We Have a 5 Year Old!

Our sweet Esther turned five on January 6th, and we celebrated with a pizza & ice cream cake party the night before. As if you couldn't guess by the pictures, the theme of our party was Hannah Montana. I swear Esther is a teenager trapped inside the body of a five year old. Unlike Emma's ambition to be a Disney Princess, Esther is all about Hannah Montana, AKA Miley Cyrus. She knows all of the songs, has seen all of the episodes and even proclaims Hannah's boyfriend, "Jake Ryan" as her own boyfriend. She got two of the Hannah Barbie Dolls for Christmas, so we got her the stage for her birthday. It's cute and she enjoys playing with it. As if we didn't have enough Hannah music playing throughout our house, this also belts out about 5 of her favorite songs.. all day long!
Surely everyone has heard of Hannah Montana and her rising fame among pre-teen girls.. and our five year old! While we weren't willing to pay $150 for a concert ticket, we will be more than happy (or willing) to sit through the 3-D movie coming next month! As soon as the five o' clock hour rolls around, everything stops for the younger three girls as their attention is directed to the television for the next hour. Esther & Emma even put on a little dance as the theme song rolls around.
Esther is just so funny. She's already wise beyond her years. I think sharing a room with 16 year old Elena is part of the reason why her favorite's include Hannah Montana and High School Musical 2! However, she is also a die hard Princess Ariel fan and is excited about our upcoming trip to Disney World in February.
It's hard to believe she has only been apart of our family for two years, come March. While she had a rough adjustment at first, she has blossomed over the past 22 months and continues to be a very sweet and loving child. She does have quite a fiesty streak about her.. and she and Mom tend to disagree about things! Esther is a great leader and older sister to Emma, which is something I was very concerned about when we first brought her home. The two have very similar personality strengths, but they get along so well. It's hard to look at the girls and realize that they come from cities that are as far apart as Miami and New York, yet they are so close you'd never know they weren't twins. Most people assume they are, and for lack of getting into a 20 minute conversation about how they aren't twins, I usually just say they are! Although, the girls know they aren't twins so when asked they tell people, "No, we aren't twins. But we are sisters." That's the right answer. =)
Esther has already started reading and completed her first Bob book just last week! She's anxiously looking forward to kindergarten and I'm afraid she's going to catch up to Asher a little too quick! She brings a lot of laughter to our home and we are so glad that God blessed us with Esther in our lives. We love you Estee Joy!!

Our sweet five year old

The proud new owner of a Hannah Montana stage!

Esther.. I mean Hannah Montana!

Cake time!

Everyone got a chance to be "Hannah Montana!"

My friend's are all Esther & Emma's friends too.. so my (I mean Esther's) friend Bethany joined us
during our celebration..

Mom & Dad

Oooing and aahing over the new toy

Our "almost" five year old..

The crazy boys.