A Letter to my Daughter on her Fourth Birthday

To my Aviendha,

Today, you turned four. Four years of life. You started out stubborn as all get out and things have not changed. There are a handful of things that you will stand solid on and not budge, no matter what the motivation for otherwise.

Our most recent battle has been with food. You have always been extremely picky with what you do and don’t want. In order to take you away from your strict diet of pepperoni (whether on pizza or otherwise), fruits, peanut butter and yogurt, we have had to put some restrictions at dinner time. If you don’t eat one bite of something from our plates and chew for 10 seconds, you won’t get tv for the next full 24 hours. Since we put this into place, you have yet to miss a day of tv. It’s amazing what we can do when finding the right motivation.

This spirit is amazing. It’s something I love because even when you are angry, you are still one of the sweetest little girls in the world. You do not hit. You may scream or shout, but if asked, you will take a deep breath and a break. You know that daddy gets headaches and if your fit has him around, you will stop almost instantaneously.

Your greatest joy comes when you are around babies. At least once a week, you say that you wish you could be a big sister. It hurts me just a little bit when I tell you no. When I say never, you reply with maybe someday. The eternal optimist.

Our new kitty Pumpkin has been such a great gift to our family. You are so happy with him! He loves sitting on your lap to snuggle with you. He puts up with you picking him up, brushing him, feeding him….he also keeps your bed warm and helps keep you in your bed at night.

We have been so blessed to have Suzanne in our house to help keep you in line. She has introduced us to BJs and their Tea Party fun:

We moved to a new house this past spring which allowed us to have Suzanne move in. It’s the fourth move you’ve had in your short life, but this is where we will most likely stay for a while. Letting you have your own bedroom and room for Suzanne and an office means we’ll be here for time. Plus, the pretty door handles make for some fun.

This year, we’ve also progressed to you sleeping in your own bed. Thanks to a “Brave Buddy”, you became strong and powerful to sleep in your bed in your own room. Most nights, you still end up in our bed, but you start out every evening in your own!

Your excitement for performing makes me happy. You do one thing and if we giggle or laugh, you will do it again and again and again.

Funny faces? Check. Great costumes? Double check.

I love you, my sweet baby girl. You are so amazing and make our lives better in every single way.

Run like the wind, my True Fairy Princess. Your entire life is ahead of you and it will be glorious!

Happy 4th Birthday, sweet Aviendha. I love you!

Hello Strangers

I don’t know if anyone is still here….but wanted to give an update!

Life is good. We are blessed for sure!

Ryan has been healing in ways that can only be judged as miraculous. We received an opportunity for him to get his blood tested at home instead of having to take him to the doctor each week. This is awesome, because even though we only live 5 minutes from the office, it’s difficult for him.

We are balancing out his blood thickness and that, along with a new migraine medication, it’s making a huge difference in his attitude and energy level.

Speaking of a huge difference, we have a friend that moved into our other bedroom. She has been such an amazing gift. Having someone home with Ryan all day is amazing. No worrying about how he is doing if not answering the phone. It’s amazing. She watches Avi at home 3 of 5 days during the week too, which is fantastic because Avi gets to play with her daddy. She’s going to the babysitter 2 days a week to give Ryan more of a break too.

I love the stories I get to hear that happen during the day. For example, Avi was obsessed with the Big Bad Wolf yesterday:

AVI: SUZANNE, the Big Bad Wolf put the tooth fairy in JAIL! That wasn’t nice of him.

SUZ: No, it wasn’t! Poor tooth fairy. She doesn’t deserve that.

AVI: No, but he DID IT. Because he’s BIG! He’s BAD! And he STOLE MY MAGIC WAND.

SUZ: What a mean old wolf!

AVI: We need to STOP him. The Big Nice Wolf couldn’t do it because the Big Bad Wolf hid from him and he couldn’t find him ANYWHERE.

SUZ: What a SNEAKY WOLF.

AVI: Hello! I’m a superhero!

SUZ: Oh thank GOODNESS you’re here, Superhero. Avi needs help getting her wand back from the evil Big Bad Wolf. I think she can do it, but she needs help from a superhero.

AVI: I can do it! *runs off to help Avi* TO THE RESCUE!!!

I love that I get to hear and see these special moments in my daughters life! These are stories that I wouldn’t get to hear otherwise. And that’s awesome.

Now, if you know me, you know I am far from a good cook. I can make pancakes and rice in a rice cooker correctly, but that is about it. Suzanne, on the other hand, loves cooking. This means we get to try recipes that I’ve always thought sounded good but didn’t ever have the energy to touch. The Kitchenaid mixer I won from The Pioneer Woman? Actually getting used now! We have fresh meals and baked goods!

It’s also given us the opportunity to start something else.

In October, we are going to be doing The Whole30. 30 days of a stricter version of Paleo. I think I’ll try to blog about it to see how it goes. But I’m excited to eat healthy. Both Suzanne and I on Monday had thoughts (completely separate) about eating healthier and how little energy we’ve been having. Bringing it up together was meant to be…it’s amazing how God can work even on the little things!

And just because I can, here are some of the more recent Instagram images of our lives:

What have you guys been up to?

Small Style :: Geek Chic

My styling daughter. Because when wearing Darth Vadar shirts, one must always accessorize with pink sparkly shoes, bracelet and a crown!

Small Style :: Nostalgic Minnie

My daughter is so in love with this dress. She will most definitely be sad when it’s too small.

It was mine when I was little. I remember wearing it when I was Avi’s age to a Disney on Ice event, sitting in the front row and being so excited when I got attention from the stars because of the dress.

It’s almost as if she knows it’s special.

That she gets so excited to wear it.

When she wears it, she lights up and loves showing it off.

She even wanted to tell Harvey alllll about it.

Plus, it looks so lovely spilling out in a circle when she plays on Harvey. The polka dots, the lace, the bow, the ruffles.

See more Small Style at Momma Loves Papa.

Hard Days

We move on Saturday.

Four days left.

Tonight, I’m suppose to be packing. Instead, I’m eating ice cream, watching Castle and drinking a glass of wine.

It’s been a rough day. Random things throughout the day, layer upon layer just being crappy.

Including learning that the book I preordered a while ago (the amazing Elizabeth Messina’s The Luminous Portrait) was going to be delivered next week….and if I changed the address so it would arrive to the new address, it would take even longer. So I canceled the order, figuring I’d just get it at Barnes and Noble on the way home. Yeah, Receiving didn’t even know which box they were in.

It helped. That I discovered she did the cover to Portland Bride & Groom. So I got to enjoy her images anyway!

Add into it the joy of being a woman and light food poisoning from the chili at Sweet Tomatoes, and I’m done.

So I’m taking a day off. Breathing and enjoying my daughter being in a good mood tonight, watching Dragon Tales quietly in her Minnie Mouse dress. The sounds of Ryan watching TV in the bedroom. Remembering the blessings I have in my life.

A great post by the amazing Kristen Kalp gives me permission!

I’ll see you tomorrow…when I’m in a better mood…