Junebug is FIVE!

Junebug's birthday was yesterday. She popped out of bed and said, "I'm going to tell EVERYONE at church that I am five today and it's my actual birthday."

A second later, she said "But why aren't we doing anything to celebrate my birthday?"

Because, my child, you have had a birth MONTH. One Saturday was a joint birthday party with Speed, the next Saturday was an extra-long visit at extra-fun places with her birth family and us, the NEXT Saturday was a trip to Sea Word, and cupcakes at school were squished in somewhere along the way.

This child has been WELL CELEBRATED.

Yesterday, she ended up with her choice for dinner (nuggets and fries), unwrapped the last two gifts, and had some candles in a piece of  leftover chocolate pie.

Things to remember about our little Lou Who as a four-year-old:

Sunshine will say that Junebug is "the loudest, most talking-est kid in our whole family." Ain't that the truth.

Junebug loves, loves, loves the cats but squeezes them just that bit too hard so she isn't allowed to carry them yet.

She loves gymnastics which she started officially a couple weeks ago but informally via lessons from Chickadee and Sunshine a few months ago. There's sort of a running joke about how opposite Junebug's real name is to Junebug herself.

Junebug writes her name sooooo beautifully. 100% backwards.

Junebug has embraced fruits and veggies more than I ever thought she would. I think she would say that strawberries and red peppers are her faves, but she's doing pretty well on all sorts of healthy foods. That's not to say that she wouldn't prefer junk food, but there's been some real progress lately.

Junebug's favorite color is orange, her favorite cake is chocolate, and her favorite thing outside is the swing. She loves school, her teacher and her classmates something fierce.

Junebug has been counting the days to be the same age as Chickadee, but when I mentioned that today, she said: We are NOT the same age because Chickadee is five AND A HALF.

What a surprise gift this girl has been the last year. I am so grateful that our door was open when she needed it to be and that we will continue to be able to love on this girl.

Happy Birthday, Junebug Lou Who!