Hailey's 4th Birthday!

This past week started off with Brian leaving on Monday morning for an entire week of work trips.  He was in Mexico the first half of the week and then Kentucky the second half of the week.  We're always glad when he gets home!!  In fact, on Wednesday night, Hailey went over to the garage door, opened it, stared out for a few seconds, then shut the door and said, "I guess Daddy has to stay at work." :-(  She sooo misses her daddy when he's gone!  On Monday morning, I went over to the OB's office to check on some Braxton Hicks contractions I was having.  They were not frequent by any means, but rather here and there.  I had been having them for almost 2 weeks so was getting a little concerned...especially since I don't remember having them with Hailey until much later on in the pregnancy.  The doctor checked everything out and said it was all fine. Phew!  She said that some women do get Braxton Hicks contractions this early on.  Lucky me!  I was just supposed to keep an eye on them and let her know if they were at all accompanied by pain.  This week they've been almost non-existent, so I'm hoping that continues!  I go for my mid-pregnancy ultrasound next Thursday to see how this little one is growing.  It should be interesting to see if this one has any similar features to Hailey's 20 week ultrasound.

Hailey had her school pictures taken a few weeks ago and they finally arrived this week.  Here is the one we chose to get printed.

Saturday was her 4th birthday!!  My parents and siblings (and their families) helped celebrate with us!  Too bad the weather was rainy, because we didn't get to spend any time outside.

The cake.  She wanted a Minnie Mouse cake this year.  I found the idea online and tried to replicate it as best I could (you'll read from the Hailey funnies below that I left out one thing).  I used my Simple White Cake recipe and buttercream frosting.  The Minnie Mouse head is made out of rice krispie treats covered in Rolled Buttercream Icing.  I used fabric ribbon to make the bow.  She loved it and that was all that mattered!

Before opening presents

Her absolute favorite...sundresses!  She got these from Aunt Stacy, Uncle Doug, and Laura.

Uncle Vince & Aunt Austin got her this game.  We've played it several times in the last 24 hours and Hailey's already mastered the art of cheating!

Laura helped Hailey open a present from us...a Rapunzel Tower!

She got a kid's digital camera from my parents and some doll dresses (for her Sleeping Beauty doll) & stickers from Aunt Stephanie, Uncle David, Natalie & Emily.  

 

Right before lighting the candles and singing Happy Birthday.  We also had Neapolitan ice cream to go along with the cake.

Today was a very warm day...84 degrees and sunny!  Beautiful!!  There are thunderstorms making their way here as I type this and we are under a Tornado Watch.  Should be a fun evening!

First official picture as a 4 year old!

I got this idea from a friend who had braided her daughter's hair this way.  I might do this more often to help keep her hair out of her eyes.

She wanted me to take this picture of her under the tree in our front yard.  She had her bike helmet on, because Daddy was helping her practice riding her bike as you'll see in the below video.

 

Bike riding practice!

I took this picture the other day.  I love how the seeds are so clear in the forefront while the background is blurred.

Some Hailey funnies from the past week:

- When looking at our red tulips in the front of the house, she says, "Mommy, do these 'Bloomers' open and close?"

- She came down and got in bed with me on Friday morning and started talking about worms (maybe she had a dream about them?).  Then she said, "Snakes are killer worms."  I said, "Where did you learn that?"  She said, "From my dad."  I asked Brian later and he denied the accusation. :-)

- When I first showed her a picture of what her Minnie Mouse cake was going to look like, she said to Brian & me, "Wow!  I love it!  It has no face, though, cause it would scaaarrre my mom."

- When everyone was gathering around the cake to sing Happy Birthday, someone mentioned how they liked the decorations.  Hailey said, "Well, it's missing something.  It was supposed to have white polka dots all the way around it, but my mom couldn't do it."  There are no secrets in our household! :-)

- We had stopped at Menards to check if the storm door we want to buy was on sale yet.  Brian went to try and find a sales associate to help answer some questions, but when he came back he said, "The guy's all tied up.  There are like 3 or 4 people he's helping."  Hailey said, "I want to see the man that's all tied up."