Lydia // 4 Years

My goodness, this is what happens when I completely neglect to care about my blog anymore. Happy birthday to my baby, 3 weeks late! Let the record show that I am also not going to be uploading pictures on here anymore, and I will also probably stop doing birthday posts for kids when they turn 10 for the sake of privacy and such. (So, Nicole's most recent birthday post will be her last.)

Lydia counted down to her birthday for weeks. She was eager to be old enough to have TWO gummy vitamins at breakfast time like her older siblings and regularly informs random people that she's four now. She wanted nothing more for her birthday dinner than plain pasta with cheese on it. We actually celebrated her birthday a day early because we were visiting my family in California (Jenna's homecoming) and we drove home on Lydia's actual birthday.

Lydia at age 4:

- Sings loudly and somewhat offkey (it's endearing)

- Loves wearing dress-up clothes in a way none of her siblings did. We're talking daily dress-ups here. Her regular pick is Elsa, but she will often wear Aurora as well.

- Will immediately approach anyone who has a dog and ask to pet it (she's *very* good about asking first.)

- Really wants to attend elementary school with her siblings and recites all the time how she'll be able to go to kindergarten once she turns 5

- Already a pro at navigating the elementary school, honestly, because we're there quite often for the volunteer work I do. The front office ladies all know her by name.

- Enjoyed her first year of dance class quite thoroughly, is currently loving summer dance camp, and looks forward to starting her next dance class in August (and possibly adding Acro into the mix!)

- Every time I did her hair for her dance concert rehearsals/performances, she'd say it was her "Zuko hair" because the top ponytail reminded her of Zuko's hair from season 1 of Avatar (You can tell from how novel this experience is for her that I don't put her hair up often)

- In true youngest child fashion, she desperately wants to do what her siblings are doing and gets sad when she's left out of activities or outings because she's not old enough yet

- Loves books, hooray!

- Quite skilled at solo play, partially out of necessity since she was the only child at home during this past school year

- She attended preschool two mornings a week and loved it, so we'll be upping the frequency to 3 times a week this coming school year

- A bit sassy. Telling her more than once to wash her hands or pick up her toys will often illicit a response such as: "Uuuuuugh, I KNOW, stop SAYING that!"

- If she's upset, she'll inform you: "I don't like you anymore." Ultimate insult, you know.

- If she could get away with only eating cheese, yogurt, pasta, and bread products, that would be all she would ever eat

- We went to Disneyland back in November 2024, and Lydia was juuuuuuuuust barely tall enough to get away with going on rides with a 40" height requirement IF she stood up as straight as possible. We managed to get her onto Radiator Springs Racers with us but failed the final height check for Rise of the Resistance. That one probably would have scared her a bit anyway, so it's for the best.

- I need to record this quote before I forget it. We arrived for pictures at our dance studio. The studio director saw Lydia and told her she looked so pretty in her costume. Lydia shrugged and said, "I'm just a girl." I sat there choking on my saliva and wondering how my preschooler learned popular social media vernacular that none of my other kids use.

- Loves to sneak a few too many treats to our cat

- If she spills water on her clothes she must change immediately

- Has learned how to play a couple little tunes on the piano with coaching from her siblings

- Requests the "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" theme song at bedtime every night

- Just barely started using a nightlight in her room. While we were in Fresno, the room she slept in had a nightlight. Her own bedroom has always been pitch-black and has never bothered her... but once we came home, she had nightmares 3 nights in a row. A nightlight fixed that issue!

- Loves pink

- Loves treats

- Loves our cat Ava

- Can unbuckle and buckle her own car seat, hallelujah (and is responsible about keeping it buckled)

- Recently got into Nicole's nail polish and thought it was lip gloss, so she emerged from Nicole's room with bright blue lips 0_0

- Has a favorite cashier at Costco that she looks for every time we're there. If he's working and his lane isn't too busy, she'll insist on getting in line for him. She thinks he's hilarious.

I don't think I'll every quite get over how each of her birthdays marks an "end" for me. I'll never have a 3-year-old again. Very bittersweet.

Lydia, we all love you so much! Here's to starting your 5th year of life!

Autumn // 6 Years

Our favorite little kindergartner has been 6 for a whole week already! It was her golden birthday, too. 6 years old on the 6th. Her top request for her birthday was her very own lightsaber, she picked out her favorite outfit to wear to school on her birthday, and she reminded me multiple times to make sure to pick up donuts to bring to her class or else her classmates would all be "very disappointed" in her.

Autumn at 6 years old:

- Still as strong-willed as ever

- Has the cutest laugh ever, honestly

- LOVES books and is progressing very quickly with learning to read.

- The initial adjustment to kindergarten was a little rough (as I've said, she's strong-willed and free-spirited and likes to do things on her own timetable) but now that she's adjusted, she's thriving at school.

- Has "sticky fingers" (especially when it comes to treats and books)

- Can hold her own in Mario Kart against her older siblings

- Sings loudly and enthusiastically at school and church, with a great mind for remembering lyrics

- Still has a list of people she regularly cycles around to at church. If you're lucky enough to make her list, good luck getting rid of her. She'll be attached to you for life.

- Now that I think about it, she really loves people. Really. She's an extrovert, for sure.

- Her tastebuds change as frequently as Utah weather in the spring (which is to say, several times a day, every day.)

- Loves her Acrobatics class, but just barely dropped her dance class after being in it for a solid 6 months. The teacher is new and has a rather strict teaching style that doesn't mesh well with Autumn's free spirit. We'll try dance again in the fall!

