Smith Family: Natalie is 3! Happy PINK Birthday!

My girl is 3! I can't believe it. It happend some time before today that she became 3... wasn't dependent upon the date... it just happened. How did I know? What were the signs?

She talks more clearly, she is taller, she likes girl stuff- no longer content to play whatever J.D. wants- she has her own ideas. She reads books to herself in her bed for 30 minutes before she goes to sleep, she plays dolls, sleeps with over 20 animals, dolls, bears, dogs, stuffed things (like a green rabbit... a pink horse... etc). She can chew gum and not swallow it (you have to be 3 in our house to be eligible to have gum- unless you are on an airplane and you are screaming b/c your ears hurt and the mommy is out of lolli's (a.k.a. lolly-pops). She notices the color pink everywhere. She sings and dances- the girl loves her music. She has an opinion on clothes, shoes and hair accessories. She is starting to have more confidence on her bike. She has friends. She tells J.D. she isn't done talking and to hush so she can finish talking- hmm! She likes flowers and butterflies. She likes make-up (grandpa John gave her the first set at Christmas- we gave her more today. She sits at her vanity and does her make-up- I used to sit at the same vanity with my cousin Nikki and do make-up, too. ) She loves LIPS as we call them- lip gloss, lip stick, chapstick, whatever. She loves lotion (which she calls soap). Lightening McQueen and Cinderella hold top spots for her animation preferences. She wants a puppy (BADLY). She no longer wears pull-ups (day or night). (We have recently purchase a waterproof mattress pad... but that is another story.) She loves babies. She washes her hands constantly- the girl can get dirty with the best of the them... but loves a little foaming soap to get clean! She pretends a lot. She throws temper tantrums. Her scream is piercing! The giggles and laughs... She enjoys jewelry. She reads her Bible (pictures) and loves Jesus! She is a delight- my joy (okay... one of the 3 joys).

Today is Natalie's 3rd Birthday. She wanted a PINK party. It was great. Here was the day...
As typically Smith fashion- the day started like Christmas morning (she awoke to decorations, presents and fun breakfast). Donuts with pink sprinkes, eggs and juice; followed by presents and presents and more presents. Then, a PINK outfit and a PINK party with friends. We had 5 friends over (Garrison, Daniel & Caroline; Avary and Evelyn). It was FUN, FUN, FUN! We made our own party hats (which would have been better with the right elastic- but oh well, the colored and stickered while lunch was getting ready- it served the purpose); we had PB&J (strawberry jelly of course), fruit with pink fruit dip and red peppers. Then, off for a pink scavenger hunt (I collected ALL of Natalie's pink toys to use either as decorations or for the hunt). The hunt was a huge success (and each kid found 7 things... everybody won- thank you, Lord!). We had white cake with pink icing and hot pink sprinkles and pink ice cream. Then, we opened presents... gave our friends their pink candy and called it a day! Whew...
This year, Natalie loved getting the following presents:
outfits (pink and green, perfect!), hair stuff- we LOVE hair stuff!, seeds for a butterfly garden, a princess lamp for her bedroom!, a plant for her bedroom, Fancy Nancy- dressups and book- (if you have a girl and don't know Fancy Nancy - like I didn't until today- you've got to check her out- she is wonderful- I'm a total fan in one day!), cake party set (Grandpa John- she has 'blown out that candle' a thousand times today!), kitchen items (Nana's were the best), make-up, gum, princess wand (obnoxious- may the batteries last till Nana gets here!), magnetic dress up dolls (Oma- they are awesome!), clothes for doll babies, more snap on pieces for her Fisher Price snap on dolls, a movie and more clothes! I think that is it... I'm not sure... the list is long- the presents pilled up... the fun of paper shredding and bow ripping was monumental in this house today!

Here are some fun pictures of our birthday gal today!