My FIVE year old!

My "baby" is five. When did this happen? It's like I blinked and she was five. FIVE! She's headed for kindergarten TOMORROW! She's starting to read. She (much to my horror yet amazement) unbuckled her brother from his swing and transferred him to his bouncy chair all by herself today. She said "mom, come sit by me and I'll give you a love" last week when I was sad that my family had left. She is SUCH a grown up little girl I can hardly believe it.


I thought I'd share a few pictures of her through the years and what I love about her:


This is one of the first digital pictures I have of her. Her earliest pictures are film and I haven't scanned yet. This was on Easter morning in 2005 and she was 8 months old. Annie is such a sweetheart. You can tell by looking at that sweet little face. She is always full of love for her parents and her brothers, friends and her new little cousin, Kate. She loves to snuggle and express her love through hugs and kisses. Makes my day every time she gives me a good squeeze.



She's just so dang cute! This is probably from the summer she turned two. She had this Elmo obsession. Aunt Kelli and Uncle Mike bought her this Elmo for her 2nd Christmas (I think it was about her size, too) and she took it everywhere. Here she is in our backyard enjoying the day. That's another thing I love about her. She loves to explore and try new things. She is really independent and can find a good activity or project just about anywhere.

This can sometimes be a problem:
Here she is at about 18 months. Every parent's dream (I'm sure) is to find their child standing on a desk they didn't know she could climb onto, in front of a cabinet they didn't know she could open, holding a PERMANENT marker they didn't know she could uncap, drawing pictures of Sid the Sloth on their wooden cabinet doors. awesome.



This is my little daredevil doing her "big jumps" when she was three--in fact, it very well might have been on her third bday. I love that she is adventurous and just a little fearless!



I love this picture. She is the BEST big sister in the world. They fight and steal toys from each other, don't get me wrong. But from the very moment we walked through the door with Baby Carson (and also Rhett), she has been so tender and never jealous. I overhear her saying sweet and kind things to him all the time. She teaches him how to do things, gives him hugs and kisses. Last night, in fact, she had a sleepover at grandma's and phoned to tell us goodnight. Well, to tell CARSON goodnight. "May I speak to Carson, please?" was the greeting her dad got when he picked up the phone. I could hear what she was saying, and she said, "Carson, do you miss me? Say 'yes'" To which he replied "yes." Then she said, "I miss you too. I love you Carson!" I wanted to cry until I heard his little voice say "dih-doo" (thanks) and then I decided to laugh instead. What a funny pair they are!



I won't gab on and on about the hair. . . heaven knows we've covered THAT one, but I love(d) her beautiful curly hair. This is Annie at my parents' house in CT. I love that she loves my family. And they love her. She loves to talk about her aunts and uncles and Papa and Grandma Foof all the time. When we visited last summer, she warmed up to everyone and had so much fun.

I love this little girl!

. . .and here she goes off to Kindergarten. . .

Love ya, Goose!