5th grade!

 My sweet sweet girl, you are in FIFTH grade! You have grown up to be an amazing little woman, who is coming into her own. You are in Girl Scouts with friends every other Friday, you play soccer during the weekdays (daddy is your coach) , your best friends name is Gracie, you enjoy going to school, you love shopping, earrings, hair accessories, swimming, and ice cream! 

You are the most amazing big sister. You love so hard in Eli and Iris, you truly show them the best love. I always say, “Iris doesn’t know how lucky she is” because you love on her so much. You give her piggybacks from bed to the bathroom, you swim in the pool with her whenever she wants, you play lol and Barbie, you host tea parties for her (I think you secretly enjoy this yourself).

 I always dreamt you would be sweet, but I didn’t know how sweet it would be. If I were to describe you in one word at this age, I would say loving. You love on your people HARD! You always make them feel loved back and expect nothing in return. You are very generous. Often times when we are headed out the door, Iris will decide she wants a toy you had gotten. You will just give it up and trade her for the sake of her happiness. I love watching your kind hearted nature with others. 

You are enrolled to start alto sax in band in a few weeks. I tried to push you onto the flute for selfish reasons (i used to play the flute) but you weren’t having it. You and I argue over clothes, you always want to wear the same things to school, never switching up all the beautiful things in your closet. We shop and you want everything, then when it’s in your closet you don’t wear it. 

You are Iris twin a lot, and I LOVE IT (hopefully I can attach a photo). We just got back from the aulani in Oahu, and you had a blast. We went snorkeling in the ocean water; we saw sea turtles . You learned to surf at the north shore (and yes you caught waves out there)! We had shaved ice and went down the slides all day long! You drank so much Fanta your tongue turned orange! You love Disneyland, we visit often. You will go on incredicoaster but it isn’t your favorite. You aren’t really much of a roller coaster girl. You love water rides and big thunder mountain. You hate cake pops from Starbucks but never turn down any other sweets or candy. Your favorite color is pink (finally) , you just got your braces off (hooray). You are a daddy’s girl, and you know how to put on the charm for daddy. 

You love your papa time and often cry when it’s time for him to leave. You also enjoy when grandpa Don comes out to visit. You love In N Out and Panda Express. You don’t like PE or working hard on bike rides. You complain whenever we have to ride bikes to the smoothie shop. We went to Yosemite this summer and you had a BLAST. You jumped into the waterfall water with daddy when all the boys were too cold and scared. You ROCKED! You love camping and being outdoors. 

School does not come without frustration for you, it never has. You are in kumon for extra help with school and you don’t complain a bit about it anymore (yes, you used to cry ALOT about it). You are great at math like daddy when you WANT to try. You are super last minute and unorganized like mommy. You love mommy and daddy to help you with homework. You love hugs and love. When you are sad you will ask for a hug to help you feel better.

You and Eli are close, you share a bond I love to see flourish. He does some of your vocabulary words with you after school and you compete on who can spell the words fastest. You and Eli have your own rooms but prefer to sleep together in Eli’s room. I wake up to see you snuggling on him and it just melts my mommy heart. 

Mommy and daddy still lay with all three of you at bedtime. I know you are nearing the age of not needing me for comfort, and that makes me uncomfortable. I love how loving you are at bedtime, so naturally I don’t want it to end. You are becoming a preteen these past few months, learning your voice can be used to talk back to mom and dad. You often say “so!” “And?” “Whatever that means” and several other sassy comments that sometimes gets you into trouble. I have enjoyed every moment you have given me in this life, every memory we have shared together, and every lesson we have learned in this lifetime. I hope there is a lifetime of this joy you radiate and the love you give! I have said it before and I will say it again, thank you for choosing me Deborah Jean, for giving me the gift of motherhood and letting me be by your side! I will forever look back on these years with pride and joy! Love you baby girl! 

