Kailee's Preschool Graduation!

Congrats to our Kailee Bug!! She’s a big Preschool Graduate!

The three of us couldn’t be more proud of her! She’s grown so much this year! Here are some of her biggest changes and things she has learned since Fall and some of my favorites that still haven’t changed.

• She can identify all letters and the sounds they make
• She can sing just about every nursery rhyme, even ones I’ve never heard of
• She is getting her counting down.. Still says 18 twice ;) SO cute, I have a hard time correcting her!
• She now says ‘yellow’ instead of ‘lellow’ sad face :(
• She now says ‘licorice’ instead of ‘necolish’ sad face :(
• She LOVES school and her friends at school, her best friend this year was Talon.
• She can recite the Pledge of Allegiance WORD for WORD
• She can write her name really well
• She can write DADDY and MOM
• She can now use our letter magnets on the fridge to spell words. Her favorites are “NO” and “OK”. :) and she always sings “ N-O spells no; O-K spells ok” too cute!
• She has lost her toddler cheeks and officially looks like a little girl. SAD L
• She can recite the ENTIRE book (dang near word for word) of I’ll Love You Forever. I may or may not have cried my eyes out when she asked to read it herself for the first time..
• She still wants to marry Brock
• She loves her cousins
• She likes to play games and LOVES Art – painting, drawing, coloring, stamps, stickers, all of it!
• She has become quite the Daddy’s Girl as of late
• She loves to help me cook, her favorite is to stir things
• She has developed quite the sassy attitude. Sometimes funny – sometimes not funny at all.. We’re all in for it with this little one, that’s for sure!
• She says –ing like –een. Never says the ‘g’ example: ‘thing’ sounds like ‘theen’ and ‘ring’ sounds like ‘reen’
• Still loves the words ‘Lacy.. watch this’
• Her and her daddy still call each other ‘boo boo head’

Still have yet to meet a more loved little girl! So blessed to be a part of her life and share such an amazing bond with Jake and Angie. I love that we are all on the same team and can raise her together and genuinely support each other. And Kailee loves when it’s just me picking her up or dropping her off and she has Angie and I’s FULL attention. She is such an amazing little girl. She is so smart and SO funny. She picks up on everything and will always ask about new words, or things she sees. I love how curious she is.. most of the time ;)

She has brought more joy and worry to my life than I ever could have imagined. Most days I find myself worried about the world she’ll grow up in, the trials she’ll face and the temptations she’ll experience. I have never felt more challenged at anything in my life. Being a parent is hard! It’s exhausting and it’s frustrating at times. I HATE to see her hurt or confused or sad. I hate that there are times when I can’t comfort her or answer all of her questions. But I love her more for making me a stronger person. For teaching me what life is all about. For teaching me to dig deep for patience when I thought I’d long since ran out. And mostly, that there are no boudaries for love. I’ve grown more from the ‘step mom’ experience that I have from anything else up to this point in my life. I’ve learned to let go of the term ‘ex’ -such an ugly little word. I’ve learned that love has no limits when there is a child involved, I’ve learned that people who aren’t ‘supposed’ to be friends, can turn out to be pretty great friends. And I’ve learned that no one quite understands these relationships unless you're in them. and even more importantly, that it is okay if they don't. I’ve learned that this ALMOST 5 year old little girl has taught me more about love and life than I could ever hope to teach her!

Kailee bug, I want you to know that I love you so much! That you and your daddy have been the best things that have EVER happened to me. Thanks for teaching me so much and for letting me love you and be a part of your life. I love you more than words can express! And I am SO proud of you for the little girl that you are, and especially for the big girl you’re becoming. You have more love and support around you than you’ll ever know! I hope you will always come to me with questions, tell me all things you’re scared of, talk to me when you’re sad, laugh with me about silly things, share your secrets, and someday even talk about boys!.. I hope we can always be this close! You’re growing so fast.. Too fast!! But I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for you! You will rock it all, girlfriend! Love you baby girl! Daddy and I are so so proud of you!

Sept 2011 / June 2012