Charlotte's 3rd Birthday

My sweet baby girl is three years old! I can't believe it! It sounds so cliche, but it really is hard to believe that three years have gone by. Our little Charlotte is such a blessing to all of us. She is quiet around those she doesn't know as well, but is full of energy at home! She is so incredibly loving. She tells us how much she loves us constantly, even when we don't ask. And she loves to cuddle! My heart absolutely melts when I snuggle with her. Wayne even knows he's in trouble when it comes to his little sweetheart. He can't stand it when he tells her no or corrects her, and she looks at him so sadly like he has just hugely hurt her feelings. And then he wants to give in! This little girl has him wrapped around her sweet little finger. 

To begin our party weekend, Mama treated Charlotte to another Toni and Guy haircut. Mama, you better be careful...she is getting used to this! Of course, her hair looked adorable after Ahn cut and styled it. I even made an appointment with him for this week (Thank you Wayne for my Mother's Day Toni and Guy gift card!) I figured if Ahn took that much care cutting a 3 year old's hair, he'd probably do wonders for me!

Auntie Carrie and Pearce also came up for Charlotte's birthday party. I had to go to Nathan's class for a Mother's Day tea on Thursday so Carrie picked up Charlotte and took her out for donuts and shopping...every girl's dream! Charlotte picked out these silver sandals because they looked like Carrie's. And then when they were walking through the mall, one of the ladies at the cosmetic counter asked Charlotte if she wanted some lip gloss. Of course she did!

 

We also went to visit Grandma. Grandma's room was so nice and quiet before we showed up! There were Cheerios and sippy cups all over the place! Even though it was a bit chaotic, it was so nice for Grandma to have us all there together. 

We had dinner at Mama and Papa's house one night and Charlotte, being the wonderful little helper she is, decided to wash the dishes. She washed and re-washed everything in the sink over and over and over! There water everywhere, but she sure did have a good time!

And Nathan, Pearce, the dogs, and Papa had fun playing outside. Pearce started walking while he was here so it was so much fun to watch him practice!

Party day! Charlotte woke up to her new Pottery Barn chair from Mommy and Daddy. I've been wanting to get Charlotte a chair for a while now so I was finally able to talk Wayne into the Potter Barn chair...it is a bit expensive, but there was one day when these chairs went on sale for just that day, and Wayne gave me the green light. I'm not sure that he actually knew what this chair looked like, he just knew I had to have THIS chair! When it got delivered and I got it put together (had to put the slip cover over the foam inserts), Wayne was like "That's the chair?" And I said, "Yes, it's so perfect! Don't you like it?" And he said, "For the amount of money we paid, you'd think there would be some wood in there like an actual piece of furniture!" I just about died laughing! 

Here is my little cutie pie getting ready to go to Build-A-Bear for her party. She had been so excited for her party all week. All of her friends from her preschool class were going to be there. Every single day, we would talk about who was coming to her party. She would name all of her friends in her class and hold up her fingers as she said their names. It was so cute how excited she was. 

When we got to Build-A-Bear in the mall, Charlotte started to get a bit overwhelmed. She didn't want me to take any pictures of her at first and did not want me to stop holding her. I was thinking, oh great, please don't be in a bad mood for your party! But she was only sad in the very beginning while we were waiting for all of the guests to get there. Once the party got started, she got happy!

The kids got to choose between a brown bear, a white bear, or a puppy dog. They each named their animal. Nathan chose Cracker and Charlotte chose Coolie. How funny are those names?!

Next, we went over to the stuffing machine. But before they got to stuff their animals, the party guide let everyone pick out two little hearts. One heart was for their own animal, and the other heart went into Charlotte's doggie. They each kissed their hearts and made wishes for Charlotte. It was really cute and sweet. 

Even Baby Pearce had fun!

Time to stuff!

After everyone stuffed their animals, it was so fun to see them realize that they had a real stuffed animal to love!

Time to give a bath and pick out a shirt, sign the autograph bear, and take a group picture! 

Charlotte was a little tired at this point and did not want to take a picture by herself with her friends. So I sat with her, but she still didn't want to smile...then I bribed her by telling her I would get the little cell phone toy she had her eye on earlier. SMILE!

Now it's time for cupcakes. We had a little bit of confusion here. When I called to schedule the party, they told me that they don't have a party room where we can serve food, but to use the food court. I knew that there was a cookie place with tables and chairs just a few doors down and asked if I could serve the cupcakes there. They said sure! So when the kids were just about finished making their animals, I sent Carrie and Alexandra to get set up. Carrie comes back and says that those tables are for the cookie store's customers only. So I sent Wayne to help them. He ended up having to buy a cookie cake to be a "paying customer!" Previously, I thought about just doing a cookie cake instead of cupcakes, but they were so expensive! But we had to get one anyway! 

Oh well, it all worked out, and everyone had a great time.

Time to open presents! Charlotte got so many nice things. She was one happy little girl!

Plus, we also did Mother's day gifts for our moms. We gave Grandmother a gift certificate to one of our favorite restaurants, Gloria's and Mama a charm for her James Avery bracelet and a foot massage. Happy Mother's day to two of the best Moms in the world!

Even though this was Charlotte's birthday weekend, Nathan had so much fun being with his big cousins, Alexandra and Robert. He thinks he is a big boy when he is around them! Wayne took the three of them to the new Iron Man movie, and Wayne said Nathan was in Heaven. At the movies, he got Nathan and kid's snack pack which came with a small drink, popcorn, and candy. Alexandra and Robert each got their drinks and candy, and Wayne said that when Nathan saw that his drink was smaller than Alexandra's and Robert's, he told Wayne he wanted a bigger drink like theirs. Of course, he didn't drink all of it, but Wayne said he was so happy to be "big" like them. 

And here's one more story I have to tell: before the party, Nathan had his first baseball game. Wayne took Robert with him to watch Nathan play. On the way there, Robert was telling Wayne and Nathan that there is another little boy at Robert's school that looks like him, and everyone is always asking if they are brothers. Then Nathan joined in and said that people are always asking him if he and Robert are brothers. This really isn't true, but Nathan loves Robert and likes the idea of Robert being his brother. So they all went to the game, and Wayne said that Robert cheered on Nathan and was really excited to watch Nathan play his first game. Afterwards, when they were all walking to the car, Robert told Nathan that someone in the stands said, "That little boy looks just like you, are you two brothers?" Wayne said that Nathan just completely lit up and was so excited. No one really asked Robert that, but he knew it would make Nathan happy. How sweet is that?