It is incredible to me that our little girl turned four this year. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital! She has matured into this little woman who can articulate so well. Her new favorite thing to say is, "I have a great idea..." and will explain to you her latest plan. Over the past few weeks, the whole "using your manners" thing has clicked and it makes her Mommy and Daddy so proud to hear those pleases, thank yous, and may-I-haves! She adores her little brother and gets quite upset when she has to go anywhere without him. She gets more fun all the time! Her latest quote: "I love being four!".
Because we decided to do an intimate princess tea party with just a few of her friends, her birthday ended up being a long string of little parties because she has so many people who love her and wanted to help her celebrate. On Saturday we went to the UNC/Rutgers game and had a little birthday party at the tailgate so that Block and Talley and the Yates family could celebrate with her. She looked so cute in her "Go Heels!" outfit.
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| Proud of her princess pin |
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| Ready to blow out the candles on the Carolina cupcake! |
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She was so excited about the Snow White set
from Tim and Mary Beth. |
After we got back into town after the game, we headed over to Sarah and Jason's to celebrate with them and Mimi and Papa. Anna got
Sleeping Beauty, the movie, from Sarah and Jason. Mimi and Papa got her princess jibbets for her Crocs and a cute mermaid doll that you can take the "thin" (fin) off of to reveal legs. She had seen it while we were down at the beach and had a fit. I hate we didn't take any birthday celebration pictures!
On Sunday afternoon, we invited four of her friends over for a princess tea party. Anna couldn't decide which princess to dress up as, so she wore her "married dress" since all of the princesses get married at the end of the stories. We made cupcakes with pink icing and put lip gloss rings in some of them. We decorated crowns with sparkling gems and then Anna poured tea for everyone to drink with their snacks, fruit, and cupcakes. It was precious!
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| The pretty table ready for tea. |
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| Craft table |
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Pretty princesses: Sophie, Ellie, Anna, and Madi
(Audrey couldn't come) |
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| Gluing the gems onto the crowns was a big hit! |
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| Anna pouring Sophie some tea. |
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| Jack got a visit from the princesses, too. |
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| Anna did a great job sharing her new Princess Tea Party castle. |
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| What a gorgeous crown! |
After the princess tea party excitement, we headed over to Nannie and Pops' for another celebration. Aunt Lyn, Uncle Tom, and cousin TJ were all in town, so we had multiple reasons to celebrate.
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| Anna blowing the candles out on her Max and Ruby worm cake. |
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This Barbie's dress can wind up and then release down
with the touch of a button. |
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Yay! Barbie's dorm room!
Isn't she too young to be talking about dorm rooms? |
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Aunt E got her a remote controlled Strawberry Shortcake car.
Uncle Bren was even excited! |
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| Playing with her Barbie in her matching dress. |
Monday was her actual birthday, so we took cupcakes to school for snack so she could celebrate with her class. She wore a birthday crown and got sung "Happy Birthday" to THREE times! After dinner that night, Mommy and Daddy let Anna open her final gift: Grow-with-me inline skates. She had asked for some skates after seeing them on a Ni-Hao Kai-Lan episode and we thought it might be a good way to get her outside more. She was so excited! They fit right over her sneakers and have these cute training wheels on the back. You can adjust them to three different levels depending on how advanced they need to be. She has loved practicing her skating!
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| Her pretty Barbie skates! |
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| All padded up and ready to skate! |
Whew! Her birthday was a whirlwind of fun and activity and lasted three whole days! It's hard to believe these last four years have flown by so quickly, but I am really excited about what this next year has in store! We love you so much Big Girl!
