Bounding into her 4th year...

I can't believe that Emma Rose is four years old!  How these years have flown by.  It seems like just a few months ago, I was miserably pregnant, throwing up between work and chasing an adorable 1-year-old-boy, fearing whether I could love my new baby girl as much as I loved my sweet boy...  

Four years later, I am head-over-heals for this easy-to-love ball of joy:

Happy Birthday to my precious girl!  

Emma Rose, in preschool, American girl fashion, wanted nothing more than to have a "Frozen" party.  Even better, she wanted to have a party where she could have a sleep-over, just like Sophia the First.  So we had all the Colorado cousins over to celebrate!

Ansley, Porter, and Avery

Haley (as Anna), Caroline, and the Birthday Girl! 

Uncle Chad makes a guest appearance as Elsa.

Baby Lily and Uncle Z

Emma Rose had been thanking Jesus for 2 weeks for the cupcakes she would eat at her birthday party:

Emma Rose loved her gifts.  She was thrilled about her "Anna Coronation Dress" from aunt Jenny...

...And her new "big girl" bike from Nana and Papa:

Avery teaching Emma Rose to petal...

Haley tries to "get" all the older kids riding on their bikes.

Emma Rose tries to keep up with Porter (as usual)...

Here's a cute picture of the older cousins watching "Frozen" before bed:

...and the next morning, coloring "Frozen" pictures after making tiaras:

Caroline, Emma Rose's professed best friend, and Emma Rose wore these tiaras all morning - all through church and at home.

Emma Rose had a great birthday celebration.  As always, I wrote her a yearly letter.  Here is part of it:

I can not believe that my little girl is 4.  I am sad at how fast the time has gone, but so grateful for the strong, sensitive, beautiful, joy-filled girl that you are becoming.  Emma Rose, you bring smiles and laughter to my life with such genuine ease.  

You still tell me that I’m your best friend, and I love that.  I love your soft hair and your light-up-the-room giggle.  I love that when you crawl in my lap to be soothed, your pretty little toes are still on the move, back and forth.  You never stop moving.  Never.

This year, your Nana introduced you to dance lessons.  You say you don’t like it because I’m not there with you, but you dance and plie and practice your “banana-popsicle” moves all over the house - if you’re not singing your newest, made-up song at the top of your lungs with any make-shift microphone you can find.  You literally turn life into a song...

This past year has been filled with so many fun adventures.  The summer after you turned 3, you and Porter and I traveled to Oregon to visit your Aunt Jenny and Uncle Justin.  You had fun playing on a freezing, windy beach, hiking through the trees in search of giant banana slugs, and playing “I spy” with Aunt Jenny.  Later that summer, we went on a camping trip with your good friend Sofia and her family.  Over Thanksgiving, we went up to the mountains with Grandma and Grandpa and you continued to embrace skiing, eagerly venturing down any run, as long as you had on your “leash” (your skiing harness) and you sang the whole way down (you usually sang, “My God is So BIG!”)  Over the Christmas break, to celebrate our 10-year anniversary, Daddy and I took you and Porter to Costa Rica where you had a blast swimming, cliff-jumping, horseback riding, and collecting seashells.  While we skied all winter, you got really good, and completely got rid of “the leash” when we went skiing in Keystone every day of Spring Break.  You are SO good!  Your dad is convinced you’re the next Lindsey Vonn.

Other major events that happened this past year include the birth of your new baby cousin, Lily Renee!  ...  Sadly, your Great Grandpa Jack passed away in March, but he left an incredible legacy and a beautiful, spirited family behind.

As for you, you started preschool this year at Ben Franklin Academy.  You also started ballet and Littleton Dance Academy.  Your best friend is your cousin, Caroline, who you go to older Sunday School and AWANAs with, just so you two can be together.  Your favorite stuffed animal is still Gigi (you’d take her everywhere if you could!)  While you love drawing, painting, and coloring, your favorite thing to do is have dance parties (you love to dance to “All about that Bass” by Meghan Trainor, “Happy” by Pharrell Williams and “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift.  Your favorite thing to eat is honey yogurt, which you eat every morning, and your favorite movie is Frozen - in fact, we had a “Frozen” birthday sleepover with your cousins to celebrate you turning 4!

You are part of such a special family - with a mom and dad who love you so much, and a little brother who protects and adores you (even though your singing sometimes gets on his nerves...)  You adore him too!  You watch him doing his homework, and you pretend to do homework.  You watch him build legos, and you want to build legos.  You two race each other, play trucks together, play “honey” (which is when you pretend to be Dad and I), and sometimes he even plays “princess” with you and your dolls - he usually drives the work truck and takes your dolls places. (Funny story, when you were playing “honey” last month, you said to Porter, “Honey, my car broke down and I need you to pick me up and take me to book club.  I’ve got the wine all ready and everything.”)  The relationship that you and your brother have is so special to me.  You will be a tougher, smarter, faster, and more confident girl because of Porter.

You, my sweet girl, are so special to me.  You care for others so much and often you say little prayers asking Jesus for help when someone you know is sick or has a hurt knee.  Just the other night, you said the sweetest prayer - so telling of your little personality right now: “Dear Je-jus, Thank you for dying on the cross.  Thank you for making all the places beautiful like my mommy.  Thank you for my Nana and Papa. And thank you that I get to eat cupcakes on my birf-day. I love you.  Amen.”  

Emma Rose, I love you so so much.  I am so proud of how you see each new day as a fun adventure, at how you dance and sing through life, at how easily you find laughter, and at how much you love your family and your Jesus.  You are a true blessing and I feel like God gave me the greatest gift of joy when he made me your mommy.

Happy Birthday, Emma Rose!