I CAN'T Have a 4 Yr. Old!!!

It's just not possible. My baby girl cannot be 4 already. But, the calendar (and Anna!) says she is. Four years ago today, I was never so glad to get that girl out of my belly! I had no idea what a joy she would be...or what a challenge.

My sweet Anna Rose,

You are the most precious little girl...at least you are to Daddy and me! You're still a great big sister and you've been asking for another baby! You're gonna have to wait on that one for a while girly...sorry! :) You still love all the girly things you did last year (and the year before that and the year before that!). Your dolls and kitchen set are your 2 favorite things to play with. You and Jacob play fairly well together. He lets you mother him and you let him play with your favorite things. Even tonight, after you got a birthday surprise you didn't hesitate to let him play with it right away!

The thing that blesses my heart the most is your love for Jesus and awareness of God and His majestic creation. You remind us to pray before our meals -- you're the one that usually prays, too -- and you don't have to be prompted to pray before bed. Every day you ask God to show you "one of Your beautiful rainbows"! Remember when we made that rainbow out of the beads? You said you wanted to make it for God to say 'thank you' for the beautiful rainbow we saw on our way to the VBS program. Your heart is so tender! Daddy & I pray that you will continue to be sensitive to God and His will and calling for your life.

Jake...he's your bestest friend! You two have such a blast together and I just love how he calls you "MY Anna Rose". Somehow, you can understand almost every word he says! Neither one of you wants to leave from our playdates!! I think being able to play with Jake almost all day today was the best birthday present!

You are such a blessing to your family. We couldn't love you any more, but I know that each year we will!

You had SO MUCH FUN playing at Jake's house all morning! You thought that slide was pretty cool. And even though the water was so-cold-just-out-of-the-faucet, you kids didn't seem to mind!

That was your face every time you came down that slide!

Such fun!

After a swim, you all sat down with a snack for a movie. Aly is the only one that lasted more than 5 minutes! :)

Then after naps, Jake got to come over to our house and swim and play! You guys didn't swim very long, but you sure had a lot of fun playing with your cash register and whatever random toy (or non-toy!) Jake found to "buy". It was fun to watch you play!

So, happy birthday sweet girl! You did so good accepting that even though today is your birthday, your party isn't for another week! You are beyond excited that your cousins Mia, Kaedyn, Bryce and Hudson will be at your party! You can hardly stand to wait so long to see them!! You even told someone last week that your birthday starts in 5 days. Just like Daddy!! :) We love you Anna Rose!

Mommy, Daddy, and Jacob