Hailey is 4.

So Hailey turned 4 in March. And I started a blog entry. And I got distracted. And now it's May.

I should feel guilty and sad. I should be upset that life always has a way of distracting me from what I think is really important. But I am so very used to this life that I am just going to roll my eyes, remind myself that I am, in fact, a very good mother, and write her a belated birthday wish. And after I finish I will write about Easton who had a birthday in April!

Hailey Bailey,

I love you. What more can a mom say? You are loud and hyper and have crazy curly hair and you have more energy in your pinkie toe than I have had in my whole last 10 years of life. But what is there NOT to love about you! This year we celebrated your birthday three times! We did cake and ice cream and all that with Dad's family the Saturday before your birthday. You were such a little princess. I could tell you were soaking up every ounce of attention you could. Next we did a birthday party with some friends. We had a Minnie Mouse theme and you even dressed the part. And finally on your actual birthday we had Buela and Buelo and Kayla over for dinner and cake. The picture above was from that night.

So, I need to tell you some stories about yourself that make me smile. Most of what entertains me about you right now is how you say certain words. My favorite one is that you say 'Ooze' instead of 'Use.' Consistently. "Can I ooze this?" "Paige oozed my shoes without asking!!" Kind of the same mistake, but there is a song on the radio right now that we LOVE. It is called Glad You Came by The Wanted. One of the lyrics says, "My universe will never be the same. I'm glad you came." Except you always say ooniverse instead of universe. Cracks me up. Other songs you LOVE right now are Second Chance by Shinedown (there is a line about Hailey's commet and you always sing Hailey's comin'), Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People (instead of singing "All the other kids with the pumped up kicks" you sing "All the other kids and the bum bum kids"), and we always rock out to Adele's Rolling in the Deep.

Another thing I want to tell you about is this attachment thing you are going through right now. I have no idea what started it. You have always been a super independent girl. And typically you still are. But for some reason right now you just don't want us to leave you. We have some theories as to why it's happening. But you will literally cling to me or dad and not let us out of your sight. It almost makes me feel good to know how much you really feel inside.

You go to preschool. You love it. You are also involved in ballet and a music class. You love those even more. You are very into playing with friends right now. You have one friend named Lily who you refer to as "My Lily." Paige's current best friend is also named Lillie so we always have to differentiate them.

There is so much more I want to tell you. But capturing Hailey in a few paragraphs is just not going to be a possible task.

But I love you. So very much.

Love,

Mom