A Day in the Life of a Four Year Old

It's official...we have a four year old in the house!

Did you know four year olds LOOOVE sparkly things, especially on their face? She specifically asked for sparkly lip gloss and "cheek stuff" (aka blush) for her birthday...how can you deny that face?!She woke up this morning to find her requested birthday breakfast...pancakes.

Allie's party was on Saturday and she opened all of her presents from us on that day. Lauryn felt bad that Allie wouldn't have anything to open on her "real" birthday, so she made her a card.

The birthday girl posing before heading out for the day!

We re-registered Lauryn at her school this morning and found out her teacher's name. She was SO thrilled to finally know who her teacher will be. She told me today that she is getting excited for school to start!!

After registration, Allie had her regular gymnastics class. She got a Target gift card for her birthday and wanted to use some of it to buy this leotard. She seriously left the toy aisle in pursuit of a "new pretty leotard"...silly girl! Catching some serious air... She chose Firehouse Subs for lunch...

...and Braum's for dessert!

She finished the day off right by spending several hours playing with her closest friends.

***The next pictures are from her birthday party day on Saturday***

She LOVES her new Jessie doll!

Her very own pair of Twinkle Toes...just like big sister!

Party day lunch...

Getting ready to go to her gymnastics party!

Those who were at the party will truly appreciate this picture...you know who you are :)

Blowing out the candles on her Tinkerbelle cake!

Getting her "sparkly" lip gloss...see the pure joy on her face!? Allison is such a blessing to our family. I can't believe it was four years ago that we first held her in our arms. She has a laugh that is contagious and knows how to make others giggle right along with her.

She is, for the most part, a free spirit. She can be shy and reserved in certain settings (usually in public or with people she doesn't know). She has a generous heart and shares very well. She received two of the same kind of lip gloss for her birthday, and without skipping a beat, handed one to Lauryn and said "now we both have one!"

Allie has an incredible imagination and will invent all kinds of games, whether she's playing with Lauryn or just by herself. She has no trouble entertaining herself and coming up with things to do. I love that about her.

She knows her letters and sounds and has started to read some short words. In true Allie fashion, she's usually only eager to participate in reading activities with me if it was her idea in the first place. I think her sense of independence will serve her very well in life :)

Allie is very excited for pre-school to start. She told me she is SURE they will do lots of fun arts and crafts because now they will be in the 4-year-old class. I guess we've reached the big time now.

Life with Allie is so precious...she fills all of our hearts with joy every single day. Happy 4th Birthday Allie! We love you!

***As a side note, I am gracefully bowing out of the challenge I placed on myself and will actually NOT be posting a picture every day for year. I thought to myself, "How hard can it be?" Turns out it's a lot harder than I thought...at least for me. If I can't keep up with it now, I can only imagine how pathetic it will be when school starts and we're even more busy around here! I'm not sure what I was thinking by adding an additional "to do" to my daily "to do" list. Live and learn! ***