April is a big birthday month in our family, so we've had lots of celebrations recently.
Dan's mom and dad both have birthdays in April. We got to take Mom Jester out for dinner in early April and attend Dad Jester's birthday party with all the family later in the month.
My dad's birthday was in mid-April, and we took him out to dinner that night to celebrate, also.
We celebrated our niece, Miriam's, 3rd birthday at the end of April. She's on the right, peeking at her cupcakes with her sister, Naomi.
And right in the middle of the big birthday month was Emma's 5th birthday!!
The day before her birthday, she got a #4 pancake since it was her very last day to be 4 years old. Sniff, sniff.
We also surprised her with a couple of big girl gifts.
She got her first real bike, and we took a family walk so she could practice on it. I did buy a helmet to go with it, but it was too big for her head and it flopped around so much that she was better off without it.
She also got a booster seat!
Hallie benefitted from Emma's gifts, too, since she inherited Emma's old tricycle and car seat.
On her birthday morning, Emma got to open a few gifts from us and an awesome science experiment kit from Uncle Steve, Aunt Sheila, and her cousin, Meera. She loves doing science experiments at school and often asks us to help her do them at home, so it was perfect!
Then we headed to Dan's parents' house for her birthday party with the family. She makes the birthday cake easy on me since her very favorite dessert is brownies!
She had a great birthday celebrating with her cousins, and we spent the next day playing with all her new toys at home.
This awesome 5 year old is such a gift to us!
She's sweet and nurturing and loves taking care of people and her stuffed animal "pets." She got a Hatchimal for her birthday, which is a mechanical stuffed animal that hatches out of its own egg and develops new skills as you play and interact with it. She absolutely loved it! She also got an awesome doctor kit for her birthday and she takes good care of our imaginary injuries.
She's so smart and loves learning new things. She's already reading simple words and books and she enjoys everything about science, nature, and history. She's a good artist and singer, too! We're excited to see where her talents and interests lie.
She's generally obedient and considerate (with some reminders), and a few times recently when she's been quiet for a while and we check to see what she's up to, she has been cleaning up and organizing all the toys in the play room and her bedroom! Best. surprise. ever.
She's such a good big sister, and Hallie is determined to follow in her footsteps!
The top of the fridge was dirty, so we sent them up there with rags to clean it off. heh!
Trying on Dan's hats - as if they didn't already look just like Daddy
Building a Lego castle for their characters
Silly sister faces!
We are so thankful for this girl and the joy, laughter, and fun she adds to our family!