Amelia's 3rd Birthday

Amelia turned 3 years old yesterday!  When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said "lots and lots of balloons" and "lots and lots of cake".  So, we blew up 30+ balloons and bought a Costco cake (that serves 48 when we only needed a cake that served about 10).  I put up decorations the night before, so that when she woke up, she'd see all of the balloons, but by morning, half of them had fallen down.  And within an hour of waking up, Amelia had pulled (or requested) the rest of them down!  She didn't seem to mind that we put some of them back up, just as long as we didn't put them where she didn't want them.  Amelia definitely wants/needs things her way . . . or else!  Amelia loves to take pictures with the camera (if she was a bit older, I'd probably buy one for her) and took pictures of Ken and I in our party hats (excuse the "just woke up" look), putting back up decorations, and balloons.

Then I took a picture of Amelia with one of her balloons, at her request, and this is what she did.  (BTW - she's not wearing a party dress; she's wearing her dress from church on Sunday, that she slept in.)

Ken took the day off and helped me as we hosted a small birthday party for Amelia and a few of her friends.  We kept it simple - 3 friends, minimal games, lots of snacks and plenty of time to just run around and play.  Amelia is coloring while she waits for her friends to come.

Amelia gets scared when people sing Happy Birthday (I blame it on the fireworks/loud noise fear from July), so we skipped the singing as you can see in the video.  I especially like how the party hat gets involved ;)

 Birthday Party Friends eating cake

Some of her favorite birthday presents included a Circus Tent . . .

 a tunnel . . .

an umbrella and flashlight (that doesn't require batteries - that's my favorite).  Overall I think Amelia had a good time.   But I've come to the conclusion that even though I love celebrating birthdays, I don't think we'll be having a party every year - it's too exhausting.

Happy Birthday Amelia!