My Grown Up Girl.

Oh my Kenna bear.
I can't believe how fast you are growing up.

Sassy. Inquisitive. Bright. You never forget anything! You remember every word we say and take it very seriously anytime you feel like we are not keeping our word to you. You still wear your heart on your sleeve and can go from happy to complete breakdown so very quickly. So independent that I relish the times you still need my help or just want my snuggles.

The SWEETEST thing when you want to be.

You are so musical- always singing and making up little songs and you taught your brother to hum which is about the cutest thing ever. You alternate between singing songs you have heard in your T.V. shows and movies with little ones you make up as you go along- it is February and you're still singing Christmas carols. You love painting and often paint crosses- "Jesus dieds" which makes Mommy and Daddy so happy!

Dress up is your favorite game- complete with elaborate stories of what you are dressed as and what adventures you are going on. You are an accessories girl and love to wear a necklace or two to church (like Mommy). Your church shoes are your favorite and you much prefer dresses to shirts and jeans which you say give you "itchy spots."

Your favorite toys are My Little Ponies and your Barbie dolls which you call "dollies." They host elaborate picnics together and all their accessories must be arranged just so. You like to switch them all around from bag to basket to bucket to tote them all around the house- and to keep Finn from touching them.

You "turned into" 4 years old just after we moved to Eagle Springs, and your Daddy and I have been shocked at how much you grew. Four just seems so much bigger and smarter than three- you still love to paint, love to have books read to you and your special Buttercup stories with Daddy at bedtime. You just started sleeping in your bunk bed that we painted for you, and you just seem so big. You can brush your own teeth and buckle your own car seat and you're such a big helper. I can give you a task and you love to help!

You are brave and independent, but still love Mommy's snuggles and Daddy's attention. You have lots of stories to tell and questions to ask. You love on Finn and always want to help take care of him- washing him in the bath, singing bedtime songs to him, and kissing him goodnight. You do like to remind him that he's littler than you though- that he's not allowed on your bunk bed and that he can only color with the washable markers. You definitely want to be the little mommy of the house.

You're even learning to write your name and other short words (you wrote "Hi" on all your Valentines this year) and I can't believe it's almost time for you to start school! We love you so much, Kenna bear!

Emmie's 3rd Birthday!

In June, we celebrated a very special little girl's 3rd birthday- our cousin Emmie! Kenna was very excited not only to receive some mail addressed to her, but also that the invitation asked her to pick out her favorite princess outfit to wear to the party! Kenna chose her favorite one, a medieval-style princess gown that Papa and Mimi gave her about a year ago that she has loved almost to death- we had to hand wash it to clean it up a bit for the occasion!

She was so excited to pick out all her princess accessories, all the way down to her high heeled dress up shoes, and that Mommy had wrapped Emmie's present in a princess bag!

We ran a little late waiting for little brother to wake up from his nap, and when we got to Emmie's house, Princess Cinderella was just arriving too! Her dress was beautiful and her hair perfectly in place, just a princess should be. She started by reading us a story about herself and Prince Charming, of course.

 Kenna loved sitting with her best princess buddy, Emmie, who was also dressed like Cinderella!

Princess Cinderella brought lots of fun activities and surprises with her for all the girls! Things like face painting, dancing to princess songs, and stickering their very own princess crowns with their names on them. Kenna chose a rainbow on her cheek for her face painting, and was so cute waiting patiently and watching while Cinderella painted her. Here she is working on her stickered crown kit:

After birthday cake and lots of yummy pink treats, Every princess got to take a picture with Cinderella, and then Uncle Jason and Aunt Alisa very thoughtfully included a copy of it in everybody's thank you notes! What a thrill to meet a real life princess!

Finn on the other hand, was very careful to stick close to his Daddy and make extra sure he was not mistaken for a princess.

As we wished Princess Cinderella and each other goodbye, Kenna was given a princess art set with markers as a party favor. She was high on all the princess girly goodness! (The two pieces of cake she ate probably had nothing to do with it!)

She still loves to play dress up in her purple stickered crown and use her princess markers. Happy birthday Emmie, and thank you for letting us come play princesses with you!

Baby Ella and Grannie's Visit!

On May 7th, we welcomed a new addition to our extended family- our baby niece and cousin, Ella Kathleen! Kenna could hardly contain her excitement that there's a new girl in the family, so Kenna, Finn, and I went to the hospital to meet baby Ella! Of course, the first thing Kenna wanted to do was hold baby Ella. Between Finn being cranky and me trying to help Kenna hold her, I was thankful Aunt Alisa was able to take a picture for us:

We three girls, squished into a very deep-seated hospital chair! Kenna was so excited! It feels like not that long ago we came to see Ella's big sister Emmie in the hospital just after being born, and now there's a new little tiny girl in the bassinet:

 Of course, when there's a new baby in the family, we all get extra excited because that is sure to mean that a visit from Grannie is coming! She came to town to help Jason and Alisa adjust to their new addition and she also usually comes in May to celebrate Jason's birthday. We had lots to celebrate as a family this month!
We stopped by Jason and Alisa's house to see baby Ella and to go to a birthday dinner for Jason.

 Grannie never forgets special treats for the older great grandkids. She and the girls had a great time playing bubbles!

 Finn was not quite walking at this point (he was so, so close!) but could not stand to see Evan, Uncle Jason, and Daddy playing basketball without him. We kept trying to keep him happy with his own ball there in the soft grass, but he insisted on crawling out across the driveway to get to the big ball. He did is so much that his poor little knees and tips of his toes were scraped and bleeding a little! He is all boy and apparently feels no pain when it comes to keeping up with the big guys.

While the big kids were riding bikes, Finn got a helping hand from Grannie to try a scooter for the first time! He is so determined to keep up with his sister and big cousins. We're all impressed at how well Grannie keeps up with all of them too!

After playing, we met up with Papa for Jason's birthday dinner at Outback Steakhouse. It was a little wild with four tired kiddos (mostly mine were the tired ones since we skipped naps that day!) but we had a fun time together.

 

We also all shared in Uncle Jason's dessert- happy birthday!

 We obviously take ice cream very seriously in this family.

 Here is one more photo of Ella a little bit older now, that I also had to borrow from Aunt Alisa. We just don't see these cousins of ours often enough! With that beautiful dark hair, I think she looks just like Uncle Jason! Welcome to the family, baby Ella!

Kenna turns 3! part 2

After a fantastic birthday party in Raleigh, Kenna got the special honor of flying on an airplane ON her actual birthday- to Florida for our Thanksgiving trip to Grannie and Pop Pop's house! Once we arrived, we discovered that Jana and Grannie had organized a surprise princess party for Kenna complete with a strawberry cake, princess dress up clothes, and a cupcake pinata! Thanks Jana and Grannie!

 Kenna's special strawberry princess cake! 

 Kenna opening a special present all the way from Nairobi from Jana!

 Finn decided that the party was for the birds and headed up into the nearest tree...with a little help!

 Dad had a bit of technical difficulties with getting the candles to light- must be all that breeze off the Gulf! 

 Finn decided that a princess party could be tolerable if he got to be a prince- Kenna kept calling it the "king hat."

 Everybody got in on the cupcake pinata action and that thing was tough to crack. Each kiddo took turns, but it was truly not trying to budge! After 20 minutes of whacking and chopping, we ended up having to grab a corner and *get it started* for the kids in a pretty large way and Evan took it out. The big giant cupcake itself, even once emptied, proved fun for the girls to play with for days afterward!

It was a special time down at Grannie's celebrating our little blessing from God who happens to be getting very big! Happy Birthday Kenna!