Jillian is SEVEN!

Jillian-

When you turned seven years old it really took us by surprise!  How could we have been parents for SEVEN whole years already?  It seems like the time we have spent with you has gone by so incredibly quickly.  Such joy.  Such a privilege to be your parents.  We adore you.  Your whole family adores you.  You are a wonderful wonderful person.

Although you are very mature, you do have the ability to be quite silly at times.  It's important during these times we remind ourselves you are just acting your age!  You are usually such a little mini adult that sometimes this is hard to remember!  You like to excel at things.  You are not a fan of performing and do not want to be the center of attention among strangers.  You are quite outgoing in our house though.  You often put on little performances or pretend to recite lines for a commercial.  It's very cute.  You love to sing, dance, and be funny.  You tell us you would love to perform on stage as long as nobody claps at the end because that makes you feel too shy.  That said, you have plans to sing the national anthem live- first at Mission BBQ, and then at the Super Bowl.

You are incredibly nice to others.  The only exception to that is sometimes your siblings, particularly Liv- you tend to have short patience with her...  Recently we started something called "Sweet Sissy Stickers".  You and Liv are working on being very kind to one another, and listening to what the other person is saying.  It's been going well!  Pretty soon you two will  have enough stickers for a fun sister outing- I can't wait for that!  Most of the time, the three of you play very nicely together.  You love to be the Mommy and have Liv & Evan (or Kelly and John John) be your babies.  Sometimes they yell, "Mommy!  Mommy!" and when I answer you all say, "No- not you!  You're GRANDMA!!!"  Oh my. -smile-

At school you are very calm, and considerate.  I've never heard from a teacher that you are misbehaving or doing anything against the rules.  I (very) rarely see anything come home from school that has a mistake, and you do all your homework independently and accurately.  You are very smart and you work hard to show what you are capable of.  That makes Mommy and Daddy very proud.

Mostly people call you Jillian, but you don't mind being called Jill or Jilli.  Mommy calls you Bunny, Bun Bun, Jilli Bun Bun, and Punkie Bear sometimes too. Silly Mommy.

Right now your interest in sports is limited to ballet and tap.  You also like gymnastics and yoga. You have recently developed a desire to play softball or try cheerleading- maybe we will get you signed up for those next!

Right now there is no music you love more than the Frozen soundtrack.  It seems to be the only thing we sing- morning, noon, and night.  Those songs sure do get stuck in your head!!!

You just recently started reading Nancy Drew books.  This makes Mommy very happy as she remembers reading at least 100 of them growing up.  You also like the "Magic" series (puppy, kitten…), American Girls books, Boxcar Children, and Rainbow Magic books.  There's pretty much nothing you won't read.  You love to read and you're awesome at it- very fast, with great comprehension and retention.  You're such a hard working little girl.

For breakfast your favorite foods are pancakes, waffles, sausage, cereal, cinnamon raisin toast with butter and fruit.  For lunch you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit salad, chips with guac, turkey roll ups with avocado, hummus with pita chips, strawberries, and soft carrots.  For dinner, your favorites are spaghetti, black beans with cheese/macho nachos, corn on the cob, grilled chicken, salmon with rice and hollandaise, and steak with blue cheese.  You recently discovered you like brussels sprouts and green beans (if they are dipped in tzatziki)! When we go out to eat you always want to go to Outback, Texas Roadhouse, Capital Grill, Two Rivers, or Mission BBQ.

Your vocabulary is extensive.  You love to use big words and are very descriptive.  It is so much fun to listen to you talk.  We love to hear your big brain in action.  When you are starting to get frustrated about something, your voice raises about at octave.  You also use a similar voice when you are trying to explain your behavior or a choice you have made to Mommy or Daddy.  Mommy asked you why you do this and you said it's because you "think it sounds extra sweet".

You've recently become very interested in silly TV shows like Garfield.  This type of humor really makes you laugh (and laugh and laugh).  Sometimes you watch a show on your Kindle when you are getting ready for bed and you come out laughing hysterically about something very silly.  Mommy & Daddy love this because it's almost opposite your normal personality where you don't have much patience for ridiculous things/behavior.  We are glad you can be amused by these things sometimes!

Your favorite thing to do with Mommy is cuddle and watch a special show, like Mako Mermaids.  You also like to go on Mommy daughter dates.  You recently told Mommy, "I can't wait until the two of us just go shopping together for, ya know, stuff we like…"  You also like to be a monkey baby in the shower.

When you spend time with Daddy you like to play tackle, or monkey in the middle.  You like to play with Daddy down in the basement because you think he is "like the jungle gym of the basement!" You like to go on the boat with Daddy and love it when he pulls you around on the tube.

You like to play with Liv because she is, "much more understanding than Evan."  The two of you read together, do crafts, and play in the yard.  You love when you get to stay up late and have 'sissy snuggle time' in the same bed together.  Listening to the two of you cuddle and laugh makes us incredibly happy.  You really are such sweet sisters.

