Happy 4th Birthday Kate!

Dear Katelyn Grace,

Today you turned FOUR.
I can't believe it has been 4 years since you were born.
In some ways, it feels like you have been part of our lives forever.
In other ways, it feels like these past four years have happened in an instant.
It is going by WAY too fast!
We have been celebrating your birthday for the past several days.
Last week, you got to bring in a birthday snack to your preschool class.
What snack did you pick? Chocolate fudge ice cream cups, of course.
I got to be there to help you celebrate with your preschool class.
I had so much fun watching you interact with your classmates & teachers.
You LOVE school. You ask to go everyday.
Your teachers had the nicest things to say about you.
They adore you & couldn't stop telling me how sweet & kind you are.
And you know what? They are right.
You are one of the sweetest & kindest little girls I know.
I am honored to call you my daughter.
Want to know who else is sweet & kind? Your 2 best friends, Maddie & Nicole.
You are so lucky to have these girls in your life. My prayer is that you girls remain friends for the rest of your lives (hey, it's possible! One of my best friends, Sue and I went to preschool together. And, one of Kevin's best friend Joe also met in preschool).
You always talk about how you, Maddie & Nicole are going to grow up together and have sleepovers and stay friends forever. I hope this is true, because I adore them and their moms!
Your other best friend is your sister, Claire.....who you call Sissy.
You love your Sissy and when she is napping, you want to wake her up so you can play with her.
You are so kind & patient with her when she takes your toys (and clothes).
Of course, you have your moments when you dont want to share.
You even let Claire help you open up your birthday presents.
Claire looks up to you & wants to do everything that you do.
She wants to wear your clothes & your underwear & your pajamas.
You are already such a good role model to her and tell her that she needs to work on listening and sharing.
You LOVE Cinderella and about 6 months ago asked me if you could have a Cinderella birthday party. And yesterday, the day finally came. We threw you a Cinderella party & it was SO MUCH FUN. (Stay tuned....I will blog about it later this week)
You wanted 10 little girls to come to your party & all 10 little girls came!
You told me your favorite part of the party was having Cinderella paint your face (which I was so proud of you for letting her do, since you normally don't ever want your face painted)
The last few nights you haven't slept very well & kept waking up asking if it was your birthday yet. Last night you woke us up at 2 am to tell us that you were now 4 years old.
Today when you woke up for the day, you couldn't wait to go to church. We have missed the past few weeks because you (and Claire) were sick. You love going to church & are so sad when we don't go. I hope you keep that passion! And, guess who we ended up sitting next to at church? Dr W (the doctor who delivered you). I thought that was so fitting :)

We went to a birthday party for Leila after church & you were such a trooper even though you were so tired.
Then after her party we came back home to get ready for your family party tonight!
You didn't want to take a nap because you wanted to play outside. (You only take naps about twice a week)
The weather was beautiful today, 70 degrees! This is warm for Nor Cal in January! It reminded me of the day you were born, because that was also a very warm January day!

Kate, you are such a joy to our family. You are so loveable and helpful.

You love to organize things and help me cook & bake. And, you have even started helping me fold laundry!

You are still a picky eater, but you have been branching out a little more and will actually try a bite of something new every once in awhile. You are eating more and are finally staring to grow out of some of your clothes!

If it were up to you, you would eat cinnamon toast, hot dogs, pizza & fruit everyday.

You are so artistic and love to color. I am so impressed by your artistic skills!
You are left handed (just like your Daddy!)

Tonight we had our families over for your birthday dinner. You wanted pineapple pizza (your favorite!) and cupcakes.

You had the biggest smile on your face as we sang you "Happy Birthday".

I know you feel loved by each person who came over tonight.
You are so lucky to have so many people who love you.

I think your favorite gift (besides your purple room) is the camera adapter that Auntie Bots gave you for your Leapster. It actually takes pictures!!!! You took over 30 pictures with it tonight & didn't want to set it down. I had to pry it out of your hands at bedtime. Oh, that made me so proud! You just wanted to keep capturing your day & your surroundings on that camera.

Kate, on your 4th birthday, I hope you know how much you are loved by us, your family, your friends and most importantly, God. I am so thankful for God's timing. I am so glad he entrusted us to be your parents & to raise you. I pray you grow up knowing how much you are loved & cared for and in return, I pray you will show God's love and care to others.

Happy 4th Birthday to my Sweet Kate.
It is an honor & a privilege to be your Mommy.
I love you to the moon & back.