My big girl turned 3!

Saturday, November 19th our sweet Caroline turned 3 years old!! I cannot believe how grown up she is and how quickly she is becoming more and more "grown up". She is such an amazing little girl- I am a bit biased but she truly amazes me each day with her precious personality and mind. I will blog more mushy stuff about her and what she is like at age 3 later...but I wanted to get pictures from her birthday celebrations up before TOO much time passed.

We started her celebration early by having cupcakes with her Mother's Day Out class at church. Thursday I dropped the big girls off, took Hannah grocery shopping, and we made it back in time to have cupcakes during her lunch time. We sang to her and she got to blow a candle out...and she acted super silly. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and see how she always acted with her teachers/friends. This made me feel old...to have a child in "school" and bring cupcakes to the class??

 I got Emily out of her class to come celebrate with us...she blended right in with the big kids and sang Happy Birthday to her big sis. She enjoyed the cupcake too:)

The night before her birthday I surprised her with some Dora PJ's that she was thrilled about. Since her party was going to be Dora themed this worked out perfectly. This is her right before bed with her beloved pink blankets.

 Saturday morning the girls woke up bright and EARLY! Brad was off work so we greeted her with the birthday song and brought her into the living room that I had decorated with balloons, a banner, and some presents. She was SO excited. She kept saying, "I'm 3! I'm 3~ I LOVE being 3!" A tradition I had growing up was to have a birthday breakfast date with my dad...not sure when we started this, but I remember doing it as long as I can remember. So, we decided that a birthday breakfast with daddy would be our tradition too. Brad and Caroline left around 8 for a super special breakfast at  IHOP. She had  a special smiley face pancake and came back glowing. I know it was nice for Brad to get some 1 on 1 time with his sweetie.

 She had to take her new Dora purse and cell phone- thanks Aunt Cara, Uncle Chris, and Charlie!

After a trip to the park, lunch, and nap time it was time to get ready for the MAIN EVENT...her birthday party!! We had it at The Little Gym- a children's gym full of tumbling mats, balance beams, bars, swings, and bouncy things-exactly what Caroline would love! So, for ease of planning  on my part (they set up, clean up,  instruct all the children in about 1.5 hours of play, dance, games, dancing, etc.) we chose to do her party away from home this year. I was so glad- it was perfect! About 12 of her friends joined her for the big celebration and the entire gym was hopping the whole time.Here are a few pictures- not the best, but hopefully it will document a little of the BIG fun we had that evening. The video footage does it much more justice and is much more fun to watch. Caroline had a blast and we all enjoyed seeing her play her little heart out.

LOVE how determined Caroline looks in this picture! She has the candle blowing down pat now. She did a great job...and her sweet sisters watched the action from the sidelines.

Just a side-note- I DO actually take the time, several times a day, to get Caroline's hair up and brushed and styled. Her hair just doesn't seem to like to stay put...especially after lots of tumbling and rolling around in a gym. So, don't judge :) The blue cupcake frosting and lemonade on her shirt add a nice twist to her look too...but regardless of what she is sporting- she's the most beautiful 3 year old EVER. That sweet girl has my heart!

Oh yeah...we were early to the party so we hung out at a smoothie place next door for a few minutes. Here are the girlies while we were waiting on our smoothies.

All in all it her 3rd birthday was so much fun! We didn't get home until 7ish that evening and still had to do dinner, present opening, and baths. We were all exhausted. Despite a few "toddler moments" the day was a success. These years, days, months need to SLOW down. On our way home from the party Brad reminded me, "You only have 3 months to plan Emily's birthday." Oh boy.