Happy Birthday my sweet Ashling!

Ashling is 4 years old!

My little girl is 4. I would love to have my children stay little. I remember when she was born so clearly. She was much too big for my stomache and I was induced. It was such a pleasant experience to have her. The epidural worked well, labor was pleasant, and she was born with hardly any pushing. She was so cute and fun to hold and so many people came to visit her. I was so happy to have a baby who did not have colic and who hardly ever cried. Mostly she was calm and let Ali do whatever to her without crying of fussing. She still is that way today.

Ashling is a joy to have in our household. She is the mellow one, the one with patience, the one who loves to please and who is excited by anything. Some examples.... One time we went to the mall and I needed to buy her pants. We found some and she was excited because she would not have to wear the pants with holes in them anymore. She also saw a really cute pair of shoes and really liked them. I could see it in her eyes that she wanted to ask to buy the shoes but instead she looked at her pants, had self control and told me they were beautiful-that was it. Today I asked her where she wanted to go for lunch. She said,"Wendy's because it wasn't too much money and I don't want to take all the money."

Ashling is getting so big. I do not want her to be four but she already acts and is as big as a 5 year old! She weighs 40 pounds and is about 43 inches tall. She know all her upper and lower case letters and numbers to 10. She can spell a few words although most of them are our family names. She loves to play with her barbies, ride her bike and go hiking. She plays so cute with Annika and will play with her for almost an hour in the afternoon almost daily. She loves to help around the house especially with dishes and laundry, although she doesn't like to clean her room too much. She is our family cook and helps with every meal that is prepared in this house. She tries to be a peacemaker and will give Ali whatever she wants. Everyone loves to play with Ashling because she is so fun. Kids of all ages gravitate to her easy going personality.

Today for her birthday we decorated the house before she woke up. All her presents were on the fireplace. She woke up early and excited that it was her birthday. We let her go pick out one present to open in the morning. It was a butterfly shirt and she put it on in a hurry. She went to preschool and took oatmeal cookies as a treat for the kids. We went to lunch and then we played at home. Daddy came home early and she got to open the rest of her presents. She got two barbies, a swim suit, sandles, sunglasses and a sandbox. We built a sandbox for her in the afternoon. We had hot dogs and macaroni and cheese for dinner and she ate it all. (This never happens!) Then we went on a walk to the park and came home exhausted, took a shower and she went to bed still giggling and laughing. The best part of the day for her was all the presents. Tomorrow we will have a birthday party with friends and there will be chocolate cake!