My Little Love, Lu!

Last night, Lu and I had a "girls' club" night - she needed shoes and I needed my hair trimmed, so we ventured over to the PX to knock out 14 birds with 1 stone. We had the best time! We hardly get girls' club time because there are four children and one Mama and so individual attention is a rare commodity around here. You Mama's with more kids must have clones of yourselves because, man, it can be overwhelming! On the ride there, Lu was chattering in her normal way - talking about this and that and singing and telling me stories about asking ALL the kids in her class if they liked blueberries and only one girl said no and so we should get them anyway and put them on a tray and serve them to all the students. When I asked her if that was a true story, she admitted that it wasn't entirely true, but asked me if I thought it was good anyway. Ok! I really love that she just talks to me about everything - I truly cherish these days. I am so not looking forward to the teen years because more than anything I will miss her and our bond as she naturally and normally separates herself from me to become independent.

So before I get all weepy and mushy....

We get there and are waiting for my hair appointment and she is dancing in front of the salon mirrors. Her school Christmas recital had been earlier in the day and she was still all dressed up. She was twirling and hopping and curtsy-ing for the other customers, loving all the attention. Whose kid IS this??? LOL! She is a beautiful child so she is used to getting major attention where ever we go and hams it up for the crowd! I told her that if she behaved well, we could get a treat for dinner instead of eating a real meal and made her promise that if we did that, she would not tell "the boys". So fun! Next, we went to pick out her shoes. She needed dress shoes for school because she was given the "Cool Cat" award for always doing her best and they were having a ceremony to honor the students that received them. She "needed" to be "fancy"! Of course!! So we headed back and she instantly picked out the shiniest, blingy-est, heeled patent leather shoes. I love this child - if it shines or sparkles, she must have it! We tried them on and she did a few hops and taps and leaps to make sure they were "the ones". They were her size and on sale - perfect!

My Lu likes to talk (I know you are thinking, NO WAY!) and on our way out of the store she announced that the shoes were "like, soooo cute" and "the MOST perfect" in her best Valley Girl voice. She had to wear them right away, too, to make sure that they "worked". By the time we got to the food court for our treat, Baskin Robbins was closed. Not to be deterred, we made a plan to head over to the commissary and search for something delicious that we could hide from the boys!

We headed over (I had to go anyway) and she decided on a giant pink bear cookie with sprinkles and a Vitamin water - go figure! The lady behind the counter put the cookie in a white little bag and made a big fuss about how special it was. Lu ate it UP, figuratively and literally! We cruised around and got what we needed and headed home to a house full of crazies! Later as she was getting ready for bed I told her that I had had an awesome time with her and she said, "Me too, Mama. I LOVE my shoes!". Then she wrapped her tiny arms around my neck and gave me a super-squeeze. Ahhhh, my melting heart......

New ornament

Christmas Recital

"Princess Noodle"