Officially 3

Monday was the big event!
It was Alyse's official 3rd birthday!
And it was a fabulous day to be a three year old little girl!

First of all, when she woke up there were lots of decorations. In fact when she came into our room, she walked up beside my bed and whispered, "Mommy! Wake up! There's a party!" (It made me smile).

Then Daddy went out and made sure his little princess had doughnuts for breakfast. (She loves doughnuts!) Plus, be brought his first princess (that would be me) a Starbucks Raspberry Chai.

Alyse was very excited about her doughnuts.
It was then time to get ready for her special day.
She put on her birthday girl outfit and was ready to go!


The first event of the day was to head to the mall!
Our first stop was Build-A-Bear. This was her first time being there, and she loved it!

Right after that picture was taken, my camera battery decided to die!

Right after the camera turned off and wouldn't turn on, I had to stop myself from crying.

It was a very sad moment in my life, but I pulled myself together and pulled out my Flip and recorded her building her kitty.

Just imagine her picking a lifeless/stuffless grey kitten and picking a red heart along with a meowing button thingy to put inside. She then pushed the pedal to stuff her kitten and gave it a long "bath". Then another bath. Then another bath. Then we picked out a pink tutu with ballet shoes, a crown, a wand, a hair bow, and a cupcake that said Happy Birthday! Then we gave her another bath. Then we got her dressed. Then we took off her clothes and gave her another bath. Then we put her clothes on again and went to make her birth certificate. There was a long discussion of what her name would be. Alyse really wanted to name her Bubba. After telling her we already had a real alive cat named Bubba, who is a boy, and this kitty was a girl, we decided on the very original name of Miss Kitty.

As Josh was paying I decided to pull out my camera for one last chance photo, praying that the battery had saved up just a little bit of energy. This is the one shot that it let me take before dying again. There was no time for smiles.

We will now move back into the "Not Pictured" section of the day.

Store 2 - The book store! She picked Angelina Ballerina (her new found obsession). I picked 2 Amelia Bedelia books. Then her and Miss Kitty put on a performance on the stage in the kids area. That lasted until I thought the quite bookstore had been distracted enough by the dancing 3 year old in squeaky

Store 3 - The Disney Store.

That lead us right into Stop 2 - The movie theater to see "The Princess and the Frog" again.

(Let's chat about how Monday's there is a family special where it is .75 cents a person to go to the movies, so it cost $2.25 for our tickets. THEN Josh bought us a large drink and popcorn combo that was $10.50! Um...that is why people sneak in snacks.)

By the time we got home I was exhausted and so was the birthday girl, so it was nap time for both of us!

We woke up, got her dressed again, and headed out for her dance class. (She was very excited to show Daddy her moves!)

After class I gave her a choice of restaurants for stop number 3 of her 3rd birthday. She chose Qdoba.

We will now return to life with a camera.

After we got home we told her it was time for her presents and she was so excited.

I was excited to finally be able to give her the gift that I had been waiting for.

Stuff animals of Max and Ruby! (She loves them!)

She also got a dance bag and art easel. (3 presents for the 3 year old.)

Plus Miss Kitty (who is pictured below) and her 3 books.

Finally it was time for her birthday treat and to blow out her candles.

When we put her to bed I asked her if she had a good birthday and she said, "Oh yes Mommy! Thank you!"

You're welcome, baby girl!

Thank you for making me the happiest Mommy the past 3 years!