Happy Birthday MELEAH!

My little Meleah Susannie is finally SIX!  She's waited so patiently for her Birthday this year, even though hers is the finale of our crazy Birthday season.  (At least if you don't count mine, which I don't.)  We had lots of fun celebrating -

We decorated cookies, 

 partied with the other Birthday peeps (Jana and Dalton),

Don't you just LOVE Randall's photo-bombing face? 
opened presents,

 ate cake,

 (My interpretation of "strawberry cake with chocolate frosting.")

 opened MORE presents,

 and went to Chuckarama and Jungle Jim's Playland.

 

Carter and Meleah buddied up most of the time, which was a bit unusual since they're basically mortal enemies. It was so cute!

Randall LOVES Jungle Jim's Playland.  He can't wait to go back there.  Can't you tell by his genuine smile? Doesn't he just look SO comfy on this ride?  ;)

Favorites

Food: "tomatoes, the center of the lettuce, and popcicles!"
Movie:  "Barbie Princess Charm School"
TV Show:  "Word Girl"
Book:  "Bingo"
Ice Cream Flavor: "Strawberry"
Thing to Do:  "Play games, and dance!"
Color: "Turquiose"

My spunky little Meleah is just so much fun.  She has been known to be bossy, short-tempered, sassy, whiny, and frankly a little bit mean at times, but I couldn't imagine our family without her.  Her positive attributes far outweigh any small character flaws that she may have.  When she was only a day old our midwife, Valerie El Halta,  said that Meleah was going to be EXTREMELY smart.  Randall and I looked at each other and chuckled a little bit, and then Valerie warned us that raising an intelligent child can be difficult.  She pretty much said "good luck with that!"  Apparently she knew from day one that Meleah would be an intelligent, strong-willed, independent little leader, and boy was she was right! 

She can be very shy at times, but when we're at home she knows exactly what she wants to do, how she wants to do it, and how to make everyone else follow along with her plans.  She's an excellent reader (Hallelujah!), and is pretty much the first one I call for when I need help with ANYTHING. She's just so dang capable!  When you consider that my oldest child can't make it from one room to another without forgetting what he's doing (Yes, he got this from me), and my second oldest has some physical limitations... Meleah ends up being the Queen of all favors.  She's become a bit sick of this however, and likes to say "Why do I ALWAYS have to do EVERYTHING?!" But I know that deep down she just LOVES to be my big helper.  ;)

Meleah may act like a tough cookie, but she can be VERY tender-hearted.  She feels the pressure from my guilt trips more than anyone (ESPECIALLY more than Randall and Carter!), and I have to remember to consider her tender feelings even though she seems so self-assured.  She feels remorse immediately after she upsets someone, and I don't think it's just because she's worried that she'll get in trouble.

Everyone always wants to play with her because she's so full of fun new ideas.   She's great about helping Lydia and Savanna get everything all set up and organized when they're playing, and I just love to watch her take care of everyone.  I know that she's going to be a great mom someday, because she's already so responsible.  We LOVE our little Elly Jelly SO much, and are so blessed to have her in our family!

Side Note: Randall also turned 34 this month! Happy Birthday Big Daddy!  WE LOVE YOU!

p.s. Maybe someday when life slows down a little you'll get your own Birthday post, but for now you get a shout-out at the end of Meleah's.  ;)  Love ya!