Happy Birthday, Madeline!

Madeline is a big 3-year-old now! Hard to believe, since when we moved out here she was only 5 months old. Her birthday was August 4, and since Joe is on Rear-D he was actually here to celebrate on her birthday. We didn't want to have a big party, but we did have several friends over to eat cake and ice cream that evening. Joe wanted to video when we did the singing, but I made him take pictures so I could post them. I really regretted that, because it was so cute. She sang along to herself, and then right after we were done one of her little friends got so excited he blew out the candles for her! She didn't even have a chance. So, we re-lit them and she got to blow them out herself.

She was very specific about the kind of cake she wanted. Strawberry cake with pink flowers. I have a few friends who are really into cake decorating and love all those cake shows they have on TV, but let me tell you, I am no Cake Boss. I don't know if it is because I never had elaborate cakes growing up or what (but I did have homemade cakes - thanks, mom!), but I really don't care that much. Anyway, I didn't want to let her down so I let her help me make the cakes (we made chocolate too, for those who didn't want strawberry) and then I spent the morning rolling out Starburst candies and cutting them into flower petals. They looked pretty cute, and they tasted good, but they were not so cooperative when I was trying to cut the cake.

Strawberry cake with pink flowers.

Chocolate cake with sunflowers.

3 Candles!

Madeline and some of her pals enjoying the cake and ice cream.

I think every toy we own was taken out during the course of the evening.

This is Madeline's friend Liam. Madeline and Liam only have eyes for each other. If you want to see a super cute post about these two, look at my friend Marla's blog.

The big present from us was a "big girl" bike with training wheels. She loves to ride it, and she is young enough to think that it is cool to wear a helmet. It is nice for me because we can play outside and I don't have to push her on the swing so much because she is splitting her time between the bike, her Little Tykes car, and the swing set.

She also got another Fancy Nancy book from my grandma. She loves Fancy Nancy so much, which does not surprise me since she is a fancy little girl herself. She jumped up and down and I think I almost have this new one memorized already.

Her favorite present might have come from my friend Dani, who sent her a Princess dress up box. Talk about a dream come true! The moment she opened it, she had to open it up and start trying things on. Every single day since then she has spent the majority of the day dressed like Cinderella or Ariel, and even I have been adorned with beautiful "gems" on my ears and fingers and wrists. It is very fun, but I haven't taken any pictures yet.

Happy Birthday, Madeline! We are so glad to have you in our family!