Reed is FOUR!!!

Yesterday Reed turned 4 years old. Gone is the baby and in place is a little boy. Bittersweet for sure. I'm so glad that he's growing up and that he's becoming independent and his own little person. And at the same time it's hard to accept that soon he won't want to kiss me goodbye or need me to lay in bed with him before he goes to sleep.

He had a great birthday. When he woke, we sang happy birthday to him and he got to open two presents. The first was his birthday outfit and the second was a gift that had arrived in the mail a couple of days earlier from Oma and Opa. He'd been itching to open it since it arrived and was so excited when he did. He is really into a show on Netlflix called Rescue Bots (it's a Transformer's show) and Oma and Opa had sent him Transformers! He played with them  until it was time to leave and then brought them along for his show and tell item at preschool.

At preschool he was given a birthday crown to wear and brought cupcakes to share with his friends. He and I went out for birthday lunch (he picked DQ) and then his babysitter took him to the gym to play around for the rest of the afternoon.

At home he opened the rest of his gifts and was most excited about his new string trimmer and lawn service shirt (which he promptly put on and then requested to sleep in as well). He picked mini meatloaves and mashed potatoes for his birthday dinner and blew out his 4 candles on a Hostess cupcake. And all evening he kept telling me and Dane, "Thank you for thinking of me mama and daddy. That was so kind." He has such a sweet heart.

On Saturday we will have family over for his birthday party. I will try my hand at making cupcakes and icing from scratch. So I apologize in advance to anyone who has to eat them ;) He requested baseball cupcakes and lawnmower cupcakes. I'm confident I can pull this off. Talk to me on Friday night and that story might have changed.

Some pics:

 Excited about his Transformers. Can you tell? 

 Showing his sister how the string trimmer works. 

She's gotta know this stuff if she's gonna be his assistant like he plans. 

 Birthday lunch. 

Love this pic of him. Captures a lot of his personality. 

 Stud. 

Good looking group. My friend Danielle did a great job on our family pics this year. 

Dane and I continue to be blessed as Reed's parents. He challenges us and brings us much joy. His preschool teachers tell me how kind he is. He is so proud of his Claire Irene. He is full of life and curiosity about the world around him. He amazes me with his memory and his thoughtfulness (just the other day he gave his only quarter to a bell ringer without any prompting from me). I thank God that I'm his mom and look forward to seeing how he will use his gifts to bring glory to the Father. 

Happy 4th Birthday Speedy Reedy!!!