"Night and Day It's Cinderelly"

On Friday night we had a zany little family party for Annabeth. First we ate Mexican food and then we came back to our house for dessert. The Cinderella cake from Randall's was our honored guest. It was pretty small and we are a cake-loving family, so I got three cupcakes to go along with it. The icing did not fare well on the ride home and they looked tie-dyed. Cinderella almost plunged to the ground two times, but the Lord was very merciful and she survived.

You know those blogs that have really dreamy and beautiful party pictures? This is not one of those blogs. We try to do cute stuff, but we are not as awesome and professional as those people.

We are, however, enthusiastic. And we will make fools of ourselves to delight our wee ones. Exhibit A:
Bibby in a Rapunzel dress that was cut up the back altered to fit an adult.

Melissa also wore a princess dress, but she threatened to disown me if I published a picture of her in it. I'm not going to test her.

This is when we were singing to Annabeth. She sang along to herself. 

She had a near-meltdown when the cake was cut, but homegirl triumphed over her emotions. She is three now, you know.

Mom got Annabeth this cute little ironing board. 

She also got her this mask. I don't really know what to say about it. 

These princess gloves were a gift from Aunt Melissa. 

Dad reminded me of an Aztec something or other with this thing on his head.

And this is the classic "Dad falls asleep at the party" picture. 

Cinderelly had kind of a rough night.

Me and Sis. 

Today is my sister-in-law Lindsay's birthday. We wish so much that we could celebrate with her in Missouri. We love you, Lindsay Ellen! You are an amazing sister, aunt, and friend.

When It's Your Birthday

When it's your birthday, your best friend Ellison comes over early in the morning in her pajamas...

...and you eat pancakes.

When it's your birthday, you get to have a balloon while you eat on the coffee table.

When it's your third birthday, you dress up like a princess and play with a ceramic tea set for the first time.

When it's your birthday, you and your friend do girly things. 

When you love your pretend tea party and you don't break any pieces, Mommy gives you a real tea party.

(This is a flowering tea.)

When it's the princess's birthday, her mommy might suddenly remember the princess dress hanging in her closet from Halloween 5 years ago. She might put it on and the girls might think it's so fun. The birthday girl might even give her a kiss. She might not take a picture of it, so you might have to take her word for it.

When it's your birthday, you get to play with water marbles!

When it's your birthday, you might get a little cranky and then skip your nap. But Mommy gives you grace because you're her baby no matter how old you get.

Annabeth is Three!

Miss Annabeth Ellen Jones turned 3 years old on Friday, February 3. It was a big day filled with friends, family, and princesses. 

Also? I must take a moment to celebrate the fact that I SURVIVED. Contrary to how it felt on many most days, age two - twice over - did not kill me. 

Here I raise my ebenezer. 

It was only right to take a picture with Big Pink Bear on the eve of Annabeth's birthday. 

Here's the birthday princess before she fell asleep for the last time as a two-year-old. 

We made the breakfast room birthday-worthy after she went to sleep. It's Curt's tradition to get his girl flowers and balloons. 

We woke Annabeth up by singing happy birthday. It took her a few minutes to snap out of her sleepiness but once she did, the birthday girl was on it. 

This is her hands-on-hips pose. 

Jackson tried so hard to be a fun and supportive big brother that day. He prayed the night before that he wouldn't be jealous of his sister's presents. Bless him. He had a few weak moments but overall he was a champ. 

Here's AB opening up some sparkly lip gloss. 

Application in progress. 

I think she was going for a dewy look. 

More to come...