Four.

Four.

Somehow Kate turned four this week. I'm slightly in denial, but at the same time, I love watching her grow and change (each and every day, it seems like!).

Technically she turned four on Monday but this has been quite a week, so in what has become the "new normal" for me, I'm just now blogging about it.

On Sunday I took her over to our city park to get a few official four-year-old pictures. Here they are, and here is what Kate is up to...

This girl.  I couldn't have even dreamed her up.  Good thing our God is so imaginative and He knew exactly how he wanted to create her.  There is, and never will be, another kid just like her. She is smarter than I even know what to do with and we love her more than we ever could have imagined.

She makes us laugh and keeps us always guessing what will come next.

Just the other night, I was tucking her into bed. I'd just finished reading a story and put the book on the bedside table.  In an attempt to avoid going to sleep, Kate has gotten into the habit of getting toys or books and bringing them into her bed after Kevin and I have left the room.  So as we finished our story, I told her "Kate, I'm going to check on you in 5 minutes and if you have that book in your bed with you, I'm going to give you a spanking."

She didn't say anything for a minute and I could tell she was really thinking about it.

Then she looked at me and said "Just ONE spanking, right?"

This little smartypants was weighing the pros/cons of getting that book!  She did decide it wasn't worth it and actually went to sleep.

On a different note, Kate starts preschool on August 24th and this will be her last year before kindergarten.  We're excited to have her back at the same church preschool that she went to last year.  Potentially, she will be attending kindergarten there as well.  At her school, the teachers do home visits before the actual school year starts.  Her teacher stopped by our house today so Kate could meet her.  I really think Kate is going to have a great year, and I'm sure I will be amazed at how much she learns.

As kids get older, there are less "big" milestones to celebrate.  And by that, I mean less physical/tangible things - like taking those first steps, or trying first foods, talking in sentences, or jumping up and down.  Those things are noticeable to even those who aren't familiar with the child.  Now, we're in the stage where the "big" things that make me a proud mama aren't quite as noticeable to other people.

Things like...

• hearing her say please and thank you, or "God bless you"
• watching her share with her sister (which has definitely been a learning process)
• seeing her conquer something that has been intimidating
• hearing her pray for others
• watching her compassion for others, especially when someone has a "boo boo"
• seeing her learn to swim
• watching her learn to write and recognize letters
• hearing her sing songs about Noah, Joshua, Abraham, and best of all, Jesus
• feeling her arms around me and hearing "I love you, Mama"

Other people might not notice these things.  But I sure do.  And they make me so proud, and so happy to be her Mama.  This little FOUR year old girl is one of our greatest blessings.