Happy 10th Birthday, Josephine!

Dear Josephine,

Happy 10th Birthday, sweet girl!! How are we already here? How is my baby already double digits? I truly cannot but believe it. Here are some things I’d like to remember about you when you turned 10 years old and some things you might like to know about your 10 year old self…

1. You love gymnastics! You are competing Level 5 this year and still spend 16 hours in the gym each week training. There is no where you’d rather be than gymnastics!!
2. Your favorite food is still “Chicken, Fries and Ranch” and that’s how you order it in a restaurant…all in one phrase!
3. You love to organize. You don’t necessarily like organizing your own room, but you’ll organized lots of other spaces around the house such as the tupperware drawer, the art cabinet, your big sister’s room, your brother’s room. You love to have everything looking nice and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
4. You started band this year. You are playing the Tuba! The instrument is twice your size. You have a stand that you put the tuba on because there is no way you could hold it. Thankfully you have a tuba at home and at school so you don’t have to take it back and forth. It’ll be interesting to see if you end up sticking with band or not. To be honest, we were surprised that you were interested in joining band.
5. You love your dogs, Scotty and Scarlett. You like to put their sweaters on them, play with them and snuggle with them on the couch. They love you too.
6. You are having your birthday party at a Chocolate Shop this year. You have invited 9 of your closest friends and you girls will get to make all kinds of chocolate treats and everyone will take their’s home. You’re also having a donut tower cake at your party.
7. You love traditions. For the last couple years you have wanted to go to Portillo’s for your birthday lunch. If it was on a school day, Daddy and I would pick you up and take you to lunch. But this year your birthday is on a Saturday, so we get to go to Portillo’s with the whole family and your grandparents (Grandma Jane and Pepo) who will be visiting from Texas. You will order ‘Chicken, Fries and Ranch” and will want to split a chocolate cake shake with Daddy.
8. You made a countdown chain about a month ago to countdown the days until you turn 10. You are just SO excited for your birthday this year!
9. You love making things. You love craft kits. You have a knitting loom, potholder loom, beads, diamond art, paints and all kids of things to get creative. That’s your favorite thing to do these days!
10. You have a lot of friends, but you are pretty particular with who gets to be super close with you. Some of your good friends right now are Lily, Jordyn, Peyton, Ruby, Viv, Kenzie, Maddie, Avery and Gabriella. You love to FaceTime them and play games with them. I think it’s funny when I come in your room to ask you something and you say in a whisper ‘I’m on a call’…like you are on a work call. You are too funny!
11. You always say the same thing when you are dropped off somewhere or leave for school. “See you later alligator” and we have to say “After while crocodile” and then you say “ok, love you, bye”. At bedtime, as we are leaving the room, you always say “Goodnight, love you, see you in the morning!”.
12. At bedtime, you still like me to sing you rock-a-bye-baby after prayers. You like me to sing with your cheek pressed against mine. I know my days are numbered with this, so I will sing to you for as long as you’ll let me. You also like to sleep with your box fan on, your twinkle lights on and your sound machine set to white noise and a 30 min. timer.
13. You love to go shopping even if it’s just for something small. You are into Starbucks lately (even though we don’t get it often / barely ever) and are constantly asking me if we can get Starbucks and you’ll pay for it with your own money. I think, you think, that Starbucks is just cool…..might be a tween thing.
14. You love to make pancakes with Daddy every other Sunday. On the opposite Sunday’s we get donuts and you go with him to do that as well. You love the tradition of helping Daddy in the kitchen.
15. You are very self-sufficient. You don’t need help with much. And a lot of times, you’ll do things for your older brother who is 3 years older than you (and much more needy). You pack your lunch (with the exception of a sandwich), set your alarm for the day, get all your school stuff ready. And you can cook things in the microwave and things on the stove (although you need us to turn on the gas stove for you). You also like seeing recipes on YouTube that you’ll ask to try. Your most recent one was trying to make ice cream in a somewhat empty Nutella jar. It was kind of a fail, but you tried!
16. You are in 4th grade this year and already got Panther of the Month. You say it’s not a big deal, but all of your teachers always LOVE you. You work hard, you are kind and are personable, but not too much to where you distract others in class. So while getting Panther of the Month may not be a big deal to you (because you get it every year), I’m still proud of you for being an awesome student. You make us very proud.
17. You’ve struggled with a mental block in gymnastics the last 3 months. You fell on your tumbling pass and have had a hard time doing your round off, flip flop back tuck. You can 100% do it (you’ve been doing it for over a year), but it’s all in your mind. I think you almost have it back, but it’s frustrating for you and for me. You are currently working on getting your Arabian. It doesn’t look pretty yet, but I’m impressed that you are going for it and trying to learn a skill that you won’t need for awhile.
18. You are still a girly girl. You love wearing bows in your hair. You no longer like your JoJo Siwa bows, but you prefer the more feminine longer, flowy bows. Your favorite hairstyle is half up and half down with a long bow.
19. You don’t like riding in the car for long periods of time. You are our only child that is always asking when we will be somewhere, how long we’ve been in the car, etc. Anything longer than 45 mins. is WAY too long for you!
20. You love candy. You usually want to spend your own money on candy. You still love Kinder Eggs, super sour candy and gum!

Josephine Mae, it’s hard to believe that you are 10 years old! All of my kids are now double digits (insert tears). These last 10 years have been filled with so much joy, laughter and fun. You are the sweetest little girl. You love to hug, snuggle and be close. I hope you stay that way forever. Everyone that you are close to always feels an incredible warm love from you. You are so special. I hope you have the most magical 10th birthday and we can’t wait to celebrate you, sweet girl!

I love you from here to the moon and back again!

Love,

Mama