Reverie turns five

Reverie turns five! She is happy, sweet, sensitive, and friendly. She is our middle child with an older sister and brother, and a younger sister and brother. She is growing in the knowledge of God and his love for us in the gospel. She is eager to pray for others. She strives to obey, often responding quickly to direction and correction with, "Yes, Mommy." She likes to help around the house and with her baby siblings. She thrives on words of affirmation, lighting up with giggly grins. She sweetly lets me know when I’m being impatient. 

She loves community days and ballet lessons, often jumping around like a free spirit. She also loves her blanket, sucking her thumb, playing princesses with her love (Verity), playing superheroes with Valor, doing well in her reading lessons, listening to CC memory work, organizing jewelry or little items into purses, bags, or boxes, having her hair in an Eliza ponytail, sorting laundry, putting away dishes, cuddling during read-alouds, and walking on her tiptoes. Her favorite foods are mac n cheese, pasta in general, mango, strawberries, blueberries, fruit, tofu, broccoli, strawberry ice cream, eggs, rice, but never meat. 

She asked for an Encanto birthday with yellow butterflies and a miracle candle. She is a precious gift from the Lord. I pray He grants us many more years with her, and that she would come to know Him as Savior and Lord at a young age. These are some Reverie sayings I want to remember at this age:

"I'm so beh-sited!" (I'm so excited!)

"I'm going to stop sucking my thumb when I turn five."

"Best friends don't yell at each other."

"Mommy, thank you for being patient and not yelling at me."

"Are we going to eat Chick-uh-lay?"

"Neemember?"

"I love toe-food (tofu)!"

"YESSSS!" (when she is excited)

"Is this helfy (healthy)?"

Verity's 3rd birthday at the happiest place

We celebrated Verity’s 3rd birthday at the happiest place on earth. She had been wishing for Disneyland for months and we had been saying, “Maybe someday.” That someday was some day! She kept saying, "It's my birthday!" It truly was a treat and feat for us all. 

Verity turns three

Verity turns three! Our littlest girl is spunky, silly, and endearing. She makes us all laugh and gives the best hugs. She just hit 25 lbs and is 33" tall. Though she may be little, she has a lot to say! She is a precious gift from the Lord who continues to sustain and grow her. He is kind to preserve her, especially since she endured two near-death experiences in her first two years of life. Her favorites include the color pink, pasta, specifically mac n' cheese, her sister Reverie, collecting toys in baskets/containers, her stuffie Fantine, Elsa from Frozen, and reminding us she's the big baby or the baby girl. We pray she grows in the grace and knowledge of Christ. We are so grateful to celebrate her today with a pink Elsa birthday per her request. We love her so!!!

Reverie turns four

Reverie turns four! We thank the Lord for the precious gift that is our little girl! She is sweet, free-spirited, bold, sassy, caring, and so cute. She loves playing with her siblings, especially her baby sister whom she calls “my love,” learning her letters and numbers, helping around the house, singing along to her favorite musicals, and cuddling during read-alouds. She substitutes certain words for other words, which we find adorable. She interchanges he/she along with the following:

“JieJie, BooBoo is wearing a t-shirt too! You’re going to be twinkles (twins)!”

“Are we going to decorate the cuscus tree (Christmas tree)?”

“I want to wear my coconut (polka dot) dress.”

“Mommy, what are you making for dinner (lunch)?”

“Mommy, what are you making for lunch (dinner)?”

"Are we going on the alligator (elevator)?"

"Do you have to put that in the macaroni (microwave)?"

God is softening her heart towards instruction, and we pray He grows her deeply in the knowledge of Him. We celebrated Reverie with her birthday request, a Madeline tea party, replete with madeleine cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, French macarons, fruit tarts, croissant tea sandwiches, strawberry cake, and warm tea with milk and sugar cubes, of course. Madeline's Tea Party has been one of Reverie's favorite books of late, so she received a Madeline tea set and doll for her birthday. Reverie wore a vintage, Madeline-inspired dress passed down from a friend's daughter who wore it as the Madeline-inspired bible bearer at our wedding nine years ago. We paired the yellow dress with a vintage straw hat and Reverie was the happiest Madeline on her birthday.

Reverie turns three

Reverie turns three! Praising God for the gift she is to our family. She is bold, independent, free-spirited, silly, and so sweet. Her pigtails and thumb-sucking are our weakness. She loves singing to Frozen, dressing up, dancing like no one’s watching, feasting on pasta, being cuddled with plenty of hugs, keeping up with her big sister and brother, helping around the house, and caring for her baby sister.

She requested a Frozen II birthday, which we tried to make a little special with our traditional breakfast birthday cake and some art and science activities during our celebration at home in light of the quarantine. We painted watercolor resist snowflakes, and acquired Elsa’s powers to turn liquid water into solid ice. Reverie wore a handmade Anna cloak a friend got for her the whole day. Alex smoked beef ribs for dinner, which we feasted upon with pasta, salad, and ice cream cake. The kids watched Frozen II to end the night with much delight. It was a sweet and simple birthday celebrating our third baby.

Happiest of third birthdays, RevRev! We love you so much. I'm sad you're growing up so quickly. May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray you'd find the greatest love in Him.

Reverie turns two

Reverie is two! I can't believe it. Reverie was the baby and seems to have grown up overnight once her little sister arrived. We call her our big baby. She is equal parts sweet and feisty, a lover of food, her baby doll, running about, accessorizing, tea sets, puppies, being read to, listening to "Baby Shark" and the Enchanted soundtrack, hugging her baby sister, and copying everything her big brother and sister do. She still sucks her thumb when she's sleepy and sports pigtails, both which are so cute that they kill us. She is fearless; don't you dare leave her out of anything just because she's little. She wears 12-18 month and 18-24 month clothing, size 4 diapers, and size 4/5 shoes. She speaks in single words or short phrases: "ah diddih!" (I did it!), "hea go!" (Here you go!), "ah appy" (I'm happy), "yuh yoo" (love you), "feefee" (feet), "no,"  "yeah," "hullo' (hello), "hi," "mommy," "daddy," "deh deh (thank you), "peas" (please), "tah tah" (pasta), "yemmy" (lemon), "cookie," "tea" (tea set), "baby," "yeah yeah" (wash hands), "ah go" (go out), "shuh" (shoes), "ba" (bath), "noe" (nose), "pahpee" (puppy), "buh" (book), "boh" (blocks), "wawa" (water), "no deh deh" (no, thank you), "night!" (goodnight), "chee" (cheese), "jie jie" (big sister Serene), "goh goh" (big brother Valor), "huh" (hug), "wah foe" (waffle), "foo" (food), "tee" (brush teeth), "appoe" (apple), "shar" (baby shark), "foh-bee" (strawberries), "ha" (hat), "lie" (turn on the light), "trush" (trash), "ah gubby" (I'm coming), "kai" (baby's crying), "cuhluh" (color), "puhpuh" (paper), and "yuh-yoe" (Ariel).

For her birthday, we had a springtime tea party for her with her siblings since her birthday falls on the first day of spring. We incorporated tea and cookies, two of her favorite treats. She received a tea set of her own, which she loves, and a big girl bed, into which she is transitioning beautifully. Reverie adds so much sweetness and sass to our family. Thankful God has granted her two years of life thus far. It is a joy to watch her grow and bloom into her own. We love her so!!