Easter Portraits 2022

I think this may be the only year that I’ve ever taken Easter portraits on Easter. Thankfully, the girls agreed to snap a few pictures before we ate lunch.

Easter 2022

We spent Easter with my mom and grandmother again this year and it was a really sweet holiday weekend. We let the girls dye eggs on Saturday in between going to see Frozen. Then Sunday morning, they opened their Easter baskets before we headed to my mom’s church for the service. Her church had a full orchestra for the service and the music was beautiful. Then my mom and grandmother joined us at our house for lunch and an egg hunt. It was fun to hide eggs in our new yard for the first time. And as usual, we ended up not finding one of the eggs…I guess that is going to become a tradition. Although, weeks later Zoe actually found the egg! We loved celebrating the resurrection with my mom and grandmother this year!

Raising Theater Kids

DJ and I love Broadway shows. We listen to Broadway music at home all the time. The girls love singing along to songs from The Newsies, Lion King, Wicked, Dear Evan Hanson, Rent, Hamilton, Les Mis and Phantom (just to name a few). Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to take the girls to see how amazing Broadway is in person yet because most shows are not appropriate for kids (we screen the music we share with them). That is until this year. We were so excited to hear that the Frozen Broadway show was coming to Greenville. We knew we wanted to take the girls to their very first Broadway performance and Frozen was the perfect show to enjoy together as a family. The girls loved getting dressed up for the theater and seeing the show. It was such a good show too! We are looking forward to taking them to more performances as they get older!

April 7th

April 7th marked 7 whole years without my daddy. I cannot believe it has been that long since I’ve talked to him, laughed with him, hugged him or told him that I love him. It makes me so sad to think of all the big things he has missed in the past 7 years…us moving to a new house and then building a house, all the big milestones for Ava like starting kindergarten and every year in between, and the biggest thing he missed out on was meeting Zoe and watching her grow. I know he is in Heaven and he is no longer suffering and could not be happier but we miss him so much here. He told us that we had the hard job in being the ones left here, he was going to be with Jesus, which was wonderful and easy but we had would be here with the pain and grief. That is so true. The past 7 years have been filled with so many wonderful things but those moments/events are always filled with mixed emotions because of the person missing. Zoe’s birthday is one of those days that is filled with so many emotions. We are so excited to celebrate our girl who brings so much joy to our lives and brings happiness to a very hard day. But, in the middle of our celebrating, we are grieving and missing my daddy so much. I know I say it every year but I am so thankful that God redeemed that day for us and gave us something to celebrate. I am so thankful Zoe has a connection to my dad even though she never met him. She shares something special with him and that makes me so happy in the midst of the grief.

Zoe girl, Grampie loved you even though he knew he would never meet you. He was the best Grampie to his girls and I hate that you never got to spend time with him. I hate that he never got to goof off with you or spoil you like he did with Ava and Piper. I hate that they didn’t get many years with him. But, I love that you know who Grampie was. You recognize him in pictures. You talk about missing him all the time. You talk about how it isn’t fair that Ava got to meet him and baby girl that is so true, it isn’t fair. I am so thankful that we’ve been able to keep his memory so alive that you feel like you know him. We promise to always keep him alive in our memories because he was something special! And we know that we will see him again one day and that gives us hope.

Zoe is 5

I still cannot believe that Zoe is 5 years old! Five always feels like such a huge age milestone. I think it’s because as she says, she is now a whole hand! But it feels just too old and I still do not really want to admit that she is 5 and will be starting kindergarten in the fall. 

Zoe is growing so much these days! She had her well check right after her birthday and she is right on track developmentally. She is a very healthy little girl. Zoe’s stats were:

Height: 42.3 in (48th percentile)

Weight: 39 lbs (46th percentile)

Zoe is wearing mostly 4T or 5T clothes. Well, I should say she can wear 4T or 5T shirts. Shorts are a whole different story. I pulled out boxes of clothes when we were prepping for our Disney trip and tried so many shorts on Zoe but  had a hard time finding ones that actually fit. I had bought her some 4T shorts on clearance 2 years ago that I thought she’d wear last year but she never grew into them. I thought for sure she’d wear them this year but they are still too big! She really needs 3T or 4T shorts (as long as they have an adjustable waist or a functional drawstring). She’s just so petite. She is wearing size 10 shoes. 

Zoe is growing in size but also in how much she is learning. She loves going to school this year! Although, I think she likes the social aspect of school the most (our little extrovert). But, she is doing really well in school with learning her letters and numbers. Her handwriting is improving constantly and her teacher says she has amazing fine motor skills, especially for being a lefty. When we were in Disney World, we saw a little kiosk that sold all things lefty related like notebooks with the spirals on the opposite side and pencils that don’t smudge as the hand goes across the page. It was fun to explore all these things we never thought about needing for our little lefty girl. 

