We kept on celebrating...

Here's the rundown of Abby Jane's 4th birthday week!  

On Monday, we had celebrated with church friends at the park.

 The best entertainment there turned out to be a digger getting unloaded off a trailer.

 On Tuesday, Blythe, Joy, and I got to go to Abby Jane's class to bring birthday treats.  Blythe and Joy bellied right on up to the big kid circle for the pledge of allegiance and a few songs.

 We got to see Abby Jane do her show and tell.  What else would she decide to bring this week but her birthday crown, a new dress-up dress, and it turns out she sneaked a few birthday cards into her show and tell bag, including one from her Great Grandaddy and Granny Joan.

 The twins thought they were the business with all those big kids!

The actual big day was yesterday, and it started with a phone call from Manila with the Elliotts singing "Happy birthday" to Janie. After BSF, we celebrated during our normal picnic at the park time with the Joneses.

 Andy, Nathaniel, and Miss Lindsey gave Abby Jane some very glamorous princess jewelry.

This off-topic, but this is Joy. She just hung out here for a while.

 Miss Lindsey brought birthday treats for everyone.

 Abby Jane's celebraters-in-chief, toasting the big sis with their cupcakes.

 Then finally came the traditional birthday rose from Daddy.  I wasn't going to include this shot since I accidentally caught myself in the mirror, but I love how excited she was when she saw her rose, and it dawned on me that I never had a picture with my girl on her birthday.  So, see? I was there.

 The one thing she wanted for her birthday dinner was corn, specifically on the cob.  She did eat a few other things, too.

 The day wrapped up by skyping with the Gillies, Mimi and Bop Bop from Auckland!

 So fun to share birthdays with family spread so far.

After skyping, Jake and I played a few games with the girl and watched a few short videos we shot with her while we were still at the hospital after she was born.  Nothing makes your kid seem grown up like seeing them so tiny.  Nothing makes you chuckle like seeing yourself with your first newborn, knowing what an adventure actually lay ahead of your family and how much more God packed into the last four years than we could have imagined! Happy birthday, Miss Abby Jane!

Birthday family weekend

The Gregorys came in town for Abby Jane's birthday weekend, and we had a fantastic time enjoying sweet family.  The kids had a great time together, which is extra precious considering that the older three are all missing their normal Elliott family counterpart. Abby Jane tried to imitate Katie's every move, and Katie was extremely patient and kind with all of the girls, handling their adoration very graciously!

 Pancake breakfast at Grammy's is a hard and fast tradition at this point.

 These girls must have the same seamstress.

 Crossing the arms again.

 The three two and unders.

 Wherever goest Grammy, there goest her travel mug.

We certainly missed our other cousins and the other aunts and uncles, but we have gotten to talk to or skype with all of them today... which by no means makes up for quality time together... but we're thankful for technology that makes the distance seem less!  As a sidenote, Mimi and Bop Bop, who were there for the princess party on Saturday, were also there for the skyping today... all the way from New Zealand!  You got it- they are visiting our precious Gillies family for the next couple of weeks.  If only we could have all fit into their luggage...

Princess Party

Even though we have three girls, I had honestly hoped we would just skip over the princess stage and get straight to some others.  No such luck.  Abby Jane is just genuinely delighted by all things princess, so in an effort to embrace an interest of our child, we threw a princess birthday bash for our family last weekend.  

Surprise, she got her own princess dress.  Sweet thing had told me she was planning on stacking four tutus up.  Nothing makes you want to give to your child like them not expecting it.

We alternate friend birthday party years with family birthday party years, and as this was a family year, the adults had some slack to pick up in lieu of 10 little four year old girls being in attendance.  In hindsight, we probably should have handed out awards for best dressed adult, which Mom in a late-80's bridesmaid's dress, would have won handily.

 Aunt Jodi came in a close second with a late 90's bridesmaids dress.

 Every one who did not come with a crown made one!

I love my mother-in-law and my Aunt Boo, and I love this moment.  I keep wanting to put various captions with my imagined exchange that resulted in such expressions- I love this moment.

And then there was Joy.  She's not angry in this picture.  She's just decided to start crossing her arms sometimes when she's just standing around.

Jake wins every award in the book.  He's the manliest man I know, and because of that, he'll throw on a tux and wear a foam crown with pride to celebrate his oldest daughter!

 When no one was looking, except their Uncle Chris, who took the pictures, all these two and unders sneaked into the dining room and de-chocolated the pretzels and left beaver teeth marks in the lemon cookie icing. Did Uncle Chris stop them? That would be a no.

My Uncle Wayne gave my favorite gift of all. He has researched our family tree back to the 700's.  It turns out that Abby Jane actually is a princess!  They gave us an official book of our family registry, and they made a cute framed version that shows Abby Jane's lineage leading right up to four kings at the bottom, including Robert the Bruce of Scotland.  I would include a clearer picture of it here, but it's already hanging in my sleeping child's room.

 The whole crew of well-dressed party guests! One of the greatest blessings of all is having people love on your child and make them feel special.

 We feel very blessed indeed!

Before I forget...

There were a couple of priceless stories in the the last week or two that I need to record.  No pics of the moments, just the story.

1. At the zoo on Monday, we were looking at several species of birds, one of which, with a huge toucan-like bill (can't recall the name) was right about the twins's size and height.  It had been pacing the glass on one side of the exhibit, and Joy was standing on the other side, nose to glass, looking into the bird's habitat.  Poor thing, she didn't even see the bird coming, and suddenly an animal her own size walked right in front of her eyes, about three inches away, just on the other side of the glass.

You can imagine her reaction.

She absolutely flipped out and just started howling.  I scooped her up and said, "Oh, Joy, he surprised you, didn't he?"

Joy: "HEEE SUURRRPRRRISSSEED MEEEEEEEEEE!" over and over, so very loudly, amidst sobs.

Then she adds, "HEEE SHOULD SAAAY EXCUUUUUSE MEEEEEEE!"

And I believe it was my subsequent explosion of maybe equally loud laughter that quenched her tears and let us move on with our morning.

2. Blythe.  Oh sweet Blythe.  Blythe, honey, I'm sorry to tell this story on the internet, but should I ever get Alzheimer's, I want a record of this. I will also go ahead and say this is not a slight on your intellect in the least.  It's just a little quirk you have.

Well, friends, Miss Blythe has this habit of asking for something desperately, adamantly, only for us to remind her it's in her hand.  Her standard response is a very sweet and quiet, "Oh."

One day last week, she was saying, "I need a fork! I need a fork! I need a fork!!!!" I told her it was in her hand.

Bless her soul, she looked at the empty hand.  But she didn't just look at it.  She stretched out her fingers, peered between them, turned her hand around.  You could not pantomime looking for something on your hand any better than she did if you tried.  This went on for at least 15 seconds.

I was telling her, "Look in your other hand!" the whole time, but she would not give up her examination of the empty hand.

Then Abby Jane, who was getting every bit the kick out this that I was, grabbed the wrist of the hand holding this much-sought-after fork, and shook it back and forth, saying "It's this one!"

Blythe's response when she saw it: "Oh."

"Let's make a train!"