Little E's Birthday. 3 Years Old!!!

Dear Michael,

I can't beleive it, our little girl is 3 years old! How crazy is that? She is turning into such a fun little person. I feel badly because a lot of the time I just don't have enough energy/patience to make life as fun as it should be for her. You would have had such a blast playing with her in the back yard, or splashing in puddles outside during our insanely wet spring we have had. But we are doing our best and for the most part I think we are having a pretty great time. Her birthday was epic! Everyone had such a great time and it couldn't have been more perfect. :) We did a dinosaur train themed party and we were totally helped out by some really amazing neighbors. We actually got to ride a real train! I will tell you more about it in a second.  I think the best way to tell you about it is with picture! So I will just follow the day with these pictures and try not to miss anything.

 Little E woke up and was so excited because her cousins had come to stay the night with us. Grandma P passed away a week and a half before and we were having her funeral in the morning. While that may sound like a crummy way to start a birthday it actually ended up making this one of her best birthdays yet! All of her cousins from my side of the family got to be here for it. It was like a family reunion! Her aunt Lori bought her Dinosaur Egg oatmeal for breakfast and she had a great time watching the eggs "Catch" (hatch) while she ate them. It was so fun to watch her searching for the different colored dinosaurs in the bowl. After breakfast the adults went to the memorial service (which was beautiful!) and she got to play with the young cousins and a few family friends. They had a great time playing in the basement and she had so much fun getting to spend time with her cousin that moved to California. They have really missed each other and were so excited to be back together.

After the memorial service we zipped over and grabbed the kids to go out to "Daddy's place" and say goodbye to "Grandma Fishy" as Little E fondly called her. She had a great time running around and looking at all the headstones. Plus she got to keep one of the yellow roses and brought it home to put it in some water. I was really impressed with how well she handled the whole thing. She waved goodbye to grandma and at one point she even ran up to the casket and gave it a big kiss goodbye. It was so sweet. She really did love her great grandma. As grandma said, Little E always had a smile for her when we came to visit.

We had lunch at the church afterward and she got to eat with Uncle Kevin and had a big cup of ice cream! She was in heaven having Kevin focus on her. I think she may have a little bit of a crush! lol She can't get enough of him and often pretends to be Kevin and I am Laura while we play at home. Its pretty cute.

After lunch we went home for a late nap. I had to wake her up less than an hour later to make it to the party on time. (we were still a half hour late because I needed a memory card to take pictures and couldn't find it etc. I can never seem to make it to things on time anymore...) I actually got her half dressed in her party clothes before she even woke up! She was so exhausted from playing with everyone but once we got to the main birthday party she was too excited to feel her exhaustion anymore. Like I said earlier, her party was all about TRAINS! We got to go to one of my parents neighbors houses for an amazing ride on their "baby train". I actually remember driving past the tracks on the way to school as a kid and wishing so baddly to be able to ride on the train. But I never got the chance until now. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait! It was so much fun even the adults were all giddy!

Since Little E was the guest of honor she got to ride right behind the engineer, and that grin never left her face! After the first go around her cousin tried to move, but Little E grabbed her from behind and said "No, sit down R.! We are going again! You sit here!" it was really funny. She wanted her best friend right there by her side.

R's Dad was "The conductor." I found that dinosaur hat at the dollar store and it was perfect for our party. He kept calling from the back "Time tunnel, Time tunnel approaching." and then he would add some flair with "On your right is the T-Rex feeding ground. Keep your hands inside!" lol It was awesome.

The whole gang! I have to say, it is so wonderful that we have gotten family pictures so frequently lately. They are so important to me now. They warm my heart!

The last ride we went on Little E rode in the caboose. She was pretty darn excited! Seriously, this was probably one of the best days she has ever had! lol

There was a little tunnel in a building we went through and every time we would go in the driver would honk the horn which was really loud. Little E was a little nervous about this part and would always cover her ears when we got close to the to.

The tunnel is coming! Look out! She was so stinking cute. :)

On to the next great adventure!

She was so excited to get to sit in the drivers seat!

What an angel. I can't believe it has been three years since this precious girl came into my life!

The whole train next to the platform.

R playing in the caboose, she was the perfect model.

But there is more than a little monkey in her too!

Uncle Kevin pushing her on the swings after the ride.

Little E had watermelon in honor of her first birthday when she inhaled a huge piece of it like it was ambrosia!

Can you beleive how much she has grown! I couldn't beleive it when she ate that entire piece down to the rind! She loved every bite. :) Crazy how I thought she was such a big girl then.

Her birthday cake this year. I really have wanted to make a tradition where I made cool cakes for our kids birthdays, but it just couldn't happen this year with the funeral and all the family in town. So instead I found a toy that I knew she would like and told them exactly what I wanted. :) It was still a completely unique cake even if I didn't make it. I think it turned out really cute and she loved that it was her favorite color, Green!

Who doesn't love birthday cake?

Showing off her green frosting. She gives me this look all the time, its her "I am pretending to be shy but really I want ALL of your attention" look. She does it a lot when we are out in public and someone tried to flirt with her. lol

After the cake and candles we opened birthday presents. She got so many wonderful gifts this year and has had a great week enjoying all of her new goodies. This morning I caught her trying to wear the little doggy in a purse that Grandma and Grandpa M gave her as a backpack. She was getting ready to go on a trip. She also had the purse Caroline gave her over one arm and the inner tube  I gave her on like a tutu. She was all dressed up and ready to hit the town! Its funny to see how creative kids can be with things and how much joy they can get out of a birthday gift over the years. Thank you to everyone who came and made her birthday truly special!

It was really was an amazing birthday and I am pretty sure you were right there celebrating with us. I bet you even sang Happy Birthday right next to your little girl and helped her blow out the candle. Thank you for being such an great daddy to our wonderful little 3 year old! Happy Birthday Little E! You're Three! Yipee!!

Love,
Jenny