Four is FABULOUS!

Not so long ago, my girl turned four.



She grows up a little more everyday, it seems. She has recently decided that she does NOT want to be called Molly. She will correct your mistake and usually yell in your face, "MY NAME IS E-MIL-YA!" She can be pretty insistent.


(At lunch at Great-grandma's...Nana had made chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches!)


She loves her role as the big sister. I think deep down she believes she is ALL of the kids big sister. She is frequently monitoring their activities and developing her own "mommy voice" to tell them how they should and should not behave.

She doesn't really like cake--just the frosting. So this year we went with ice cream cones.


Emilia loves to read and look at books. "Fancy Nancy" continues to be a favorite, as is "Amelia Bedilia" but don't dare call her that or she'll give you a talking to about her name again. She loves to color and draw. Her people are all part alien as they have a minimum of 15 fingers per hand, no body, but always legs and shoes. Shoes are VERY important to her. And on our way back from Texas, she wrote her name all by herself--first time!

The ice cream cones were a huge success!



Emilia is full of creativity and imagination. She still shows some of this in the outfits she chooses each day. She loves bright, shiny, sparkly clothes. She loves skirts that twirl and "cronkies" (shoes that make a loud sound on the floor when you walk). Lately, she's into tucking in her shirts, which only emphasizes how skinny she is! She also likes to roll up her pant legs: knit pants, jeans, dress pants, pajama pants...they all get rolled. Too bad she wasn't born in the 80's--she would have fit right in!


Wearing her new Rapunzel dress for the first time


My little Emilia has such a sweet heart. She is the one who cares for others when they are hurt. She gives unsolicited hugs and kisses every day and she CAN NOT go to sleep at night without getting and giving good night kisses. She is my helper and wants to help me do anything. She always helps me carry stuff into the house when we get back from somewhere. She helps get the table ready for meals and helps me clean up after Audra. She's a giver and she is my little helper!

These are some awesome expressions I caught while she was opening her presents. This first one is a Wizard of Oz book from Jen and Paul. She loves it so much and the first time she looked through it she had her mouth hanging open like this the WHOLE time! It was so cute. :)


You know, the other thing I can not help but mention about Emilia is that she is such a goober! She is so silly and goofy and she loves to laugh. She makes all sorts of strange sounds and odd faces! Of course, she is also a girl and sometimes trying to be silly will backfire because it's not what she's in the mood for, but when you catch her in one of her silly times, she's a complete goof! And really, the biggest compliment from Emilia is for her to say, "BLAHHHH!" Because what that means is, "I love it so much I can't think of any words to say about it!!"



In some ways Emilia is all girl...she loves to dress up, wear fancy clothes and pretend to be a princess. She loves make-up, painting nails and fixing hair. But she also loves to wear jeans, climb in the "forest" and run around the yard pretending to blast something to pieces. I guess I should thank her big brothers for that influence on her life--she is a well rounded individual!



To my sweet Emilia,
I love you to pieces. I am so thankful that you are a part of our family and I love the kindness and helpfulness you add to our house. You sure know how challenge me to have more patience, to speak more kindly and to remember that everyone cares about different things. I love your creativity. I love your laugh and your smile. I love your style and your confidence. I love your good night kisses, your run and jump hugs. I love painting our nails together, fixing your hair and helping you dress up. Basically, I love that you are my daughter. I love watching you grow up and I'm excited to see the woman you'll become. Your potential is unlimited. Oh, the places you'll go! :)