Four Years Old

Charlotte woke up with major bedhead the morning of her birthday...

But who has time to worry about that when there's a birthday to celebrate!  We started out her morning with a breakfast as sweet as she is;)...Donuts!

Right after she finished, she ran into the living room to open her presents.  Her Dora card played a song, which she was really excited about...

Char loves to sing and dance for us.  She sings (yells) Disney princess songs all day, so we bought her a Disney princess cd so she has some music to accompany her...

We also got her the Tangled soundtrack because her current favorite song is from that movie.

And since she's been talking about how she can't wait to meet Merida when we go to Disney World in October, we bought her the Brave dvd...

Charlotte's all about fashion.  Seriously, clothes are one of her favorite presents...

And we threw in a Sofia the First coloring book because that's one of her favorite shows right now...

We had a couple of Nana and Rich's presents at our house, so she got to open those, too.  A princess swimming pool...

And a princess slip n slide...

Can you tell we love Disney?  And princesses?

As soon as she was done opening gifts, she wanted to sing and dance to her new cds, so we popped the princess one in the dvd...

After seeing Despicable Me 2 that afternoon, we headed to Nana's work so Charlotte could open the rest of her gifts from Nana and Rich...

And the Disney theme continued with a Sofia the First doll...

(Hunter was so excited about everything all day.  He's such a sweet brother...most of the time;)).

 

Nana also bought a mini bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes...

That night we went to BJs for pizza and pizookies with Grandee and Poppy and Katie, Zack and Vanesa.  After dinner Charlotte got to open more gifts!  Grandee and Poppy got her a ballerina jewelry box...

a high chair for her Bitty Baby...

and some super cute clothes...

And Aunt Judy and Uncle Robert sent jammies...

and a necklace...

 

 

Charlotte, I'm so thankful that God gave me you as a daughter.  I love so many things about you.  Some of my favorites right now are...

• Your love for performing...You were made for the stage, my dear.  Right now one of your favorite things to do is sing, dance, and act out scenes from your favorite movies.  When you are watching a show or movie, you will stand up and perform the song with the characters whenever they start singing.  At least 3 times each day, you act out and/or sing-yell the song from Tangled when Rapunzel's jumping out of the tower for the first time.  Anytime you hear "Just smell the grass, the dirt just like I dreamed they'd be...", you stop whatever you're doing so you can sing along (and if we're outside, roll in the grass just like she does in the movie).  I'm so eager to see what you do with this talent that God has given you.
•  The girly girl in you...You adore princesses, jewelry, clothes, and shopping with me.  I took you for our first mommy-daughter shopping date recently, and you were precious pointing out all of the things that were "so cute" or "so pretty".  You'd get so excited when you found something that you liked.  You also love to dress up in my high heels and walk around the house with one of your purses on your shoulder.  You'll announce, "I'm going to the store!" or "I'm going to work.  See you later!" as you walk into the other room.  I love getting to be your mom and that will always be my first role in our relationship, but I also look forward to the day when you are older and we can have a friendship, too.  I know we'll have many fun shopping days together!
• Your mothering nature...You still take great care of your babies and love to pretend that you are taking them to the grocery store or putting them down for nap.  You often lay down one of your babies in your bed, tuck them in, turn out the light, and shut your door. And if anyone comes near your door to open it, you'll scold, "Don't open that door!  My baby is sleeping in there, and you might wake her up." 
• Your role as a big and little sister...You still adore Grey, and love to help feed him or hold him or calm him down when he's crying.  You and Hunter both do a great job of playing with him on his play mat and trying to be gentle with him.  Hunter has been your beloved playmate since you were born, and although this summer has been a bit rough in getting along (compared to the normal peace you two have), you still have fun playing together...most of the time;)
• Your kindness...I've tried hard to teach you to be kind to everyone, and I'm so thankful that God has given you a kind heart.  I pray that you continue to be kind to everyone and teach your friends that we should all be friends and include each other.

I treasure you and your brothers so much.  I am so proud to be your mother and thankful to have a daughter to teach and raise.  I pray that you remember that you really are a princess...the daughter of the one true King.  He loves you and created you to be in His royal family.  You are a wonder...wonderfully made with His hands.  He made you perfect just as you are, and I pray that you'll cherish your body and mind and spirit just as He does.  Happy Birthday, sweet Charlotte!  You are so loved!