FOUR!

Birth Day

One

Two

Three

FOUR!!!

To our Nola,

One week ago, you turned the big 0-4! But just the week before that, we were looking into your big blue eyes for the first time...or so it seems. How can it be that you have grown up into a little lady of 4 in the blink of an eye? And yet how can it be that it's been only 4 years?! Time is funny that way.

You are SUCH a joy! You bring laughter to our lives each day. Making silly faces, dancing around the house in your undies, telling jokes that don't make sense, being a "baby-not-talking-horse(or puppy or cat or or or). You are fun, loveable, sassy and loving. You have such a big heart and are quick to compassion when others are hurting. You also stick up for those you love - getting angry when someone is teasing Emmerly, or getting mad at Em when you think she's being mean to Mommy or Daddy. At Christmas, Daddy was joking around with Emmerly and singing, "Oh Emmerly, Oh Emmerly! Oh how I love your stinky bum!" to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree." You ran into the room and with a defiant look said, "My sister's bum smells like roses!" To you, anything is possible, the world is magic! Last week at dinner we were playing a conversation game and the question was, "If you could change the weather, how would you change it?" My practical answer was I'd like seasons in California. Your answer was, "With a wand." You said it so matter of factly, like "duh, how else would you change it?"

You have become such a wonderful big sister to Aveline these last 3 months. If ever she starts crying, you are quick to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and will continue singing it until she stops crying....or until we tell you it's ok to stop! You also smother her with kisses hourly. When Aveline was first born, your whole little body would shake when you were holding her, and I knew you had so much love for her and wanted to just squeeze her, but were trying to be so gentle.

Your favorite movie is The Lion King, favorite character is Minnie, favorite color is green, favorite ice cream is strawberry. There was a time a few months ago when you wanted to watch Lion King daily....glad that has passed. :) And in Italy, you wanted only strawberry gelato; wouldn't even try any other kind. You are a girl that knows what she likes! Oh, you also love the Justin Beiber song "Baby" and often sing it to Aveline. A big thank you to Daddy's students for that one.

You love to sit and listen when Emmerly and I are reading for school, and love to get out your own school book when we are doing math. You have recently started asking frequently how to spell things and wanted to write all your own Valentines yourself. You also often write a bunch of different letters down and then ask, "Mom, what does l-e-f-s-p-f-t-t-t-o-s spell?" And you love to grab a book and sit down yourself to "read it", but even better is when we snuggle on the couch to read it. I'm so incredibly glad for all this, as you used to be able to sit still for .3 seconds when reading a book, and now you can't get enough of them.

This year, you were a world traveler, literally! You went to Nevada, Colorado, Washington DC, South Carolina, Georgia, and Italy! You are a delight on trips because you just go with the flow, sleep where you can when you can, and pretty much keep up with the big kids - impressive!

We love you to pieces, Miss Nola, and just can't get enough of you! We are grateful to God each day for giving us the gift of YOU. We'll love you forever. We'll like you for always. And you'll always be our baby.

All our love always,
Mommy and Daddy

And a sassy four at that!