Aspen's 4!!!!!

4 YEARS OLD!!!

I can't believe that it has been 4 years since we welcomed our little girl Aspen Elizabeth to our family! It has been an amazing 4 years that I wouldn't give up or change for the world!

She came into the world at 6:22 am weighing 6 lbs and was 18 in long now she is.....39lbs and 37in long. Oh how they grow!

Here are Aspen's 'Birthday' Pictures each year (with her cake!) to document how much she has grown.

**And for those of you who don't know my darling Aspen...except for her 1st birthday cake- which is traditionally a train cake- Aspen has chosen what her cake/birthday theme will be the DAY AFTER her birthday and she does not change her mind. Lucky for me, that means I have a whole year to plan :)

This is Aspen her first day home so she was 3 days old.

Her 1st birthday.

Her 2nd BirthdayHer 3rd Birthday

4th Birthday!

Some of Aspen's Favorites as a 4 yr old

Favorite color....................................PINK!

Favorite Princess.....................................Belle

Favorite Food............................................Rice

Favorite Game........computer games (Nick Jr!)

Favorite Church Song...................."Come Follow Me"
Favorite Animal.................Lion ROAR!

She loves to go to Sunbeams and sing primary song

Dancing and singing at home are a constant thing for Aspen

She is really getting into the 'play WITH others' stage and has some cute friends from church

And Aspen is VERY excited about being in school this year!

Aspen also wants to add that she loves her Family!

Mommy and Ella's first Day of 'school'

For Mommy and Ella's first day with Aspen at school we

Ran a few errands (going to Wal-mart with just one kid who I can still restrain in the shopping cart =bliss!)

Had a snack and played the piano.....

And watched some Diego! It was SO QUIET in the house with out Aspen around, it was very different. Ella and I are working on our morning routine now with getting Aspen to school and back again. I'm excited to have this time alone with Ella.

Ella went with me to walk Aspen into her class yesterday and I wondered if she would have a problem leaving because she likes to be able to do everything big sister does. She left just fine, and while we were running errands, every time we got in the car Ella would point to Aspen's car seat and say "Ashee?" Then after a little while at home I told her it was time to put her shoes on so we could go get Aspen. Ella jumped right up and ran to the door "go bye bye, get Ashee, Ashee Ashee!" It was so cute to see her so excited to get her big sister!

First Day of School!

Today was Aspen's first day of VPK. For those of you who do not live in Florida here is what Voluntary Pre Kindergarten is....It's a state funded PreK4 class, it is free for the students the year they turn 4 before Sept 1, it is offered at private and public schools, day care, and preschools. Because Aspen's birthday is Aug 26th she will be one of the youngest in her school classes because she just makes the cut off by 5 days! She is SO ready for school so we aren't to worried about that. Aspen will be attending a Private Christian school for 3 1/2 hrs M-F! We had the chance to meet her teacher twice and check out her class room a week ago, Aspen is so excited and not nervous at all, when I took her to her class she settled right in and didn't mind a bit when I left. Now I'm anxiously awaiting pick up time so I can hear all about her first day!

PS I HAVE NOT cried yet today, I'm so proud of myself.

Aspen all ready for her first day!

Isn't she getting to big?! "Come on Mom, I don't need a picture by the door, lets go in!"

This is Aspen with an A, it's my seat!

Aspen and her Teacher Mrs Wisner.

Other news and exciting events

Along with Aspen starting school we've had a fun end of summer! Here's whats new...

~Ella has discovered how to open the front door, so it's back to being the lock Nazi!

~Both the girls can swim in a pool with just water wings, but Ella will let you throw her (and she's goes under) Aspen WILL NOT!

~And the biggest news is Brent's younger brother Brad got engaged a few weeks ago and him and Andrea (his fiance) are in Florida right now. Aspen LOVES Andrea and it's been fun to see the young couple play with the girls. They will be getting married in Dec here in Orlando and we are so excited for them! Welcome to the family Andrea!

Ella Meets Soup

I made Cheesy Chicken soup for dinner a few nights ago, it was one of Ella's first experiences with soup. She LOVED it and scraped her bowl clean 3 TIMES! I thought she was so cute using her crackers to eat her soup, but she did really well with her spoon too.

'Playing' Together

Brent and I are both big into music, we almost always have music going on in our house between cd's, the piano, guitars, and the girls singing. We are so happy that our love of music seems to have been passed on to our girls. They were having a great time playing and 'singing' together!

Cooking up some fun!

I was out of the room for about 5 min and returned to my two cooking wonders! Ella got into my cabinet and pulled out my big stock pot and lid all on her own, big sister Aspen helped with getting two of Mommy's wooden spoons out of the drawer. They both love to pretend to cook and eat and feed Mommy and Daddy.