Elly's 3rd Birthday ~ 9 May 2012

It's so hard to believe that my sweet little girl is already 3 years old.  She is so sweet and precious and the love of my life.  Over the past year Elly has really grown to love Dora the Explorer.  It was the first TV program that she ever saw.  Her first 2 years she didn't watch any TV and then at one point she started talking about Dora.  I asked her where she had seen Dora and she said at PWOC.  I guess they played a video of Dora in the childcare room and that was her first introduction.  After checking it out I came to the conclusion that there could be much worse than a cute, chubby little Hispanic girl so I bought a couple of Dora DVDs and that increased Elly love for her. 

It just seemed natural then to plan Elly's 3rd birthday with a Dora theme.  Elly loved to tell anyone that would listen that she was having a Dora birthday with a big pinata.  Of course, I had to do what I could to make her little dreams come true. 

This is what Elly's mornings usually look like.  She loves to watch Dora while eating her breakfast.  This was the morning of her 3rd birthday.  Seemed like the perfect way to start off her Dora birthday celebration :)

Sam's parents were scheduled to arrive the day before Elly's birthday so I planned to have most everything done at that point so I wouldn't be too stressed.  A couple of weeks earlier I made Elly's birthday cakes.  I made one of Dora (which I wasn't too happy with) and another one of Boots, Dora's sidekick.  Sam took Elly out one day so I could get the cakes decorated.  I don't think I could have finished them while answering Elly's non-stop questions.  I never knew I would be so critiqued as a Mama.  Literally just about everything I do has a question attached to it.  I can't seem to do anything without her seeing it and asking about it.  Anyhow, here are the cakes I made for her birthday.

I had the cakes in the freezer until the morning of Elly's birthday. She hadn't seen them so when I got them out of the freezer I let her see them. She loved them, so that's all that really mattered.

Sam took Elly and his parents out for a couple of hours in the morning so I could finish up last minute details and get the house cleaned. On their way home they stopped and picked up a bunch of balloons I had ordered for her birthday.

Elly was dressed and ready for her party to begin. She was so tickled that friends were coming over to celebrate her birthday with her.

We had a very simple menu. Sam grilled hamburgers and brats and I rounded it out with some side dishes. Very simple and easy...just what I wanted.

Our wonderful neighbors got Elly a bubble machine so the girls were helping her get it set up.

Sam and Aiden manned the grill.

The big pinata!

 

Elly, Maddie and Sammie eating at her little table.

The is the only picture I managed to get of Elly getting ready to blow out her candle.  I was too busy to get pictures :(

Time to open some gifts!

The last gift was a tricycle from Daddy and Mama.  She had a difficult time at first getting the hang of steering and peddling at the same time, but just a week later she was a little pro at it.

We had such a nice time celebrating Elly's 3 years.  She just gets sweeter with each passing year.  We are so blessed to have her as our little girl.  I thank God daily for giving her to us to raise.  We sure do love her!