April 30, 2007

• Happy 3rd Birthday, Princess!

  Anna Kathryn turned three at the end of March, and we had a birthday party for her a couple weeks later. I decided on a princess party, because she loves necklaces and pretty hats, and because we decided to invite more than just family this year. A princess party would be fun. She has been talking about her birthday for months. At Mother’s Day Out, moms often bring treats for the kids when their child has a birthday, so aside from her cousins’ parties, all AK knew about birthdays was the one thing she asked for: “Mommy, for my birthday I’m going to have cupcakes!” I think I could handle that.

  I went online and pulled out some ideas. I decided to decorate the living room and dining room like a princess castle–sort of.

  

  We had lots of pink, blue, and purple, and I drew a frog on poster board for “Pin the Kiss on the Frog”. I stayed up until about four in the morning the night before making the house a castle and cutting out crowns for the kids to decorate. (They had fun decorating them, but most of the crowns didn’t make it home with the kids. The decorating itself was the fun part!) And when I was doing last minute shopping the day before, I found an adorable “cupcake cake” at Kroger. That spared me a few hours baking and frosting them myself, and the children thought it was pretty. I added candles Grandma sent, and Cinderella figurines to help our theme along. Those puzzle placemats were party favors–each child brought his or her placemat home. The little girls also went home with purses from the dollar store filled with jewelry, sunglasses, and other fun things I found. The little boys had backpacks filled with fire and police men, balls, and other toys. It was fun finding things to fill them up.

  

  The best part about it all was how excited AK was. She could hardly go to bed the night before. When she woke up to pink hearts on the walls, and pink covering the tables, she exclaimed to John, “Daddy! Mommy cleaned up really pretty!” She was so grateful–I must have gotten 100 hugs from her before anybody even arrived.

  When her friends came, we made crowns first, and then took a group photo. It was like herding cats, so we just sent them all to climb on AK’s bed, and snapped a few. John helped keep things moving–every child did pin the kiss on the frog, because they got a noisemaker if they did it. Even the boys considered the prize worth the humiliation.

  

  AK could hardly contain herself seeing all her favorite friends there. For lunch, they had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut in shapes of flowers and hearts, and “princess” yogurt layered blue (raspberry) and pink (strawberry), with strawberries, grapes, and cut veggies. The adults had a meat and cheese sandwich bar, chips and dip, and cheesecake dip for the strawberries. We were eating the leftovers all week, and enjoyed them immensely! (Big party hint: always prepare foods you won’t mind eating for days afterwards!)

  

  All Anna Kathryn needed was her friends–she could hardly sit still long enough to open presents. She was given some great toys, though. Things I wouldn’t have thought of, like magnetic wooden “paper” dolls, and a Strawberry Shortcake doll  with a pony–both with long red hair to brush. She now has more purses and hats than I can count (she can–she knows exactly what she has), and necklaces too. I guess I have a little princess, after all. Even though I couldn’t get her to wear her princess dress for anything. It was her party–I wasn’t going to push it!

  

  After all her friends left, AK’s cousins stayed around for a few more hours. Brayden showed AK how to use the bubble blower she got for her birthday. It ran out of bubbles before she got the knack of it–we’re now on the hunt for the right bubbles to refill it. My child loves her bubbles.

  

  

  Now that they’re all grown up and three, AK and her cousin Lauren hopped in Uncle Matt’s car and decided to take a drive. They weren’t in the least concerned that they weren’t actually going anywhere.

  

  Happy Birthday, my darling girl. I didn’t know what I was getting into when God gave me you, but I wouldn’t trade my curly-headed, impish, loving little three-year-old for anything. You make Daddy and me feel like the luckiest two people in the world, and our lives have forever been changed for the better. Love, Mommy.

   

  • 12:37 pm
  • 8 Comments