Ellie's Third Birthday Party

April Showers Bring May Flowers. That was our theme for Ellie's birthday party we had yesterday. Technically her birthday isn't until Sunday, but my dad leaves for Italy on Friday and that was the only time he had free to celebrate with us. It's just hard to believe that she's actually turning three years old. Is it possible that I've been a mom for that long? I keep telling her that she's not allowed to grow any more- she needs to stay my little girl forever. She always gets a kick out of that. But it's true! She's growing much too fast!

So yesterday was Ellie's day. And what a day it was! To start off, Ellie was taking full advantage of still claiming the "terrible twos". She would not stop pushing her sister over or hitting or just plain harassing her. I was ready to give up and call it all off! Needless to say she spent a portion of the morning in time-out. It didn't help that Sarah and I were up all night again the night before. There were of course cute times as well. She dressed up in her dance outfit and did some dancing for us, which is always a treat. She loves to dress up! Steve was able to call and wish her a happy birthday which she thought was great. He actually told her "happy birthday" and she started to sing the birthday song to herself. He decided to join in :) She's so funny. I love that Steve has access to a phone and can call to make our days even better.

We finally got Katie down for her morning nap and I took Ellie out birthday supplies shopping. We went to a party store and Ellie got to pick out all the decorations for her party. She picked the balloons, cups, plates, napkins, streamers and potted flowers. I found the necklaces :) For some reason Ellie has become obsessed with pink. Everything that is pink is wonderful. Hence the pink everything for her party. She even decided she wanted a pink flower cake with pink ice cream. Yeah- she's been going a little overboard! I tried to brainwash her to believe that purple was the best color... didn't work. We had a great time while we were out together. It was actually a great opportunity for Ellie to have one-on-one time with me. We don't get a whole lot of that anymore. She did great and was really cute about picking everything out. Once we got home we ate lunch and tried to get her down for a nap. She was just much too excited about her party to sleep. She just sat in bed for about an hour singing songs to herself until we finally let her come out. During that time I was making the cake and wrapping presents while Mom put together one of the chairs.

Unfortunately the Ellie monster re-emerged until Dick and Sybil arrived. Then Ellie was on fire. She gets absolutely giddy around those two. It's actually quite amusing to watch. She's charming and energetic and talkative and just hilarious. We had a great dinner with Ellie at the head of the table. She really enjoyed that. She was sure to be a part of every conversation that happened during the meal. Then the best part- the presents. I think we did great with what she got. I found the greatest bath toys- it's a tub garden. I'll get a picture of it to post. They're just stick-on foam pieces that make up flowers and butterflies. Absolutely adorable. She got a matching game, which she really enjoys. We also found a cute gardening set for her to use when she works in the garden with Grandpa. Then the adorable ladybug boots (and there's an umbrella on the way that matches) which signify the "April showers" part of her theme. So, so cute. The best part by far are those Adirondack chairs. Mom and I found those over a month ago when we were shopping for Katie's birthday. I saw them and just could not pass them up. I absolutely love them. The girls already have had a lot of fun with them as well. Ellie of course chose the pink one as hers. Dick and Sybil brought Ellie the kitten t-shirt she's wearing in the picture with them. She loves to go over and visit their kitties, so it was a perfect gift for her. (I guess technically MacGyver the dog gave her the shirt- we told the Smiths they weren't allowed to bring Ellie a gift because they've showered her with so many lately. They found a way around it by claiming their dog gave the present- funny.) Steve has sent a gift that should arrive any day now. I'm anxious to see it and I'm sure Ellie will be happy to have more presents to open :) After opening presents we had cake and ice cream, which Ellie tried a bite out of each color of the cake (mostly eating only the icing). By then we were all worn out and after the Smiths left both girls crashed hard. I have to say that I feel the evening was a huge success. Ellie had an awesome time and she loved her gifts and the company. That makes me feel good :) Happy Birthday Ellie!

It was a very busy day. Birthdays are so much fun, but it takes a lot of effort to make them go smoothly. I didn't get any rest during the day and I had picked Ellie up once or twice while we were shopping and I have paid for it today. I am really sore. Recovering from a c-section is really frustrating. There is so much I want to do and after 3 weeks I feel like I should be doing more to pull my weight around here! Unfortunately I tend to over-do it and then have to take the time to recover. I am so anxious to heal completely!