The Birthday Girl

Miss Maisie celebrated her 4th birthday a week ago. It seems like yesterday I was holding her in my arms...all 7.5 pounds of her. She had a fun day celebrating. She wore her birthday shirt (from Grandmom and Pops) to church.

After church she opened her presents. She loved them all! A new pink ball since the other one had a hole in it, Elefun, a Tom and Jerry movie, a piggy bank and a Zhu Zhu hamster. Good job, mom. :) She now loves to earn a penny to put in her piggy bank.

We had dinner at home with Grandpa. I made grilled chicken legs, cheesy potatoes, and some other things she liked. We then met her cousins and family at a favorite park. They played a little in the splash park, but she spent most of her time climbing and playing. She was in heaven. Maisie wanted a "Minnie" cake. Minnie is my parent's daschund that Maisie loves. I considered my cake a success when she looked at it and said, "Minnie!"

Wearing the birthday hat.

Saturday we celebrated with the local family. She loved this time, too. Family left sweet notes on a place mat for her. She got a bag full of yummies. And she got more fun presents. I loved watching her get excited over each gift. Here are her new goggles.

This outfit came from Aunt P. Doesn't she look trendy? Those are supposed to be skinny jeans.

Maisie had her preschool open house last week. She had fun, and I think she is excited. I am excited for her to have her own thing and to learn a lot.

Maisie tried on this chef hat the other day when we baked. It's a hat my grandma made for me when I was young.

Maisie, you make me smile. Even when you cross your arms in frustration and give me the "umph" sound, you make me smile. I may hide it on the outside, but I am grinning on the inside. You are kind and tender hearted, but there are times you do get "rumpy." I've learned that you need just a few minutes to yourself, and you come back out much happier. You are still my physical touch daughter; the one to grab my hand when we walk. You give me hugs and unprompted, "I love you mommy." That means the world to me. I also love to hear you say, "Jesus loves me." So true, dear one, so true. And my prayer is that you will always love and serve Him with the gifts He has given to you.

You have grown so much this past year. Your vocabulary has exploded; and I'm so glad. You don't always have the correct pronunciation of words, but we think it's cute. I took a video the other night of you saying things. Here's what I heard:

pooth taste

waternelmon

strawberryerry

frincess

the sauce is the boss (you and daddy say that)

You told me your favorite color is pink, food is grapes and animal is penguin.

You are my daughter that will talk to anyone, loves to pretend to sing on stage; you love to play with Little People and trains. You will color for awhile. You enjoy being outside, as long as it's not too hot. You prefer the shade. You are loving the top bunk and enjoy having Sadie as a roommate.

Your big thing right now is to announce vehicles while we drive around town. You will announce, "Mommy's van, Daddy's Mountaineer, Aunt S's van, Grandma's van...." And you are right every time. My ears get tired of it. :) Even Sadie can recognize vehicles correctly.

Maisie, when you say, "Daddy loves me, Mommy loves me, Analise loves me, Sadie loves me," you couldn't be more right. Happy Birthday sweet girl.