My baby turned 3 yesterday. We had a great weekend playing with our friends the Hennemann's at the cabin. The Hennemann's are moving from Florida to Alaska (talk about serious culture shock!!) and were just passing through on their trek north. They have a little girl who is exactly 2 months older than Addie and a 8 month old baby. So Lily was gaga over the baby; calling her Reese (her baby friend from daycare) all day yesterday. Addie and Ellie played as only 3 year old girls can play. They played with their babies, had a rousing game of Hungry Hungry Hippo (or Oh So Hungry Hippo as the girls were calling it), bounced on a giant inflatable castle, watched Sleeping Beauty, and generally just had a great time.
We brought some presents to the cabin and Grandma Argh made a cake so we were able to celebrate Addie's birthday. We'll have a big party next Saturday. In the meantime, everyone is glad to be home. Lily has been running a fever all weekend so she's feeling pretty crummy. It was 103 last night, but seems to have come down some. She's pushing teeth through but she must have a virus on top of that. Poor little thing.
This morning on the way home I was thinking about how much things have changed in three years. Three years ago I was shocked when the doctor told me I should have a C-Section on the following morning (Aug 19). I cried because this was not what I wanted, yet I was so excited to know that my baby would be there the next day. It was such a crazy roller coaster range of emotions.
Then we saw this cute little thing with the crazy Don King shock of dark hair and the scream you could hear all the way down the hall of the Birth Center. Who wouldn't want to take her home? I love you to pieces baby girl! Even if you don't want us calling you our little girl anymore (Little Big Girl is acceptable though.)
Is that an excited face or what?! We had a great birthday party on Saturday. Lots of friend and family, Addie is still talking about it. We gave Addie a new bike. It's one that starts as a trike and converts to a 2 wheeler. The first thing she said was, "Can I have a Pink one?" Nope, sorry honey, it only comes in red. 
And when everyone else left, the cousins, Aunties, Uncle and Grandma & Grandpa were still there to play. The 4 cousins all get along so well.
Then we saw this cute little thing with the crazy Don King shock of dark hair and the scream you could hear all the way down the hall of the Birth Center. Who wouldn't want to take her home? I love you to pieces baby girl! Even if you don't want us calling you our little girl anymore (Little Big Girl is acceptable though.)
Here's a picture from the Optimist Club convention at the first of the month. Our "evening of fun" was a train ride up the north shore of Lake Superior. It also included a pizza dinner. That's always an issue with Lily around. I couldn't really special order a cheeseless pizza like I would normally order since you pretty much just get a 1/2 pizza per person and they're all the same. So... I brought Lily's lunch bag with me filled with cheeseless pizza (I keep leftovers in the freezer and just take out a piece or 2 as needed.), fruit roll-ups, juice boxes and other special treats that they don't usually get. Luckily I didn't have to worry about contact allergies with her so I didn't freak out about her touching the seats or anything. 
Can you believe that this was Addie at her 1st birthday party? Boy she has grown! Addie keeps telling me that "Now I all grown up Momma." It just about breaks your heart! She's definitely becoming a big kid. The first week in September she'll move downstairs to the preschool room at daycare. That will be very hard for me!
The girls had a great time at the beach on Sunday. We got together with the FOP for a picnic. Although Adam works with all these folks, the families don't often have a chance to get together and play. Addie immediately stripped down and waded into the lake. That's really saying something since the average temp of the lake is 37 degrees F. Addie really didn't seem to mind though! We spent a lot of time collecting rocks (that I need to remember to take out of her pockets before the shorts go through the wash). 
John O taught Addie to make a really good sandcastle. She spent a lot of time shoveling sand into her bucket. 
Both girls were covered head to toe in sand by the time we got home. I'm still trying to wash the sand out of Addie's hair. I've pretty much given up the fight against sand in the carseat - I figure it's a lost cause. 