Enna: 14 months

Enna,

My girl, you are the life of the party around here. We enjoy you so much. Every single day just gets better with you.

You started walking this month and haven't stopped going since. Once you decided that you wanted to walk, you were determined to see it happen and did not give up until you were cruising around like it was second nature.

You are a ball of energy. You can go for hours on end without stopping. Napping is take or leave it with you sometimes, but when we are home you definitely love your bed.

You point and shake your little finger at everything you want. You have also started throwing fits when you don't get your way. You dramatically cry and wail until you realize that no one is coming to your rescue and you forget about it.

You love music, babies, your sibling's toys, eating snacks ("na"), walking around with a bottle, screaming at the top of your lungs, giving hugs, and sucking your thumb.

You are super affectionate. You love to give hugs to your brother and sister on your terms, but do not want to be squeezed too much by them. You always reach out to the other kids in the church nursery and say a sweet little "ahhh" as you put your arms around them. It is very sweet!

You love your Daddy and get so excited to see him. You ask for him when you wake in the middle of the night and you first thing in the morning. When you see your Daddy play during worship at church you do this laugh/cry. It is like you are nervous about him being on stage and it upsets you, but at the same time you really want to hear the music. It is precious!

I am so glad that you joined our lives and grateful for all the fun you bring.

Love,

Mama

Nora's Birthday Tea

For Nora's 4th birthday we had a small little tea party with just a few friends (2 from church and 2 from our neighborhood).

It was by far the easiest birthday party I have planned to date. Girl parties are so much easier for me than boy ones! However, I was still running around last minute trying to get things together.

First off, I found an easy template on Pinterest for a teapot and cut some invitations out from some scrapbooking paper I had on hand. It was simple and easy even though I was late getting them mailed out.

I decided we would do some crafts and then have our cake and "tea" next. Enna was a great model for the crown craft as we were throwing together the party details early that morning.

The first thing we did was have coloring pages for the girls to work on while we waited for everyone to arrive. The girls were all dressed up-either in dress up clothes or fancy dresses. It was fun to see each unique girl's style in what she picked out to wear.

Then, we made some necklaces with some fun beads I found.

I snapped a couple quick photos of the table set up for the tea.

I had both plastic and china tea cups as options. And the cake was either vanilla or chocolate with raspberry or dark chocolate icing. Every bit of it was delicious!

Our second craft was making crowns out of felt. This was such a super easy project. I cut the crowns out the night before and glued them in double thickness, then we also glued all the ribbon to tie it with. I let the girls decorate them with jewels of their choice.

The finished product!

Nora wore hers for a split second and then wanted it off, but I got a  quick picture of her even though she was rather unwilling.

Four candles!

She was really into turning four and was quite disappointed when she realized her status had not changed to: Grown-Up and Now in Charge of Everybody. She still asks quite regularly who she is in charge of now that she is 4. :)

We finished up the party with some manicures and gift opening. The girls were all so sweet and quiet and everybody had a good time. I was so shocked at how calm it was having a party with girls after only having had boy parties for Aidan where there was constant activity and entertainment needed. I am grateful to celebrate Nora and her 4 years of life and hope to have many more wonderful birthday parties with her. 

Nora: 4 years old

My sweet Nora-girl,

You are a shining beauty with a smile that lights up a room. I love watching the joy that overflows in you.

You are such a creative soul. I never stop being amazed at your imagination and play. You love to play in your own little world and do not like us to watch you when you play and will get mad if we are looking at you or listening to you. You often sing when you are coloring or building things. You make up songs with tunes you know and will keep at it for a long time. I love to hear you sing and hope to continue hearing your sweet voice develop and grow as you mature. 

You love to dance, which thrills my heart in so many ways. You would wear your ballet leotard, tights, and shoes every day if I let you. You are picking up on ballet terms and practice around the house. You just started taking lessons (something you had been talking about for the last year) and it has been the most looked forward to event of each week. You are always asking if every day is Monday or how many days it is until the next Monday.  

You can be shy and quiet in a large group and often don't sing or join in with other kids during church programs. But, at home, you sing at the top of your lungs or do the motions with vigor. You do love to hug other girls though and you often request to hug strangers that are close to your age (especially if they are wearing princess dresses). You always hug all the girls from your ballet class each week and even hugged another girl when she had to leave the library today. You love having friends, but you are always a little apprehensive in new settings. 

You love to dress up like Snow White pretty much every day (I figured out that this was because it is the longest dress you own and you like a dress that comes down to your feet which is why you always want to try on my clothes). You are entirely beyond girly and will only check out books from the library that have some sort of pink or purple color and are about princesses or ballerinas (although you will read your brother's books when you at home). You want to be "fancy" and dress yourself pretty much every day. It is VERY had to convince you to wear other clothing items once you have your mind made up. You have a pretty good sense of style for a 4 year old though and you absolutely refuse to wear pants of any kind, but wear leggings with all your dresses in the winter. 

You are Miss Independent. Unlike your brother, who loves for us to do most things for him, you absolutely can't stand it if we help you with things you were planning to do all by yourself. You have learned quickly to button things and don't give up easily if a task is difficult, but keep at it until you have figured it out. You are highly opinionated about most things, which can be a challenge, but you are also learning at a fast rate (but also at a rate completely determined by you). You will definitely not be taught anything you don't want to learn (such as the letters of the alphabet). :)

You are flexible and go with the flow (as much as can be said for a preschool-aged girl). We can tell that you are going to be the peacemaker in our home. You are an excellent big sister and you love to play with Enna. I can really tell that you are going to be great at including her in your games as she gets older and I can't wait to watch the two of you together!

Nora, you are truly a delight and joy and I am so blessed to be your mom!

Love,

Mommy