue, but I still know that doesn't really mean a lot.  But for now, I'll continue to try and take comfort in her confidence.  I've been able to hear the heart beat on my own doppler almost daily since finding it at nine weeks.  I feel slightly neurotic, needing to hear it so often, but at the same time I know it is keeping my overall anxiety at bay.  So until I can feel movement I think I'll continue to listen every other day at minimum.

At about the 10.5 week mark I was standing in the kitchen looking at something on my phone.  Ryann asked me, "Mom, are you standing funny?"  Realizing that I was not sucking in my slightly protruding belly at all I said, "Oh, um, probably," and straightened up.  She notably paused with a slightly defeated look on her face, then said "maybe by Christmas time there will be another baby in your belly."  I hate 'lying' to her, omitting the truth, but I am so scared to hurt her again.  Kids are tough, but I know she still thinks about the loss and her baby sister she didn't get to meet from time to time, and I don't want to put her through that again.

Our early genetic testing came back.  Baby is low risk for genetic abnormalities, and with no surprise to anyone at all, is female.  Another sweet baby girl is growing in my belly.  Part of my heart aches for the son we will never have, and the other part is overflowing with love for our all girl tribe.  Half of me is sad to not have a good excuse to do some baby clothes shopping, and the other half is grateful that my hair bow obsession can continue on with another baby girl.  :)  We haven't really told anyone the sex of the baby.  We plan to share the news with my parents and the girls at the end of the week, and I'm sure my mom will go crazy when she finds out we've known for almost two weeks at that point!

Lastly, as of today I have passed my loss milestone.  Only by a day.  And by no means do I feel confident that we will have a positive outcome, but I think every day will add more hope.  At least I really hope it will.  I yearn to be blissfully pregnant, and not mentally correcting anyone who says something about when this baby is born to if this baby is born.
 
how far along:  12 weeks (compare to 12 weeks with Elsie, 12 weeks with Thea)

size of baby:  A ripe apricot, about 2 inches long. She has started developing reflexes and is practicing breathing.  Her kidneys have also begun to function.

weight gain:  +3 pounds.  I'm guessing any way.  Last I checked it was almost two, and my appetite has been a whole lot better over the last week or so.  Yikes. 

maternity clothes:  No, but some bottoms are really starting to get uncomfortable around my waist.  I can't find my maternity shorts, so I'm just wearing pajamas as much as possible.  Which I'd probably do anyway.  Lol.

symptoms: Much less queasy than I have been, but it is still there from time to time.  Most often I'm dealing with fatigue and headaches.  I'm trying to take tylenol somewhat regularly to try and keep them at bay.  Overall I still feel much less sick than I did with the miscarriage.

exercise:  I've been horrible with exercise and I feel pretty guilty about it.  I still average just over 10,000 steps a day, but I've barely been running and all strength training has pretty much gone out the window.  I've had little humans awake with me bright and early most mornings, so the easiest thing to do is fill up a snack cup and stick them in the stroller.  If Thea were a little more trustworthy I feel like I could do a video with her around, butttt I'm not in to stopping over and over and over again to pull her off of stuff.

cravings/aversions:  While my appetite is back, I still mostly just want fruit.  Water is hard to choke down and anything too heavy leaves me with a nasty taste in my mouth.  If someone could make me fancy delicious salads all the time I'd very much appreciate it.

movement:  nope.

sleep:  I've been awake in the middle of the night more often, but I think that has more to do with the fact that I'm falling asleep at 8pm, and have gotten several hours of sleep by 2am.  Occasionally I'll take half a unisom so I can sleep straight thru, but for the most part I'm just dealing with it.  

gender:  Per the usual I have no sixth sense on this stuff.  It's a girl!

looking forward to:  Feeling movement.  I'm still struggling to connect with the pregnancy, no matter how much I want to.  I think actually feeling the life inside me will help.

worries:  That we'll share the pregnancy with the girls and suffer a loss shortly after.

best moment this week: Finding out that we're having another girl!  And that the risk of genetic abnormalities are low.

thea - twenty two months

Going to try and keep this pretty short and sweet since the kid is just about 23 months old anyway!  Also Miss Thea was not at all into pictures the day I took them.  So whatever.  Can't believe I'm so close to being done with her monthly updates!

Thea is starting to seem so much older.  She understands almost everything we say or ask of her, she still refuses help most of the time ("Ee-uh do it! No help!"), and she finally has some legit hair going on!  She tries to count to eleven, but usually skips a couple of numbers in there.  She does pretty good with colors (yellow is still her favorite), and can recognize a circle and a triangle.  A lot of people have been saying she speaks really well for her age, and while I'll argue that it is still tough to understand her, her vocabulary is huge and she isn't afraid to use it.  A recent exchange between the two of us:

Thea:  "What is dat noise mommy?"
Me:  "It's the washing machine."
Thea:  "Oh.  O-tay.  I go check it out.  What's happening.  Tum on Mommy!"

And recently when she is ticked at me, or unhappy with something I won't let her do, she says "Why you do dat Mommy?"  I can't help but laugh.

She is quite the spit fire, rather determined, and a girl who knows what she wants.  But when she wants to be a lover, oh man, her cuddles can't be beat.  She has wonderful manners (for the most part), almost always using please and thank you.  She says excuse me, an tells me bless you when I sneeze.  And throws out a sorry and a little kiss if she bumps into someone.  Thea also kisses any scratches or bruises she notices on me.  It is adorable (except when she was trying to kiss this blisters on my feet, lol).  She has better listening ears when I call her puppy or Moana.  She wants to be like the big kids, unless I tell her something is for babies.  Then she says "Ee-uh da baby!"

We started gymnastics and dance this month.  Both are parent tot classes, and in both she doesn't really give a damn want she is supposed to be doing.  She is just there to be crazy and have a good time.  Ha.  I definitely get in my workout trying to get her to stay on task.  But at the end of class she is so proud of her stamp and can't want to show it to her sisters.

She is no longer the sleep champion in our house.  She had a good run for a month, sleeping until 7 or 7:30am every day.  Now we're lucky if she sleeps until 6am.  In her defense the so called black out shades in her room don't really block the light.  But often she is up before the sun.  With no rhyme or reason that I can figure out.  She still takes a 2-3 hour nap daily, so it's possible that she is napping too much?  Maybe?  I have no idea.  She's a picky eater 100%.  She loves Moana, and Frozen.  She seems to have a thing for mermaids, and still loves baby dolls.  And real babies too.

Thea girl, I love you so much.  You make me smile every day, and I can't get enough of just watching you play.  You're growing up way too fast, but it sure is a treasure to witness.