Mariah's Spotlight

Mom: What is your favorite color?

Mariah: Blue

Mom: What is your favorite food?
Mariah: Pizza

Mom: What is your favorite animal?
Mariah: Dog (Gus is her favorite)

Mom: What is your favorite book?
Mariah: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Mom: What is your favorite movie?
Mariah: Onward (We just watched it the other night and she was giggling throughout the whole movie.)      

              

Mom: What is your favorite song?

Mariah: Thunder by Imagine Dragons

Mom: Who is your scripture hero?
Mariah: Esther

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

Mom: What do you like to do for fun? 
Mariah: Read (Almost daily I have to make her stop reading and go do something else.)

 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Mom?
Mariah: Dance (We like to jam out in the kitchen)

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Dad?
Mariah: Play games, even though he usually wins. (Tanner is loving this stage of our older two because he can now play games that he actually enjoys playing with them.) 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Chet?
Mariah: Bounce in the bounce house. 

This picture...It has been so amazing to see how these two are just perfect for each other. 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Austin?

Mariah: Play monkeys

Sometimes Austin will decide he is mad at the world and it's usually Mariah who can cheer him up. 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Eliza? 

Mariah: Blow Bubbles

Mariah is so patient with Eliza, which isn't always an easy thing to do.

Mom: Who is your best friend?

Mariah: My Family (This made me so happy, I want my children to always be best friends.)

Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Mariah: A singer and maybe an Author. (Mariah still loves to belt her made up songs around the house. It can be a little fraying on the nerves at times, but I love seeing the joy that music brings her.)

We couldn't have asked for a better first child. Mariah is a leader and a great help around the house. I rarely have to nag her to do her morning routine. She usually does her piano practice all by herself and she is loving it. 

She's a great student who is learning that it's ok to fail and that as she learns from her mistakes she will be able to progress and improve even more. Because of her love for reading she knows a lot about a lot; which makes homeschooling easy for me. She reads to her siblings often as well. Sometimes when Chet wants her to play with him and she wants to read they will compromise and Mariah will read to everyone. 

Mariah has wonderful confidence in herself. She loves admiring her reflection. One night while she and Austin were in the bath together he dumped out a bunch of soap. When I asked Mariah why she didn't see him dump the soap out she confessed, "Because I was talking to my reflection.". She loves wearing her hair down but with her volume and waves it can sometimes look a little crazy. One day when I was trying to get her to let me fix her hair she said, "You think my hair looks messy when it's down but I think it's beautiful. In fact, I wish I were in front of a big crowd singing with my hair down.". I can't make this stuff up people. 

She's a perfect blend of girly girl and tomboy. She loves to dress up and get pretty but also isn't above wrestling like a wildcat or getting dirty with her brothers. 

Holding a snake and then painting Eliza's nails. 

Mariah loves all her cousins and has loved having some live close. She and Annalie are perfect with each other. Their personalities mesh well and I think their friendship will be one that will last forever. 

Mariah tries her hardest to do what is right. One Morning after a rough day before, Mariah said, "I've decided that I'm going to try to be my best today." And that is what she does each day; she is always looking for ways that she can bring joy to her siblings, and I ask a lot of her and she is such an amazing help. Most mornings she gets Eliza out of her crib and brings her out to me. She is becoming perceptive enough to see when I'm having a hard time and tries to help me. 

Every stage is felt so deeply with your first. Some days I feel guilt about Mariah being our Guinea Pig child, but she is so forgiving of our many mistakes in this parenting journey. She loves so deeply and is full of joy and life. We don't know what we would do without our sweet Mariah Jeanne!