5 J's and Lulu: Journey Kay is SIX!!

My darling Journey,

It's about 1:30 in the afternoon so you've been in my arms for almost 6 hours now, 6 years ago. I remember the first time I saw you and my first thought was "she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen!" You were gorgeous from the moment you came out. There was no swolleness or blotches..you were flawless and remain that way today. Your beauty is what people seem to notice first but your personality is what people remember. You're shy but the most silly little person I've ever known. You're not shy with us and it usually doesn't take long for you to come out of that shyness with new people. You just take a bit longer to get to know. You make them work for it and the reward of working for it is priceless. You make me laugh every single day. You love to talk in sing song and I know you got that from your Dad and I which makes me love it even more. You will answer my questions in song, sometimes with choreography. We were in the car the other day and you were eating your lunch and I asked you if you were finished with it. You answered in song "Yesssss, Daddy can havvvve it..." Your Dad and I cracked up. It was just out of nowhere like most of your silliness is. You talk to me in silly voices and love to chat at night before bed. You beg me to "just talk, not read." You love to recap our day and talk about the days to come and what's on the agenda. We end up talking for far longer than I anticipated and we plan out the whole week together. You talk to baby Jovi a lot and have to lift up my shirt in order to do so. You must talk directly to the belly with no obstruction. You think she can't hear you unless you're talking into my belly button. You tell her you're going to call her Poop and teach her all the things she shouldn't know.You tell her you're going to dress her up and still ask her if she will consider being a boy instead. :) She usually answers back with a big kick. She's going to be fiesty I think which is necessary with a big sister like you. I know you'll be the best big sister though. You have so much love to give.
Your cheeks are still soft as silk and you let me kiss them as much as I want. You still love to be held too so I pick you up and hold you whenever you raise those little arms up to me. It's a little tougher with my big belly but we get by just fine. You love to cuddle with me and so does Jonah. He gets on one side and you're on the other and baby J is right in the middle. Louie is usually somewhere close too so I have all my babies surrounding me and it's the best feeling in the world. You guys are my happy. And I've needed you all so much these past few weeks. My heart is broken after losing your Papa, just 12 days ago. It's taken all I have to put a smile on my face so you don't see the pain. I think you're young enough that it hasn't affected you much which I am grateful for but I know you hurt. I see it on your face when I mention him. You try to avoid it and it's your brains way of keeping you safe so I let you avoid it. You change the subject or just remain quiet. I think it's important for you to at least acknowledge he's gone and I want you to be able to ask me questions if you need to but I don't push it on you. Time is going by so quickly and my Dad's passing has just made me realize how short and precious life is. We can't waste a moment. I want to spend every second with the ones I love telling them how much I love them and appreciate them. You are one of my favorite people in the whole world baby.
Moving on to happier things...you weigh about 52-53 pounds I think and you are tall. I think you're about 49 inches tall now! You can ride every ride at SDC except Time Traveler and Powder Keg. You're very proud of that. Your papa took you on the Barn Swing recently and you loved it. I couldn't believe you wanted to ride but you did, twice! Our little thrill seeker. Jonah would never do it. He's just not into roller coasters or anything too high. He's my little sensitive one and you're our fighter.
You're super smart and reading so well now. You are on level 2 books but really prefer to read your Elephant and Piggie books. They are familiar to you but I see your confidence growing daily. You took a book to school and read it to your whole class. I wish I could've seen that. Mrs. Shiohira said you are just a star student. You're helpful, sweet and so smart. She is loving you and I think you love her too. You've surprised us so much with how well you've adapted to school. You truly love it and look forward to each day. You pull your little yellow folder out of your backpack and look at the monthly calendar inside. It shows the special for each day and if there is anything extra fun happening. I'm so glad you check on that stuff because you've caught a lot of stuff that I would have forgotten about. Wear red day, wear purple day...seems like there's something EVERY day! :) You play with Isaac on the playground but have lots of friends. You tell me it's hard to play with everyone because there's never enough time. Makes my heart happy to know you are well liked and others want to be around you. Why wouldn't they though? You're awesome!
You're wearing size 6 and 6x mostly and your shoe size is 13.5 and 1.
You are an amazing gymnast. You are on the Aspire Gymnastics pre-team along with about 6 other girls. You mastered your front split recently! You've been inches off the floor forever and since pre-team you have completely mastered this skill and now when you split you are on the floor..with arms in the air! So cool to see you rock these skills and learn new ones. Your favorite part is the bar, then floor, then vault, trampoline then beam is last I think. Beam is hard! Coach Amanda has you do 5 push ups each time you fall off the beam. I've seen you doing push ups :( But man do you rock those too. I can probably only do 1 or 2 full on push ups but you can probably do 20 straight. I do them on my knees..you do them on your feet! You amaze me!!! You go 6 hours a week. Two 3 hour sessions on Wednesdays and Saturday mornings. Some days it's hard on you to get there but as soon as you step on the mat you are all business. I've asked you if you wanted to quit and you don't want to but I see it's tough sometimes. You want to say Yes I think but then say no worried you may disappoint me and really you do enjoy it. Maybe we should cut back though..no shame in that. You're just a baby and need home play time more than gym time. You love to play in your room. Your favorite toys are LOL surprise dolls, calico critters, mag snaps, legos, coloring, baby dolls and barbies or shopkins. You will play all day long. You can destroy the play room and your room in minutes but I don't mind because I know you are really playing..not just making a mess. You help me clean up too which is nice.
You love to help me in the kitchen too. I love working along side you. You're so beautiful with your long hair and big brown eyes. I just love every bit of you Journey Kay and have enjoyed watching you grow this past year. You've shown us how brave you can be and I just know you're going to be the best big sister anyone has ever had. Jovi James is so lucky!! And I am super blessed because I am your momma and get to kiss you anytime I want!