My little princess

Last week, Tori had her 4th birthday. On Thurs. we went to the aquarium and Joe's Crab Shack for our family celebration. On Friday, we had a party with her little friends. And then on Sunday evening, we had an extended family get-together where we celebrated her birthday, as well as my sister, Lisa's.

This first shot isn't great, but the employees came and sang to her at Joe's Crab Shack and had her wear bunny ears and ride a horse as they sang. She took it very seriously.

For her birthday, we had planned a princess party, but she started really liking Tinkerbell and fairies at the last minute, so we made it a fairy princess party. John and I dressed up in costumes from Enchanted that I got on clearance from the Disney Store. (I quite like John's, but not mine - especially not when I'm pregnant.) The girls all came in costumes as well. A couple of Tori's preschool friends couldn't come, which was sad, but we had a cute little group. I painted the girls' faces in a fairy style and we had a treasure hunt with little princess trinkets at each stop. (I say this all the time, but just a reminder that this is my journal, so I'm including details that only Tori and I care about.) She got some fun presents and had a great time. Oh, right before it was time for the cupcakes, Jonah apparently thought the Tinkerbell candle looked edible and bit it's head off, along with a flower or two. John melted it back together as best he could.

Tori is getting to be so big! I can't believe she's four. She is such a little sweetheart. Here a few little Tori things:

-Tori is taking a dance class with her friends and really loves it. She likes to have me put on her dance music and perform for me. She is particularly good at doing the cheers they've learned.

-When she prays, she will sometimes stop and point out a good thing she said, like "I said 'thee'!" or "I said, 'Thank you for our testimonies!'"

-She often wants to be held, but then she'll remember that it's too hard for me as I get more pregnant, so she'll want to hold my hand instead (on a good day) and she'll make happy little noises as we walk. She is very affectionate. Sometimes she'll come up and say, "Watch this!"and she'll kiss my arm. She also often says, "Mom!" and when I ask what, she'll just say, "I love you." (Eli does that too.)

-She loves her Daddy. When she gets in trouble, she'll cry and say she wants Daddy to hold her. When I remind her he's not home, she'll say through her sobs, "I mean when he's home!" And she always wants John to put her to bed now.

-Tori is quite shy. When I watch her in preschool or in Primary, she just seems to stay to herself most of the time. Even though she knows all of the Primary songs we're learning, you can hardly see her mouth moving during singing time.

-I love to sit and listen as she plays with her dolls and makes up little stories. She's very creative.

I just love my sweet girl. I'm glad she'll have a little sister to take care of.