I continued with the annual birthday questions with Zoe this year. Like I’ve said before, I love being able to remember the girls at different ages in their own words.

How old are you?

5

What is your favorite color?

Dark Orange

She has finally stayed pretty consistent with this answer. And I love that she is very specific, not just orange, it is dark orange.

What is your favorite food?

Lasagna soup, oh and pie

Zoe is still not a big fan of stopping to eat. Zoe loves most fruits, any kind of pasta, brown rice, almonds, pretzels of any kind, a brown rice and quinoa mix that we get from Aldi and any kind of bread. She is a big fan of dips, especially Chick-fil-a sauce and ketchup. She will eat chicken, fries, chips, pasta, and quesadilla dipped in sauce. It seems kinda gross sometimes what she dips but we are just thankful she is eating so we let her go for it. She’s even dipped kale chips in Chick-fil-a sauce, which I’m sure the sauce negates the health benefits of the kale but she eats it. I think another type of meal that is her favorite would be any kind of breakfast for supper. She loves waffles, pancakes and biscuits with scrambled eggs. She also still loves her yogurt and applesauce pouches. She also still loves her almond milk. We still have to limit her milk every day because she would be more than happy to fill up on that and nothing else. 

What is your favorite restaurant?

The one that I got cake at…Cracker Barrel 

Zoe ate at Cracker Barrel for her birthday with her grandparents and the waitress gave her cake so that made a big impression on her. She also loves Chick-fil-a still but mainly just eats the fries and mac-n-cheese. She’s a big fan of Starbucks and asks to get a croissant almost every day if we are out around lunch time. We tried buying croissants from Aldi but she said they were not as good as Starbucks. She will tell you she loves Papa John’s pizza (or any pizza place) but she really only likes pizza crust or breadsticks. She will pick the cheese off the pizza and just eat the crust. Zoe does love Mexican restaurants and gets a quesadilla and rice but especially loves the chips and queso.

What is your favorite outfit?

My sparkly red leotard

Zoe still loves to dress up and this is one of her dress up leotards. She has several leotards that are from her recitals and old dance classes and she loves to dress up in them. She also has several princess dresses that she will wear. Another favorite dress up item is her fuzzy llamacorn full body costume. It was a halloween costume that we bought for her to try this past year but it was too big. Well, I returned it online to Target but they said I didn’t have to actually send it back. So, she ended up with an extra costume for free. She loves to wear it around the house (even if it is 80 degrees outside). I was surprised by Zoe’s answer to this question because I thought for sure she’d say her footies. That girl lives in her footie pjs. She will reluctantly get dressed to leave the house but as soon as we get home she asks for her footies. We just recently bought some cotton ones because she was running around in fleece footies in 80 degree weather. She wasn’t complaining but we told her it was time to get more seasonally appropriate footies. I even took these portraits in her fleece footies because she didn't want to change and I figured there was no better way to represent Zoe at this stage in her life than in her footies. When she does wear clothes, she likes dresses a lot but she also loves any kind of comfy clothes like knit shorts or a sweatshirt.

What is your favorite TV Show?

I like Peppa Pig and Mira

Peppa Pig is a new show for Zoe (it’s been around for a long time but she just watched it for the first time recently). She also loves Ada Twist Scientist, Dora the Explorer, Daniel Tiger, Angelina Ballerina, Llama Llama, Doc McStuffins, Puppy Dog Pals, Vampirina, Fancy Nancy, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Minnie’s Bowtique, and Wishenpoof. It was so fun watching Zoe in Disney World interact with the Disney Junior characters. She loved meeting her favorites like Doc and Nancy. We let the girls watch several episodes on Saturday and Sunday mornings or while I fix Zoe’s hair and they love it!

What is your favorite song?

The song we are listening to right now, Mira

Zoe still loves music and loves to sing. Disney and Disney Jr. music of any kind is the top pick in the car or the house. Encanto has definitely taken over Frozen (just like most households with kids these days). But, Frozen still gets played a ton. We actually took the girls to see Frozen at the Peace Center right after Zoe’s birthday and it was fun to see them experience their first Broadway show. I asked Zoe if she wanted to be on stage like the actors in the show and she said yes! We do think she could do well in some sort of performing future. She rocks her dance performances and never seems bothered by the crowd. She actually did better at her true performance than the rehearsal last time. She seems to like when she has an audience so we will see if she sticks with dance and where that takes her. She loves her hip hop/tumbling class this year. She will be too old for that in the fall so we are trying to see which class will be best for her then. She also wants to try gymnastics but we are not sure which she’ll choose. It will be fun to see where her talents take her!

What is your favorite book?

