Fit for a Fairy Princess

Margie Grace blowing out her candles

She couldn't wait for her friends to sing "Happy Birthday!"

Friends jumping in the bounce house

Margie Grace and her friend Lily "flying around" as fairy princesses!

Margie Grace decorating her crown

On the occassion of her third birthday, Margie Grace celebrated in style with a fairy princess party. This is the first year that we've had a party where we've invited friends -- we usually just celebrate with family -- and I think everyone had a great time! All the girls got fairy wings and wands (gotta love the dollar tree!) upon arrival and then decorated pink foam crowns to complete their fairy princess outfits. After briefly "flying around" on the deck, they were ready to hit the purple castle bounce house set up in the backyard. Margie Grace's dad and Poppy built her a new swingset for her birthday so she was excited to also share this with her friends. We capped everything off with a purple castle cake to match the purple castle bouncer. She is still talking about her birthday party so I know she had a lot of fun!

**Special thanks to Aunt Laura for driving all the way from Tennessee to help Margie Grace celebrate and for bringing MG her very own specially adorned blue birthday-girl fairy wings!! They were a BIG hit!

She's 3!

October 6 is -- and always will be -- a special day at our house! It is Margie Grace's birthday. It seems like it was literally yesterday that I was writing this post and taking these pictures. Another year has passed and she has changed so much! For the sake of documenting, here's what she's into these days. Her favorite color is blue and she always chooses anything based on its color (and always the blue one!). Her favorite movie of the moment is Peter Pan but this is subject to change (weekly, daily, even hourly). She loves to say that things are "awesome" and "delicious!" She is a voracious reader and loves books. We read several at naptime and bedtime each night. She also loves it when you tell her a story and she is always requesting a story-telling session. She can get herself dressed totally by herself (although some garments need assistance like those pesky bouses that button in the back). She loves taking a bath, playing dress up and caring for her many baby dolls. She is quite the little mother! And she is very fond of the Disney princesses, specifically Cinderella and Ariel, the Little Mermaid. Since she has started school in August, I have noticed how many people (both at preschool and church) tell me what a sweet child she is. I think this is perhaps the best thing to hear as a parent -- especially when you hear that 2 and 3 can be such challenging ages behavior-wise. I love that she is kind and sweet to others. (She loves to give hugs too and gives the world's best!) She is a very gentle and loving child who is sympathetic toward other people and I hope these are qualities she carries with her all the way into adulthood. She does have her moments -- nobody is perfect, even in the blogosphere :) -- but for the most part, she always has a sunny disposition and a very optimistic outlook on life.

Back to her birthday -- I can't believe she's already 3! A couple of nights ago Neil said "Can you believe we have a kid?!?" To which I answered, "Where have you been for the past three years?!?" But I know what he was meaning. Time is fleeting and she is already growing up so fast before our eyes! I don't think I'm going to tell him that she asked me just the other day if she could get married when she grows up. I told her to ask her daddy :) I remember being very pregnant (and in hindsight only a few days away from delivering MG) when I heard this song on the radio. Knowing I was about to have a little girl, it was particularly meaningful to me. Every time I hear it now, I always think of Margie Grace because I think it fits her perfectly. She is lovely, she's heaven-sent and everyday I know she is a blessing from God. Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Celebrating Two Years Old

As yesterday was Margie Grace's 2nd birthday, we had a little party for her with our family that live in town: Neil and I, my parents, grandparents and brother. We will have another party with out-of-town family and friends this Saturday so that everyone can celebrate this special occasion with Margie Grace. And we are taking a special trip next week to commemorate this event (why not stretch this birthday thing out all month, right?) It is a good thing that we decided to divide up all of the fun. Margie Grace opened her presents last night very thoroughly, examining each one and demanding that someone "open it," meaning actually take each individual toy or item out of the packaging after she had unwrapped it. And it didn't stop with opening the gifts, MG wanted to inspect and play with each one after it was unwrapped. She had a great time and she really savored every moment of the gift giving. She also enjoyed blowing out the candles on her cupcakes. In fact, she had practiced blowing them out so much that she extinguished one of the candles before we even got the other one lit. We had to do the candle blowing a couple of times just to make sure we got enough pictures, but she didn't mind as she enjoyed blowing them out each time. Here are a few pictures from yesterday's festivities.

Happy Birthday, Margie Grace!

Happy Birthday, Margie Grace! Monday my sweet baby girl turns 2 years old! As I write this on Sunday evening, Oct. 5, and reflect on MG's birthday, I can't help but think back to two years ago today when I was as big as a house and thought my little pumpkin would never get here! I am so glad that she decided to make her debut a whole two weeks and one day early because I honestly thought I would not make it another day pregnant. In fact, I left work early on Oct. 5, 2006, feeling pretty crummy. I told Neil that afternoon to please just take me out and shoot me -- like they do with old horses that are past their prime. I told him I had great confidence in his ability to be a single parent; I simply couldn't take being pregnant for one more second! In hindsight, I was feeling so terrible because Margie Grace was on her way. And at 2:09 a.m. on Friday morning Oct. 6, we greeted her for the first time. I can't believe it has been two years already since that moment when our life changed forever. Neil and I often ask each other what we did before Margie Grace was born. Honestly, we can't really remember -- life was pretty boring! She continues to make every waking moment more interesting than the next. Happy Birthday, Margie Grace!