Someone is 4!

Abby turned 4 yesterday.

 Per tradition, Garrett took her out to get balloons for her birthday.  Four this year!

 Her "4" shirt.

 She was so excited about each gift. "Wow, I love it!!"  So cute.  I think I could have wrapped up rocks and she would have gasped and said she loved them.

 I made her a little tote for Church, and there is a Book of Mormon inside.

"Painted toenails!!" (that's what she calls nail polish)

(not as funny as what my cousin Elza used to call it.... "Pol nailish") 

Ellie relaxing 

My parents gave her a vintage CareBear lunch box.  It even has the thermos inside!  Abby just loves it and insisted that I pack her lunch in it today so that we could have a picnic on the living room floor. 

The cake.  Man, I had such high hopes for her cake this year but it just turned out "okay".  First of all, I made it a 4-layer cake (and I colored the alternating layers pink and purple).  I thought it would end up being a little taller than it was, but oh well.  Then, I ran out of frosting so the sides looked horrible, and I couldn't make more because I didn't have the stuff.  Oh well - it still tasted just great!

What is that face?? 

 Four years old!

With her gifts.

That "kitty clock" (as she calls it) was her big "want" this year.  I waffled back and forth because I have been meaning to buy them a digital clock for their room, but I couldn't find a Hello Kitty digital clock for under $10, even on eBay.  And she just kept talking about this clock -- for weeks she'd been talking about it, ever since we saw it at Target.  So, I gave in.  She loves it.

Abby is such a sweet little girl.  She is so helpful and considerate.  She is great at sharing - she'll even give her last animal cracker to Ellie if she thinks Ellie wants it.

Abby loves playing with the ipad.  Garrett has found a ton of cute little games and puzzles that she loves to do and show off to us when she completes them.  She's even good at some of Garrett's games (Cut the Rope.... and I can't think of any others right now but there are a couple).  Anyway, I have to seriously limit her time with the ipad because she would probably play all day if I let her.  Thankfully she's usually very good at putting it away "so that it can take a rest".

She loves to go to the library and rent books and movies.  Her favorite books right now are Berenstain Bears and Curious George.  I enjoy those books too so it's fun to read together.

She just started Primary at Church a couple weeks ago.  She acts pretty hesitant each week when I drop her off, but she's always fine about 5 minutes into it.

She loves dressing up in her "princess ballerina dress" and pink plastic shoes, with her crown and purse.  She runs around the house pushing her doll stroller and being a "mommy".

She loves doing the Ab Ripper with me (it's the ab workout from P90x).  She especially loves doing the last move, called "Mason Twist".  Every time I'm about to do that move, she runs and sits next to me and does all 100 twists with me (although, she likes to "race" me and she thinks she wins every time, because she is counting them out faster than I am).

She likes dressing herself each day but usually puts on a skirt and a short-sleeved shirt, so I have to send her back to her room to put on pants and long sleeves (it's cold here!).

Whenever Abby does or says something that we don't recognize, we say, "Just like.....?" and usually she will tell us.  For example, a few weeks ago she was making cards and writing on them, "To: Ellie, Love from: Abby." (and by "writing" I mean, making squiggly lines and saying out loud what it said).  I have never heard the "Love from" term so I asked her, "Just like...?" and she said, "Kipper!" (one of her favorite shows on Netflix).

Favorite foods: yogurt, hot dogs, turkey sandwiches, quesadillas, chocolate milk, hot cocoa, pizza, apples, and of course anything with sugar.  She loves animal crackers, too, and dumdums.