- She's giving soccer a second chance this spring, but only because one of her best friends is signing up with her. We'll see if she actually plays this time!

- Was brave enough to go on Rise of the Resistance when we took a trip to Disneyland back in November, and loved it so much that I immediately took her on it a second time as my rider swap buddy

- Frequently wears two jackets to school, mainly because the zipper on her winter coat broke, so she wears a second lighter jacket that she can zip up

- Uses the Tonie Box that Lydia got for Christmas just as much as Lydia does

- Loves chapstick (who doesn't?)

- Wants me to read Harry Potter to her, but I'm just not ready for that time commitment yet #ThirdChildProblems

- Turning out to be a night owl like her big sister

- Also is probably the lightest sleeper in the family, aside from possibly me

- Likes to put the stickers she collects on her bedroom wall. She just might be getting a sticker album in her Easter basket because mama doesn't like the sticker wall!

We love you so much, Tumble. (I hope she always lets me use that nickname because I love it. Or "Tum" at the very least.)

Nicole // 10 YEARS!!!

One whole decade.

She's been alive for one whole decade.

I've been a mom for one whole decade.

Nicole had some strong feelings about having to go to 2 hours of dance on her birthday (she's missed a handful of classes from a recent vacation and never made them up, so I told her she couldn't miss class on her birthday), and she was convinced it wouldn't be a great birthday because of that. Plot twist: she told me this evening that it was actually a great birthday. She had a good day at school, got to play a bit of Animal Crossing, was able to eat her favorite pizza before dance (Papa Murphy's) and got to go to a holiday party with her grandpa and siblings before coming home and opening her presents. I hit a bullseye with her presents, apparently.

A small note: I think that the age of 10 is where I might stop doing the blog birthday posts for each kid. As life gets busier and crazier, making blog posts just feels like another thing to do. We'll see if I even make it to the 10-year mark with the other 3 kids.

As always, pictures are... coming eventually. (Maybe pictures are the problem! Maybe I should just stop worrying about attaching pictures to my posts!)

Okay, let's talk about the birthday girl.

Nicole at 10 years old:

- Book worm, always. A new favorite series this year: Star Friends

- Constantly tumbling around the house. It seems like she can't go more than a few minutes without doing some kind of walkover or kickover or roundoff.

- Joined choir and orchestra at school this year and is proud of her natural musical ability. The teacher has had Nicole help lead her section in choir on more than one occasion when they were working on split-part songs.

- Has progressed to the Regionals round of the annual Reflections contest in the "Dance Choreography" category. We'll know by January 2nd if she gets to go on to the state level.

- Finally consented to *officially* learn how to ride a bike... and then promptly outgrew the bike we had on hand for her.

- Got her ears pierced a couple months ago! After claiming that she would never ever EVER get pierced, she noticed that most girls her age had pierced ears and decided that she wanted to after all. She was so nervous. We switched her earrings out for the first time this evening! I got her a variety of earrings for her birthday.

- Picky eater

- A true Hermione at heart. She loves to show off her knowledge, loves to answer questions correctly, loves books, loves to follow rules and let other people know when they're not following the rules or doing things correctly... to a fault, perhaps. She even has the social awkwardness of Hermione.

- Her laugh reminds me of a chipmunk or squirrel. Sorry if this embarrasses future-Nicole. I'm recording this here as a reminder for myself, just in case her laugh changes when she hits puberty.

- STILL insists on wearing jeans with dresses. Someday she's going to ask me "Mom, WHY didn't you stop me from doing that!" and I'm just going to laugh.

- Is finally showing interest in some self-care items (beyond bathing) such as brushing her own hair and learning how to put her hair in a ponytail. I never thought the day would come! She's getting better and better at it.

- Runs cold and has many blankets piled on her bed

- Has the BEST reactions when she comes through the door after school to see that I have put up new holiday decor for whatever holiday is coming up

- Watched all 9 films in the Skywalker Saga and has a mild obsession with Kylo Ren. Shortly after we finished those, we had her watch the first 3 Pirates of the Carribean movies. It's so fun to introduce these films to her, and she's been handling the content really well.

- My constant shadow in the evening when the rest of her siblings have gone to bed.

- Went to a birthday at a reptile house a few months ago. She entered the party with a healthy fear of snakes, and left the party obsessed with them and wanting a pet snake of her own. I told her she'd have to feed it live mice. That deterred her a bit.

- Her 4th grade teacher has two pet bearded dragons, and Nicole has earned a few different opportunities to hold one. This has only increased her newfound affinity towards reptiles.

- Has a tendency to prefer the morally grey, troubled, villain-leaning male characters in a book or movie. Draco Malfoy, Kylo Ren, Anakin Skywalker, Jareth the Goblin King... well, she IS my daughter.

- Such a night owl. It's ridiculous.

- We need to get this singer/dancer into a musical, stat! But WHEN?!

- Loading the dishwasher is her favorite kitchen job.

- Religiously feeds Ava dinner at 5:00 every day (unless she's gone, or Austin manages to beat her to it)

- Sure, she's 10, but she's still just a kid. She loves kid things. She loves to play with Barbies. She even spends plenty of time playing with her sister's Little People sets.

- She IS showing some interest in pre-teen stuff, though. Nail polish. Makeup. Hair. I'm just waiting for the fashion awareness to kick in (hopefully sooner than it did for me... so unfortunate haha)

- Yes, she likes Taylor Swift, but she loves movie and video game soundtracks more.

We love you, Nicole! I'm glad your birthday ended up being great.