Happy Birthday Avrie!

Avrie turned 5 yesterday.  It is amazing. And scary.  I can't believe it has been 5 years already. I know it goes by so fast, but I still can't believe I am a mom to a 5 year old.  Avrie is amazing in so many ways and I love getting to know her. One of the things I love about having kids is the ever changing ebb and flow of their lives, but also the consistancy of their personalities.  I have pictures of Avrie painting at 9 months old, and she still loves to paint. The first thing she picked to do at preschool last week was paint...and of course she got paint on her, but she didn't care. I think a lot of people see Avrie as my princess...my girly girl, and while she loves to play dress up, she isn't really a girly-girl. She loves to get dirty in the sandbox and find worms in the garden. She loves to go camping with us and doesn't care if the lake is "dirty".  She does love a pretty dress and to put on jewelry, but she will wear that fancy outfit riding her bike outside, or playing with Quinn in the rocks.  I know I coudl go on forever about Avrie, or Quinn or Ella for that matter, but I guess I'm just trying to explain that just when someone tries to put Avrie in a box, she's got something else going on that doesn't fit in the box....like right now she is pretending her and Quinn are Luke and Laya (sp) from Star Wars...thank you daddy. 
  I'm excited to continue to watch Avrie grow and change, and to see who she is in another 5 years...and to see how tall she is. She is so tall and lanky right now, it's so cute. She'll probably hate it, but having 3 girls now I'm hoping I can really remember what it was like to grow up and try to relate to them as much as possible.  What an adventure it will be...

5 yr old Avrie

I took Avrie to get our nails done, and here are her super sparkly nails.

Isn't she beutiful!