My baby is FOUR!

I can't believe it. My little Mallory turned four this past Sunday.

Where does the time go?

One minute I'm in labor and the next moment it seems like they're ready for college. I really need to savor these years more. I feel like I did a good job enjoying baby & toddler-hood with Mitchell but with two children poor Mallory gets a stressed out/burnt out/shell of a mommy a lot of days. It's tough to give them both what they need.

My girl is wonderful! She is a joy to be around. I just love to look into those big blue eyes. She has a GREAT sense of humor, she's been trying to make others laugh since she was just a few months old. She is adventurous and not afraid to try new things. She has almost NO FEAR and it scares the hell out of me. The only thing that she's truly scared of is loud noises like public toilets, thunder, construction equipment, etc. (I think that's inherited from me.) Actually she's started to outgrow that fear. She has a huge vocabulary; but she has a bit of a speech impediment that is similar to her cousin Tyler (because of that, I suspect it's inherited from her daddy). Her "G" sounds like a "D" and her "C" or "k" sounds like a "T". It's super cute but I feel like I may need to get her into speech therapy soon. Mallory is also very tender hearted. When I fuss at her for not listening or not following the rules (which is OFTEN with this girl) she will burst out into tears.

This year her birthday was celebrated twice.
I brought cupcakes to our regular homeschool park day the Friday before her birthday so she could celebrate with some kids and my family had a multi-birthday picnic for her, my step-dad, & my aunt (all three Leo's). Both picnics were nice, small gatherings with only people that care for Mallory. Part of me feels bad that I haven't been able to have big parties for her the past two years. Mitchell had huge parties up until he turned 6. We just can't afford those types of celebrations right now. It makes me a little sad but on the other hand I have LOVED the intimate closeness of the gatherings that we have had lately.