The Halloween princess book

This is a book we got from the library and she loved it. Zoe loves any book with Disney Princesses in it. She also loves Ada Twist, Angelina Ballerina, Fancy Nancy, Princess Truly, Winnie the Pooh, Daniel Tiger, Charlie the Ranch Dog, Disney Jr series, Pete the Cat, and the Little Leaders/Dreamers/Legends books. She really loves books with animals as the characters as well.  

What is your favorite toy?

Magnatiles 

Zoe still loves to build with magnatiles and any kind of blocks. She amazes us with how she figures out ways to fit the tiles together to create shapes/houses. We still think she has a little engineer/architect brain. She also loves to play with baby dolls. She loves dressing them up and taking care of them. She’s such a good little mama to her babies. She is obsessed with real babies as well (and really tries to be mama to anyone younger than her). Her favorite stuffed animal is still Eeyore. He gets his outfits changed regularly and she sleeps with him every night. She also sleeps with her JJ (cocomelon) doll and Brownie (her Big Nutbrown Hare bunny). Her purple blankie is also a must at bedtime and goes everywhere in the car with us.

What is your favorite thing to do?

Play with you 

This was such a sweet answer. She is such a sweet little girl who treasures time playing with us. She loves to play baby dolls with me and to build with DJ. She loves playing anything with Ava. Zoe still loves to be outside, especially now that it is getting hot. We love taking walks with Winnie after lunch, especially to walk up to see the horses near us. She loves to play on the swing set and try out new tricks on the bar (gotta get her in gymnastics soon we think). I think her favorite outdoor activity is picking flowers. She loves to pick wildflowers and make little bouquets with them. She loves doing bubbles and sidewalk chalk and riding her bike or scooter. Zoe also loves to draw, create and paint. I love turning over her papers from school and seeing what she drew on the back of them in her free time.

Where is your favorite place to go?

To the playground and school

I thought she’d answer Disney World since we went right before her birthday but I love her simple answer. She doesn't need the big trips, she loves going to the playground and school. We are so thankful that we feel comfortable going to playgrounds again now that things are closer to normal again. Zoe is very brave on the playground. Sometimes she needs a little encouragement on the tall tube slides but once she goes down once she is good. She almost has the hang of pumping on the swings too. Zoe definitely looks forward to school days as well. She is such a social little girl and we knew she’d thrive in school. She is so excited to start kindergarten in the fall. Although she will say she’s nervous about it. We are so thankful that she and Ava will have one year in the same school together. I think that will really help ease the transition for Zoe. 

Who are your best friends?

Chloe and Kate

Chloe is Zoe’s best friend from school and Kate is her best friend from dance. Zoe and Chloe play together every day at school. Her teacher said they are like sisters…they will be best buds and then they will argue. They are both a little strong willed so that leads to the disagreements. But, we’ve had a playdate with Chloe and it is so fun to see them interacting together and see the sweet friendship. Kate is a little younger than Zoe but they really hit it off at dance. They’ve been in the same class all year together and are such sweet buddies. Zoe is really going to miss Kate next year when she moves up to the next level class but we are definitely going to keep in touch and have lots of playdates. Zoe also has a lot of sweet friends at church. She looks forward to Sunday when she can see her friends at church. She loves going to Children’s Church during the sermon and loves playing on the playground after church. She is our little social butterfly!  

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A Doctor 

Zoe has been pretty consistent about this answer for a while now. Although she will say she isn’t sure if she wants to be a people doctor or an animal doctor. I told her she could be a pediatrician and work with babies and kids and she really liked that idea. 

What do you hope to accomplish as a 5 year old?

Learn how to swim

I really hope this summer Zoe can accomplish this goal. She did really well swimming with her puddle jumper on last year and I think she will pick up on swimming really easily. It will be nice for her to have that skill as well so she can explore the pool more with Ava. Although, the one thing that does hold Zoe back in the pool is the water temperature…our little cold blooded girl freezes in the water and prefers to sit on the side in the sun a lot of times. We are so thankful to be able to use my grandmother’s neighborhood pool each summer. It is a really nice pool that is rarely busy. The girls love being able to have the pool all to themselves sometimes. We are looking forward to many pool days this summer!

Zoe still has such a big personality! She is still goofy and loves to make people laugh. She knows when she has an audience and she will turn on the silly. When she is with other kids who are being silly, she has to be extra silly. Her huge smile still lights up a room...I know I say this all the time but when she smiles her whole face lights up! She definitely has a tude and can be super sassy (always keeping it real)! But she loves to snuggle all the time and gives hugs and kisses all the time. She randomly says “I Love You” and is just so sweet!

We are so honored to be this beautiful girl’s parents. It truly is a privilege to watch her grow up, a privilege we do not take lightly. As we watch her grow, we know there is someone so special that is missing out on these moments. Zoe’s birth mama is such a special part of our family and we know that our joy comes from her loss. Zoe brings light to a very sad day in our lives but it also reminds us of another person’s grief. We love her birth mama so much and are so thankful to have her and Zoe in our lives. 

