The Birthday

When Elaine woke up on Friday morning, we sang to her right away--she was thrilled. Her birthday was finally here...she's been waiting not-so-patiently for weeks. I had woken up extra early in order to make birthday blueberry muffins. She and I dropped Lucy off at school, and as a special treat she got to spend most of the day in her pajamas (actually I just sort of forgot to dress her). Her present from Mommy and Daddy was a toy kitchen, grocery cart with some play groceries, and...the gift she's been asking for: the Kit Kittredge movie.

She played all morning alongside me with her toy kitchen. I put together the dinner she had chosen for her party: spaghetti and meatballs (just like Frances). Then I worked on the cake (more on that later). When Lucy got home from school, she and Elaine played with (aka fought over) the toy kitchen the rest of the day.

Later in the afternoon, I dressed them in their party dresses, and our family began to arrive. Both sets of grandparents and Lucy and Elaine's Tia and Tio came. Darren had made an appetizer platter of crackers, cheese, sausage, vegetables, and dip, so the party began. Then we had the spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and bread. Elaine had one or two mouthfuls, then got up from her chair and came over to me. "I am ready for my cake!" she whispered loudly. "Well," I whispered back, "we'll have cake when we're done eating supper." "I AM done eating my supper," she replied.

Finally, it was time for her cake. As early as October, she told me that she wanted a Peter-Rabbit-Mr.-McGregor's-Garden cake when she turned three. Ooh-kay. I figured a Peter-Rabbit-Mr.-McGregor's-Garden cake had better be carrot, so I made Alysa's-soon-to-be-world-famous carrot cake. It is the best you have ever put in your mouth. Phenomenal. My mother-in-law said that her mother made the best carrot cake in the world but that this one had it beat. Thanks, Alysa!

For better or worse, here's what it looked like (design courtesy of Hello, Cupcake!):



Elaine seemed pretty happy with it...



After we had our cake, she announced to everyone, "It is time for my presents!"

Oh my. From Lucy, she got the "Let's Go Fishin'" game, which they have played and played almost non-stop. From Tia and Tio, she got a Tinkerbell movie and a stamp art set (which she is very into these days). From MiMi and PaPa, she got the Little People castle and the Little People princess and carriage (a huge hit), some winter boots, and an outfit. From some friends, she got a cash register to go with her groceries/grocery cart, Wonder Marker coloring books, and a mini-Webkinz. From Manga and Packa, she got dishes for her kitchen, a flannel nightgown (and matching one for Lucy), and some money for her bank account. All in all, a pretty good haul.

So, that was the third birthday extravaganza! Elaine is very happy to officially be a big girl.

Here are both girls right before bed...so cute I can't stand it. :-)