Amalia's Fourth Birthday!

I can see now that birthdays get more and more fun, and a bigger and bigger deal the older the kids get.  Mollie's fourth birthday was full of excitement and anticipation, and it as so much fun for me to see her really experience and be aware of turning another year older.

She started her birthday a little early, in hopes to shorten the gift-opening time at her party, a section of the party that is always difficult for all the non-birthday kids.  My parents went all out right from the start.  I mean come on, just look at that face!

Yup, it's a Sleeping Beauty princess dress with a music-playing brooch on the front and "I Know You I Walked With You Once Upon a Dream" written in glitter along the bottom.  Amalia was in awe that such a beautiful dress even existed, let alone that it was now hers.

Maybe the best part about this age, though, is that she was almost equally excited for all her gifts, no matter how small.  Princess books ... AWESOME!

Drum ... DELIGHTFUL!

I know what you're thinking, "Who on earth bought a four year-old a drum?!  Who hates Nicole and Bryson that much?"  Well, that person would be me.  Yes, I bought this for Mollie, and I'm glad I chose this one ... it's blissfully quiet for a toy drum.

Opening gifts early allowed for a little more time to actually enjoy her gifts ...

... and for Baylor to get to try them out as well!

Lambie!

Elsa!

Doc McStuffins!  Oh my!

Needless to say, she enjoyed everything she got.

And, as she's not a fan of cake, she enjoyed an ice cream treat with a special birthday candle in it.

It was a nice, quiet day, and it was fun to celebrate our wonderful little lady.

But the birthday festivities weren't over yet, no sir.  We hadn't even had her official party yet!  The preparation for it, like all parties held at our house, was extensive; baby proofing had to be done, clutter-creating toys had to be removed temporarily, actual cleaning had to take place ... it was intense.  Even Baylor helped out, though; Mollie was just dying to have a sign like her brother, so he worked on putting that together for her.  He worked off the picture of the one Mollie and I made for his birthday.

He ran into a little trouble when he had to write out her name, so Bryson lent a hand.

Then, it being her actual birthday morning, she got to open a few things.  First up, an envelope of cards she had written to herself all year long.  Yup, cards from herself ... that's how she rolls.

Next, was a card from her dear brother.  He put a lot of thought into it, and I was really proud of him for it.

The front: balloons and flowers.

The inside: a sweet message, a picture of her ice skating, and part of a map of a skating rink.  Random, yes, but his heart was in the right place, and she has really been wanting to go ice skating.

The back: the rest of the map of the rink, including the check out area.

Of course, he was itching to get her some Legos, so I helped him pick out a set she had asked for.

I'm not sure who was more excited for her to receive this gift.

Her party was the next day, and it ended up being nearly an all-day event.  The sign took a prominent place on the mantle for the party, just as it had for Baylor.

Mollie didn't really want any games except a guess how many things are in this jar game, but she was really interested in having a craft table so I got a brand new box of 48 crayons just for the occasion.  *sigh*  It was a thing of beauty, all those perfectly-sharpened crayons lined up just so.  I digress ...

I made ice cream cones out of balloons and had a ton of leftover brown paper that I ended up using for the craft table.  (I didn't take a picture of the ice cream cone balloons because they didn't turn out so hot and had to be put in weird areas because they wouldn't float on their own with the cones attached.  Awesome, I know.)  But the kids seemed to like getting a little crafting time, and I was excited to find something that almost all the kids could participate in.

With emotions running high, because that's how birthday parties tend to go, there were a few tears here and there, but overall the party went really well.  Happy memories were made and, best of all, Amalia was celebrated.

Happy (belated) fourth birthday, sweetheart!  We love you so much!