a frozen fourth.

a couple of weeks ago, my sweet first born turned four.  FOUR YEARS OLD.  i still can't believe it.  it feels like just yesterday i waddled into the hospital on a dark, warm morning in may, stomach churning with nerves and excitement about getting to meet my baby.  nothing will ever compare to the moment i held her for the first time; studied her full head of crazy black hair, squinty eyes and rosebud lips.  it seems surreal that she is growing up.  and so fast.

in typical bella fashion, she has been talking about her birthday since january.  this happens every year.  my nephew jude's birthday is right after the new year, so we have months of bella excitedly chattering about her birthday, as if it's right around the corner.  too funny.  she settled on a "frozen" theme (obviously) right away.

my rule of thumb for our girls is that they each get a big birthday bash for their first and second birthdays, and then it's a much simpler, party-in-a-bag, family only affair for a few years.  after a wild scramble to find anything frozen, we ended up finally scoring some anna and elsa loot.  it all came together and i'd say little girl was super happy with her frozen fourth.

i made some ice cream cupcakes with olaf cupcake toppers... these little guys were making me crazy.  so much so that i only made four; one for each kiddo, because i couldn't handle the madness any longer.  

per the birthday girl's request, i made an elsa cake which left a little to be desired.  i couldn't find an elsa barbie ANYWHERE, so i improvised.  i found a blonde barbie with a turquoise tanktop, braided her hair painted her arms in royal icing, and then dipped them in sugar to create "sleeves".  it was quite the process.  but bella loved it.  which was made apparent by the swipe of frosting (right on the front of the dress) left by a certain little finger when she peeked at it before the party.

we ate cake and ice cream with our family...

opened up presents and played with new toys...

we ordered pizza for supper and the kids watched "the little mermaid" in our bed with a huge bowl of popcorn...

it was pretty much the perfect day for our little princess.  complete with a few more sneaks of frosting before being whisked away to bed...

bella woke up on the morning of her birthday with a few requests: mickey mouse pancakes for breakfast WITH a candle (which she wanted daddy to make, but he was at work), popovers for supper, an anna cake (yeah riiiiiight) and milkshakes from mcdonalds for her birthday treat (absolutely NO idea where she came up with that).  so cute.  we spent the day playing at auntie's with jude and lu, and then meme came over for dinner.  we met auntie, uncle brian, jude and lucy at mcdonald's after dinner for milkshakes and sundaes.  which come to think of it, has kind of been our little birthday tradition with the girls, it just cracked us up that bella even remembered and requested it out of the blue.  it was a great little birthday and i managed to survive even though my baby girl is growing up way too fast.

my sweet bel, you are such a light to our lives.  you are so kind hearted and tender and the epitome of sweetness.  you are spirited and passionate and fun and wild and free.  i hope you always know how MUCH you are loved.  so excited to see what god has in store for you, and to continue to watch you grow.  i LOVE getting to be your mama; you bless me every single day with your sweet smile and thoughtful heart.  happy fourth birthday, precious girl!  we thank god for you!