The Gentry's: November 2014

I'm still in shock that my big girl turned 5 yesterday! Such a big milestone! We have really seen her grow up so much this past year. But Mommy is struggling with how much older 5 seems than 4:/

Macy is still the life of the party, a fireball, dictator of activities, leader, task-oriented, driven, full of initiative, compassionate and yes, strong-willed! I tell Josh all the time how different our family would be if Eden had been born first because of how different her personality is. Macy gets things done! Eden would like you to take her by the hand and then will get things done:) So fun how different they are and how those personalities are just growing. Macy owns her role of big sister. She takes care of Eden and they genuinely play well together. Maybe because Macy can determine what they are going to do and how they are going to do it and, for the most part, Eden is compliant! She thrives in social activities and loves being around friends. She is smart as a whip and catches on to things quickly. We have enjoyed working through some school books together this fall and she loves to learn. She has always impressed us with her ability to do math in her head (realizing more and more she has her Daddy's engineer driven brain!) and you usually only have to tell her something once and she gets it. If something doesn't come easily, she can definitely struggle. May have gotten some of that perfectionism gene from Mommy:/ She has so much initiative and drive. If she needs something, she will get it. Even if it means creating a staircase out of baskets, step stools and toys to reach something up high or grabbing some tape out of the junk drawer to repair something she broke. She will even label things so not to be confused with Eden's and is very orderly and organized with her things. She still loves dress-up and has quite the collection of dolls now (she's been collecting princess toddler dolls) Most of her play consists of taking care of them and changing their clothes. She also loves coloring and drawing and any kind of craft. We are still doing dance and Kidz Praise choir and she is most excited about being on stage with these two groups. She is such a light for us! As hard as it is to see her grow up, I have really enjoyed our sweet conversations and watching her role in our family. Thanks be to God for this precious gift!

For her birthday yesterday, we started the day by giving her a gift from Mommy and Daddy. A new Elsa dress-up and shoes! Then the girls and I went to get their flu mists (FUN!) then headed to Barnes and Noble to play and look through books. She picked out a new paint with water book. Then she chose Stanley's for lunch (much to her Daddy's delight!) and we drove through Starbucks and got a cake pop on the way home. Nana dropped by to see her on her actual birthday and brought her a new Elsa doll and microphone, which she has loved! She may be 5 now, but this girl slept 3 hours yesterday afternoon! Must have needed it! When she woke up, Daddy was here and she decided on Rounders for dinner. When we got to the parking lot, we realized Nana and Papa and Brad, Mandy, Mallory and Jack were eating at Reggie's. So she quickly changed her mind and we joined them for dinner:) After that, we headed to Mistletoe and Magic to walk around for a while. Hard to believe that 5 years ago I walked and walked and walked M&M and then went into labor that night! We picked up a little treat from Brookshire's bakery and headed to see Pops and share our dessert. Grammy was at a teacher event. I think she had a fun day!