Abigail was precious

When I was waiting in the pickup line today after school, I saw abigail and her friend up on these two cement stand things dancing like crazy girls. It was awesome. She got in the car and was all "Rylee and I were dancing and ms Ellis said we should win first place on stage because we're so good and I think so too!!!"  So happy and so confident. She kept talking about it throughout the night. 

Especially when she got ready tonight for the daddy daughter primary dance at church. I purposely didn't offer any suggestions or even say anything about getting dressed for it. But somehow, at the right time, she slipped away upstairs and came back down wearing a Sunday dress of her choosing. And when I told her that her two Sunday show options that matched that dress were broken, she went to her closet and brought down two more options to get my opinion on. She wore some floral sandals that she's never worn before and just kept prancing around and exclaiming that she looked like a princess and was bound to be the prettiest person there. I called her over so I could do her hair and she was all "I already brushed it upstairs. Because I want to be the prettiest. She asked/told Brady that she looks like a princess and when she gave Elizabeth a hug and told her that she would take her picture with her, she was like "this is like when I got my picture with belle, but this time I'm the princess!" She requested Anna braids and was thrilled that her hair is longe ouch that they stay in front of her shoulders. She also helped Chris pick a tie that matched her dress. Honestly, the whole thing was too adorable for words. 

We had such a good afternoon together. Sadly, I think most of it had to do with the fact that Brady was feeling really crappy (not sure why but he was so sleepy and needy and sensitive starting around noon and took a long nap and was begging all evening to snuggle with me and go to bed) so he stayed in my bed for a while after we got home and I could be more one on one with Abigail doing her things and unpacking her bag. I helped her fill out her class job application and taught we her how to draw a star which she learned amazingly fast and is THRILLED that she can do stars now. She also played dolls with Elizabeth, kept her attitude mostly in check with me, and only made Brady cry a handful of times. I felt like she shed her punk filter for the afternoon and let her true little happy, innocent self shine through. When I get those glimpses of her true self, my heart just bursts for her. 

Lately, my focus has been on trying to figure out how I can parent her better. I'm thankful for the motivation I feel about it instead of the despair that overwhelmed me two months ago. Hopefully Abigail and I can work to repair the damage I did during the morning sickness/depression months of my pregnancy. She definitely deserves it. 

I'm trying to connect with one of the moms in her class so she can start having play dates with one of her favorite girls in her class. And this Saturday, I'm taking her to a nearby high school's production of Cinderella (but it's a surprise and I plan not to tell her until tomorrow after school), and next Saturday, she'll start volleyball and she's sooo excited. I think she could care less about the sport (I'm not sure she even knows what it is) but she is so excited to be doing an organized sport with a team and her friend from church will be on her team and the friend's mom will be the coach. Hopefully she loves the experience. 

I swear I really am trying not to fail this girl. I really do love her.