I can't believe it but my little girl turned 5!!! She is growing up right before my eyes and it seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. This past year she has grown a lot, mostly in height. She has suddenly gotten significantly taller than Lydia and is developing into quite the little girl.
Her artistic abilities have begun to blossom. She spends hours coloring, painting, and creatively decorating anything. When I go to pick her up from church, she is always still coloring her craft and I often have to make her quit and "finish it at home."
Catherine has continued to enjoy her time in gymnastics. She does everything the teacher asks and she has mastered the backward roll, "skin-the-cat" on the bars and almost mastered the cartwheel.
Singing and performing are definitely a passion of hers. She is currently in our church's Shine Choir which is only 4 year olds. She outshone everyone in the fall performance when she sang to her hearts content and did all the motions with ease.
Though we had some tough times just before and after daddy deployed, Catherine has tamed her sassiness and is really beginning to be a little lady. She has better learned to handle her emotions and it's making her a very pleasant young girl.
Catherine's birthday fell on a Sunday this year and she was very excited to let everyone at church know that it was HER day. Daddy had called the day before to wish her Happy Birthday at midnight Kuwait time, but we woke up early so we could eat breakfast in bed and let Daddy see her open the present he sent heron video chat. She was delighted to open up princess dresses just the right size for the doll she got at Christmas (and the doll she didn't know she was about to get). We finished getting ready for church and she even wore her fancy red dress and the new princess cowgirl hat mommy got her.
After church we met up with Lolli, Aunt Crickett, Grandmommy and Aunt Sarah. Catherine had no idea where we were going and she was so surprised when we dropped the other kids with Pop and Uncle Bo, so she could go to brunch with us at the American Girl Bistro. Her face was glued immediately to all the dolls as we walked through the gift shop. When we sat down they brought her and the doll she got for Christmas a birthday crown. The place was crazy with little girls and their dolls seated at the table. She was in AWE of the whole thing. We ate lunch- she was insitent on only wanting cheddar cheese dip and salad; so that's exactly what she got. After eating they brought her a cake and we all sang Happy Birthday to her. After multiple attempts she got all the candles out- guess it's harder when you don't have brothers and sisters to help you! She finished up her time at the American Girl Bistro by getting to pick out her very first American Girl doll. Fascninatingly enough, this wasn't a hard decision for her. She had her mind on, Julie, a doll with brown eyes and long blonde, straight hair. She grew up in the 70's and came with a cute pair of bell bottom jeans and a peasant top. Catherine used some of her other birthday money to buy the swimsuit that also came with roller skating outfit, which Catherine says is a running outfit. She was so proud to meet back up with Harbin, Lydia and Ella and show them her new doll (and give them a play-by-play of her entire afternoon).
We headed from the American Girl Bistro straight to church (which began early because of the Super Bowl). Catherine was excited to get to bring snack to Cubbies on her birthday so we were able to share cupcakes with all the kiddos and Cubbie bear sang Happy Birthday for her.
From church we headed to my mom's house to finish up an exhausting day with banana splits and more presents.
I can't wait to see what the next year brings. Catherine will be moving out of the preschool department and will officially begin kindergarten!! She is getting too big too quickly, but she is growing more beautiful every step of the way.
Happy Birthday Catherine,
Love you. Mommy and Daddy
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