Somehow Juliana went from this:
(Little Miss looking more like a Little Mister at like three months old)
And this:
(On her first birthday)
To this:
All grown up, no bottles, no pacifier, no diapers, dresses herself, brushes her own teeth, rides a bike (with training wheels), AND takes care of all bathroom "stuff" by herself. Seriously, when did all this happen? It seems like it was only a few months ago that I was staring into that cute little face, wondering what kind of little girl/teenager/adult she was going to be. Ok, enough sappiness, onto the festivities!
Juliana started talking about her birthday and turning four around Christmastime (if only I were joking). Apparently, turning four is a VERY big deal. She had all sorts of requests for what toys, cake, and decorations she wanted. Four is a great age for being excited about everything! She likes My Little Pony, princesses, fairies, bikes, books, movies, crayons, markers, coloring books, etc. I could've closed my eyes and picked pretty much anything from two whole aisles at Target and she would've been thrilled.
Juliana's birthday breakfast request was cinnamon rolls and grits. It's always been a secret dream of mine to be a phenomenal cinnamon roll maker. In the past, my attempts have been...well, less than stellar. Fortunately, some friends turned me onto a fantastic recipe site: melskitchencafe.com. I love Mel! I don't know her from Job, but I've tried close to 30 of her recipes and they have almost all been hits. Her cinnamon roll recipe is no exception. They are a ton of work, but oh my heavens, they are out-of-this-world spectacular! So much so that Cinnabon better be glad I don't decide to take this gig on the road and put them out of business. Hands down the best cinnamon roll I've ever eaten and the secret ingredient? Vanilla pudding. I'm not kidding. Vanilla pudding. Go. Try it. And then come back here and we can bask in the yumminess that is the perfect cinnamon roll. My only regret is I didn't get a picture of the finished product.
Fortunately, I have this beauty - Everett eating an aforementioned cinnamon roll and Juliana next to a big bowl of grits.
After breakfast we got on Skype with my parents so they could see the birthday girl open their present. Bless you, Skype.
Lunchtime brought lunch, cake and more presents. The cake was entirely homemade (thank you Mel!), but the decorating wasn't exactly exceptional. Oh well. I knocked it out of the park with those cinnamon rolls.
When asked, Juliana claimed she had "the best birthday ever!" It was a small affair with just our little family, but I think she had a great day and felt very special. However, I do think we need a refresher course on exactly how often birthdays occur since the next morning when she woke up she exclaimed, "On my next birthday I'm going to turn 5! And I want a My Little Pony cake!"
(PS - Here's what our four year old does with the sparkly lip gloss my mom sent. All. day. long.)
7 comments:
I love it! Her and my Ellie would be the best of friends! When I am up to cooking again I will be trying out that cinnamon roll recipe although I have a great one that uses mashed potatoes! I love vanilla pudding in cookies. Happy birthday to your new four year old!!
She's such a cutie Natalie. Thanks for always posting your blog updates on FB. I want to try this recipe (and the whole recipe site). I'm pretty sure we have similar tastebuds because I remember everything I ate that you ever fixed was so good and I still have a few recipes that I use of yours!
I simply want to say that I disagree with the comment on the cake decorating, Since I did it. And, she got lip gloss and fingernail polish from Poobah and Nana How much can one little girl use?
Oh she's set on lip gloss. Until next week. When it all runs out because she's addicted to it and has to reapply every 2.5 seconds. :-)
vanilla pudding in the rolls!? wow! i am going to keep checking out that site!
As one who tasted...okay, ate (more than one mind you) the described cinnamon rolls, I will publicly support them as the best cinnamon rolls ever. Seriously. I had one and a half hoping to savor the rest later that night...nex thing i know the plate was gone...needless you say James scarfed the rest. Good job Natalie!
Happy 4th Birthday dear Juliana! I couldn't help but think of Pearce growing up when you were describing Juliana as a baby and how quickly she grew up, and now all of a sudden she is celebrating her fourth birthday! what a sweet and beautiful girl.
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