A Birthday Girl!

On January 5th there were signs everywhere, both inside as well as outside, that it was a very special day.  Kaitlyn was turning four years old!!! 

Her siblings kindly volunteered their services to get Kaitlyn’s chores done.  They had such fun with it that the girl didn’t even need to take off her own shoes after school!  They delight in giving this treatment out and love getting the same back in return on their special days. 

The “Special” plate emerged for the birthday girl and a well padded package showed up on our front porch making the pile of presents look huge. 

We began the day by making the birthday cake that Kaitlyn and I had discussed the previous week.  We used my favorite “One Bowl Chocolate Cake” recipe.

By 9:45 a.m. the cake was in the oven and we decided to play “Caribou” while we waited for it to bake. 

We ventured out after lunch for some playtime

and for kiddy cones.  Kaitlyn is a wonderful big sister.

At dinner time Kaitlyn got her Bitty Bitty dressed for a party and helped entertain Nathan while dinner got made.

In the kitchen she found everyone waiting for her, decorations put up by her dad and her requested menu of Dogs in a Blanket, Corn, Cuties and Cheese Doodles.  Yum!

Once we were cleaned up from dinner we gathered for presents.  Her pile looked huge but part of that was a well padded package as I mentioned before.

Nathan found his camera and sat on the couch with it.  Every time he “took” a picture he yelled “EYES”.  He was so funny about it and he’d never done that before.  He is coming up with new words daily right now.

Lindsay’s offer to be official card reader and present handler was accepted. 

A Valentine’s Dress with matching sunglasses and Kaitlyn’s “Growing Up Girl” were her first presents.

Kaitlyn was excited to find a 5 little monkeys puzzle.  The one where they wash the car and sell it is one of her very favorite stories. 

She got a couple new mix and match things for her Bitty Bitty.

She got a set of award winning picture books we love which I picked out for her from Half Price as well as a puzzle she will have to invite Lindsay to do with her.

Pooh Bear books with CD’s will be nice at bedtime.

This will be fun to draw on.  Kaitlyn loves drawing and writing.  And making music.

Everyone was jealous of this cute ladybug pillow to go with more Eric Carle books that we can’t seem to get enough of.  Nathan was immediately excited and called them “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” as he calls all of these types of books when he wants you to read him one.  Tristan said he LOVES the grouchy ladybug and is happy to have it at home now.  We have no shortage of reading material here.  Books are hard to outgrow and so much fun.

This package emerged out of it’s mailed cocoon once we got the scissors to help us.

I liked this box!

A sweet little book and a basket…

A tea set!  I had decided to wait and find her just the right one instead of just buying whatever I could find.  I’m glad I made that choice.  This little set from her Grammy and Pop is beautiful.  She loves it.  Nathan had a good time walking around with the box on his head.

Immediately Kaitlyn had to try it out with everyone.  She is very careful with it and loves the tiny silverware.  Later Lindsay helped her make a special spot for it on her shelf, when it’s not in use.

Bitty Bitty is a perfect companion for a tea party and I’m sure these two will have many.

Tristan made a Lego house for Kaitlyn for her birthday.  She told him it was so good.  I am amazed at what this boy can whip up.

Then it was time for cake with Mom’s “tea set”.

Haley approved of Kaitlyn’s ice cream choice; Extreme Moose Tracks.

Kaitlyn wanted a ballerina cake this year but it had to have chocolate frosting.  My first task was to locate an older sister’s Barbie doll down in the basement that still had nice looking hair.  I found a suitable one with a crown that Kaitlyn loved and I used it, securing the hair quickly into a bun so it wouldn’t get into the frosting.  I put the chocolate cake into a bunt pan, baked it carefully for an extraordinary amount of time due to the shape and then sliced through it two times so I could get the cake around the doll and so she would have somewhere to sit (she was a little too tall for my pan).  Having sliced the cake into layers, chocolate buttercream went between layers making it extra delicious.  And ballerinas need pink so I decorated with pink over the chocolate.  The pink flowers reminded me of seeing a chocolate cake when I was about three years old, I think living in Saginaw, that had red flowers on it just like this.  I saw it sitting perfectly on the counter and no one was around.  I could just reach it on the counter.  I examined it and determined that probably nobody would miss just one of those red flowers but one turned into another.  And I think it was either my Grandpa’s or my brother’s cake for company!  I don’t think my Mom was too pleased with me on that occasion.  My girls couldn’t believe how well this cake turned out.  I still wish I was better at cake decorating.  But Kaitlyn loved it and that is what matters.

It took several tries to get those candles out again this year.  We’re hoping that maybe she’ll be granted four wishes since those candles pretty much went out one at a time.

Kaitlyn said it was perfect and that “it made her whole life all chocolaty”. 

The next day her nearby grandparents dropped off a gift for her to open; a really cute little playhouse with some tiny mousies and even a car for them.

Kaitlyn started enjoying this gift right away.

Kaitlyn poses by the “card” door with all of her birthday cards.  She had a wonderful birthday.  I’ve really been enjoying her and cannot imagine life without her.  She is an important part of our family and I can’t believe that four years have passed already since her arrival.  When I put her to bed on Wednesday night she was happy about being four but then she remembered that after four comes five.  She’s been asking for a while when she’ll get to go to school.  This time she remembered on her own that five is when she’ll start school.  She got teary eyed as she said to me with her little arms bear hugging me at her bedside “But Mommy, I’ll miss you”.  And I will certainly miss her too but I assured her, with a lump in my throat, that she would love being at school with friends and there would hardly be time to miss me too much.  And besides, she would be “five and a half” and that is sort of a long time from now.  Well, at least it’s a long time to her.  I’m very glad I didn’t trade this time with her for anything else.  She is a great girl.  I love her.  Happy Birthday!