A Third Birthday...

 

...in eight parts

 

As I mentioned after Alaina's birthday, we told the kids that this year they could pick a birthday activity.  With the baby on the way (and then a newborn) during this three-month-all-seven-of-us birthday season, I knew I wasn't up for parties, trips, etc. A family activity was the option this year.  The older kids were easy...they all knew right away what they wanted to do.  But Katie, well, that was a bit harder.  For a long time, all we could get out of her was "Find Dora."

Not really sure what that meant, but she slowly added to her list of things to do and we put together a great day! She wanted to "eat pizza" and get her ears pierced.  She decided on pink sticky rice for breakfast and "black and blue" cupcakes for her cake.  Add in a few ideas of our own and we ended up with a great celebration...in eight parts.

PART ONE: Sticky Rice Breakfast (sticky rice is a Thai meal where glutinous rice is steamed and then mixed with coconut milk).

She's ready!

I love that sticky rice is moldable into anything!

 

PART TWO: Dora Hunt

When your birthday girl says she wants to "find Dora" for her birthday and offers no other clues into her thought process, you just have to make do.  So, Jason hid Dora cards all over the house (as well as two bigger Dora stickers) and little Katie got to "find Dora."  I think she enjoyed herself!

Little hiding spots...

And one sweet little three year old...

 

PART THREE: Some Photos

I wanted to make sure I took a few moments to take some pictures of my sweet little girl.  Last year I never really got any "two year" pictures, and I didn't want to forget this time.  So we stopped for a few minutes on our way into town and snapped away. So glad we did!

 

Could she be any cuter??

 

 

 

There is a fierce love between these two...

 

And I kind of like her too :)

 

PART FOUR: Bike Shopping

My parents gave some us some money to get something for Katie, and we knew it was time to get this sweet little girl a "big girl bike" all her own. So, we took her to Giant (an Indonesian WalMart-like place) and let her pick one out.  She loves her new bike!  Thanks Nana and Grandpop!

 

PART FIVE: Pizza and Slurpees

Next we moved on to the next part of Katie's plan, pizza and slurpees.  Much to our delight, a new little convenience store opened up at the mall and we can actually get slurpees! Of course, in the four weeks the store has been open most of the machines have been broken every time we have gone, but at least the green one was working (my personal favorite).  We then brought our drinks to our favorite pizza place and stuffed ourselves. Katie chose to share a pepperoni pizza with her daddy because it is "SOOOOOO good!"

 

PART SIX: Ear piercing

I grew up in an era where every parent seemed to think that kids had to be a certain age (usually 12) before they could get their ears pierced.  My parents let me do it "early" at age 7 or 8.  When we had kids, I decided that that was silly rule.  My only requirement was that the girl was old enough to 1) ask for them and 2) understand that it would hurt and choose to do it anyway.  Also, due to easy infections, etc., we don't let the girls change their earrings when they are this young and no cheapo earrings.  Other than that, though, I see no problems  in little girls having pierced ears.  In fact, I was pretty excited when Katie said she wanted to do it.

Thankfully there was a place in the same mall that could do it and also had two guns so that both ears could be done at the same time. Katie did GREAT and only cried for a minute or two.

 

Getting her ears marked...

 

Some numbing spray...

A little bit of fear...

 

A few tears and a blankie...

 

Some hugs from Daddy...

 

And then some water and it was all done!

 

PART SEVEN: Cake

After being out a good part of the day and then heading to church (our church meets on Sunday afternoon), we decided to do cake the next day.  Katie really wanted our friends to join us for cupcakes, so we had a nice little celebration. She kept changing her mind on what color frosting she wanted, but finally decided on blue.  Your wish is my command!

 

 

PART EIGHT: Presents    

In all honesty, part eight is still going on.  Katie hasn't opened all her gifts yet (there were really only a few) but we don't mind making the birthday celebration go on for a few days.  I think the kids tend to enjoy it more when they don't get overwhelmed.  She'll probably open up a few more tonight. But last night, she opened up one of her gifts.  She and Levi love to be "matching together" and so when I found these little girl monkey jammies that matched Levi's favorite boy monkey jammies, I knew I had to get them.

 

All ready for bed...

 

Happy Birthday to my sweet Katie!  I love you more than words can say.  You have brought so much joy and so many laughs to our family.  You have also tested every parenting theory we've had and made us work much harder than our other kids have. But the hard work is paying off and we wouldn't trade you for anything! We love seeing the sweet little girl you are becoming and we can't WAIT to watch you as a big sister...you're going to be great!

 

Comments

[Andrea]

That was so sweet! TFS! LOVED the ear piercing photos, lol.

[Vanessa]

isn't it funny they're 3! I remember when we were all pregnant on the Shabby Princess' Team. Coop had a good third b-day too.

[Samantha Vickery]

you are an amazing mother! You have documented you family experience so well. I look forward to seeing what is next. Happy birthday to a sweet little girl, I hope everyone had a good time!

[Joy (Wingnut)]

Thanks for sharing Katie's special day with your blog readers. You really have no idea who I am, but I've been peeking in on your life since before Katie was born. I initially found my way to you through your scrapbooking templates, then of course, The Daily Digi.

Watching Katie grow has always been guaranteed to bring a smile to my face. There's something special in that little face of her. All of your children are wonderful, but something about Katie grabs my heart. Which of course, must sound incredibly silly, but there it is anyway.

God bless Katie! I can't believe she's already three. And thank you for blessing my life by sharing your wonderful family this way.