Happy 5th Birthday Annika!!

On the day you were born, I was overwhelmed with a million feelings of excitement, joy, pain, exhaustion, confusion, trepidation, and soo much more.  You looked so much like your dad to me, and I loved your head full of dark hair.  You scrunched your nose up and kicked your feet until they were free every time we tried to swaddle you.  You had our hearts from the very beginning. 
On your first birthday, I was excited.  You had just started taking a few steps by yourself and were about to have your first real taste of sugar.  Your personality shone then as brightly as it does now lighting up every room with your smile and energy.  Our house was filled with friends and family that came to wish you happy birthday, including your Mamaw who drove up to surprise me just for the afternoon.  You had an amazing "Very Hungry Caterpillar" Cake and you soaked up all the attention you could.  
We did actually have a party for you on your 2nd birthday, but I was 7 months pregnant and very tired.  This is a picture from your actual birthday that year.  Dad got you a special fancy cupcake you ate it so fast that you almost made yourself sick.  You continued to be awesome-sauce! 
On your 3rd birthday we had cupcakes again and your 2 favorite presents were a balloon bouquet and your bright green Rody that you promptly named Karody.  (I'm pretty sure you named it that because it came from Kristi, and we all thought it was adorable.)  You even shared your cupcake with your little sister, who wasn't yet 1 year old.  
On your 4th birthday, we were in Berlin.  You celebrated at your Kita (preschool) with your friends, and then had cake at home with us and your grandparents who were visiting from Indiana. It was a great birthday, though it could have been warmer. 
Here you are at your 5th birthday party this past weekend.  Some of your friends from preschool came to celebrate with you, and we had a great time at your adventure themed fun-fest.  We had a cave filled with vines to crawl through.  We did some fishing for cardboard fish.  We even had a dinosaur nest with eggs that we could break up in water to reveal the tiny plastic dinosaurs inside.  It was a GREAT time!  You are a sassy, sweet, smart, spunky, and splendidly amazing girl.  You are fiercely independent, more so by the day actually.  You are excited to go to Kindergarten in the Fall, but a little sad to have to start at a new school.  You are on a soccer team, but spend most of the time not paying attention and only running after the ball when someone reminds you to.  You want to take swimming and tae kwon do lessons, but we're not sure if you'll be able to pay attention enough to be safe.  We'll see how that comes.  Every day with you is an adventure, and we're so very proud of you.  You are a loving big sister to Mayzie, and helpful most times we need you to be.  You are a wild child sometimes and have the silliest giggles and dances.  You like to sing and dance in the car to pop music.  You love the color pink but refuse to wear a dress most days.  You are endlessly curious, and this is one of your most endearing qualities.  I am so lucky to be your mother and I want nothing more than for you to be proud of me.  I'm so thankful to have you in my life.  I will ALWAYS be here for you no matter what my lovely girl.  Never forget it!   Happy 5th Birthday my dear Annika!  I hope it was a good one.