Five Years Old

I don't know who said, "the days are long but the years fly by" but they must have been a mother. I remember so clearly the wonderful day when my first precious baby was placed on my chest. I thought my heart would burst. And that feeling just keeps growing exponentially as the years go by. Mariah is our deep thinking, passionate, loving girl and we feel so blessed to have her in our life.

 Her first selfie...

We continued the tradition of an interview and I was surprised by some of her answers. The first time I asked the questions she was coming off the high of her birthday party from that morning so a lot of her answers didn't truly reflect her. So I asked them again a week later and they seemed to be more what she really feels. 

Mom: What is your favorite color?

Mariah: Pink 

Mom: What is your favorite food?
Mariah: Mac and Cheese and Pepperoni Pizza

Mom: What is your favorite animal?
Mariah: A Butterfly

Mom: What is your favorite book?
Mariah: Fancy Nancy (she loves those books, and that might have to do with her favorite color and animal answer. She also loves Bill Peet books.) 

Mom: What is your favorite movie?
Mariah: Cinderella (We don't watch many movies and when we do I try to pick ones they haven't seen before so she has probably only seen this movie once. But she does like when I tell the story.)

Mom: What is your favorite song?

Mariah: I Am a Child of God

Mom: What is your favorite dessert?
Mariah: Vanilla Ice Cream

Mom: What do you like to do for fun?
Mariah: Go on walks and explore and see bugs and stuff (She loves finding slugs, worms and a host of other creepy crawly things.)

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Mom?
Mariah: Read stories

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Dad?
Mariah: Wrestle with him (pretty sure thats the answer she gave last year, poor Tanner doesn't get to relax much at home)

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Chet?
Mariah: Play butterflies with him (those two are  playing some kind of imagined game most of the day)

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Austin?
Mariah: Make him laugh (And she's really good at it) 

Mom: Who is your best friend?
Mariah: Weston (a friend from our co-op preschool) 

Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Mariah: A mom (I had one of those heart burst moments when she said that)

Mariah is such a joy to be around. That wink was totally unprompted and I'm so happy I captured it. She's our little drama girl, in a mostly good way. 

I overheard an interaction with her and Chet the other day Chet did something to her and then said, "Was that funny Mariah?". To which she replied, "No it wasn't! It was terrifying!". She is always using words that surprise me, especially because she usually uses them correctly. 

One night after the kids and I got home from mutual Chet had a huge meltdown when I went to put Austin to bed. I came out of Austin's room to this scene. That's Mariah's special blanket on Chet. Mariah has a deep desire to be kind and do what's right. The other day she hurt Chet and had to apologize to him. Minutes later she was crying and told me that she felt bad for hurting Chet. We then were able to talk about how the Holy Ghost can help us feel guilt when we have done something wrong. I then told her how she needed to repent to remove that guilt. She had already done the first part by apologizing to Chet and feeling bad for what she had done so I encouraged her to go to her room and ask Heavenly Father for forgiveness and promise not to do it again. A little while later she came out and she felt so much better. I'm so grateful for those teaching moments that I am given and I am especially grateful for a daughter who wants to do what's right. 

She also is such a good helper. I send her on little errands and she tries her hardest to have a good attitude about it. She seems to sense the times when I am losing my patience with Chet and will try different things to diffuse the situation (bless her heart...no one wants to see an angry Ashley). 

After getting wet on a hike Mariah was so excited to put on her birthday robe from Grandma Young and look at books. 

Mariah is a really good friend. The other day I watched her reach out to a friend who was feeling left out. She loves to make new friends when we go to the park or other places where there are a lot of children. 

If you couldn't tell from this post, we are real proud of our Mariah girl. She continues to amaze me and I know that won't change. These five years have been such a blessing and I'm grateful to her for her patience and love as we do our best at this whole parenting thing. 

Love you baby girl!