Celebrating Anna

I know that I could have cropped these pictures and made a much more lovely presentation, but I didn't because it would have taken time that I don't have. Forgive me.

Celebrating Anna was so much fun. She's easy to celebrate. When I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted she said, "Bubble Guppy Happy Birthday." I wasn't very excited about a Bubble Guppy party so I emphasized the bubbles and then it was pretty fun. As I was preparing bubble streamers this week she came in my room and exclaimed, "so pretty!"

We gave Anna presents from us earlier in the day. I hope I can always remember her squeal of delight as she opened each present. Princess shoes from Aliza were a huge hit.

Anna and Aliza have had a lot of fun playing with the dollhouse.

Anna took a nap and the rest of us got to work decorating a cake, making party food and decorating the dining room. I had LOTS of input on how things should go.

My splurge was this Bubble Guppy cake decoration. I bought it from an etsy shop. I ordered it on Nov 13. It didn't ship until Nov. 19 from California. It arrived in the nick of time...3:30pm on Nov. 22 the day of the 5:00pm party. I sure was relieved when I got the mail.

Ready for her party. I was determined to get Anna's hair out of her face so we could see those blue eyes on pictures. Brandi had it pulled back in clips and then Anna decided the purple princess headband was a must.

When Aunt Brandi is around there is no one else in Anna's world. Literally.

There were lots of delighted squeals. Anna has really wanted a backpack so when the Polly Pocket came in a backpack, nothing could beat it. She had that backpack on instantaneously.

Josiah decided that there had to be streamers. So he hung them. This was the kid's table. Shell mac and cheese, goldfish, donut bubbles (donut holes), and grape and banana bubbles. Nothing healthy about it and none of the children seemed to mind! The adults had salad bar.

Anna was thrilled to blow out her birthday candles.

I saw the idea to add food coloring to bubbles and blow them on paper as "paint." I thought it would be fun to try. I was very conservative with the food coloring and there were strict instructions to blow bubbles ONLY on the paper. It went well. No major disasters.

After the party Anna was tired and ready for some screen time. At least she looked really tired. She must have still been excited because she somehow managed to keep herself awake until almost 11:00! That is unheard of in this house--even with a nap!

So now Anna is 3, yes, that makes me a little sad. My experience is that the 3rd year is a tough one for parenting. It's ok though. I'm experienced now and ready for her! My experience also tells me that she will find a new way to baffle me and make me question my sanity and parenting ability. Every moment is worth it.