Happy 5th Birthday Mia!

Happy Birthday to our precious Mia!  She's 5 years old!

 Mia, Lily, Bama, Granna and I celebrated Monday night at Myako.  This girl loves her some hibachi style food.  She calls this the "Pinocchio restaurant" which stems from when Lily would call it the "Tokyo restaurant."

 Blowing out the candle on her birthday cheesecake.

Since Ryan is on a mission trip right now, we celebrated as a family on the Friday before her birthday.  We kept the girls home from school and then enjoyed a morning at the Movie Theater seeing Free Birds and then having lunch at Tzatziki's before dropping him off at the airport.  We also gave Mia her gift, and she immediately fell in love with her "Go-Go Pogo" stick.  She and Lily have both had a blast with it!

I cannot even describe how much joy this sweet girl brings to our lives.  She lights up every room she walks (or skips or jumps or runs) into.  She is so smart and funny, and she knows it.  She is also incredibly generous and kind.  She has such a big heart.  She loves "cuddle time" at night where she just wants you to lay next to her and hug on her.  She's not a fan of kisses though, so don't try to give her one of those!  She is debating on either "astronaut, cowgirl or mommy" as her career choice these days.  She is such a good eater; when we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant the other day with some friends, she kept asking to try all the different foods on the lazy susan.  You can often hear her singing while she's in bed either going to sleep or when she wakes up but she knows she can't get out of bed yet (we have a color changing clock to help her know).  She makes some great faces that make me laugh.  She loves to talk; I'm always amazed by her vocabulary and ability to articulate herself.  She loves to be active which is why her Little Gym class (part ballet, part tap and part gymnastics) is perfect for her.

One of my favorite qualities of Mia is her love of life; she is always living in the moment.  Almost any time you ask "what was the best part of your day?" she will pause for just a moment and then reply "right now."  It usually doesn't make a difference what you're doing, but right then, it's the best part of her day.  I feel like I could learn a lesson from her.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for her life.  I am so proud to call her my daughter.

We had her check-up yesterday and she's a growing girl.  She's now 42.5 inches tall and weighs 45 pounds, 6 ounces.  She thankfully passed her vision and hearing test.

I had fun asking her a few questions to find out some of her current favorites.  I thought it was interesting she wanted to give multiple answers for most of the questions; she didn't want to pick just one favorite thing!

Color: Pink, red and orange

TV show: Sophia the First and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

Movie: Brave and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon version)

Friend: Macey, Sarah and Eliana

Game: Connect 4

Place to Go: Movie Theatre

Ice Cream: Blueberry, Strawberry, Grape and Key Lime.  When I suggested that she might be thinking of breakfast yogurts instead of ice cream flavors, she adamantly states these were her favorite ice cream flavors.

Animal: Giraffe, zebra and cheetah

Food: Watermelon, Tomatoes and Yogurt

Book: Green Eggs and Ham

Song: 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redmon

I wish I could just follow her around with a video camera all day to forever capture her awesomeness. 

I saw the picture below the other day, and I couldn't help but think of Mia.  She is one of a kind, and I wouldn't change one thing about her.  I love this incredible girl, and I thank God daily for letting her be mine!