As luck would have it, sweet Beatrice's birthday spread out across the entire month of March. Does it get any better than that?
On Bea's actual birthday, we started off with the traditional Schneider family "Birthday in Bed" celebration of opening a couple of gifts before your feet even hit the floor. I have no idea how this actually started, but it's sort of sealed in our family tradition now so we'll go with it ha. In what was a super sweet moment between sisters, Josie woke Bea up by quietly rubbing her hand and singing Happy Birthday to her.
That led to reading new books and cuddling new friends in bed. Good stuff.
Then, there was work to be done! The combination of the "no pinata" policy at Bea's birthday party and the fact that some good buddies would be out of town on the day of the big event led to our own little pinata celebration at home.
Bea LOVED her unicorn pinata. (So much in fact that the headless pinata was taped back together and is still the focus of much imaginative play - a month later.)
Bea had SO much fun reading birthday wishes that people left for her on Facebook. She insisted on a little family selfie to mark the event.
Then, in keeping with the tradition started when both girls turned one, we busted out the birthday crown! Bea, of course, busted out some of her best poses.
Later that afternoon, it was time to celebrate with Grandma & DD and present sent with love from Chicago. Bea ADORED her pink birthday cake made just for her by Grandma. And, her "big girl bike birthday wish" came true!
The next round of Bea's birthday came the following weekend, with a party with little school friends at Pogo Play. Bea spends a lot of time with older kids, so it was really fun to just let her be a four year old and have a party that really let her do that. She wanted an Octonauts theme, so we made little goody bags with ocean stamps and stickers.
We had her party at PogoPlay! Truthfully, it was a bit of a gamble because that place can get bananas on days with bad weather. But lucky for us it was a beautiful early spring sunny afternoon so we seriously had the place to ourselves. It was awesome! Here are the highlights - including Bea's AMAZING, SUPER FANTASTIC cake made my our AMAZING, SUPER FANTASTIC friend Tess who never ceases to amaze us with her talent and generosity.
After the party, we hit up Bea's choice of Noodles for dinner, then headed home to open gifts. It was such a fun day!
Bea's final birthday celebration was a big deal for all of us. Since she was a baby, she's been participating in Josie's "circle around the sun" celebrations at school - four times in total. Needless to say, she's been waiting waiting waiting until she'd have her first birthday walk at school. Last week was the big day!
(Thanks to her teacher Donna - who was with Josie when Beatrice was born - for taking these great photos!)
Happy 4th birthday, dear sweet Beatrice. May every single wish you ever close your eyes and make come true!
Here's the link to Bea's birth story from four years ago. She truly is a miracle, this one.