All About Baylie

Today was Baylie's fifth birthday. She has been waiting FOREVER to turn five (or at least for 4 1/2 years). She has been talking about this day ever since her last birthday. I put her presents out a week ago so that she had to look at them and live with the anticipation. (This may sound cruel, but my mom did it to me, so I do it to my kids.)

Jalen woke up at 5:00 a.m. (as usual) and found Baylie's new kitchen. (Thanks to the Mousers for the hand me down.) He was so excited to play with it, but I wouldn't let him until Baylie had seen it. So, he woke her up! They had a blast playing with it all day long. We had plastic food everywhere.

Next we headed to Music Makers where Baylie danced, 

and danced (with ribbons),

and danced (with instruments).

And Jalen played the xylophone.

She had a great time with many of her closest friends.

She shared cupcakes with them.

Photo by Baylie.

Sprinkles by Baylie.

Our next stop was dance class. Baylie LOVES her dance class. She is a great little dancer. Today was especially fun because her daddy left school early so he could watch. She kept looking for him and was so excited when he made it. 

She shared cupcakes with her dance friends too. (Jalen smashed a bunch of them for some inexplicable reason.)

Next we went home and she FINALLY got to open her presents.

I should note that she totally posed for this photo. She is always aware of the photo opportunities around her.

Jalen was overcome by the generosity and gifts bestowed upon his sister.

Daddy and Baylie played with her new Polly Pockets. 

Baylie requested pizza for her birthday dinner. She did not want homemade pizza. She wanted "somebody else to make it."

Her cake. I thought it would be the easiest cake ever. It probably is, but I am not historically known for my cooking prowess. She like it, and that's all that really matters.

We added a Tinkerbell candle.

Jalen recovered enough to join us for the cake and ice cream.

Baylie is truly a joy to have in our home. She is bright and witty. She is a hard worker and a good sister. She tries so hard to make good choices. I often catch myself looking at her and feeling amazed that she is my child.

I will never forget standing in line at Kohl's and sobbing as I read the text that said, "Congratulations, it's a girl." I know that's not how most moms learn about their daughters, but it was heaven on Earth for me.

Note: Baylie was given the choice of having a real birthday party or going to visit her cousins in Las Vegas. She chose Las Vegas, so we're going there in April.

Birthday Funnies

• Jalen's bedtime prayer: "Bless Santa to come safely so Baylie can open her presents."
• Baylie's bedtime prayer: "Help me to have a good day tomorrow and bless it to be a glorious day."
• Today, I gave Baylie permission to do something and she instructed, "Say, 'Go ahead 5-year-old.'."
• When I told her to stay close to me in the parking lot, she asked, "Do I have to stay close to you even though I'm five now?"
• Overheard while Baylie and her dad were playing with her new Polly Pockets: "Dad, can we just do what I want to do?" (It's hard when Dad tries to control the Polly Pocket activities.)
• Baylie: "I'm so tired I could throw up."
• (correction added due to her daddy's update below)
  Kristin: "Do you remember living in Utah?"
  Baylie: Blank response
  Kristin: "Do you remember the friends you had? Talei and Phoebe, and Cypress?"
  Baylie: "Oh! Yeah, and Asher." (Her cousin.) "We would always share secrets:" (cupping her hands to her mouth) "Goo goo ga ga."
• The morning after her birthday she was laying in my bed when she stretched and then kicked her feet while shouting, "I'm five! I'm five! I'm five!"

Crime and Punishment

Time it took me to do Baylie's hair: approximately 14 hours

Time it took Jalen to cut off one of Baylie's twists: approximately 1.5 seconds

Jalen is spending the morning in solitary confinement for his own protection.

Did I mention that I used the very last strand of yarn when I did Baylie's hair the first time? She is now sporting a trendy blue strand.

When I asked Jalen why he did it, he replied that he was just trying to help.

Adventures in Batcherland

Today the kids ran in and asked for my help getting J.J.'s bike unstuck. This is what I found. What the heck?? Apparently he was planning on riding down the slide.

Thank goodness he was wearing a helmet.

Yesterday was a hair day around here. Baylie has been begging for extensions again, so we did them for her birthday next week and matched the colors for her Easter outfit. Her own hair is getting so long. It ends just above where the beads start in most places.

As I was doing her hair, I was reminded of the night I spent hours braiding my mission companion's hair in Argentina 23 years ago. (I've been thinking of Argentina a lot since the new pope is from there.) Little did I know way back then that braiding would become a major part of my life.

This is the final look from the back.

Good one of her, not of him.

Good one of him, not of her.

As good as it's going to get. I sure love these kids!

Pirate of Pantsless

Jalen loves everything having to do with pirates. This was the getup he put together today: lady pirate hat, weightlifting gloves, pink boots with fringe and Cars jammies. Pretty styling.

This is him flexing his muscles.

And this is him really flexing his muscles.

Jalen is such a cute, fun little boy. I love him so much. (I should note that I wasn't feeling the love so much earlier today when he mooned a soccer teammate.) He definitely makes life interesting!

Love at Home

I have fond memories of my parents reading to us before we went to bed each night. I don't remember all the books (except for Anne of Green Gables - where Baylie gets her middle name), but I remember loving hearing their voices as they read to us.

I also remember my dad wrestling with my brothers on the floor, usually until someone ended up crying. I'm so grateful to be married to a man that wrestles and reads with our children (and in our house, it's usually Jalen that ends up crying).

I love my little family. Today I feel very blessed.

Love of the Game (or at least the post-game snack)

Today was the first game of this soccer season. It was pretty cold, so I had the kids wear sweats under their uniforms. This season, Jalen is playing too. He was enthralled with the idea of playing soccer. When it came to the actual playing, not so much.

Warming Up

Baylie got right back into the swing of things and was gung ho from the beginning. She scored at least two goals (I missed some of the game due to issues mentioned below), one of which was after she dribbled the ball almost all the way down the field.  

Jalen stuck with it through the first few minutes of warm ups.

But soon he was entertaining himself in other ways.

Perhaps he'll be a goalie.

When it actually came time for him to go into the game, he slumped his shoulders, ducked his head and shuffled onto the field. One time when I finally got him excited to go in, he got in the middle of a pack of kids who were bumping and pushing. He tipped back his head and let forth an angry scream. He continued to scream all the way as he ran off the field. I was so proud. (I was actually laughing my head off and wish I had it on video.)

If you look closely, this is one dejected little boy.

Both Jalen and Baylie enjoy the post-game tunnel run.

Baylie is in red because we had way more players than the other team, so we lent them a couple.

Jalen was devastated to learn that his parents have a philosophy that only kids who play in the game get to have a post-game snack. Despite the fact that we told him this over and over, I don't think he realized he'd actually face the consequence. (I'm probably the meanest soccer mom ever.) After we got home, I had a heart to heart with Jalen about our future Heisman plans and how soccer is just a step on the long road to that ultimate goal. We set some goals and I'm sure he'll be refocused next week. (Actually, I'm hoping he'll play for the snack.)