This girl is 4! Rose celebrated her birthday at the end of September and, oh my goodness, what a gift she is! Rose is full of personality and passion. She is little but loud and she is rarely shy about expressing herself. She is affectionate, always up for a cuddle, and quick to say, “I love you.” She loves dressing up, princesses, and animals. Rose adores playing with and copying her big sister but is also full of her own plans and ideas. And, of course, she loves her favourite stuffy, Justin Beaver. Currently, Rose wants to be a firefighter when she grows up and then maybe a princess.
We were able to make a quick trip into Vancouver the weekend before Rose’s birthday. My brother’s youngest daughter has a birthday exactly one week before Rose’s so we celebrated the two girls together, along with my parents.
This was Rose’s second pandemic birthday so, once again, celebrations were slightly subdued compared to previous years. This year, the day of Rose’s birthday also coincided with the first official National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. This is a sombre day designed for Canadians to learn, reflect, and honour the suffering of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, particularly in regards to the history of the Residential Schools. Learning how to balance the importance of this holiday with the celebration of our girl’s life will be something we continue to do in the coming years. For this year, we enjoyed the fact that we could all be at home together on a weekday.
The day of Rose’s birthday also coincided with our weekly Bible Study. We take turns hosting and providing a meal so our volunteered for this particularly week and, as per Rose’s favourite food, made macaronic and cheese. And because she’s 4, she doesn’t like my homemade macaronic and cheese so we also offered a selection of boxed mac and cheese! The night really felt like a party, especially to our girls. Rose chose an Ocean Theme for her fourth birthday and we had fun putting together goody bags for friends.
Our girls each (coincidentally) have a Bible verse for their names. This is Rose’s:
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose.
Isaiah 35:1
Rose is indeed the gift given to us – the rose that bloomed – in a very dark time in my life. She is the answer to so many prayers and I am so thankful that God worked His own plans in our family to put her here with us.
For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to Him.
1 Samuel 1:27
Karissa Reads Books 
I’ve been reading these birthday updates for several years, even before there was a Rose if I remember correctly, and the one thing I always think is how you have this journal of how your children behaved and thought and what they were like all recorded to look back on if you want. I wonder if Pearl or Rose have changed much from year to year — I think a lot of children do, especially as milestones like heading to school happen. Happy birthday, Rose!
You have been! It’s fun to be able to look back and remember them at different ages. I journal a lot too and try and get down all those little moments and memories. One thing that stands out to me is that Rose was the most chill baby – happy to be held by anyone, would fall asleep anywhere – but I wouldn’t exactly describe her as chill now. She is still far more comfortable with new people and situations than Pearl is.
I went back four years to see if I did remember or comment on her being born, and it says I did not. I’m surprised, because I swear I remember being your friend pre-Rose. I wondered if you switched platforms and lost your comments or if I just missed a post, or what.
I would have thought so too. I never switched platforms but maybe some comments were lost? I wasn’t posting as regularly then or as active in reading other blogs so I feel like my blogging experience has changed a lot since then.
Happy Birthday, Rose! (Goodness, I’m so late she must be nearly 5 now! 😉 ) I see no reason why she can’t be a princess and a firefighter at the same time – as we know, we women are excellent multi-taskers. And think how useful it would be if ever the palace went on fire…
Well, she is already busily planning her 5th birthday! For a while she also wanted to be a dad when she grows up but has recently settled on princess instead. She also hopes to live in an apartment one day 😂