I still do not know how in the world our baby girl is 5 years old. She is growing so fast but she is growing up to be a beautiful little girl. We cannot wait to see what all God has in store for her this next year, especially as she heads into a new chapter with school. Happy 5th Birthday, Zoe girl! Mama, Daddy and Ava love you to the moon and back!!

Happy 5th Birthday, Zoe!

Zoe hit what feels like such a milestone age on April 7th. I cannot believe that our baby girl is already 5 and will be starting kindergarten in just a few short months. She is growing up way too fast! We had a great day celebrating our big girl. She started her birthday at preschool where she got to celebrate with her friends with cupcakes. Her teacher made her a special birthday crown and she got to hold the class birthday bear. We picked her up from school and took her to Swamp Rabbit Cafe for lunch and a special birthday cookie. She got to play on the playground there and walk along the trail for a bit. It was a rare meal with just Zoe and us and she really enjoyed that special time together. When Ava got home from school, Zoe got to open up her presents. I think her favorite gift was her Ada Twist Scientist doll that Ava picked out for her. Of course, I had to get some pictures of the birthday girl. She chose to stay in her footie pj’s, which there really isn’t anything more Zoe than footies. The girl lives in her footies. As soon as she gets home from anywhere, she gets right back into her footies. So, taking birthday pictures in her footies seemed like the perfect way to capture Zoe at 5 years old. We ended the day with waffles for supper, a favorite of Zoe’s.

This little girl is so filled with joy and we love celebrating her and her infectious smile. Happy birthday, baby girl! We love you so much!

The Party Details

Since we had Zoe’s party at the dance studio, I didn’t have to come up with a lot of decorations. It was nice to keep it simple but I made sure our little princess felt special on her big day. She requested chocolate cupcakes and I found princess goldfish for another treat. As usual, I made sure to pick up some special flowers to decorate with that served as a special tribute to her beautiful birth mama. We all had so much fun celebrating our hip hop princess (who even agreed to pose for some pictures before the party)!

A Princess Hip Hop Celebration

Zoe got to celebrate her birthday (a few days early) with some of her best friends at one of her favorite places, her dance studio. She was able to celebrate with her cousins, her best friend from dance class, her best friend from school and several friends from church. This was the first time I’ve hosted a party outside of our house and I am now a big fan of that. It was so nice to not have to worry about cleaning the house before the party. Zoe’s studio helped make the party a super special day for the girls. They set up an obstacle course for the girls to enjoy. Then Miss Lilly taught the girls a couple dances and they had a blast dancing. After the dancing was over, we headed to a different room for a crown craft and cupcakes for the little princesses. It was a special day celebrating our big (almost) 5 year old! We are so thankful for all these precious friends.

Introducing, Sookie

Not only were we keeping Disney World a secret from the girls, we were also keeping another HUGE secret from them. On the ride home from Disney, we gave both girls a picture of their new puppy, Sookie, and told them we were getting her the very next day. DJ kept saying this was any kid’s dream come true, twice…a trip to Disney and a new puppy. After we lost Lucy, we knew we’d eventually get another dog but we did not think it would be anytime soon. We were kind of enjoying the simplicity of having just one dog. But, we started to realize that the girls really needed to be able to have their own rooms. Well, neither girl was willing to sleep without Winnie…so we decided maybe we should go ahead and start considering a puppy. I decided to check our breeder’s website to see if she had any upcoming litters and she just so happened to have a litter with 2 girls available that would be ready right before we left for Disney. I contacted her about the puppies and asked if we decided to get one if we could wait another couple weeks to get her when we got back from Disney. She was happy to keep the puppy a little longer for us. I fell in love with this face immediately…

DJ couldn’t say no to that face either…I mean, how could you? So, we decided to be crazy and get a puppy. The breeder named her DJ Suki because her litter was a Trolls themed litter. When DJ and I were considering names for Kate and then Lucy, one name we considered was Sookie from Gilmore Girls. It just all seemed meant to be. We decided we’d go ahead and name her Sookie (so the girls wouldn’t argue over who got to name her) and that name fits her. She is a goofball who is always getting into messes, just like her namesake. Needless to say, the puppy excitement helped ease the Disney withdrawls. We all just love this little fluff ball.

Disney World 2022 - Day 5

We headed back to Magic Kingdom for our final day in Disney World. We packed this day full to finish out our trip, starting when they opened the park and ending with the fireworks. We made sure to do all the favorite rides again (some more than one time), met all the princesses, watched the cavalcades, ate Dole Whip and let the girls watch the Enchantment, the nighttime spectacular for the very first time. It was Zoe’s first time ever seeing real fireworks in person and Ava doesn’t remember them from when she was little. It was a special way to end our wonderful trip.

We had such a great time at the Most Magical Celebration on Earth! See ya real soon, Mickey!