Today is Amelie’s 5th birthday! This morning, I sat down with her to conduct one of those little birthday surveys that I’ve seen on other people’s blogs. Here are the results:

Favorite Food: Cereal, bananas, grapes, olives, and strawberries and blueberries, lemonade, and orange juice.

Favorite T.V. Show: Imagination Movers.

Favorite Movie: Rango. (That made me laugh.)

Favorite Game: Starfall. (This is a website with lots of fun reading games.)

What she wants to be when she grows up: A doctor.

And that’s all I got. She got tired of it much quicker than I thought she would. So, on to the pictures! Once again, my friend Marcie did a simply amazing job. I was blown away by her ability to make every shot count. She knew how to get their attention, get them to smile a real smile (usually by doing something silly to make them laugh), and get a great picture. Thank you for sharing your talent with us, Marcie!

Oh, and make sure you let me know which one you’d like me to print for you, grandmas!

My sweet little girl.

Shy smile.

Big hugs.

What a sweetheart.

Smile!

I am so tremendously grateful to have Amelie is my life and to be her mother. Her excitement over the little things, her joy in giving hugs and kisses, her tender spirit, and her endless curiosity have brought so much happiness into my life. Watching her grow from baby to toddler to little lady has been wonderful. Happy birthday, my little one!

Today, we had a major milestone in our family. Amelie’s first day of kindergarten! She’s on the young side. Her birthday actually falls on the cut-off date here in Utah, September 1st. I think that basically means she’ll be the very youngest person in her class.

A view of her school--Walden School of Liberal Arts in Provo. It looks kind of like an hacienda.

Walden is a really cool Montessori charter school. What does this mean? It’s publicly funded, we had to put her name in a lottery to get in, classes (especially in the elementary grades) are taught using the Montessori model (the model that I favor and talk about on my blog), classes are also multi-age (Amelie is in a Kindergarten/1st grade class), there are no buses so we have to drive her to and from school, and class size is smaller than the average public school. Her first day went great and we’re hoping this school turns out to be a good fit for Amelie and for our family.

My baby girl--growing up so fast!

She was so very excited about starting kindergarten. Though I do think she was a bit disappointed that she wouldn't be riding a bus.

Her classroom. I was trying to be sneaky about taking pictures (didn't want to disturb the kids in class), but you can see the open shelves of work for the children. That activity at the entrance is a cool bell activity.

This is some of the Practical Life work--you can see the little sink for washing hands and dishes, some dress-up clothes, and some other fun work.

I’m just so thrilled that we happen to live close enough to the only Montessori kindergarten through 12th grade charter school in the state. And that we got in! Exciting times.

This summer, Amelie went to a handful of day camps up at Thanksgiving Point. One day, they learned about astronomy, one day was art, another day they toured a restaurant kitchen and learned about cooking. One of these days was a bug day. I wasn’t quite sure how Amelie would like it, but I thought it’d be good for her to get up close and personal with some bugs. Little did I know she would come home with two new pets and a love for the magnificent mealworm. I wanted to encourage this interest and watched (from a distance–not a worm lover myself) with a smile as she played with her pets. Before long, she had christened them Shayla and Fast Freddy and even built obstacle courses for them.

The budding entomologist with Shayla. Or Fast Freddy. I think she could actually tell them apart.

One of the obstacle courses. It was so fun to watch her set it all up and then encourage her little buddies along.

Both worms have now left this life. Amelie’s excitement and devotion to the critters made me want to get her a real pet sometime soon.

Life with three little ones is definitely full–full of laundry, full of smiles, full of chaotic moments, and full of milestones. Here are a couple milestones we’ve been celebrating around here recently.

This cutie pie turned 4 months-old on Friday. 4 months old! Watching your babies grow is so bittersweet. Part of me wants him to stay this small and innocent and perfect. But I also look forward with excitement to all that the days ahead have in store for him.

A couple weeks ago, Easton started rolling from his back to his tummy. It's so funny to watch novice rollers. It's almost like this inevitable thing that they can't control. Watch. Here he is--"You want me to do what?"

"Oh, no! It's happening again!"

"Ugh, not tummy time again. I hate tummy time."

"There. You happy now?"

"How can I get back over? Think, think, think..."

"I give up."

And this guy? He's potty trained! He's so tall and big and talkative--sometimes it's hard to remember he's only 2 years old.

Until I find him like this. Then I see my baby again.

Just for fun, I decided to go back through some of my old Facebook Status updates. I realized that Facebook is where I’ve recorded a lot of the funny little things that I might not otherwise write down. Here are some of the gems I dug up:

July 27, 2011: As I was pulling some banana muffins out of the oven, my 2 year-old came in and said, “Mmmm…they’re so muffiny!” And yesterday, he pulled me down to his level and whispered in my ear: “I is growing up!” Love that boy.
May 25, 2011: My two year-old just made a pretend phone call to Andy Warhol. Thank you, Little Einsteins.

March 18, 2011: Giggling to myself as I listen to my 4 year-old explain the rules of her latest game, “Aliens and Astronauts Get Married”, to her little brother.

February 16, 2011: My 4 year-old as she was practicing writing: “That’s not a very good ‘y’, I said to myself.” Gotta love self-narration.

February 3, 2011: Best feeling ever? Walking in to two happy smiling kids first thing in the morning and having your 2 year-old give you a big hug and say, “This is my mommy.”

January 4, 2011: You know you’ve just come off the Christmas season when your 2 year-old proclaims to all of Wal-Mart: “Know me better, man!”

December 29, 2010: My 4 year-old daughter just suggested what I think to be the perfect name for our baby boy: Unicorn Maiden. Wear the name proudly, my son.

December 16, 2011: My 4 year-old just told me, “Mommy, you do a really good job cutting bananas.”

August 10, 2010: My almost-4 year-old daughter just came in and announced, “Mom, I am going to wear this tutu for 3 days!” Alrighty then…

Being a mom is simply the best.