My Baby is Four

I cannot believe it, but my baby is four. How is this possible? I look at Grace and see a little girl now -- not a toddler, and certainly not a baby. Sometimes, when she's really serious or in profile, I think I can even see glimpses of the woman to come. Every parent says things like this, and that time goes by so quickly, blah, blah, blah, but it really is true. When I think back to that first day when they held brand-new Grace up and I counted all her fingers and toes and think that now four years have gone by, it truly is shocking.

Grace had been looking forward to this party day (her "celebrate" as she called it) for at least a couple of months. She told anyone who would listen, including complete strangers at the grocery store, all about her "Tinkerbell Birthday".
The day started off with a bang when Aunt Katie rolled in to party (we missed you lots Uncle J and Julia!)




The biggest event of the day was the delivery/installation of the new swing-set, which was the "big gift" from the grandparents and us. The grandfathers and Lee spent the morning putting it together, and Grace loved every minute of it.



Her favorite part, she announced, was the glider, and when I reminded her that this was also a belated gift for her little sister's birthday and that she would need to share, she hesitated a moment and said "hmmm. I think no." So, we will be crossing that knock-down, drag-out when we come to it.



The other much-anticipated element was the infamous Tinkerbell cake. She was very specific about her cake, and thankfully I was apparantly able to deliver. That was a huge relief to me, because I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be able to make what her very exacting standards were coming up with.










One would think that with an enormous gift like a swing-set, the poor birthday girl would not also be showered with a bunch of other stuff. One would be wrong. Grace was hysterical opening her presents. When she would come to something that particularly excited her, she would command her audience to close their eyes until she had it completely unwrapped, and then present it to the crowd. Adorable.
And I can't believe I did this again, but I filmed the following with the camera turned, forgetting that last time I did that, I couldn't turn them during editing. Sorry, but I still want you to be able to see them.




And much to my embarasment, the ACTUAL birthday boy, Lee is not in any birthday pictures of his own. He was not feeling well, but nonetheless I feel as though I neglected him. We both are at that stage where our own birthdays seem so secondary to our children's, but he was still excited to get his new leaf-blower. translation: man toy. We love you Lee and Daddy, and are happy God sent you to us!