Cora Anne turns 4!!!

Four years ago tonight Nick and I were staying the night in the hospital trying to wrap our brains around why we were so blessed to have another healthy, beautiful baby girl. I know everyone says get as much sleep as you can with a newborn, especially if you already have children. However, I had a really hard time taking Cora back into the nursery for the night so we could go to sleep. So much that I had to have Nick come with me to take her to the nurses and I have to admit I cried a little bit on the way and the way back. But Cora is such a wonderful little girl. She is so loving, so much that it takes her a long time to say goodnight to me because she gives me tons of hugs and good bear hugs too at that. She is very easy to be willing to share with her siblings. She is a bit more of a dare devil than her sister has been on a few things, but is still a dainty, princess. She loves gum and anything with mint flavor, very much unlike her sister and her Dad. She loves, loves, loves babies and has since she was big enough to hold one herself. It was like a dream come true to have her baby brother and actually be able to hold him like a baby. Every now and then I'll catch her trying to hold him like a baby and of course he hates it. She always asks for a new baby when it comes to Christmas or birthdays. She always says, "I just want one more baby!" She has always been very expressive and I love that about her. Sometimes I really can't believe she is already 4 years old but of course I can't imagine life without her! In 4 years she has gone from this....

to this....She told Daddy last night that it was her last night to be 3 years old and when she woke up presents would be here for her. She came running to the side of my bed this morning ecstatic to open them! I was really proud of her as I told her she could only open one present as we had to wait for Daddy to get home from work to open the rest. But of course every 5 minutes or so she'd ask me again if she could open just one more present. I almost caved as I know it was so hard for her to wait, but I knew Nick really wanted to be there to watch. So as soon as Nick could get home from work he did and he called her on the phone and said he was on his way and get ready to open her presents!

This is her opening some of her presents. She loved every one of them!
Remember how I said she was very expressive!? Check out her face here!! And I have to say that this year Kayley was really good about not getting mad that Cora was opening presents and she wasn't. Last year she had a really hard time about it and we ended up letting her open one of her presents early. They have been really good about sharing Cora's presents.
This year Cora and Kayley decided to have their friend birthday parties together...which I love because I only have to plan one birthday party! But I told Cora we were still going to have cake and ice cream tonight with family and she requested a Hello Kitty cake. I've been very proud of her for agreeing with Kayley on them both having a Rapunzel themed party as she has requested multiple times to have a Hello Kitty party. So of course I thought real quick today on how to make a Hello Kitty cake. I think it turned out pretty good. And Cora thought it was super yummy. I kept finding her sneaking into the kitchen later tonight with a fork grabbing a bite here and there!
And...still expressive...I've always loved her dimples, which are shown really well here!
Her trying to blow out the candles on her own...
Thanks to the help of her big sister, she was finally able to blow it out!
All in all it was a great day and not that stressful! The Walker family joined us for dinner (Cora requested Cashew Chicken) and cake and ice cream and then we all went swimming. It was so fun and relaxing to visit, enjoy each other's company, and celebrate Cora's birthday. Ashlyn even went under water after watching Kayley and Cora go under...and they have just learned how to confidently go underwater thanks to one of their friends that joined us at the pool last week. Michelle and I were two very proud Momma's as it has taken all three of them a while to get this confidence! And I would say it was a successful party and Cora enjoyed all her presents...and is still sharing them with Kayley even while they sleep...here they are sharing her new air mattress! So cute! We sure do love our Cora! Happy Birthday Cora Anne!