Happy birthday Sophie!! You're finally four!!

Have I mentioned that birthdays are kind of a big deal at our house? Because they are. Like a really big deal. Discussing birthday themes and ideas has become such a hot topic that we felt compelled to make a rule about it. In essence, the rule is that if your birthday isn't the next anticipated birthday you need to wait until it is before you brainstorm ideas. At least publicly. Are we too harsh? Probably. But if you were listening to little girls switch from Trolls to Moana to Hound Dogs to Kitties and back to Moana again over and over and over you might understand a little better why such a rule exists. And so, ever since Christmas Sophie Soph has been dreaming of her birthday and talking about turning four and wanting to know the exact minute she'll go from being a three year old to becoming a four year old. Will she wake up four? Or will she have to wait until later in the day? Such fabulous questions! But the cake request didn't change too much. Sophie fell in love with penguins at Sea World and that was what she decided she wanted for her birthday. She hesitated for a moment and switched to panda bears, but only for a moment. Penguins it was!

We know that Sophie loves her extended family. And when we were making plans for celebrating her big day we discovered that both Grandma Frazier and Aunt Amber would be working in the temple during her party and wouldn't be able to make it. So Grandma and Grandpa Frazier took Sophie out shopping for her birthday on Wednesday. Just the three of them. Sophie came home extremely happy and wouldn't breathe a word about what they'd done, telling us we'd just have to wait until her birthday to find out! And Uncle Isaac and Aunt Amber stopped by on the eve of her birthday to sing in beautiful harmony and drop off a gift and chat with the birthday girl for a few minutes. Isaac had some church obligations and wouldn't be able to attend the party either. So Sophie answered the door and was very grateful for the movie treat mix and card from her Aunt and Uncle. I loved how everyone made Soph feel so loved and special. We have the best family!! Lydia made her famous homemade wrapping paper and requested that Dad take her shopping to find something special for Sophie. She was so giddy excited about it!

The day before her birthday I asked Sophie what she wanted for her birthday meals. Why not? I'd love to be making meals that at least someone is excited for. ;) Breakfast would be waffles, lunch egg salad sandwiches, and for dinner Sophie wanted Tortellini and ham toss. Because our entire house would smell of garlic we opted to do pizza (often a Friday night pick anyway because it goes so well with our movie tradition) instead. And Sophie didn't seem to mind. We'd save tortellini for another day.

And her birthday went pretty much according to plan. We typically do two cakes because attempt number one never seems to take. :( And this year was no different.

But otherwise, Sophie had a great day! She and her sisters danced to Moana. She and Lydia went out and jumped on the tramp for a while so that Jon and could finish up the cake decorating. While Lyds was at school Sophie was super cute with Mia. They went flying around the house with the barstools and giggled like crazy. One of my favorite sounds. Jon measured Soph to see how much she'd grown since last year. 3 inches. Quite a bit! Despite that, she's still little. But all who know her know that this girl has a dynamite personality.

The girls loved waiting for guests to arrive. Sophie shared her balloons with her sisters. Mia really liked having hers floating above her highchair. Once everyone was here Sophie opened her gifts. She was so cute about it and thanked everyone for her presents.

Then we sang to her, she made a wish, and blew out her candle. The penguin cake, cupcakes and ice cream were devoured pretty quickly.

And after that Sophie busted out Thin Ice, an awesome game from Uncle Tophe that everyone really enjoyed. Seriously, what a hit! Some kids caught on to the idea and carefully placed their wet marble on the thin Kleenex-like ice rink. Others, however, sort of shot their marble out of the tweezers in the
hopes of busting though the "ice". And no matter how you played, everyone had a really great time.

The Troll dolls (that Sophie kept quiet from her special outing with Grandma and Grandpa) were oooed and ahhhhhed over, and Sophie has kindly let her sisters play with them since her birthday. And the pink windmill flower. So Sophie!!!! Her own packet of Sweethearts (a favorite treat) from Grandma Blackhurst was quickly shared and enjoyed by the ladies. She loved the pink sea horse from Lydia. And Aunt Cathy gave her a pink piggy purse that she'd made herself (amazing!!) as well as a Minnie Mouse camera and some chap stick. Sophie LOVED all of it! She's constantly filling bags and purses with her special things, so this was perfect. But that wasn't all. Cathy made Lydia a puppy purse and Mia a bunny purse. So generous! And each purse is a work of art. Lucky little nieces! And the scooter from Mom and Dad is going to be lots and lots of fun! As will the movie Trolls, and her little pink penguin.

And before bed I let Sophie know that she was officially four! Right before her birthday she was asked if she was turning five. She's so mature and so eloquent that I can see why people might think she's older than she is, but we're glad she's only turning four. No need to rush this growing up business!! And also, hard to believe that this little lady has been with us that long. We love her, and all that she adds to our family. When she prayed that night she thanked Heavenly Father for all her birthday gifts. I love her thoughtful and detailed prayers.

Thanks to wonderful Aunts and Uncles Sophie had several texts rolling in on her birthday. Even after her birthday the love kept flowing in. She got to talk to her Heiselt cousins about favorite MLP episodes and which Pony was the best. Aunt Stacey and the Pynes gave her her gift a few days after her birthday (it took much longer to arrive than anticipated) and Sophie loves it! It's a battery powered sea horse that swims in a tank or the bathtub. She was entertained for hours and hours once everything was set up and would carry the little blue sea horse around with her too.

She says she loved the cupcakes, the ice cream and the cake. Which totally makes all our crazy baking and decorating worth it!