Yesterday we had such a fun day celebrating our little girl's third birthday! Even after a fun friend party on Saturday and a family party on Sunday (blogs on those to follow, of course!), we had more celebrating to do on her actual birthday! We started the day with the whole family heading up for donuts - she was hoping to pick out a green one (green, she says lately, is her favorite color!) but when she saw the chocolate (or "brown") with sprinkles, she was sold!
It appears she really enjoyed her brown donut!
After donuts, we got to got up to her preschool to meet her teacher. She has been so excited about starting school so I was really excited to see her check out her class for the first time! The night before, Neal and I met the teachers with just the parents and Meredith was quick to quiz us on their names and all that she would get to do, so yesterday was a perfect time for her to check it out herself!
After meeting a new friend, checking out the baby dolls, and playing legos with Daddy, we headed to the zoo for our second annual birhtday trip! This year, Aunt Katie and Landon, and Merrick and Caleb joined us and we had so much fun! The only low point of the day was learning the carousel and the train were closed. Meredith was pretty disappointed, but I promised her a trip to the carousel at the mall before dinner, which was a great compormise!
Meredith and Landon had a ton of fun watching these monkeys go CRAZY! They were so loud and running around non-stop!
Over the carousel disappointment, Meredith decided to check out the petting zoo.I also just want to reflect on what a wonderful year this has been for us! Over the past 12 months Meredith has grown and learned so much - it has hard to imagine! She has embraced her new role as a big sister with such ease and has loved having Jillian around more than I could have ever dreamed. She insists she pick out Jillian's diapers with every change (although she always wants to the ones with Ernie, so she gets sad after those quickly get used up!), likes to help choose clothes for her, comforts her, tells her stories, brings her pacis and burp clothes, makes sure she has her own Pinky or another toy and so much more.
On top of being a big sister, her favorite things to do are to read books, play with her doll house and Pink Baby/Blue Baby, do just about everything with Pinky, cuddle with Mommy and Daddy before bed, sing songs (a new favorite is "The Eyes of Texas" - Hook em!), and dance (aka "shake her bottom"). She surprises us constantly with remembering minute details of things that happened so long ago. She loves to ask us every day "Mommy, what's your favorite part?" and has also developed a love of hearing stories about her when she was a baby. She is a thoughtful little girl, that always tries to help her friends (or even strangers) when they are sad (with hugs, kisses, or sharing Pinky). She is very sensitive and tells me about times that kids tell her not to do things on playgrounds very sadly - I have been trying to teach her when to listen and when to just have fun - this translates to her Sunday School and Dance class teachers though too, which might work to our advantage!
All in all, Meredith is a complete joy and makes me proud every day. I am incredibly blessed to have her in my life and am so thankful that God let me be her Mommy. Happy Birthday my sweet Meredy Bear!
Testing out her new Strawberry Shortcake bike from Mommy and Daddy!
More candles and cake for Meredith! She is also sporting new Binoculars from Gigi that she loves!
Gigi and Papa also surprised Meredith with a "jump-o-line!" It is kid sized but took all of us to put the thing together - I hear Uncle Neil actually even has bruises! But by the look on her face it was all worth it - all three cousins had fun jumping.
Isn't this a great cake!
Jillian had fun cuddling with the Sooks!
Jillian also tried out the swing for the first time and had lots of fun!
Playing with Emery in the Giraffe Pool
So excited to blow out the candles and dig into the cupcakes!
Meredith and Drew were serious about the sweets!
Taking a swim break with Bubbie
Uncle Neil and Landon playing in the waterfall
Meredith insisted she needed Laura's hat as we were cleaning up after the party - Laura was happy to oblige.
Laura and the girls and their matching Hello Kittys
Post-party, Uncle Neil introduced Jillian to Sesame Steet on the iPhone - she was a big fan!
It appears she really enjoyed her brown donut!
Over the carousel disappointment, Meredith decided to check out the petting zoo.
Meredith opened up and closed down the bounce house. She had the most fun when all the other kids were there to play too.
Helping Daddy set up.
An added surprise was the "slippy slide" - we didn't have a swimsuit, so I wasn't sure Meredith would go. But I was very wrong. She didn't quite get the sliding part down, but she loved just running through the water.
She loved just sitting and splashing in the end pool - too bad mommy made her get up so other kids could play too!
This picture just makes me laugh! She just thought it was fun to stick her little bottom into the water spray - love the tongue sticking out!
All the kids loved these little wooden planes too. The fell apart the second you put them together, but they didn't seem to mind!
Sweet Jillian just being a cutie.
