4

Today, we celebrated our darling big little girl.

She is so sweet.  Brings me unbelievable loads of joy.  I LOVE watching her dance all.over.the.house.

I love her face in this photo.  And I love how tiny she looks next to those big balloons.  Her four years have flown by.  Flown by.  I wish I could hit reply.

She was so thrilled when Elena and I showed up at school pick-up with her birthday balloons.  Precious.  Love how balloons can make a little one feel so special.  I'm thinking Jesus must pass out balloons in heaven.

A princess cupcake tower.  Not what I was planning this year, but it seems to have worked!

:)

Clayton is the best big brother ever.  I mean, ever.

She mostly got fall/winter clothes for her birthday, and she modeled every piece without any prompting.  

Hello Kitty raincoat from Grandma Hawkins.

Finally....the prize winner....a Princess scooter!  She's been wanting a scooter so badly the past few weeks.  Steals off with her brothers' every chance she gets.  Now, her own!

Gabriella, how I love you.  I loved celebrating you today.  You are uniquely dear to me and I deeply and fully treasure you.

Happy 4th birthday, sweetheart.

A Definition, A Favorite, and Growing Big

This girl.

Earlier this week, we were looking at a Curious George book together.  One particular page was about jobs.  There was a dancer.  Of course, she would know what the job was of this lady dressed in a tutu and all.  I asked, "Gaby, what does she do?  What's her job?"  

Her answer, "She's tutuing!"

Love.

And she's loving counting everything these days.  Today it was pretend fruits and vegetables from pretend gardens all over our house.  (Fun!)  She says eleventeen.  I love it and I just don't want to correct it.

She makes my life so fun.

She's growing up so much.  We've made a lot of big changes in her little world over the past month or so.  She's sleeping in a big girl bed....and it's kinda pink....and she kinda loves it!  She was ready about the time we were moving and when we tried to transition Clay when we moved from Italy to Vegas, it turned into an eight-month nightmarish transition.  She's been sleeping in a toddler bed (not a crib) since we moved, but now, the real deal.  Love seeing her snuggled up in that big bed every afternoon and night.

And we successfully stopped her thumb-sucking habit that she began when she was three-months old.  Her teeth were kinda jacked up from it.  The dentist recommended this gadget called a thumb guard.  We ordered it.  Used it everyday (nap and nighttime) for just under 30 days.  It appears, she's kicked this habit.     Only the first night was hard.  She did so well.  Very thankful (if maybe a little sad....she's just always sucked her thumb.)

Finally, and most importantly, she's fully potty-trained!!  Hoo-ray!!!  She's been bladder trained for almost a year, but we couldn't get #2 down.  She's suffered from chronic constipation issues since she was tiny, and getting her to poop (at all)  at times has been difficult.  I really thought we might not ever get there....to the promised land....poop in the potty.  After (almost) 40 years of wandering, we did it! :)

  

3

Three year old in the house!  We had a relaxed day celebrating her.  We didn't really do any birthday activities until after naps.  First, we opened presents.  Most of the photos are blurry, but here she is with her big gift.  (Yes, it's the same thing we got for Elena for her first birthday, but a larger size.  Gaby has loved Elena's chair for the last five months.  Finally....her own....and in PINK!)

A pink hooded towel.

As we've talked about her upcoming birthday the past few weeks, this was her only request....a pink cake with pink frosting, and pink flowers....and pink ice cream to go with it.  Do you see a theme?  Here's my creation.  I even found some pink sparkly sprinkles to go with it!  Truthfully, it was probably my most favorite cake I've ever done.  Her request was so specific, but easy, that I was pretty sure she'd be thrilled with the result.  She didn't disappoint.  

My favorite line of the day....after we showed her the cake for the first time and she loved it and went back and forth between the kitchen and family room a few times, talking about how pink it was....she asked, "Where's my spoon?"  No need to cut it, just give her a spoon!  (We cut it. :) 

And my favorite picture of the day....this one.  I asked her if I could take a picture of her in her new Hello Kitty pj's, sitting in her new chair.  I got this.  The three fingers was all her.  Oh my heart.  Do you see how she made three?  Not sure I've seen anything cuter.

Well, maybe just her.

Love you, love you, love you my big girl.

A Fav

This photo's actually a bit old.  It's from November of last year.  I was there when it was taken, but as it was day 5 of a migraine, I wasn't too with it.  Ronnie was scrolling through the photos on his phone last night and it popped up.

So stinkin' cute!

Maybe a little diva-esk too!

This One

She's just too much.  Am LOVING her at this age.  Definitely embodies the "terrific two's".  

Her personality is incredible.  She moves from funny (hilarious, in fact) to tender, motherly, to rough-and-tumble with barely a beat in between.  LOVES her pockets and is doing AWESOME with potty-training!  Yay!  

Just love, love, love everything about her.  She truly makes me cry tears of joy fairly frequently.  SO blessed to call her mine.