Finishing it out

When we got home our alley neighbors were outside having a barbecue so we decided to go over and spend some time with them. Kaylie loves seeing the girls so this was a great way to end our day. She got to spend time jumping on the trampoline and playing with her good friends. How she had the energy to do this I don't know.

I love the next three pics. For some reason she kept thinking this wand was a camera. She puts it up to her face and walks around saying cheese.

My precious miracle. Happy birthday baby girl!!!

Babes

For dinner we took the entire group to the best place for good, down home country cooking...BABES. If you have never been you have to go. There is more food than you will know what to do with and the fried chicken with mashed potatoes are the best. Yummy...makes me hungry just thinking about it.

We got there a little later than we would have liked so we sat outside and enjoyed the wait. The kids were very entertained and well behaved during this time. Made the wait a heck of a lot easier.

Sad this is so dark. Other than that it was a great picture. Personally I think the Barbie dolls that have posed for the picture look the best.

Pre birthday dinner down time

Right after Kaylie's party we took the opportunity to let the kids play and the adults relax (or should I say "pass out") before heading off to dinner.



Grandma Chris gave Kaylie this easel set. Considering Kaylie plays with it all the time I would have to say this was definitely a hit! The goal now is to try and keep her from covering her entire body in marker while she plays. It made going to school clean a little difficult.



She crawled under here on her own. Jason didn't even realize it until one of us brought attention to it.



Loved this picture of Garrett. Thought it was so sweet.



Snack time



This easel is only sold at Target. With it you have the option of buying these boxes that have a bunch of different art supplies that can be used in conjunction with this. The stencil kit is one of the things she loved using. I was surprised she knew what to do with it. She did great with the tracing. Occasionally I would catch her tracing the letters around the board. It was so sweet to watch.

Awwwwww...I think Garrett found the key to the toys.

Kaylie insisted on helping Garrett down the stairs.

To you from us

Originally, Jason and I thought we were going to get Kaylie a tricycle for her birthday. She loves to use the bikes of her friends so we thought this would be a great gift. After seeing her ride the scooter and get on the bike itself we talked with a guy at Richardson Bike Mart and explained the benefits of starting with the bike instead of the trick. Since Kaylie is already stable on the bike it would actually hurt her to start with a trick because the pedals are farther forward versus straight up and down like a bike. This small detail can cause the transition from trike to bike very difficult for small kids. After hearing that the decision was made. As you can see from her reaction she loves it. We decided to give it to her the day of her party versus the day of her actual birthday so our family could enjoy seeing her open it.

Pump It Up

For Kaylie's birthday we decided to have her party at Pump It Up. Pump It Up is a giant building full of various types of inflatable things for the kids to play on. The very first few times we had a birthday there Kaylie was so terrified we actually had to leave because she couldn't even handle the noise. After going to a birthday a few months before and seeing how well she was doing we knew exactly what we were going to do for her party.

After "the girls" grabbed Kaylie's hand to take her on the first inflatable, Kaylie was off. She did anything they would do. It was so incredibly awesome to see our baby girl do things we had never seen her do completely coming out of her comfort zone. Apparently, three is her year to come out of her shell and become even more fearless then she already is. We just watched in awe at what she could do. We are so grateful for the blessings God has given us in helping her grow and become independent. Wow!!!

The party went so incredibly well. We were so blessed to have Kaylie's friends bless us by coming to celebrate with us. We thank everyone for taking the time out to come and be with us.