Amelia's Early Birthday Party

I decided to celebrate Amelia's birthday while we were in St. Louis.  She was going to turn 4 just two weeks later.  We squeezed in a quick celebration the evening before we left to fly back to England.  We left plenty of room in the suitcases for small gifts.  I did not want to burden my family to go out and get presents, so I made a quick run to Toys 'r Us and Target.  It was fun to do the shopping for everyone else!

I like to make the cakes for my kids' birthdays.  I had two problems...first, I did not have my cake decorating tools.  Second, I did not have much time!  Amelia requested a Lady and the Tramp cake.  I found a picture online, and I was able to borrow Eric's Aunt Trina's decorating tools.  Luckily, it was a little easier than the Belle princess cake I made her last year.  I used a toothpick to draw the design.  Then, if I made a mistake, I could smooth the icing and draw it again.  As I was decorating it, Amelia said, "Don't worry mom.  If it doesn't turn out right, you can make me a new one."  I think it turned out just fine. :)

It is so hard to believe she is 4 already!  Why does it have to go by so quickly?  Amelia brings so much joy to our family.  Her creativity and imagination bring smiles to our faces all the time.  She says the funniest things, and she often makes up her own words and tells us their meanings.  She loves to dress up, and we learned that when she is dressed up as a character, we must call her by the character's name.  She loves to sing (wonder where she gets that from?).  She often makes up songs as she sings them, and they usually rhyme!  It is very impressive!  Amelia is a bright little girl with some BIG words in her vocabulary.  For some reason, she loves to tie things up and tie them together.  She is too funny!  She is always looking out for others, and she can be the biggest sweetheart.  She is also very determined, and a typical strong-willed child at times.  She is my little "mommy's helper" with Cora.  She loves to play with Dylan, most days.  Sports are not her forte, so we are looking into continuing dance class.  We are just so proud of our tall, caring and smart little girl!  Happy 4th Birthday, Amelia!  We love you!!!!   

 

It was a wonderful night celebrating Amelia!  She was in heaven with her new Strawberry Shortcake dress up and remote control car.  It was also a very sad night because it was time to say goodbye to our families once again.  It would be 5 more months until we would see them again.  Two more babies will be born during that time, and all of our little ones will grow and change so much.  We will miss more birthday parties, baby showers, Halloween and Thanksgiving, not to mention just the usual get-togethers.  Tears were flowing all around the room as we gave hugs.  Dylan was even sad.  On the bright side, we had such a WONDERFUL 3 1/2 weeks with everyone!  Also, Great-Grandma Reed and Marilyn were flying back with us the next day!  I am so thankful we live in a day and age where technology makes it easy for us to stay in touch.  It would be very challenging to live this far away without e-mail, blogs and Skype.