Cowgirls and Birthday Cake

So, as I mentioned, last week was Lily’s birthday. This was the first year that I think she really “got” what was happening.

Her birthday was on Thursday, but for scheduling purposes, it was easier to have her party on Saturday. Still, we wanted to make the actual day of her birthday a special one.

Before she got up, I hung streamers from her door (thank you Pinterest, for that idea!)

After she woke up she started things off with a special Daddy/daughter date to IHOP, which I’m pretty sure was probably her favorite part of the whole day. They ate pancakes and talked about princesses and listened to her favorite songs in the van on the way home. At naptime, she asked me to thank God, “for pancakes with Daddy.”

I happened to be babysitting for my friend Laura, which meant that Lily got to spend the rest of the morning with her friend Jaxon.

For lunch I made her a “special” grilled cheese sandwich in the shape of a heart. Which she hardly touched because she was so full from her giant pancake breakfast

I had also gotten her this “Bellywasher” bottle of juice with a Hello Kitty top – she LOVED it and we’ve washed it and refilled it with water almost every day since then

When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday dinner, she told me “cake”…we went with something (only slightly) more nutritious…macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. Oh, the simple tastes of a three year old!

She got to open two presents after dinner – a pair of pink cowgirl boots and a big Curious George storybook. The rest we saved for the day of her party.

And speaking of her party, we did a cowgirl theme this year…it was so easy and so much fun!

Dave’s mom bought Lily and Sophia matching cowgirl outfits with hats and they already had matching cowgirl boots. So cute, but naturally, I didn’t get a good picture of them together! They’re going to wear them for Halloween, so…maybe then!

I have long since accepted that cake decorating just isn’t my thang, so I asked my friend Deann to make a cake and it was absolutely the star of the show…

Seriously.

Mad skills.

Anyway…I made the banner with scrapbooking paper that I got on sale at Michael’s, 4/$1.00. Used this foam board stuff from the Dollar store and wrapped it in brown kraft paper for the “backdrop”. Some haybales (which I’m now using as outdoor fall décor) and a bucket full of root beer along with some .99 cent handkerchiefs from Hobby Lobby and voila! Party complete.

We had pulled pork and cheesy potatoes to eat (which just seemed cowgirl-ish to me) and then opened the loot.

Everything turned out great, but most importantly, Lily loved it!

And in just two more weeks…Sophia turns one!

Tear, tear *sniff, sniff*

I think I might start slipping coffee in their sippy cups to stunt their growth.

RELAX!

I’d give them decaf