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¡FOUR!

22 September 2014


Where's my denture glue and my orthotic walking shoes and my little black book of clichés? How do we have a four-year-old? Well, we do. And I'll spare you the old, "time flies ... I can't believe it" essay but it does and I can't. Four years of letting her play guinea pig as we fumble around the parenting sphere and try to figure everything all out while making zero mistakes. ;)

She had a great day (I think ... she didn't say otherwise and she asked if it could please be her birthday the next day too) and I know you're wanting a better look at that beauty of a cake.

Well, fine.

Just don't all pin it at once.


The sad thing is that I did genuinely try very hard and even got a head start the night before baking the four layers so I wouldn't be in a frenzy the next morning.


And no she didn't change her mind to, "triceratops cake"... at the last minute ... it's still a sparkly pink princess castle cake.


I love this photo because Sebastian was SO excited for Julia to see her presents (he cut his nap super short and "helped" set stuff up) and to see what she got. He might tackle complete (female) strangers to the ground on the playground but his heart is in the right place on occasion. I think!

Julia picked out cotton candy ice cream (highly unrecommended) to go along with the fortress of fail and because she got to put her little trinkets (Princess Sophia? I believe that's correct) and some small dogs with long tails on top ... she thought it was just dandy. Although I accidentally walked a little too close to the cake section at Costco today and her eyes got very big and she started making big plans for her 5th birthday cake. And she can't be blamed.

The day sort of planned itself because she has ballet on Saturdays and then there was a little carnival up the road (we went last year too) with free rides and a big slide and food and fun in the evening. Julia, Simon, Theo, and Sebastian got on a kiddy ride with trucks that go around in a circle and go up and down. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about from that fantastic and detailed description.

Okay, here's a quality photo ...


They were JAZZED. Theo was so excited because this was the first ride he could go on because he finally "weighed enough" according to Julia (or was tall enough, according to the actual rules).

Four seconds into the ride both of the boys were in full on freak mode with tears flowing while Julia was having the TIME of her life.


I know it's terrible but I can't look at this (terrible) photo without laughing. It was so awful.


The lady folk watching with loads of sympathy.

Anyway, as soon as she got off and we made sure the boys weren't going to have coronaries, Julia hopped right back in line and rode the torture device all by herself with a fat grin on her face the entire time.


I know you didn't ask for a play-by-play but ... you never know when you'll get a little bonus treat like that around here. De nada.

Happy Birthday not-so-little J!!

We hope you had a great day!

(With no silly rhymes, from me or Sime)

39 comments:

  1. I love the picture progression from little baby to little lady.

    And I snort-laughed so hard at the picture of the boys freaking on the ride that my husband looked up from Craigslist. Yes, looked up. From Craigslist.

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  2. I LOVE the cake. Forget what anyone else says you made her the cake she wanted. Or THOUGHT she wanted anyway! My cake repertoire is sad and I even had a "tank" cake that I pinned as "holy cow I can't believe I actually made a tank cake thing" and it got jeered and laughed at and shared as the ugliest cake EVER.

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  3. Ahh, happy birthday to Julia!! A princess cake and truck kiddy ride sound like the perfect birthday celebration, I may have to request the same thing ;)

    Love that you included a "zero" picture. And love how excited Sebastian was to have J open her gifts! Can we talk about how he looks so much like Simon in that gift picture?

    PS As I was leaving work on Friday (I work in downtown San Antonio), I saw signs for "Patton Wedding." Immediately freaked out and was like "Ahhh, the Pattons!!" and then I realized it probably wasn't y'all. Buuuut if you want a fun road trip through the giant continent that is Texas, there are lots of fun things to do! I'd love to see a Patton reenactment of the Alamo ;) Have a great week!

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  4. Happy 4th birthday, Julia! LOVE the cake (way better than my "buy it from the store" cakes)!I bet it tasted delicious too with all those yummy cookies and spinkles :D. Where did you get Phoebe's onesie? I feel like I need one (for my child...).

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  5. Dying at "the Fortress of Fail." Happy Birthday, Julia!

    www.designsbykaty.com

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  6. That picture of the boys freaking on that car is WAY too funny....looks like fun till it starts moving, right boys?! My girl was exactly the same way at that age and I couldn't help but laugh...shameful! And you pulled out the stops on that cake, good work....I'm impressed!!!

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  7. I actually looked at that cake and was like, "wow, what an awesome cake! I'm way too lazy to make a castle cake for my kid." so... don't knock your cake construction skillz. My oldest is just about a week younger than Julia and her fourth birthday cake will be... cupcakes. not fancy. just normal. if she is lucky. :)

    also, every time I think my life is hard, i remind myself that instead of the two i have, i could have four in the same amount of time, and then I try really hard to stop complaining. :) every day that you get all four of them out of bed and dressed is a triumph, in my opinion! and if there is also a cake, of any kind: WIN.

