Happy 8th Birthday, JoJo!

Dear JoJo,

Today you turn 8 years old…….Happy Birthday!! Time has just flown by and I can’t believe my baby is 8! Here are some things I’d like to remember about you when you turned 8 years old and some things you might like to know about your 8 year old self:

You still LOVE gymnastics! You are on the JO gymnastics team and will have your first competition of this season in a week and a half. You spend 16 hours in the gym training each week and it’s definitely your happy place!
Your favorite food is still chicken, fries and ranch. It can be chicken nuggets or chicken strips, but don’t forget the ranch! You also love orzo, eggs, fruit, Nutella, goldfish and mac and cheese. You still like spicy hot sauce…..especially from Carlos River Cafe.
You had a birthday party with friends this year. It’s been a long time since you had a friend party (dang Covid!), but this year you had 12 friends at your party at a bounce house place. You chose cookies and cream cupcakes for your dessert.
Some of your best friends are Gabriella, Jordyn and Peyton, but you have lots of friends that you adore…….Avery, Abby, Annika, Aubrey, Viv, Maddie T., Chloe, Ruby, Braelyn, Lily and Journee.
You are in 2nd grade this year and seem to be doing really well. You are smart and very well-behaved. You have become a great reader!
You love your tablet and like to call family and friends on Facebook messenger.
You still love your baby, Angel, you sleep with her every night as well as with your soft receiving blanket from when you were a baby.
Daddy does your bed time most often, but when I do your bedtime, after we say prayers, you still like me to sing you Rock a Bye Baby, but you call it Rock a My Baby. You like our foreheads to be touching and sometimes you sing with me.
You absolutely love crafts. You like to diamond art, weaving pot holders, drawing, coloring, sewing and pretty much anything that has to do with art! Art is your favorite class in school.
You are extremely outgoing and goofy at home, but you get shy and bashful in large group settings.
You are really into fashion. You put together super cute outfits and you always have a matching bow. Your friend Jordyn gave you 30 different colored hair extensions at your birthday party, so now you like to wear a coordinating hair extension with all your outfits.
You love to organize. You’re always asking what you can organize for me, which is great! I love when you organize the Tupperware drawer because it often becomes a mess. The funny thing is that when I want you to organize your room, you are usually NOT in the mood for that chore. I guess I understand that it’s more fun to organize others’ things, but it would be really great if you could apply your organizational skills to your own space.
You love to play with friends. You’re always looking to see if the neighbors can play with you. I love that you have kids your age that live close by.
You have a really great memory. You remember details about things from many years ago…..it’s pretty amazing!
Mama and Daddy are picking you up from school and taking you out for lunch on your birthday. You’ve chosen to go to Portillo’s. You’ll want chicken, fries and ranch……and you want to share a chocolate cake shake with Daddy.
You love all things squishy…..slime, putty, mad matter, playdoh ……if you can squish it…..you love it!
You like to try to look….as you say……mature. You like to put on make-up and wear some things like your big sister. Your friend Aubrey gave you a mini-backpack for your birthday and you keep telling us that it’s SO ‘mature’. There’s plenty of years to look mature, if you could just stay little forever, that would be great!
You love to make pancakes with Daddy on Sunday mornings. You’re really good at cracking the eggs.
You are extremely independent. You do a lot of things for yourself. You like to pack your own school lunch, make your own meals sometimes, take your own bath and shower, and pack your backpack and gymnastics bag. You can use the microwave really well.
You love to snuggle and sometimes you like me to hold you like a baby. I love your snuggles and hugs. They are the BEST!

Josephine Mae, how is it possible that we’ve had you for 8 years already? You have so much personality and are truly a joy to be around! You are funny, sweet, a good friend, thoughtful, caring, kind and truly one of nicest kids EVER! Everyone that meets you, adores you and being your mom is so much fun! Thank you for being you and being such a bright light in our family……we wouldn’t be complete without you!