Spring Program 2011

Baylor's last Spring Program at Otter Creek was "Read, Sing and Celebrate". Each class had a different Eric Carle book that their group performance was based off of. All the classes did such a great job. These times are always fun to watch the teachers interact with the kids.

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?"

I missed getting a picture of the cute "Little Clouds"

"The Grouchy Ladybug"

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

and last, but not least "The Very Busy Spider"

There shirts were so cute and so was the singing

doing the jitter bug:)

at the end the whole MWF group got on stage and sang some songs with Mr. Russ. He does bible story/singing with them every Wednesday. ALL the children look forward to "Mr. Russ day"

love my sweet girl

It was hard to get a picture of everyone smiling...sorry Mrs. Anna

This girl loves to look anywhere, BUT the camera

but she actually looked this time!!! She has such a big smile b/c she loves her teacher

We continued the reading theme with a "dress up as your favorite book character" day at Christian's school. We recently read and watched "Wizard of Oz", so Christian decided to be the Tin Woodsman. I think he and his daddy did a good job on his outfit.

February

Do you know how hard it is to get three 7 year old boys to take a "normal" picture?!?! In the middle is our neighbor Bailey and on the right is a boy from our team Conner. His mom was Christian's 1st grade teacher and he knows Bailey from other sports.

We rounded out the basketball season with an All Star competition. Christian was a part of the Skills Challenge. He had to shoot a ball, then thread through some barriers while dribbling, do a chest and bounce pass, a lay-up and thread again. He did a great job and we were very impressed with his learning during the season. He had fun and wants to do it again next year.

Then it was on to Valentine's Day...Heartbreaker #1

and #2 (can you believe those eyes?!?!)

Baylor LOVES her daddy

her favorite PJ's say "I love Daddy" and Jeff is always telling her he needed some that said "I love Baylor" so we made him a shirt for Valentines Day. She was so proud and gets excited every time he wears it

Party Time

Baylor and her good friends Ellen and Caroline are all in the same class at school AND all take gymnastics at Harpeth AND all turned 5 within a few weeks of each other!!!
So we decided to party together
As you can see, the moms bought the birthday girls matching leotards for the big day. We invited all the girls from their class and a few church friends. The big brothers and daddies were the only boys allowed

It's always important to stretch

The tumble track is one of Baylor's favorite things to do

They had a net you could climb and if you reached the top there was a horn for you to honk. Most of the kids gave it a try, but only a few made it to the top. Baylor went about two feet and decided that was enough for her, but Christian made it to the top.

Ellen and Caroline

Lila made it too

The pit is ALWAYS a popular spot too

taking a little rest:)

the parachute was really neat once they all got the hang of it

Where is everyone?

Amy totally rocked out the decorations...everything was pink, silver and gold. Each guest received a trophy and a medal for their participation

Our friend Sarah (from church) makes amazing cakes. Not only are they adorable on the outside, but they taste great too

The three girls getting sung to

Everyone had such a fun time. Two of the guest have even started taking classes. I loved watching my little girl having such a good time with her friends

I have a 5 Year Old?

I can hardly imagine a time when this sweet smile wasn't a part of my day. This girl has brought joy, laughter and occasional frustration into our lives, but I wouldn't change a bit of it or her.
OC has a tradition of calling the children up on stage once a month to celebrate birthdays. ( all the names are read, we sing to them and a sweet prayer is said) I took pics on her first one and now we are on number 5!!! I really don't believe it. Her sweet friend Avery was part of January's blessing also.

On her actual birthday Nana, Papa, Uncle Jeremy and the Gilreath's (along with Mommy, Daddy and Christian) celebrated with a small pizza party at the house. She loved Tangled (Disney movie about Rapunzel) and her Daddy found her a wig and dress while we were in New York. Mommy was going to pass, but Daddy knew his little girl would look sooo cute and of course she did.

We kept with the theme and had Publix do a Tangled cake

the boys singing to the birthday girl

Mommy is so proud of her sweet girl

A few presents...some cd's for her new player, some Hello Kitty things and LOTS of Barbies. HK and Barbie are her "new things" that she is into

Baylor~ You are a mover and a shaker. You start your day off running across the floor to our room (love hearing those little feet) and you keep on going until we make you go to bed. Downtime really isn't in your vocabulary. Your smile and laugh lights up any room. You have so much fun playing with friends. Especially dress-up or Mom and Dad. Disney princess' are still a big favorite, but you are moving on to Hello Kitty and Barbie too. To say you love music and dancing is almost an understatement. You are in Pre-K three days a week and LOVE learning/being with your friends. Going to church, ballet, tap and gymnastics round out your week. Once again, mostly about moving, flipping or dancing. You do love your class at church and learning about Jesus. You work so hard at learning your memory verses and remembering the stories. I know God has many great plans in store for you and I can't wait to witness it.

You have a very sweet heart, but can be a little cranky...especially with your brother. For all that you say you love him you seem to get a kick out of annoying him too! Not that he doesn't do his fair share:) I enjoy the glimpses I get into what your future relationship might look like.

You are a daddy's girl. Your favorite jammies right now are your "I love Daddy" ones...you love showing them off and telling anyone you can how much you love your daddy. It is definitely returned b/c he can't get enough of his girl. If he is working or in school late, you make me promise that he will come kiss you when he gets home. I love watching the two of you together.

Not that you don't enjoy some good mommy time too. We enjoy are two "us only" days a week and I know I will miss that next year when you are in full time school. I (and so many others) am caught off guard sometimes by your beauty. I had no idea what a beautiful little girl you would turn into when I held that skinny 6 lbs five years ago. We are working hard to make sure our attitude/behavior matches what everyone sees on the outside. You have your own ideas about what you want to do AND how they should be done-that can be a little frustrating at times, but I know I will love that you have your own opinions when you get older. I am so honored that God saw me worthy of being your Mommy. Words really can't express the love you have shown me and I hope you know how much I treasure you. I am so thankful for all that you bring into our lives and can't wait to see how you grow in the next 5 years.

Love you,
Mommy

P.S. Just so you know...I spent a lot of time crying the past few weeks just thinking about how big you are getting (did the same thing when your brother turned 5). I'm going to blink and another 5 years is going to have gone by. I think it's just me being a little sad that you aren't my baby anymore, but I am so happy and excited to see what kind of young girl you are going to become.