the week she turned three

part of me still can't believe that I am even able to write this post. Can my baby really already be three? 

Her birthday was last Wednesday, but we really started celebrating on Monday. What happened Monday? My little sister flew in to spend a few days with us. 

After her flight arrived we went out to eat, and this was outside of our restaurant. You can't ignore  a photo op when your Aunt Tukka is here! lol. Baby Bear loved having her here, even if her reaction at the airport was a little underwhelming. We had told Baby Bear that we were there to get her a birthday surprise. We expected her to be all squeals when my sister walked up. She looked at Tukka and said " We are looking for my surprise! ". It took a minute to explain that she was the surprise.  After dinner we drove the not so short drive home and all settled in for the night. It had been a long day for everyone!

On Tuesday we all got up, had breakfast, and then got ready to go out for a while. Baby Bear had been wanting to go to Build-A-Bear and get something for the longest time, and even though she has tons of stuffed toys, we waited until Tukka was here so that she could take her to get something. After what seemed like forever Baby Bear finally picked this super soft bunny.

We stuffed it and then she did all of the little things you do with the heart. It was so cute to watch her so smiley while she was kissing it and rubbing it on her hip and cheek. After purchasing a couple of outfits for her new toy we were good to go! We went home and spent our evening together. We cooked a nice meal and I soaked up every minute with my sister. Then once Baby Bear went to bed, Tukka and I started working on a little surprise for her to wake up to in the morning.

We blew up over 40 balloons by mouth and had them all over the living room floor for her to wake up to the following morning. 

Wednesday was finally HER BIRTHDAY! She woke up and came to Mommy and Daddy. We all cuddled in bed for a minute and then asked her if she wanted to getup and go to the living room to watch her morning cartoons. We followed closely behind her and when she walked into the living room she was SHOCKED! I don't think we even had to turn on cartoons. She played in the balloons all morning. She knew that she was having a party on this day so she kept asking about it. When she went down for her nap Momma, Daddy, and Aunt Tukka were on a mad dash to start decorating and get everything set up before she woke up. We went pretty simple, but she LOVED it.

We had lasagna, cake, and decorations. But best of all to her, we had these...

She was so excited when she saw all of those presents that were just for her! Girl definitely racked up! According to her, she had the best day ever! I was so happy about that. 

Thursday we woke up and were all a little sad because we knew Tukka had to go home. We got up and got ready and then went on that not so short drive to the airport. I think we held it together pretty well saying goodbye and we shed minimal tears. But we were definitely sad because we knew we would all miss her until we see her again. But when we got home Baby Bear perked right up because two boxes worth of presents from Nonna (my mom) were waiting for us at our front door. 

Out of the many many presents that she got, her favorite seems to be the princess dress up clothes that she got. She has pranced around as a princess for days!

She was even playing with her other toys that she got in her princess attire. 

I seriously love this little girl!

I am SO HAPPY that she had such a great birthday! 

Now she is already talking about when she turns 4. How do you explain to a 3 year old that she has to wait a whole year? lol.