Aubrey's Fourth Birthday Celebration

As you all know, our Aubrey's birthday is December 26th. A very challenging day to have a birthday. Last year Corey and I decided that we wanted to do her full birthday celebration in September, and make it a 3/4 birthday celebration. We still acknowledge her actual birthday with a little cake, and she gets her presents from us then, but want her to have a big birthday celebration like her sister got. This year the weather didn't cooperate, and was raining off and on all day long. Was still a blast though, and kiddos really don't care if it rains. It's us parents that are pampered and don't want to get wet!
Face painting is always a hit, and something we do in our house quite often. Even with all my practice though, Aunt Jamie is definitely more of an artist!
I know those beautiful blue eyes will break some hearts one day, they already melt mine!
Lily kept moving in closer to her beloved cousin Delaney, and Delaney kept moving her head further away. Guess we should work on the whole personal space thing, huh!
Hadley was such a trooper through the whole thing. Content just taking it all in, and happy in everyones arms. The next day was tough for her though. She would hardly nap at all. I think she was afraid she would miss out on something!
I did it. I gave in and bought Hadley the glorified doggy toy, Sophie the Giraffe. The sound it makes of her gums on the rubber just drives me up the wall. Lately she has been grabbing my hands and putting them in her mouth, and is always trying to eat my face. Long story short, she loves it. She instantly knew what to do with it.
Aubrey changed her mind several times as to what she wanted for her birthday cake. She had finally decided on a princess cake. Every princess that she picked though was one of Lily's barbies, and Lily was not willing to share. After thinking about it, I let Lily pick out from the store what she wanted on her cake though, so off to the store we went. Tink and her kitchen was what Aubs picked out. The next few days were spent with the girls playing with Tink (in the box), and Lily trying to coax Aubs into giving it to her. At one point Lily was willing to trade all of her barbies for her. At the end, she was offering to trade her for $1. Aubs is so giving though, she said yes to Lily every time. It was Corey and I vetoing each trade!
Of course can't leave out present time. Aubrey got into a little bit of a frenzy, and I just could not keep up. Lily was of course trying to "help" Aubrey, and Aubrey said "Lily, could you please just quit helping me"! Everyone was so thoughtful, and she got some of the most lovely presents. Many crafts that we have been working on this week.
We actually had two back to back celebrations. Following Aubrey's birthday celebration, we celebrated my beautiful sister Jamie's 30th birthday. Me, being the always organized person, had lost my camera by that point though and didn't get a single picture. It was such a wonderful celebration which even included out of town guests including Aunts, cousins, and sister and brother we don't get to see often enough. Also of course those who are closer and equally dear to our hearts. I just love my family, and thank God everyday for the wonderful life he has given me.