Happy 4th Birthday Emily!

Today was Emily's 4th birthday.  She has been looking forward to this for WEEKS... pretty much ever since Ben had his birthday in November.  So, it's been a long time coming.  

Yesterday we threw a "little" birthday party with some friends from the neighborhood.  To honor her new found passion for sea life we did an "Under the Sea" themed party.

Happy Girl

I have a friend here named Cheryl.  Her husband is in the Air Force and is in Egypt for a few months.  She's a little overwhelmed  managing her five kids on her own, the youngest of whom  has special needs.  One of her daughters, Emma, is just a few days apart from Emily, so we decided to do a joint b-day party to simplify things.  Emma was adopted from Korea.  She and Em adore each other

The birthday girls.  This is how four year olds pose for the camera.  

Em's friends.  Those are octopus hotdogs in the bowl, in case you were wondering.  

Of course this is her best friend of all

We played a few games, but I think I over-estimated the ability of three year olds to play party games.    I tried to teach them "fish, fish shark" (instead of duck, duck, goose).  But they didn't quite get it.   When they were selected to be the "shark" they would just sit there instead of jumping up to chase.  And every now and then someone would just get up and wander off to the toy closet or the backyard.  But, hey, this is the first birthday party I've ever thrown, so cut me a break.  

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We also played "pin the tail on the whale" and they kind of got this one.  Most of the girls peeked through the blindfold.  And Em, leery of the blindfold, refused to play. But, whatcha gonna do?

After watching everyone else have a turn, Em finally agreed to let me blindfold her

Playing musical chairs to the tune of Octopus' Garden

We also played musical chairs.  And while the girls loved dancing to the music, and rushing for a chair when the music stopped, they didn't quite understand the concept of "getting out."  Em got really upset at Elsa for taking "her" blue chair and burst into tears when no chairs were left for her.   So, we just left all the chairs in and let the kids run around them.  They had more fun that way.  

It was a joint effort to blow out the one candle, and I wish I had it on video because it was sooo funny.  The blew and blew and spit and spattered all over the place before they finally extinguished the flame

Some of Em's friends... Hayley and Lydia

Dancing to the music

So, today, Sunday, was her actual birthday.  And she got a bike... what she's been asking for for weeks. 

C was lookin' cool as ever

Em and her hog

Yes, this is  John Deere bike.  But, hey, it's cute and it got the best reviews.  

I think I had as much fun on Em's birthday as she did.  It was so fun to watch her ride a bike for the first time.  I felt like I was reliving those days back in Westwood when I learned to ride my little blue bike.  

Em is so special to me in so many ways.  I will always remember the first time I laid eyes on her and the instant love that overcame me... a kind of love I had never known before.  That love has been constant for the past four years.  She is a sensitive, beautiful, smart, and caring girl.  She loves her little sister.  And she will never know how much her parents love her until she has a little one of her own.