A TEEN AND A TODD

I am in SERIOUS denial that my baby is already 3! How does the time fly by so quickly?! This past year has really been a breeze as far as she is concerned--I mean, I can't really say that she went through the terrible twos at all. As a matter of fact, the twos were so WONDERFUL. I have totally loved this age and all of the funny conversations that we have had and the astonishing vocabulary she uses and the super easy transition from diapers to panties (once she decided it was time).

Craig's dad said it best this past Thursday when Craig dropped her of at their house at 6:45 AM--he said she was talking when Craig dropped her off and she hasn't stopped since! Addison was blessed with the gift of GAB! It's so funny to listen to her when she is playing with her dolls or her Polly Pockets. Her voice goes up an octave and she says the most hysterical things to her dolls!

Her birthday fell on a Saturday which also happened to be Derby Day. When I asked her several months ago what kind of birthday party she wanted to have (Dora, Princess, Tinker Bell), she quickly responded that she wanted to have a Pony Party... Hmmm, how appropriate with it being Derby. She didn't mean "My Little Pony" either because she has just recently learned of that. With that, I decided to have it on her actual birthday and do a birthday and Derby party combined.

That morning, I had to be at a 9 AM meeting for recital backstage parents so Addi and I went to that and then straight from there to Katie Belle's softball game. Lyndi had brought donuts so Addi had her usual glaze donuts with sprinkles on them.

After the game, we ran to pick up the cake and then headed home to get ready for the party. Craig had stayed home to mow and do yard work and when we got home, Addi helped Daddy fill up the wagon with sand to fill up all of her sand boxes so that we had plenty for the kids coming to her party. It was a nice day most of the day (although slightly overcast) so we were hopeful that the kids would be able to play outside but right around party time, it stared to turn cold and the showers began.

Lyndi and the kids came over early to bring a video of Addison at the hospital when she was born. It had been taken on Lyndi's video camera and I had never seen it. We thought it was appropriate to watch it on her birthday. It was very tearful (happy tears) for me to see it. Addison didn't like it much since it showed her as a newborn crying a lot as the nurses were weighing her, suctioning out her mouth, etc... I thoroughly enjoyed it though.

Party Decorations: I had found some horse plates (thanks to the Derby) at Liquor Barn and we went with reds, greens, and yellow solids to match the horse plates. I wanted to enjoy her birthday and didn't want to spend all day cooking and stressing so we decided to do pizzas from Papa Johns and I just made a few appetizers and we got the cake with cupcakes at Sam's. A friend of mine helped design the cupcake toppers and I printed them out and punched them and attached them to toothpicks for the cupcakes.

I also got creative and made a birthday banner to match the decorations. I'm usually not very creative but was inspired by a few things I'd seen and decided to give it a try!

Austin, being the artist that he is, drew a picture of a horse for me so that we could play "Pin the Tail on the Pony," which was a huge success with the kids.

After the game, we let her open presents. She was so excited! She got lots of great things and was really into it this year!

After she opened presents, we all gathered around the table to sing happy birthday and eat cake. She wasn't shy (like she was last year) as everyone sang to her and she was quick to blow out all her candles!

We had all of the kids draw horses for Derby and the winners received prizes. (The adults drew horses too for a pool and Randy won 1st place with Orb!)

Addison and I had picked up some goodies (sunglasses, bubbles, play horses, skittles, smarties, etc...) and she helped me with the goodie baskets to hand out to all the kids who came to the party!

It was a great party! It started at 5 and we had several there until about 10:30. We got our tired little birthday girl in the bed at around 11! We were all exhausted from the festivities but it was so much fun! I'm so thankful for wonderful family and friends who make these moments so special! Here are a few other random pictures that were taken of the kids dancing, etc...!

For my memory, present at the party were:

Grandma & Grandpa Smith

Nina & Papaw Vahle

Uncle B

Mastin's

Aunt Lisa & Dalton

Aunt Dee & Nick

Cissell's

Roop's

Cruser's

(Shannon's, Huffs, Griffiths, and Spann's weren't there)

Gifts were:

Aunt Dee - Disney Princess shoes, bubbles, chalk, necklace

Nina/Papaw - Rapunzel dress, July 4th outfit

Uncle B - Pinkie Pie & $

Cissell's - ball/bat, Minnie stamp set, ABC game

Cruser's - dress, summer outfit

Grandma/Grandpa - $ for bond, Talking Pinkie Pie

Aunt Lisa - pink Bob's, sprinkler, Candy Land Princess edition

Roop's - summer outfit, Cinderella art desk

Shannon's - dress

Mastin's - Minnie Mouse costume, lots of clothes

Mommy, Daddy, Austin - Barbie Jeep battery, pony mosaic activity, Disney books with reader, $

This year Addison's birthday fell on a Saturday which was also the day of her birthday party. I knew that the day would likley be hectic so I took off work on Friday to spend the day with the birthday girl. I'm so thankful that I did because we had the best day and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!

We had never been to Shillito Park and I had heard that it had a great playground so we got there around 11 that morning and it was fantastic! Mom brought Katie and Connor too so that all the kids could play together and they had a great time.

After about two hours of playing, my mom and Connor ran to McDonalds to get some lunch and we had a picnic lunch there at the park. My dad was able to drop by to hang out with us for a while too. After we ate, the kids played a little while longer and then we packed up to leave. We had been at the park for nearly THREE hours! Mom took Katie and Connor with her and Addi and went to Old Navy to look for her some new flip flops! We shopped for a while and then picked up a slushy and headed home.

We were both exhausted by the time we got home and I wanted to take a nap with her but I had a lot of things to do to get ready for her party the next day!

I am so thankful for these wonderful memories. I totally loved having the whole day to just focus on my little girl. I can't believe that 3 years have passed.