FOUR

{Happy 4th Birthday, Sweet Ava!}

Warning: Long Post

All About You, Ava:

• You weigh 33 lbs. and are 3 ft. 2 in. tall 
• At the moment, your favorite foods are string cheese, green beans, peanut butter and jelly, chocolate milk, strawberries, rice & beans, cheese dip, and chicken nuggets. You will try anything though! You've been out to just about every restaurant imaginable. You are a good eater!
• You have a big personality. You have a sense of humor and love to make us laugh. You are very expressive when you are telling us something. When the TV or music is on, you get up and dance and sing. You are very, very sweet and loving with a big heart. 
• When you wake up in the morning, we snuggle everyday. You walk Daddy to the door and kiss him bye. 
• You love when we read to you. 
• Your favorite show is still Dora the Explorer followed by Sid the Science Kid. 
• You love the Disney Princesses. 
• Dressing up is one of your favorite activities. You average about five outfits per day:). Right now, your favorite is the turquoise sparkly dress with high heels.
• You have lots of tea parties with your baby dolls (if we would allow it, you would buy a new baby doll every day!) When we go to the store, you always ask to look at the babies before we leave. 
• You get so excited to see Mimi & Papa, Uncle Job, Aunt Brittany, Reid, Mammaw, Uncle Danny & Aunt Kayla, Aunt Bobbie, and Papaw. 
• You love our church family so much too!
• You love your friends and having someone your age to play with. You especially love to play with Hudson, Mary Abbott, Hannah Mae, Tuesday, Caitlin, Lexie, and Emma. You get along well with others.
• You love to take long baths and play and sing in the tub.When you're tired, you ask for your "comfy" clothes.
• Every night, you want to be tucked in with two stuffed animals or baby dolls. We pray with you. We read to you. And every night, you want us to snuggle with you before you fall asleep. I cherish these moments.  
• I love everything about you! You are truly a gift from God.When you hug me and say, "You're the best mommy in the whole world," my heart melts. Thank you, God, for entrusting me with Ava.

All About the Party:

For about two weeks, Ava asked me this question at some point in the day, "Is it my birthday yet?" :) This year she wanted a mermaid party (and sometimes a princess party and sometimes a Thumbalina party;). I liked the mermaid "theme" too, if you can call it much of a theme... I found adorable invitations on etsy.com's Party on Digital and also bought the matching cupcake toppers (the PDF file was quickly emailed me to me, so that I sent that to FedEx Office for printing). I like for birthday parties to be fairly simple, laid back, and a fun night for the birthday girl and her friends (and it's hard not to go overboard, especially when you can find so much online-- I get overwhelmed-- my sister has to calm me down) ! In the past we've grilled or had nachos, so this year, I wanted to make it easier by ordering PIZZA! Also, I attempted to make cupcakes last year (they kinda flopped), so I ordered the pretty glittered cupcakes! I really enjoyed making the cupcake toppers though, and Ava "helped"! Brittany and Job were sooooooo generous in opening up their home to us for the PaRtY! They worked so hard to get their house looking its best (hosting something does that, right?). On the day of the party, I had a major dilemma with the water slide company; speaking of that, they STILL have not called me back. Grrrrr... With the Mississippi heat and Saturday parties, I called around and the slides were booked for the day or my call wasn't answered. Honestly, I was starting to get panicked-- I had promised my little girl a water slide! Well, four hours before the party, I found a man with a slide! He delivered a great slide, and Ava and her friends (and the daddies) had a BLAST!