Look at me, me, me! I'm three, three, three!

We have a three year old in the house! Wow, it is just crazy to realize how much Bethany is growing up. Her birthday was actually a few weeks ago but since life moves fast and I have been a bit slow, here are some pictures of how she spent her special day!

After waking up and enjoying some breakfast and playtime, Bethany snuggled up on the couch with her two best buddies to watch an invigorating episode of Sesame Street.

A little later in the morning, the four of us drove over to Grandma Trudie's house to visit and drop of the boys. Dad had a half day at work, so Mom and Dad had a special birthday lunch at Denny's (one of the best places to eat with a toddler whose tastes are always changing...you can get anything from french toast, macaroni, pizza, a burger, to steak - -mind you, not a good one - - all in one place!) Bethany especially enjoyed her strawberry lemonade. The undivided attention of Mom and Dad was probably nice too since that hasn't happened since she was about a year old!

Then, on to Build-a-Bear! She had never been there before and was a little shy during the "building" part of the process but once she figured out she got to pick out clothes and accessories, she was right at home! We are in this phase right now where she chooses everyone's clothes for the day. (The boys don't mind...who knows, she might still be doing this for them when they're all in highschool!) She probably picked out three different yet complete outfits for her bear before decided on the right one.

So happy to be shopping!

Time to get dressed!

I think every bit of the outfit was pure pink...

Months and months ago, Bethany told me she wanted a butterfly cake for her birthday. I have been looking forward to it/fretting about it for several weeks! I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have made a cake, let alone anything out of the ordinary. But, thanks to a cake pan doing most of the work for me, it came out worthy of her praise!

James enjoying his favorite part of the day...
A very excited girl eating her butterfly cake!

It was really nice to take a day and focus on Bethany since it seems it's always about all three of them all the time. And most of the time, I think that's fine. But, she is such a helper and such a great big sister and she sure tries hard to be a good little girl. So, it was a special day. I'm sure next year will sneak up on us before we know it, though she doesn't seem to care much about her fourth birthday yet. Already it's all about being five because that is the year she gets to go to school! She did have a great birthday this year though, surrounded by lots of family and love. Birthday cards from out of town family got her very excited since she was getting mail like a grown-up and we celebrated with grandparents and cousins all throughout the week before and after so she got to keep experiencing it! We love our big girl!