Alice Turns 4!

First birthday:

Second birthday:

Third birthday:

Fourth birthday:

Seriously!  How did this happen?!  There is a reason why everyone says "they grow up so fast!".

Alice at age 4:

She's 39.5 inches tall (2 inches taller than last year) and 32 pounds.

She is still a super girly-girl.

She loves tutus, sparkles and princess anything.

She still choses dresses (tutu dresses especially) to wear everyday.

She still naps most afternoons.

She loves books.

She is starting to be a better eater and actually likes some vegetables.

She LOVES Jane and is a great big sister.

She loves our cat Tiger Lily who she likes to carry around.

Her favorite show is Stella and Sam.

She put on this cute outfit the other day so we went into the backyard and took pictures.

This pose was all her.

So was this:

We had a little party for her at the park.

I seriously reigned in my Martha Stewart monster this time, which was necessary but leaves me a little unsatisfied with the end result, but she had fun which is all that really counts.

Singing "Happy Birthday!"

On her actual birthday, we had planned to go to the zoo.

Unfortunately, Alice woke up at 2am throwing up and continued to throw up repeatedly for the next few hours.

I felt so bad for her but she was a trooper.

She didn't cry and was her usual happy self in-between throwing up.

She finally stopped throwing up around 6 and slept till 7:30 and woke up and said "I'm not sick anymore!"

And she was totally fine after that but I didn't think walking around the zoo in the heat would be a good idea so we just stayed home and she watched Sleeping Beauty in her new Aurora dress and with new her Aurora doll.

Then we dropped Jane off at a friend's house and took Alice out to lunch.

She go lots of attention in her dress.

(And in case you are wondering, my pulled pork sandwich was amazing!)

Then we went to the Birth Center for our ultrasound appointment.

We had been telling Alice that she would get to see the baby and find out if she was having a brother or sister.

She was very excited.

She liked seeing the ultrasound and seemed a little unsure when it was announced that the baby is a boy.

She seems to be uncertain on what all having a boy entails (I've been feeling that way too!).

I love how she says his name, she says "Ruff-i-ford".

Early in my pregnancy with Jane, when we decided on Rutherford as our boy name, we tried to get Alice to say "Rutherford" and she said "Frudered".

So she still says that sometimes.

He is one lucky little boy to have such a great big sister.

Baby #3 is a...

I was really surprised.  I thought for sure it was another girl!

We are very excited, especially Stephen :)

Here is his profile, that is his toes up by his forehead.

His hands and forearms in front of his face.

Giving us a thumbs up.

So the name...

We had a really hard time coming up with a boy name we liked but we found one we love when I was pregnant with Jane.

It's a very rare name but it fits perfectly.

His name is Rutherford James Wolfe.

I asked Stephen to write about why we chose that name so here it is:

"Why name our son Rutherford:

Samuel Rutherford was a Scottish pastor, theologian, and political theorist from the 1600s. In an age of theological error and political absolutism, Rutherford stood firm in his support for theological truth and true liberty. He did not compromise when ordered to preach in conformity to the doctrine of James VI, king of Scotland. He did not permit political absolutism to go unchallenged. In his most famous work, Lex Rex, he argued for the right of resistance in times of tyranny and for political legitimacy only by the voluntary consent of the people. A couple decades later the authorities had the book publicly burned and he was put under house arrest. In 1661, he was charged with treason and summoned to appear in trial. Already on this deathbed, he wrote back the following: “Tell them I have got a summons already before a superior judge and judicatory, and I behoove to answer my first summons; and ere your day arrive, I will be where few kings and great folks come.”

We live in a time of theological compromise and have lost the manly, moral, regulated liberty that formed and invigorated Western civilization. I pray that our son will remember those faithful and virtuous men who stood firm in the face of error and tyranny, and, by doing so, stand firm for civilization and the kingship of Christ to the glory of God."

So yeah, what he said :)

Bring on the blue!