Despite his lack of understanding (haha!) you are very very sweet to Evan and play with him a lot.  Your patience with him is incredible.  You make such a sweet little high pitched voice and say, "He's soooooo cute" or "Hi there little buddy bud."  You read to him, help him get ready for bed… the list goes on and on.  You will be such a great Mommy one day…

You are still not a fan of desserts that are too sweet.  Your favorites right now are homemade whipped cream, M&M's, caramel, and ice cream "flavors like vanilla or other flavors that are not too sweet like birthday cake- yuck".

You love to play outside with balls and bugs.  Inside you like to use the computer to do Khan Academy.  You also like to play board games.  At Grandma & Grandpas house you like to Kayak and play darts.  You also like painting, and playing in the attic.  You are great at climbing and show this by monkeying up the door jams in our house, climbing up the front columns of the house, and then jumping off for an "Angel jump".  You are very inspired by the athletes on American Ninja Warrior and tell us all the time about how you would like to play on an obstacle course like that.

Right now you're planning to be an orthodontist.  You think this is the perfect combination of your interests.  You want to help people smile more, you want to design an office space, and you want to design clothing.  Your plan is to design T-Shirts for the people who come to your office.  You also, "want to make a lot of money" and think this would be a good way to do that. -smile-

You don't like bed time.  You say you have "too much to think about and do to want to sleep".  We understand, but this is something we need to work on!  You stay in bed (for the most part- there's a little popping out at times -smile-) and read for hours and hours.  You 'go to bed' around 8pm and fall asleep around 11pm most of the time.  Yikes!

You're still a bitty little person.  At your 7 year check up you were 38lbs (1.83%) and 3' 8" tall (2.56%).  You usually wear 4T or 4/5 xs clothing.  Recently you finally outgrew your favorite 18mo and 2T skirts.  Bummer!  We really loved those skirts!  Haha!

Your birthday party was a lot of fun.  Mommy really enjoyed planning it with you, buying supplies and setting it up.  You two worked well together and had so much fun!  Picking a theme this year was super tricky… you really just wanted to have a lot of games, and a Maypole.  We decided to pick the colors we would plan around, and then try to fit in a "May Day" theme as much as possible.  We like to have an open house for your friends to come over.  We had your party from 10:30-2:30 and invited friends to stop by for 30 minutes, or the whole 4 hours.  This works well because lots of people have sports and other commitments this time of year.  You ended up having about 30 friends over- it was perfect!

For your trip to DC this year you chose the Capitol building.  You are quite the little history buff and loved going on the walking tour.  You thought our tour quite was, "really quite amusing".  When we were waiting in line you noticed a large statue off to the side- you squinted at the plaque and said offhandedly, "Hey- is that Fredrick Douglas over there?  Oh ya… it is… I know a bunch about him… read a biography… talked about him at school.  Great guy.  Super important to slaves and their fight for freedom and equal rights."  Excuse me? HAha!  We had no idea.  We paid you a dollar and told you, "it pays to be smart".  -smile-  You're incredible.

After the capitol we went to Old Ebbitt Grill in DC for dinner.  It was quite busy so we sat in the bar for about an hour enjoying tempura asparagus and a Shirley Temple with tons of cherries.  You felt pretty darn grown up.  For dinner you ordered steak with gorgonzola and mashed potatoes.

This was the first year you complained a little bit about taking your birthday portraits.  Mommy thinks it was because we brought your brother and sister along.  Usually we try to find a minute to take just the birthday kid, but that didn't happen this year.  With the other two running around and playing, it was just too tempting.  Despite a bit of grumbling, you posed like a champ, and love being a model.  You always have lots of ideas for posing yourself and this year was no different… "How about on this tree… near this stair… laying on this dock…" My oh my… you're getting so big.

Yes, this letter is long but there is a lot to remember about you at this age.  You are absolutely incredible.  Anyone who spends time with you can see what an incredibly special young lady you are.  While it is hard to see you getting older each year, it's such a treat to watch as you accomplish new things and become more and more of your own unique little self.  Mommy and Daddy could not be more proud of you.  Thank you for being such a wonderful person.  We're beyond thrilled to call you our daughter.

Happy 7th Birthday, Jillian!  We love you so much!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy


Links for all Jillian's Birthday Photos! (Password: Kulesfamily) *with cap

Jillian's Birthday Party
http://nancykulesphotography.smugmug.com/Kules-Family-Photos/Jillians-Birthday-Party

Jillian's DC Trip
http://nancykulesphotography.smugmug.com/Kules-Family-Photos/J-7th-DC-Trip

Jillian's 7 year old portraits
http://nancykulesphotography.smugmug.com/Kules-Family-Photos/Jillian-is-seven

Liv is FOUR!

The letter to Liv I started back in mid-August... :)

Liv-

Happy 4th birthday sweet sweet person.  You are without a doubt the nicest kid I've ever met.  You are so genuine.  You care so much for other people and you are incredibly empathetic.  Your thoughts are deep and provoking.  You want things to be fair for everyone.  I love how expressive you have gotten to be over this past year and all the amazing things we have learned about you.  You are simply good.

