she's 5!

addie and i had a little photo shoot yesterday morning.

i was trying to get just one cute picture.

i love that my girl strikes a million poses, i do. i have one, maybe two poses i do for every picture. (hand on hip, hand on side) however, i would really like if she could hold still long enough for me to get 1 good picture.

but alas, she poses, and moves, and poses, and moves, and poses.

and acts silly...

and gets bored...

oh this girl.

i love her so.

this pose was all her.

and 2 seconds later, so was this.

she brings so much happiness to our family.

she's like a first child and a middle child all rolled up into one. that is the contradiction that is addie-cakes m. ray.

she walked around all day yesterday telling frankie what to do. because "frankie, i'm older than you today, i'm 5." haha, silly girl, you've been older than her forever!

some of her current (lasting) favorites:

• playing teacher - she'll make us all sit and she calls on us by name - "matt, tell me a word that starts with 'c'. good job, matt! now michelle, what rhymes with 'bat'? yes! you are smart, michelle!"
• riding bikes
• water - small pool, big pool (she swims!), sprinklers, water guns, baths, beach - she's always been a water baby
• arc/art - (and yes, i know at 5 years old, it's not all that cute to have a bunch of 'baby talk' things she says, and i've been correcting her cute mispronunciations for awhile now, much to my dismay. now to get myself to stop saying them, because i think they're so cute!) - she colors, draws, writes, creates, cuts, glues, and tapes, all day long. i love it, but i don't love the little papers, scraps, crayons, markers, tape, scissors, glue, etc all over the table, floor, counters, bedroom... you get the picture.
• dress up - she and frankie are starting to play "you're the dad, and i'm the mom, okay frankie? yes, we'll take turns, but you be the dad first." (poor frankie!) and getting more creative with their pretend play.
• make up, jewelry, perfume, and anything girly (not that i let her wear make up, but you know)
• reading
• tv
• sweets - sistah has a sweet tooth. but she has also been a pretty good eater lately. she cleans her plate and she does it quickly.
• cuddles and rubs - "you rub my legs now. now you rub my back. now you rub..."

addie is such a sweet girl. she doesn't get in trouble very often, so when she does, she's devastated, and it usually snowballs and is very dramatic. she's definitely a pleaser. she loves to help and loves her family. and we love this quirky little 5 year old!