Natalee is FOUR!

My baby is 4. How did that happen?

It feels like yesterday that Josh and I were headed to the hospital for my induction. I ended up technically going into labor on my own but pitocin help me along too. It was a rough labor, a lot different than with Haylee. I was in labor about 11 hours and had a weird epidural this time. When I first got it it caused a dip in my blood pressure and I almost passed out. Following that was uncontrollable shaking as if I were cold (but I wasn't), a fever, horrible heartburn and then oxygen since Natalee's heart rate was high. And all of this in the first 5 hours. I continued to switch sides throughout the night since I was so uncomfortable and my legs were driving me nuts from the weird epidural. My water was broke in the morning and within 2 1/2 hours I was ready to have her. She entered the world at 9:10am on April 26, 2010 weighing 7 lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long.

It's hard to believe she's already 4 and I'm learning that being 4 means terrible 2's x 2! I thought maybe she'd start to grow out of it but I was sure wrong!

This year the girls both wanted a Frozen themed party so we did things a little different. On their actual birthday they will have a family party and then on May 17th they will have a joint Frozen party. 16 little girls have been invited and I sure hope we have a good turn out since I have a HUGE surprise for them!

So back to Natalee's actual Birthday. We invited family over for dinner, presents and cupcakes. Natalee got a lot of cute stuff and she loves it all!

She was most looking forward to her Amber doll and told me she wanted to see what color of panties she wears. She's such a nut!

She had been asking for an ET stuffed animal and I found one on Ebay. That was a surprise for her and she LOVED it.

While we sang to her she was super serious.

And then Daddy suggested she smash her face in the cake and she was not happy about that. So we smashed Haylee's instead.

She made it clear she wasn't doing that this year. Guess she's too much of a little princess! She wanted to go at her own pace and eventually took bites with a fork.

Others weren't afraid to dig in!

Happy Birthday Sweet Little Natalee! I can't believe how much you've grown in 4 years. You are such a beautiful little girl and always make me laugh!

Things to remember-
*You now weigh 35 lbs (50 %) and you are 41 1/ inches tall (90%).
*You love chapstick, money (coins), bandaids, candy and fruit snacks.
*You LOVE fruit.
*Your favorite show is Sofia the First and you love Amber.
*You love the movies Frozen, ET and Monster House.
*You love dressing up.
*You are so independent (which isn't always a good thing).
*You love otter pops.
*You still take naps!!! Usually a 2 hour nap each day :)
*You've started waking up before 6am lately and I'm not a fan.
*You love your Lorax and Bear Bear.
*You play Dr. all the time and poor Lorax always gets shots.
*You also pretend Lorax is your baby like "baby Kota" and you give him a bottle and push him around in the shopping cart.
*You're almost done with your 1st year of preschool and you love all 3 of your teachers. You are starting to write your name by yourself and are doing awesome with the first 5 letters. "e" is hard to write.
*Your newest thing is being afraid of missing Mommy and Daddy while you're at school. Everyday when I pick you up you tell me "I didn't even miss you today!"
*Your favorite friends are Azrielle and Lily (from school). You went to both of their parties this year and you talk about them often.
*You love Kona and Charlotte and are a big help feeding them.
*You love your cousin Timmy.
*You'll fight with your sister all day long and then turn around and be best friends.
*Your favorite things about vacationing is swimming in the pool.
*You love to ride your bike. You ask daily if we can go on bike rides.
*You have the prettiest long, curly hair.
*Unfortunately I still have to keep my eye on you 24/7 because you like to dump glue, cut stuff up, climb the pantry and get into everything!