Mom 

1st grade

Oh my little love, so much. Time has passed since my last update. Being a mom and juggling three kids, while trying to work one day a week makes it hard to keep up. Last post i see Was when you started kindergarten at Montessori academy. Daddy and i starteD you and Eli at Montessori because we felt you needed a learning environment that tailored to your personality, the grow and learn on what your heart desires. You liked it but i felt You weren’t growing to your full potential. We tested you into upland Christian and you got in, but we ultimately decided to put you & Eli into grapeland elementary right up the street. Being able to walk to and from school has been a DELIGHT. Daddy walked you to school last week and you were ONE minute late; principal Shaw had shit the gate and told you to go through the front office for a tardy slip. You cried and cried. Principal Shaw saw you in the halls and took your tardy slip and crumpled it up. Your teacher, Mrs.. Carnes, told you “everything is fixable in first grade”. You have excelled and grown so much in just the few short weeks of school already. Your confidence has soared, your maturity is increasing. You and the neighbor Grant are in the same classroom. He tells me you like to TALK a lot. I am Not surprised. You have made friends very quickly says your teacher, i am happy to hear that. I was So worried you wouldn’t adjust to the change of environment easily but i guess It was me that was having the hard time, not you. You are reading, you have lost 4 teeth, you are an AMAZING big sister, you love to eat muffins in the morning and afternoon, you like boiled eggs and moms casserole. You dislike hotdogs (which Eli loves). Your hair is blonde, you’re 48” y’all (big enough to go on ALLLLL the rides at Disneyland) , and you weigh 54 pounds. We took you on California screaming at California adventure since you’re tall enough now. You were so excited to go since it is the incredible s theme now and we had just seen the movie. I didnt Tell you about the upside down turn because i knew You would chicken out. So we got on, you went on the loop, AND I’m pretty sure you passed out for about 3 seconds during the loop. You got off saying you didn’t like that one so much but you tried it. Most all of the other rollercoasters at Disneyland you LOVE. You are a great swimmer, you sleep amazingly. You have brought this family so much love and light, thank you for being you Deborah jean Alexander . Here’s to another year of love and happiness,
Mommy

Kindergarten 5.5 yrs old

My first born child, you have grown up soooo much this year. You have shown me what love is from the first day you were born. You came out screaming, so emotional and wanting to be heard. And you are still that little girl. You still crave attention, but love taking on the big sister role. You adore mothering Iris, getting her out of her crib in the morning, changing her diaper, choosing what she will wear for the day, sharing your dolls with her. She repeats EVERY word you say. It is so fun watching the two of you grow, all the while wondering and hoping all throughout your lives you will remain close and nurture one another. You still don't like sleeping alone, always have to be with mom or dad for sleep, but once you're out for the night, you're out. At school this year you are writing your name, counting to twenty, reading three and four letter words, and growing each and every day. You enjoy school, never put up a fight to go. Are head of the class, just today one of your teachers pulled me aside to tell me how well mannered you and Eli are at school. You make parenting a joy (most of the time) 

Your favorite things are pedicures, LOL surprise dolls, nightmare before Christmas movie, going to Disneyland (soaring over California is your favorite ride), going to grandma robins , being with your cousins. 

Thank you for choosing me to be your mom, for teaching me what love is all about. I cannot wait to watch you shine Deborah jean alexander 

EARS

My sweet little lady, you got the courage and finally decided to get your ears PIERCED!!! You and mom were on the way to the mall to get moms eyebrows waxed, and en route you blurted out, "mom, let's go get my ears pierced" I instantly text your dad to meet us at the Claire's in Victoria gardens mall. He was on his way but decided he didn't want to be a part of the sadness when you discovered it would be a painful process. I always wanted to do your ears while you were a baby but your dad insisted we wait till you were old enough to say you wanted them.

You excitedly chose your earring ( white pearls) and sat up in the stool. You squeezed the teddy bear and off we went. First ear success. Insert TEARS of sadness. You asked the girl to not to the second ear, you were done. Mom held you close and we got it done. One shopkins toy later and you forgot all about the pain. We bought an extra pair of earring (unicorn) for your birthday party. And lthough you keep saying you don't want to put them in, I think because you don't quite understand changing the earrings doesn't mean getting them re-pierced. So proud of you Debs, you're becoming a little girl so fast. It's been an utter joy to watch you blossom 

3 years old, and super late to blog about it

Eli, you're THREEEEEEE!!!! You call it free, but in November we celebrated you with a fabulous cars themed birthday party. You had a face painter, a bounce house, a shaved ice truck come to the house, and cars themed cookies made JUST for you. It was so awesoem to see you so happy making a DAY all about you. You got a TON of Star Wars and cars gifts, and you loved every second!!! 