You are such a well behaved little lady.  Although there are times you get in trouble, you always seem shocked when it happens.  By that, I mean that you are never trying to be bad, and never making choices you know are inappropriate.  So, when you do something that makes me upset, it crushes you.  You get very very sad.  But, it's always a short amount of time before you've rebounded and return to your wonderful happy-go-lucky self.  You are forgiving, and resilient.

When you and your sister argue (which is pretty much daily), we do "knees to knees" where you sit and talk about what's going on.  You ADORE this.  Sometimes there will be a minor dispute, "I want the pink bowl" "NO! I want it" and you'll quickly suggest: "Jillian, let's do knees to knees."  Jillian does not love this as much as you.  HAHA!  At the end of knees to knees you kids say to each other, "The most important thing in the whole world is my family." Then you hug and try to make each other laugh by tickling/biting/toe grabbing... whatever works.  This is the highlight for you, I think.  Evan loves knees to knees too, but it frustrates you that he can't remember our "most important thing" catch phrase.  You walk him through it word by word until he has said it correctly and in it's entirety.

We call you: Lou Lou, Lou Lou Bear, Livy Lou, and Lou.  Sometimes, we call you Liv. -wink-

You're not interested in any group sports yet, and still want to sign up for ballet and gymnastics.  You seem to enjoy both of these activities which is good because they are challenging for you.  Your ballet teacher has you keep a waltz beat while chanting/patting, "Clap, Knees, Knees".  Until recently this was impossible for you.  You're rounding the bend now though, and can keep up for a few beats.

According to you, your favorite books are: "Birthday books, flower, spring and pumpkin books, fruit, vegetable and recipe books, making stuff books, and rainbow books and sewing books."  You're starting to put together words now and feel very proud when you are able to read a book with Mommy.   This still takes a lot of time and teamwork but you're getting better every day!  Yesterday you told me, "I think you spell Mommy, M-E... Mmmmmmm.....eeeeeeeee.... is that right!?"  Close! -smile-

One of my MOST favorite things about you right now is how you hold one (or even two!) pointer fingers up in the air when you are about to share something you thought of.  It's ADORABLE.  Out of the blue: "You know what?! (*fingers up!*) today, at school, we had.... oranges!" Haha!  You're awesome.

I'm not a fan of kids asking me if they can watch TV so I've told you guys, "TV is only a Mommy idea and my answer will always be no if you ask to watch".  So, your idea to get around this is not to 'ask' per say... You just start to say, "G." (over and over).  This is code for, "do you want to cuddle in bed and watch Giada?"  Yes, yes I do.  -smile-

According to you, your favorite TV characters are: "Giada, Dora & Boots, Peter Rabbit, Strawberry Shortcake, and My Little Pony".  This is mostly accurate aside from Peter Rabbit and My Little Pony which we have banned from your selections due to sassy episodes. -smile-


Your favorite foods (according to you) are chocolate!, strawberries, oranges, bananas, bean burritos, and sugar snap peas.  You told me the other day you would like to eat a bean burrito every day forever.

I know I said you and Jillian argue, but it's only because you play together so much.  You really do get along well and I'm very proud of both of you for being so sweet to each other.  It's awesome.  You're also really good with Evan.  You mostly call him "boy" and enjoy having him follow you around.  The two of you play babies together all the time.  You are both great at being the Mommy. -wink-

You have a sweet tooth.  You love treats and you are very excited when they are a choice.

You're a great sleeper- you go to bed at 7:30 and wake up around the same time.  On the weekends we have you "wait for the eight".  That means we get to see you at 8:01.  You sit and stare at your clock until it's time to get up! :)  You're wearing 3T clothing, and size 8 shoes.

This year you've really come a long way.  You know all the letters and their sounds, you can count to 30 or 40ish and you're starting to read.  You LOVE to do "homework" with Mommy and you are very excited to learn.  When you grow up you would like to be a chef.

This year for your birthday you decided on a rainbow theme.  You're a big fan of "all the colors" and felt very excited about this.  We had lots of balloons and streamers as well as a rainbow of fruits and drinks for your friends.  We had a beautiful day with great weather so there was lots of backyard running around and jumpy house playing.  We played the song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow and watched all the kids dance with the rainbow ribbon bracelets we made. It was a perfect celebration.

For your DC trip you chose to go the National Zoo.  You really enjoyed being the only kid out and about with Mommy and Daddy and we had a great time at the zoo (despite getting turned around and walking (and walking) for quite some time.  We ended up picking a place called Medium Rare for your birthday dinner.  It was awesome.  It was a pre-fix dinner where your only choices were how you wanted your steak cooked, and if you wanted salad dressing and steak gravy on your plate, or on the side.  There were a couple dessert choices so we got a giant sundae for you and took home a piece of key lime pie for later.  It was awesome.  We rode the metro and soaked in all your chatty-ness the whole time.  You're precious.

Thank you for being such an incredible person.  You have a heart of gold and we cannot wait to see what the future has in store for you.

Happy 4th birthday, sweet Lou Lou.

xoxo

Mommy