Happy 6th Birthday, Kendall!

How in the world is our biggest girl six years old?! It just doesn't seem possible. A lot has happened in six years, and we have absolutely loved watching Kendall grow, change, and learn so many things. She is so precious to us and we fall more in love with her every day.

This has been such a big year for Kendall - becoming a big sister again, and starting Kindergarten. We think that this is probably the year she has changed the most, gotten more and more brave, learned to read (!), pushed herself past her shyness around new people to make new friends, and stepped up to be such a big helper with the two little girls at home. Kendall, we couldn't be more proud of you and we are honored and humbled that God chose us to be your parents.

Kendall's birthday was on a Tuesday this year, which meant school during the day and small group for us that night. We still were able to do lots of fun things to celebrate her actual birthday, and then we kept planning for her big party this past weekend.

When I woke Kendall up that morning, I said, "Hey baby! Wake up! It's your birthday and we need to get ready for school so you can celebrate your birthday there!" She rolled over and, half asleep, said, "Mom, when I was four one time, you told me that when I was six I could watch Squange Bob." And sure enough, back when she was little, I had told her that no, she couldn't watch Sponge Bob (or Squange Bob as she says it), because she was too young but that she probably could when she was like six or something. It cracked us up that she had remembered that and that that was the first thing she said on her birthday, even half asleep. We have all year to make good on that promise. :)

Randy went to lunch with Kendall at school on Monday because he wasn't going to be able to go on Tuesday. Cooper and Calli were in school Tuesday, so I was able to go to lunch with her by myself, and that was fun! I brought cupcakes for her and me to eat. I love her sweet, goofy friend Emily!

Funny story about lunch: We made Kendall's birthday party invitations and put "No presents please" on them, because we knew she would be getting presents from her grandparents, aunts, and cousins, and we just wanted her friends to come to the party and celebrate with us and not worry about bringing a gift. We didn't tell Kendal we wrote that. Well, at lunch, one of her friends that got an invitation in the mail said, "Mrs. Ashley, why did you write 'no presents please' on the invitation?" Kendall turned to me and said, "WHHHHHHAAAATTT??!" Ha! She said, "I want presents at my party!" I told her, "I know, baby, but you'll get presents from your grandparents." She said, "I know, but I want presents from my friends, too!" So funny - her friend let the cat out of the bag and now we know Kendall will be proofing her invitations from here on out. :)

I left her after lunch, and then Cooper and I were able to come back later that afternoon right before dismissal and bring the whole class chocolate chip cookies to celebrate. They all sang her Happy Birthday and she got to pass out the cookies she made. Cooper loved getting to be in her classroom with her!

Kendall and Ms. Woodward matched!

That afternoon when she came home, she said, "Hey Mom! Watch this! Now that I'm six, I can do a cartwheel!" Bless her heart, it was just as bad as it has always been, but she was just convinced that magically, because she turned six, she would be able to nail that cartwheel. We'll keep practicing. :)

We went to Chick Fil A (her choice) for an early dinner before Randy and I went to small group. Michelle came and met us and that made Kendall pretty excited!  

It was a great first day of being six, and the best part was watching Kendall feel so big and grown-up. We just love our sassy, spunky, sometimes shy, sometimes silly, sweet six year old SO MUCH!

 

*I wanted to include Kendall's stats here from her six year old check up. We went to the doctor two days after her birthday. She had another hearing and vision screening and did great! She weighed 53 lbs and is 47.5 inches tall. Still up in the 90th percentile!