Hallie at 9

Miss Hallie turned nine the day after Thanksgiving. Time is weird to me-I hardly remember a time we didn't have her around, yet it's gone by fast. I have a mini panic attack when I think that in another 9 short years she will be going to college.

I love these pictures that were captured. I think they are the best Hallie has ever taken! They show what a lovely little lady she is becoming.

 

Hallie is getting quite competent with handling Kimber. She can now change a poopy diaper, put her down for a nap, give her a bath (with my supervision). In a few more years she will make a great baby-sitter, and you better believe we are so excited for that day when we can leave the kids with her.

Hallie is always up for helping me, even when it's clear she would rather not. She especially wants to learn how to cook all kinds of things. The other day she asked me to teach her how to do her own laundry.

 

Anyone who knows Hallie knows she is an avid reader. She started the Harry Potter series over Thanksgiving break, and finished the series by Christmas. She is also really into the American Girl series. She really wants to beat her record for AR points this year and she is already more than halfway there. Sometimes she cracks me up because she reads words without knowing how to pronounce them, and then when the come out in everyday conversation it throws me for a loop. The other day she said something about a "foreign" language, but she pronounced it "for-a-jen".


Hallie really enjoys Activity Days and looks forward to it every time. She has a fun group of girls in there right now.

 Hallie is in GATE this year, and likes the challenge it brings to her schoolwork. She has an awesome 3rd grade teacher, who goes above and beyond, and is always thinking up things for Hallie (like when she got to stay afterschool to work on the backdrop for her Thanksgiving play).

Hallie doesn't like the fact that she is one of the smallest kids her age, but I keep telling her that it is a good thing, and someday she will learn to appreciate her smallness.

She loves all thing crafts-still. Sewing, making beanies, scrapbooking, jewelry making, pottery, hand-stitching....between the two of us, we could really use a craft room! Every month Kamryn has a family project to create something pertaining to the season (this month it was a snowman); every month Hallie is the one to do it with her, trying to make Kamryn's ideas come to life.

 

Hallie is a very loyal, loving kid. She gets attached to people easily. She loves her cousins and wishes they were closer, and really loves all her (many) aunts. She misses her Nana and Papa something fierce, but handles it well. I was really worried about how she would handle Grandpa Tom's death, but she has been amazing. She said she prayed to understand the plan of salvation better, and now she knows he is happy and with Grandma Georga again.

 

 

Having Hallie first makes it kind of difficult for me as a parent because I am always comparing my other kids to her. I know it's not fair, but it's natural. Hallie makes us look good as parents, but really that's just who she is and always has been.