Bailey's Birthday!

My baby turned four! I can't even get started on how that made me feel -- ya'll know by now how it kills me to have my kiddos to grow up so fast. :) We'll just say that my sweet Bailey had a birthday and it was wonderful!  Because her birthday fell during the kids' spring break, we were spoiled and got to celebrate a lot. We spent a few days of spring break down in the big city with family. My cute mom and dad took us out to lunch one afternoon to kick off the birthday week celebration.

After a few days with my parents and my aunt, we headed to my sister's house. Steve had been out of town for a long weekend and was flying back home on Bailey's birthday. Because of flight times and such, we were going to have to spend a good deal of time on the road on our little gal's day, so my sister offered to not only let us stay at her place the night before, but to celebrate Bailey's birthday there as well. (She lives much closer to the airport.) Bailey was in heaven! Having a sleepover and a party at her BFF's house was "a dream come true!"

Now, my Bailey is completely obsessed with Harry Potter. Really. She has only seen the first movie, but she LOVES it! She watches as often as she can and often quotes lines from the show.  Most little girls turning 4 choose princess, fairy, and tea parties...mine was dreaming of a Harry Potter party. Yep, she had been talking about it for months. So, Harry Potter it was.

My very talented sister made this t shirt for Bailey. She loved it!!

Here she is enjoying birthday girl status and watching a little Max and Ruby -- her gift from Rachel.

Bailey was thrilled to have her cousins join her for her party. We started by making magic wands and then dressing up for a photo op.

The kids played "wizard, wizard, muggle" (duck, duck, goose), "wizard, wizard where's your wand?" (doggie, doggie, where's your bone?), and had a Bertie Bott's every flavor beans tasting contest (jelly bellies). It was fun really fun for the little ones and the bigger ones were really good sports.

The kids then all congregated on the lawn for a good, old fashioned, very un-Harry Potterish picnic dinner.

It was a wonderful day that made a huge Harry Potter fan hugely happy!

We are so grateful for this spunky little gal. After waiting 5 years to get our Rachel, we really didn't know whether we would ever have another baby. Bailey was a beautiful surprise and a wonderful finish to our little family. She is a sweet, gentle, silly, and loving little person with a very contagious smile and giggle. She is a strong little girl, but at the same time, so gentle and intuitive. We love our little Bailey with all our hearts!! Happy Birthday, Bailey!