Monday, October 30, 2017

Mellany: #6

Our spunky and joyful Mellany turned 6 on us this year. These past 6 years have been the best years of our lives because of her! She is absolutely the best daughter and we are so thankful to God that she is ours!


Here's a little bit about our Mellany:

  • Mellany still has excellent manners......yes ma'am, please, thank you, no sir, excuse me....she rarely has to be reminded which makes me feel so good
  • She is our artist! She can draw very well, color, paint, chalk, stencil....you name it this girl will do it and is better at it than me. She's soooo creative and truly loves it! 
  • She has a special bond with each of her brothers! Making Charlie laugh is a daily ritual...she loves to go in and talk to him after he wakes up in the morning and if we are parked  somewhere in the car and Charlie isn't happy about it, she will unbuckle and entertain him.  Johnny is her #1 buddy. She loves to teach him anything he will sit and listen to and she loves to set up pretend scenarios for them to play (house, school). She gets him to play dress up with her and she will even play cars/trucks/tractors with him. They have started having "sibling moments" though where they would rather play by themselves than with each other. 
  • Barbies and her dolls (Ashley and Baby Karen) are definitely her most favorite toys. She is still into all things animals (puppies specifically), princesses, dress up, books, puzzles and her kitchen. Legos are also becoming a new favorite toy.
  • She loves to swing on the swingset! Riding her bike and scooter and jumping on the trampoline are a close "second" when it comes to playing outside. 
  • She is gradually wanting more and more independence. She likes to check the mail by herself, she likes to walk to neighbors houses by herself, put things in our shopping cart by herself....our baby is growing up on us
  • Mellany is a girl of routine....she has one of two things for breakfast, one of two things for lunch and would prefer this same for dinner but that is usually our time to "push" the kids a little for trying something new. She has grown so much in this area and has really "embraced" at least trying foods and eating 5 bites. 
  • She loves to sing and can make up a song about anything. 
  • Mellany is really enjoying Kindergarten. She comes home every day and tells me about the new friends she made, the letters and words they learned, etc. etc. It makes my heart so happy that she loves school. 
  • She loves riding the bus to and from school. In the morning she likes for us to walk her down to the bus stop but in the afternoon she has asked me to stay at the house on the porch and wait for her....(remember how I was saying she is gaining independence??....)
  • She is a social butterfly and doesn't know a stranger-she will play with anyone who wants to! Once you get her talking, she doesn't stop and wants you to come to her house and play for the rest of the day. I hope she continues to love people! 
  • She loves ballet and swimming
  • Mellany can dress herself completely tie her shoes all by herself. She is very specific on what she likes to wear though. For example: dresses must have a good twirl, shoes are good if her feet don't slide in them once they get sweaty and pants cannot have a button or snap-preferably no jeans.
  • She still loves to know what is happening in advance and uses her calendar to know what we will be doing the next day, week, etc. She has gotten to know her months, days of the week and dates very well. 
  • Following directions comes very easily to her. We can give her several specific directions and she will follow them to a "T". She will also make sure that Johnny is following the directions :) 
  • Her patience and attention span are incredible! 
  • She loves shopping and going to the movie theater
  • She loves to snuggle and having a good blanket to snuggle with makes it even better. 
  • Mellany is a perfectionist. She will get really upset if she is drawing a picture, for example, and it doesn't turn out the way she wants it to look. She can be very hard on herself and bring herself to tears. 
  • She has excellent handwriting
  • Mellany can shower by herself!!!!!! She occasionally needs some help lathering and rinsing her hair and a gentle reminder that the water is running so stop playing.....but she overall does a great job! 
  • She loves to play board games
  • She has an impressive attention to detail
  • Her love for reading still exists and has even started reading books herself; she is starting to identify sight words in sentences and paragraphs
  • Her favorite cartoons are: Shimmer & Shine, My Little Pony
  • Her favorite movies are: Descendants, Inside Out
  • At this point in life, I would say the odds of her being either a teacher or a veterinarian are pretty good! 
  • She can do simple math equations

6 Year Wellness Exam
Weight: 46lb
Height: 48"
Blood Pressure: 98/62

Mellany's 6 year wellness check was perfect. Dr. Fahler talked with her and I about her eating habits, growth (especially how tall she is!), how she's liking school, ballet, art, her brothers, her friends, reasons she might be urinating so frequently again and just life in general. After giving her a physical exam, we were ready for her flu shot. Mellany had been "preparing" for several days but the moment the nurse walked in the poor girl got anxious all over again. After talking her through the process again, she was able to relax, lay down, hold my hands and count with me.....we didn't even make it to two and the nurse was done! She didn't even cry a single tear! She was proud of herself for being so brave and I was too!

We got our stickers, walked out of the dr office and headed straight for Gigi's Cupcakes!





On her actual birthday.....

She chose a unicorn design for her cookie cake


And donuts for her birthday breakfast.....Johnny made sure he picked his out


Her teacher sent me this picture of her passing out her birthday treat in school.


"Happy Birthday" she got to put the candles in all by herself this year


Opening presents from mom & dad, Johnny, Gammy (who even got to join in on the celebration with us this year)& Nana!











Birthday Celebration
Mellany really wanted to share her special celebration day with her friend Charlotte (and of course Gammy too). After picking up Charlotte, our first stop was lunch/playing at McDonalds.


We were then off to paint pottery. Charlotte picked a fairy princess riding a unicorn and Mellany picked a cupcake jar. 





This was Mellany after the day's events....totally worn out! 


Wednesday, October 11, 2017

{{Somewhat}} Wordless Wednesday!


Mellany's 1st school presentation: Community Helper Day. She chose to present about how a doctor helps our community and she did such an amazing job that she got a perfect score!!! We are so proud of her....her teacher took these pictures and it looks like she is a natural at "public speaking"



Simon & Charlie


My Saturday salon appointment....I brought Mellany along with me this time because Charlie was coming in with John & Johnny to get his very first haircut. So I figured that if she wasn't handling the boredom very well, she could leave with the boys. Well, as fate would have it, our girls morning got interrupted by a gas leak....thankfully John showed up just as we were headed outside and she was able to go home with him while my stylist and I ventured across west Lafayette to get my hair taken care of....it was quite the day! 



Shrimp boil at our house with some of John's coworkers






Another project for Mellany.....this was a poster all about her....she was in heaven


Charlie's first haircut!!! He did sooooo well! I had Kate take him out of the stroller and put him in to the chair just to see what he would do and while he was a little apprehensive, the dog, Johnny and Caitlin were perfect distractions. (I hid behind the stroller) 5 minutes later Kate was finished and Charlie barely even knew anything happened! This is such a relief for me....I'm hopeful that he won't be a screamer like Johnny! 




First school picture!


Johnny's apple picking field trip. While it was fun and a really neat place, the boys didn't seem to be in the mood for being in an apple orchard that day as both were whiney...the. whole. time.! The pictures you see of them smiling are about the only smiles they had that morning....and then to top it all off Johnny threw a fit when we got back to the barn/our car because we couldn't ride on the other pieces of equipment in the barn....this boy loves his farm equipment! 





Sam's club with my mom. I made the mistake of letting Charlie out of the cart and putting him down on the ground where he wanted to be. I had to "bribe" him out with a book.




Pumpkin picking with Gammy at the Okos Pumpkin Trailer


Rainy days getting off the bus require umbrellas


Trying on halloween costume and decorating pumpkins with Gammy




Birthday date night with Garth Brooks!!!!! Garth was incredible and we had a blast!