my little photographer in training....

i am so proud of jayde! she entered the reflections contest in november and won first place in her age category for her school! she got a medal and was so proud. of course being the lame mom that i am i forgot my camera on the awards night and so i didnt get any pictures of her. then her picture went on to the district contest and she won 2nd place and being the even lamer mom that i am we completely forgot about the ceremony and didn't go :( but i heard it was lame anyways.... this is the picture that she took! isn't she wonderful?!?! remember she is only 7 years old!

happy birthday my sweet jayde

today is my amazing daugther jayde's 7th birthday. i cannot believe it! 7! that is out of this world. i cannot believe how the time has just flown by. jayde is such a sweet girl and i am so blessed to have her in my life. she brings so much joy and happiness to me. today me, chris and savana woke her up by singing happy birthday. then she opened presents and was off to school after a pancake breakfast (ps. i never cook :) she could not understand why she had to go to school on her birthday, but that is just the way it goes. me and savana went and had lunch with her at school. yum, school lunch :) and tomorrow she gets to have a party with her friends. i hope she has a fantastic day! happy birthday baby girl. i love you.

since i have not had a chance to do her 7 year old pictures yet, i will post some soon!

today my baby is a 1st grader...

how sad is that? seriously. i can't believe it! they grow up so fast. last night before jayde went to sleep she cried and cried because she didn't want to leave me for the whole day. 8:45 to 3:30 is a long day for a 6 year old (and her mom). wish us luck in this new adventure we have embarked on.. until then here are a few 1st day of school pictures over the years...

1st year of pre-school 2nd year of pre-school
kindergarten1st grade (if you can't tell she is on the verge of tears right now)
jayde and savana

checking out her new desk and classroom

i just want to tell jayde quickly how much i love her and how proud i am of her. for anyone who doesnt know jayde she is a dream child. she is so obediant and loving. she tries so hard in everything she does and is always trying to make mom and dad happy. i love you so much jaydee. you are the best!

Locks of Love

Over a year ago I started talking to Jayde about donating her hair to Locks of Love. If you don't know what Locks of Love is, it is an organization that collects donated hair and makes wigs for children who have lost their hair due to illness or other causes and who cannot afford to purchase a wig. The children get a new wig free of charge whenever they grow out of the old one until they are 18 years old. Jayde has always had long hair and we thought it would be really neat for her to do something like that. She has been growing her hair out for over a year. In order to donate hair it has to be at least 10 inches long. Well today we cut off 11 inches of hair. Jayde was really nervous before we went into the salon and I thought I would have a hard time, but in a way I am glad to see it go :) No more screaming when I comb her hair and spending countless hours curling her hair just to have it go straight within 2 hours. YAY! So here are some before, during and after pictures. After we cut her hair she said "This is the new me." and "You are not going to see me stop smiling all day!" I am so proud of Jayde for being so sweet and giving. She is such a wonderful girl and I am so proud of her in every way. I am a better person for having her as my daughter. If any of you know Jayde, you know that she has the biggest heart and is such an angel. I am so grateful to have her. I love you baby girl.


BEFORE:

There's no going back now!!!

AFTER: