Happy Birthday Handley!

I really can't believe that my first baby turned 4 years old today.  I can remember almost every detail of this day 4 years ago like it was yesterday.  However, it's also hard to remember what my life was like without her a part of our family.  My first teaching job was teaching Pre-K and it is really crazy for me to think that she is the age that my first students were.

 Handley has been talking about her birthday for months and was so excited for the big day today.  This morning she woke up with a huge smile on her face and kept it there all day long.  Mimi and Dadaw are in town for the big occasion so she had quite a crowd telling her "Happy Birthday" this morning.

After a cinnamon bun breakfast Robby and I surprised her with a brand new bike!  She was so excited and immediately wanted to head outside in her PJ's and try it out.  She is already doing great getting around on it and looks so big riding it.

After getting dressed Mimi and I took the girls to get their nails painted at a real nail salon.  Handley was SO excited about this special treat.  She chose her two favorite colors, pink and purple, and sat very still watching every move the nail tech made.  Harper got her toes painted too and chose her favorite color, orange.  I had to sway her away from the Halloween orange that she originally picked out, but she was also very proud of her pretty toes.

Next we were off to do a little shopping and then we went to lunch at Handley's favorite spot, McEntyre's.  Everytime we saw someone Handley was happy to announce that it was her birthday.  This afternoon she helped me make a cake for tonight's family dinner party.  Handley was very sweet to let Harper help with the decorating and the final product was a sight to be seen.

This afternoon she got a special surprise from her BFF, Avery.  On our front door we found this birthday sign!  It was SO sweet!!! We had to move it inside because of a big windy storm that was approaching, but she was proud to show it to everyone who came over for dinner and now it's hanging on our pantry door.

Tonight was so much fun.  Gigi, Papa, and Trey all came over to help celebrate.  We had dinner, ate cake, and opened presents.  I even let her pick out a piece of cake from the VERY center because it had the most sprinkles.

She loved every second and as she was going to bed tonight she told me she just couldn't stop thinking about how great her birthday was.  :-)

At 4 years old she:

• is very inquisitive and is constantly asking question
• shares incredibly well with Harper and always wants to include her in what she's doing
• is particular and likes things done a certain way
• is social and constantly asks if we can get together with her friends
• loves following a routine and a schedule
• is extremely affectionate towards her family and close friends
• has an incredible memory
• has a very motherly instinct and is a nurturer 
• is always eager to please 
• has an adventurous spirit
• is strong-willed 
• has started doing simple addition problems and loves using new vocabulary words
• is extremely helpful to me around the house and with Harper
• has become very independent recently and enjoys accomplishing tasks on her own
• loves to act silly and goofy, especially with her Daddy