Birthday Girl

I'm about to get cliche on you.  How can it be we have a 3 year old.  It seems like just yesterday I was obsessing about our baby sleeping too much, not sleeping enough, not eating enough, will she ever give up the paci, will she ever roll over...etc., etc., etc.  If you have kids you know what I mean right?  They really do grow up so fast.

But it's true.  We have a 3 year old.  And I've got to be honest, I think 3 might be my favorite age so far.  The girl is potty trained, can communicate (sometimes a little too much), and is downright silly.

Our girl had a birthday in April. We started the birthday celebration with breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  Seriously, does anyone have any better breakfast?! I think not!

Avery playing a little bit of checkers before breakfast!

After breakfast we were off to the zoo.  That seems to be our birthday tradition. I will say our zoo is pretty awesome.  It's changed so much since I was a kid.  The exciting goings on at zoo right now is the new baby elephant.  We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the baby elephant but she wasn't out for viewing yet.

We did get to see one of the big elephants (Shondra in case you were wondering) and Avery was entranced.  Ronnie and I may have been quite impressed with the elephants size too.  We watched the elephant walk around for quite some time before we had to move on.

Of course, you can't walk by a sculpture like this without making it a photo op!

We honestly only spent about an hour at the zoo.  It was hot people!  So sue me! I think we might have spent most of that hour WALKING to the elephant exhibit!  Geez!  We may or may not have lured Avery out of the zoo with a promise of a Sonic slush.  Desperate, hot times call for desperate, cooling measures!

We made Avery wait until after naptime to open her birthday present.  I know, we are cruel parents.  Luckily, Avery is still at the age that she didn't know we even had a gift.  Plus, I hadn't wrapped it yet.

The gift was as big as her!

She loved opening it though.

And she especially loved the gift!  it was one of those sand and water stations.  Sand on one side, water on the other.  This has already provided hours of entertainment.  Money well spent! We also got Avery some Dave Ramsey, Jr stuff.  Yeah, we're kind of Dave nerds.  She wasn't as excited about that stuff. I can't imagine why?!

Since Avery's birthday was Easter weekend, we decided to postpone her birthday party until the next weekend.  We kept the party pretty small only inviting our immediate family and Avery's BFF's Hannah and Chloe (children of my BFF).

It was a super laid back get together with some burgers, cupcakes and fun.

Made my own strawberry cupcakes.  Pink.  Requested by the birthday girl.

Avery managed to clean up with birthday gifts.  She really sweet talks everyone and they can't help but buy her something special!  She got lots of clothes, her first Wii game (Just Dance for kids), a bike, and some fun books. The girl cleaned up I tell you!

Love this picture of Avery and her BFF's Hannah (left) and Chloe (right).

If you're wondering, I made that shirt! So cute!

The look on Avery's face cracks me up.  Can you see her tongue sticking out?

It was such a great birthday weekend and a great birthday party.  I think Avery enjoyed celebrating her birthday for two weekends.  Something she gets naturally. I believe you should celebrate your birthday for a month. Can i get an amen?

I still can't believe my baby girl is 3!  I want to stop time, bottle up her silliness, sweetness and funny quirks but I know it's impossible. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our baby girl!

More adventures to come.