Can't Wait for Eight

Another year down and our girl is eight!  What a great year it's been with ole Pi.  We are really enjoying these kids growing up.  Here's a look at what was going on with Piper last year.  Here she is now!

• Piper continues to crack us up everyday.  She is so animated and sassy and comes up with these catchy sayings.  I honestly don't think there's a day that Russ and I aren't laughing at something she's said or done.
• On the flip side, she is moody and dramatic and can cry at the drop of a hat.  But it's generally short lived and depending on her mood and our mood, one of us can usually talk her off the ledge.  Who can do that though varies from day to day.
• She's very in control of her world.  She knows exactly what she wants, when she wants.  Sometimes this is a blessing and sometimes a frustration but either way we're glad she's knows herself so well.
• When it comes to eating Piper is my arch nemesis.  I've never met a pickier eater.  If something looks wrong she won't even entertain trying it.  There's been times where I've made something new and she's said, "That looks like the most disgusting thing ever."  Mind you, I'm not a bad cook either.  She's just that picky.  Sometimes she sucks my will to cook.  I better stop now or I could go on forever.
• This girl is social.  She has a great group of friends at school and a great good of friends in our neighborhood and she wants to play with them ALL the time.  This can be very exhausting for the girl (me) who just wants quiet, home time.  She's constantly pushing me out of my comfort zone to make play dates.
• Girls creative.  Piper comes home from school every Friday with something she's made from "creation station" that she uses for her Barbies.  They make things out of junk like egg cartons and toilet paper rolls.  She'll make Barbie TV's or beds or who knows what else.  And she never lets us throw away anything.  Our house looks crazy most of the time.  
• With that being said, she is such a hoarder.  We think she gets it from her Grandpa.  I won't say which one for his sake but you know who you are. :)  She wants to keep every little piece of paper, every instruction, you name it she keeps it.  It's a constant battle.  She's made it part of her normal routine to check the trash to make sure we didn't throw away something she wanted to keep.  If she catches us I usually play dumb and blame it on Russ.
• She's taking a little break from dance right now which I'm a little bummed about because she enjoys recitals so much.  I love how she can get on a stage with no fear and truly revels in the spotlight.  She has so much fun.  But I'm sure she'll start up again soon.  In the meantime, we're enjoying not running around to lessons all the time.
• Music is still a big part of her life.  In the car she's usually singing along with the radio if she's not DJing herself.  Bath time always consists of music blaring from her iPod and her mouth.  We love it.

We love this girl of ours and we are so thankful that she is part of our lives!  Happy Birthday Piper May!