She's FOUR!

I'm a little late to the party on this one. But I can't have a blog about my life with 2 girls and not write a post about the fact that my older daughter turned FOUR on Monday.

FOUR!

I just have to say that this little beauty is making me proud every single day. She is so many things! Smart, beautiful, independent, sweet, SASSY TO THE MAX, considerate, emotional, the funniest person I know, the pickiest eater, the best sister, lover of animals, energetic, TALKATIVE! This little face made me a mommy, which was the only thing I ever truly wanted in my life. And these characteristics of hers just make me so proud of her and who she is. Some days are long with this one. The non stop talking and the sass and emotions can be extreme at the very least. But someone once told me that the very things that often make me want to pull my hair out will serve her well someday. She is so right. So I hope and pray that she's always this way.

On Saturday we took her on a mommy/daddy/Kylee date. No Ryans allowed. She was, at first, upset by this notion. But she quickly realized that, no we were not leaving Ryan in her crib with some crackers and water for 3 hours, yes we were dropping her with Mimi and Papaw, and yes, you get to see Cinderella and eat WHATEVER YOU WANT for the duration of this date. She quickly got dressed in her Cinderella tshirt and "glass slippers" (which really were the $3 plastic dress up shoes) and off to the movies we went. It was rainy that day and we can't have a princess getting her glass slippers all wet and gross so her prince carried her in.

HAPPIEST. GIRL. EVER.

We got inside, purchased our tickets and Kylee chose to forego the ice cream and eat the teddy grahams and M&Ms that we brought. I'm quite shocked by that but she was very, very happy with it. It's your birthday, sister-girl! Do what makes you happy! The movie was beautiful and the theater was filled with little bitty girls dressed in their Cinderella-best, eating all sorts of candies with their parents. We really enjoyed the movie! Definitely recommend it to anyone with littles! 

After our movie date, she spent the rest of the day with her Mimi and Papaw. They took her to a restaurant and played the entire afternoon with her. 

On Sunday, we took her for "Princess Donuts" before church. Which, if you live in the Houston area, you NEEEEEED to go to River Oaks Donuts. DELICIOUS! And they have been named one of the 7 best donuts in the Houston area. Shameless plug! I told her that she could have as many birthdays as she wanted, but that she had to stay three forever. She seemed to accept that as her new reality. "I'll be three forever, mommy! NO TURNING FOUR!"

Monday she woke up to balloons dangling from streamers on the door frame and about 20 balloons in the hallway floor. I kind of wish I had a video camera set up to see her cute little face when she saw that. She did, however, tell me that she "opened the door and said, 'all this for ME?!" Then I picture that she twirled through them like a scene from The Sound of Music.

She opened the present we got her. Remember the beloved dress from my last post? Oh. My. Goodness. To see her so excited and hug that precious dress and quietly whisper, "oh it's my beautiful dress!" was enough for me. She wore it for her birthday. It most definitely has the twirl factor which automatically gets the stamp of approval from Kylee. We went to Five Below for party favors, Party City to pick out balloons, and then out to dinner with family and friends at Jimmy Changas. This girl is loved. Truly, deeply loved and I am so thankful to my friends and family that, at the last minute (I'm talking 3 hours before), made it to a dinner to help celebrate her. It was the perfect day for that four year old of mine. Between the presents and the phone calls and the facetime calls and the text messages and all the posts that people posted to my facebook (and yes, I read her EVERY one), she smiled all the livelong day. And at the end of the night, she chose to thank each and every person in her prayer. 

And as I sit here and type this, I realize I did not get a single picture of us at dinner! GASP! 

Which also reminds me to make sure my camera is charged for her birthday party this weekend. 

Which also reminds me that I have a bajillion things to do before said party on Saturday and I need to be done with this.

Thank y'all so much for loving my girl. You made her feel extra special and brought so many smiles to her face! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I Lied

Kind of.

Okay I lied for sure. But it was for a really good reason!

Kylee is the easiest child to please. She never asks for anything outside cheese crackers (AKA: Cheez It crackers) for breakfast and frankly never wants for anything either. So with her birthday coming up we have NO CLUE what she wants. When we ask, she comes up with made up toys or reeeeeeeeeally expensive items.

"How about a light up Belle doll that's also soft so I can sleep with it at night?"
"How about my very own computer?"
"What about a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful light that changes colors like in a rainbow that we can put in my room?"
"Well...I don't have a TV in my playroom!"

No. To all of the above.

Frankly, she's hit a growth spurt and will need all new clothes. So I've mentioned a shopping spree which peaks her interest for a hot minute and then she goes right back to made up toys again.

The other night she was sitting by my side as I was scrolling through Instagram and she sees these dresses. 3 different, but incredibly cute coordinating dresses.

K: Ohhhh! CUUUUUTE! I wish my sister and I could have all those dresses!

Can I just digress for one minute and say HOW SWEET IS SHE TO THINK OF HER SISTER?! If she gets something, she is always concerned about Ryan getting it too. She is so thoughtful! 

Me: Well baby, I'm not sure about all of them but if you could have just one, which one would you want?
K: **Points to one that is most definitely her* THAT ONE!
Me: Maybe for your birthday!

Finally! An idea on what to get her. Dressing her is interesting. She loves twirly dresses. But she is spunky and cute and loud and is the type that could totally wear converse with a dress and rock it. It's just very her. Her style and I love it!

Fast forward to today. The beloved birthday dress was going on sale today. It's a boutique dress that goes on sale and when they're gone, they're gone. They aren't remade. It's first come, first served and from what I hear, they are next to impossible to purchase because of how many people are trying to purchase the same thing at the same time as you. I made sure to log in ten minutes before and at the designated time, I clicked refresh until that dress was there. bingBANGboom! Got her size in my cart in a matter of 6 seconds and I hit checkout.

"Due to inventory issues, this dress is no longer available."

How is that humanly possible?! I was probably one of the first, if not THE first, people to click on it. HOW?! I Instantly went "OH NO!" Kylee comes running in, to see the picture of her dress on my computer screen and said, "Did you get my pretty dress?" I had to give her the bad news. She ran off crying to her room. She all but slammed her door. I could hear her saying, "I just wanted that pretty dress for my birthday." Because when you cry over things like ice in your cup and not being able to get your pajama shirt off your head in the mornings, you most certainly cry over not getting a pretty new birthday dress.

**insert sarcasm here**

But it totally broke my heart. So for whatever reason, I just kept trying. The website was allowing me to still put her size dress in my "cart" so I just kept clicking. Only to get the same message over and and over and over again. "Due to inventory issues, this dress is no longer available."

And then, the magic happened. After what felt like 20 minutes and 100 clicks, I was taken to the checkout page to enter in my information and have one shipped to me. Don't ask me how, but it happened! I purchased that birthday dress. Kylee has zero clue.

I did the happy dance in my chair and a few minutes later, Kylee emerged from her room. She began apologizing to me. "It's okay mommy. I know you tried hard. I just wanted that pretty dress for my birthday." So I lied, OKAY?! I let her believe that the birthday dress was a goner.

Oh gosh. Her face when she opens up that dress...I am totally recording it. She may scream.

14 more days. I. CAN'T. WAIT.

So tell me, what have you lied to your kids about?
And just for kicks, which dress do you think Kylee had her heart set on?