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  8. How fun!!! I think that is a pretty great birthday! And I give you two thumbs up on the cake, I cant even frost a cupcake. So what you came up with is amazing! And I laughed at the torture blur picture....does that make me a bad person since they aren't even my kids? I hope not.

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  9. Yay for princes cakes made with heart. Yay for rides that thrill a four year old. Yay for braided hair and happy laughter. Yay for cotton candy ice cream. Yay for Julia turning four. Yay for Grace and Simon for surviving parenthood for four years! Bring on the cocktails.

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  10. How darling! Sweet Julia! Looks like it was such a fun birthday! I love your little family!

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  11. Ok I must know... where is that adorable "Momma said..." onesie from?!

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  12. There's something so special about our first born's birthday because it was our first day as a mom (ex utero). Happy birthing day to you, sweet Grace!

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  13. That cake is rad. And I confess, I did laugh- that is my level of baking right there. I never even thought of the wafer cookies as decorations...

    Maybe there should be a day where we all post pictures our mad -and bad- baking accomplishments.

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  14. Silly--of course THREE UNICORNS attend the princess in her castle....

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  15. She looks so grown up. Four year olds are fun. Happy Birthday (late?) Julia!

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  16. A lovely cake it is! That cake says love all over it. Thanks for letting us see the little and big days!

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  17. She looks so grown up and like you in her 4th bday picture! And props on the cake! I think it looks adorable :) Homemade cakes are always the best anyway.

    And when you say "both the boys" were crying, you mean Simon and .... Theo or Bash? Ha.

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  18. Replies
    1. My angry birds came was so terrible that I believe I skipped publishing all.photos

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  19. And happy birthday to her! Every big sister's dream - torturing her younger brothers on her day of birth. Win win.

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  20. You made a cake with FOUR layers?? Don't tell my kids, because they'll never get that sort of commitment from me. The pic of screaming boys cracked me right up. At least the birthday girl liked it!

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  21. Oh my gosh, in that first picture with the cake, she is your TWIN! Happy birthday, sweet J! How do they grow up so fast?!

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  22. That cake is fantastic! Anything with pink glitter is a winner in my book.

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  23. Phoebe's faces are priceless. And Happy Birthday to Julia !!

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  24. Oh look how happy she looks! And such a beauty! Happy Birthday, Julia!

    Your princess cake looks MUCH better than the lion cake I attempted to bake for Ryan's first birthday. I haven't seen that one pinned either ... ahem, Internet.

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  25. You made a cake. Who cares what it looked like? You actually made it. From scratch. I take my hat off to you (if I were wearing a hat. Hat's don't look good on me, but you get what I'm saying). My girls have mentioned making a birthday cake from time to time. I always chicken out and get one from the grocery store. You rock.

    And Phoebe is just too darned cute. Her expressions are priceless.

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  26. Pic of the kids on the rides--love! Happy birthday Julia!

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  27. well Grace, it's Sofia not Sophia! Lol just kidding and yeah I don't have any kids, so how do I know that? Don't ask. The cake actually looks pretty awesome, especially because I cannot bake to save my life, so kudos to you! Julia looks happy and that's what matters! That ride looks so fun, the poor boys! Hilarious. Happy (belated) b'day Julia!

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  28. She looks so cute! Glad she had a happy birthday.

    That photo of both boys crying brought back memories of when my younger brothers (twins) were little. We put them on Santa's lap and they were both were screaming their heads off. The photographer snapped a photo. Priceless.

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  29. Love, love, love, love, LOVE her! That pic of the boys crying and she's just loving it is pure awesome. Hahahahaha.
    Happy Birthday J!

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  30. Cute cake! Need a hair tutorial for Julia's braids.

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  31. HAHA. Mama said there'd be days like this. I love it.

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  32. Happy Belated Birthday, Princess Julia!!! Enjoy the fourth year, and keep marching to your own beat girl ;)

    Also, Grace- where did you get that "mama said" onesie for Phoebe? Baby clothes crush over here.

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  33. I LOVE this cake! Seriously I'm going to pin it :) It's a great princess cake, especially the use of the ice cream cones so creative but now that you mentioned dinosaurs for some reason I can't stop thinking about them :)

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  34. Wow, that cake was a work of art :)
    about the parenting guinea pig thing, I often feel so grateful that God didn't make (most) kids to form permanent memories before 3 because I REALLY need that grace period to figure out what on earth I am doing...
    btw this blog really helps. Your "how to survive x under x" posts are a life-saver

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  35. Oh my goodness her adorable little face in her first birthday pic! I could die!

    And I LLOLed at the picture of Theo flipping out on the carnival ride. Which is okay because I'm not his mom. You, however, should be ashamed of yourself.

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