Alanna Turns Four!

Alanna turned four today. We had a party for her on Friday and told her that Friday was her birthday because I wanted to keep Mother's Day all to myself (and she is four and doesn't know any different!) We have a tradition that on the child's birthday they get to come into our room when they wake up and we tell them the story of their birth. I wrote out all of the stories a few years ago, added photos, and had books printed with it all through Walmart. Pretty cool. So, we read her book. Her birth was the toughest we have had to deal with. She came completely by surprise 10 days early. The labor and delivery was a whole 2 hours, twenty-one minutes from start to finish and completely free from pain relieving drugs. (NOT my choice, but that is another story). After we had her for about 12 hours we got a call that something was wrong with her blood and they came and took her to NICU where she stayed for a week. This was awful. Any mother that has gone through this knows the anguish of having to leave the hospital without your little new baby, and it is terrible. This is my favorite picture of her during that time. Her little 'sunglasses' were adorable. Well, four years later and she is a spunky, sassy, opinionated, ray of sunshine. She heats up so fast, but can be soothed just as fast with the right touch. She loves her friends, her family, and especially loves Cinderella.

Here is Alanna with her very best friends.

Cinderella cupcakes. I thought they turned out really pretty for my first time piping the icing on.

The top photo is Alanna at one year and then four years. She is a much neater eater, but still loves her chocolate!! Happy birthday my little Lanicake!!