4 Years {SO} Old!

June 23rd was Tienna's 4th birthday. I can hardly believe that she is 4 let alone that I am the mother of a 4 year old, seriously where has time gone?! Tienna keeps telling me that she feels so much older now that she's 4 :) As luck had it we were moving over her birthday (somewhat reminiscent of last year...) however, we managed to fit in a birthday party and a day of fun on her actual birthday.

So, first things first, Wednesday we had a joint birthday with Tienna's good friend David. Since it is June and we live in California we decided on a swimming party with a water balloon toss to help keep everyone cool along with a pinata and cake.

The birthday girl! 

 Tienna and David with their Princess and Lego cakes... (and David's little sister Sadrie)

I initially had plans to make her cake but moving the day before kind of threw things off. Good thing I had the princesses ready to go so they could be added to any cake! :)

On her birthday Tienna was beyond thrilled to be the center of attention. It took some convincing to get her to wait until Josh got home from work to open presents but somehow we managed. The highlight was her Rapunzel wig. To say that she's a fan of Tangled would be a serious understatement so the wig has been perfect and gets used almost daily during quiet time.

Just for my sake here's some of Tienna's current favorites:

• Tienna has an incredible imagination. She incorporates almost everything we see and do into her little vision of the world and I love it! She tells me the most detailed stories about her friends, pets, etc. while we're on errands or driving in the park.
• Tienna has started the never-ending-questions phase. Not only does she ask all the questions I somewhat expect but she comes up with some of the most specific, poignant questions I can imagine. (i.e. "Mommy, why do vegetables help your hair and finger nails grow?") She honestly catches me off guard almost daily.
• Tienna is an extremely tender, sensitive and sweet girl. The older she get the more tender she gets. She can turn on genuine tears over anything startling, sad, frightening or concerning (it's even happened once or twice when we drive past an accident on the side of the road and she'll ask if everyone is ok). She always tries to console others who are sad and gives the best 'hugs and loves' as we say at our house.
• Tienna loves being outside. On one hand I feel bad that we don't have a yard that she can just go play in but on the other hand when we go to Utah she LOVES it and absolutely will spend every possible moment outside. She doesn't care if she's swimming, being a helper, at the playground or just exploring on her own, to her outside is the place to be.
• Tienna is a very social girl. She is finally getting over her shyness and will make friends with anyone, anywhere, anytime. At the park she will play with anyone regardless of age, at the store she will talk to anyone who talks to her (kid, parent or grandparent age) and when I say talk I mean continue talking for as long as possible - she always has been and always will be my little chatterbox!
• Tienna is 100% girl. If she could she'd wear dresses or skirts all day every day, she plays dress ups daily during quiet time and loves all things pink, purple, shiny and sparkly. (I seriously wonder how I have such a girly girl!) That being said, she is getting more well rounded and loves Star Wars, legos and trains too.

We love you Tienna and are so excited to see what this next year brings!