At three years old, you truly are a gem. I don't know if it's possible to sun you up in a blog. You go to school three days a week with Deborah at Montessori academy in Rancho Cucamonga. You LOVE riding bikes, playing with monster trucks, motorcycles, train tracks, and hot wheels. You are super good at your colors, your letters and playing with tools.  You love to go in the spa at night with mommy and daddy. You love being a big brother, every morning when iris wakes up you say, "good morning baby girl" and give her a BIG brother smooch. You love to squeeze her super hard. You are a TOTAL bear in the mornings, hard to put down at night because you truly like to play allllll day and alllll night. Naps are harder and harder to get you to do these days because you know Deborah doesn't nap and well, you don't wanna do it if DJ isn't doing it 😂. You weigh the same as your sister, 42 pounds and you are 41" tall. You still wear diapers for night time because you sleep hard, but you are beginning to wake up dry or wake up in the middle of the night to pee. Your favorite movies to watch are cars and Star Wars Levi chronicles . You LOVE to play dress up in costumes, mostly darth vadar. 

I absolutely adore being your mother. You really are a perfect child, complain never, hug always, smile all day, and play so well with others. Thank you for being born, for choosing me & allowing me to be your mom!!! The world is lucky to have you in it ELI alexander ❤

Big sister (October 2016)

Oh sweet debs!!! You are growing up sooo darn fast!!! Just yesterday you said "I'm almost a grown up mom, and I can have babies like you" SLOW down girl. You tell me at least twice a week, "thank you for making me a big sister " you love Iris HARD.. kiss her, hold her, play with her, feed her. You even wanna help mommy out her to bed. Watching you with a baby sister has been so much fun. I wondered how you and Eli would adjust, cried the night before I gave birth to Iris. I thought she would mess up the dynamic, make you and Eli feel lost. But she has brought a sense of joy to ALL of us. Sure, she cried a lot and she had made us have to be quiet ALOT, but she's worth it all. Everyday you want to hold her, take a picture with you and her. 

Since starting school, you have blossomed. Your vocabulary is strong, you are soaking everything in at montessori. The teachers have told me they started to split you and Eli up during lunch times so Eli can have his own voice. At school you like to play mommy to Eli, speak for him, telling him what to do and where to go. I am grateful for that characteristic in you, you can lead the way and show Eli and iris right from wrong. You really are the best big sister. You still are obsessed with Ariel. Though you don't like watching the little mermaid, which is super funny to mom. For Halloween you are dressing up as Ariel and Iris as Ursula. Eli will be dressing as darth vadar and you possibly as Princess Leia for school party. You love gardening with mom, i often find you digging holes and putting seeds in yourself. Pretty sure our garden is going to have a variety of different things thanks to your green thumb. You and Eli do EVERYTHING together. You are OBSESSED with going to Disneyland, we try to take you once a week. Your favorite ride is splash mountain. You really like going for the food (kettle corn, watermelon, pickles, and of course lollipops) . You love wearing LONG dresses, watching any princess movie, helping with the dishes and folding laundry, helping mom cook dinner, measuring,  playing with water and food coloring, and coloring. You are going to be FIVE this year and I am just wondering where all the time went. It seemed like yesterday you were my first born, napping with me, doing everything just you and me. I will never forget those moments, you came and made me feel whole again. I got to name you in your grandmothers honor, but you have far surpassed everything she would have ever wanted out of you!!! Thank you for being born Deborah jean, I love you with everything I have 

 

 
 

Grandparents day at Montessori

Oh Deborah!!! Mommy ha been so busy with baby Iris that I have abandoned your poor blog this past year. You started a new school. It's called Montessori and you and Eli are in the same class!!! I have always felt you are a sensory/tactile learner. Many times water of life (your first school) would say you don't learn quickly or you aren't interested. But I knew that it was the way they were trying to teach you that you weren't interested in. At home you don't enjoy puzzles, letters or numbers. But if I put numbers in ice cubes and put them in a hot water bucket you LOVE it. You are such a hands on learner that I KNEW Montessori was the school for you. And where you go, Eli follows. So off you guys went. 

This photo is of you and Eli on your first day. I was told by all of the staff you LOVED your new school. You used to cry going to water of life and wait for me at the door when it was time to pick you up. Here you want to continue learning and have me watch you play. It's so refreshing to see you in this environment. Today you celebrated grandparents day at school. You are such a jam, love being the center of attention. You walked into class and yelled "everyone everyone, these are my grandparents" 

I cannot wait to see what the school year brings to you. Xoxoxo