Ava Turns 3

Last month my baby girl turned 3!!  I can't believe it.  I was NOT prepared on her actual birthday, so we postponed celebrating it until the following Saturday.  I figured if we celebrated it within her birthday week, we were fine. I vowed to never do this (just tell your child what day her birthday is, instead of on the actual day), but yet again, another time when I've had to eat my words.  I don't know a ton about parenting, but one of the biggest lessons I have learned so far is to "Never Say Never".  Just a few examples:  I'm never going to yell at my kids in the store - done it. I'm never going to let my kids sleep with us - done it (and still do it). My kids will never yell or talk back to their parents - they do.  I won't contradict myself (tell them they can't play with my kitchen tools one day, and then let them play with them the next day) - do it (every other day).  I even remember when we just had Noah, and we said we weren't going to use the word No (we tried to rephrase it so we didn't have to say no all the time) - do it ALL DAY LONG. Oh man, my parenting philosophies have changed drastically since then. I won't get lax with every kid I have - done it A LOT!

OK, back to Ava.  Went on a tangent for a minute there.  We didn't celebrate on her birthday because I didn't have her present or a cake made.  I was planning on getting her a bike, but kept putting off ordering it.  I ended up ordering it, but it didn't come until a week later.  She ended up getting a play cookie set and markers too, since her bike didn't come and she needed something to open.  

 

Ava's been talking about her 'party' (birthday) for a few months, so the night before we started getting her excited about her birthday.  She was so happy the whole day, and kept telling us it was her 'party'.  After she opened her presents, we practiced blowing out candles on her waffles.  She loved when we all sang to her.

 The kids love their cakes.  I think it's their favorite part (which makes me happy since they take a lot of work).  They tell me throughout the year what they want for their next birthday cake.  It usually turns into a fight between them, because one will say, "you can't have any of my ______ (insert type of cake they have chosen) cake" and then the other ones will cry. It's one of the ongoing battles at our house.  Anyway, Ava's not really passionate about any one particular thing, so it was a little more difficult thinking of what to make for her.  We got a Strawberry Shortcake movie a few weeks ago, and she liked it, so that's how we decided on this cake.  She is starting to get into princesses now, but I already had this cake envisioned when the princess phase started.  I think it turned out cute.

I had to post this one, because while I was taking pictures of Ava with her cake, Grant was in the back sticking his fingers in the cake.

GRANT!!  By the time I caught him he had a fairly large chunk taken out of the back.  I immediately thought of my birthday cake (duck with an umbrella - I think) when one of my siblings (I think it was Kyle, maybe Melissa) put their whole hand in the middle of my cake.  I was devastated.  Now I think it's hilarious.

Ava and her cake.  When she first saw it she said, "oh, my dirthday cake, I lub it".

 Her new Strawberry Shortcake bike. Pirate Smile.

At first she didn't care too much for this bike, because she couldn't figure out the pedals (she is used to her balance bike).  When she couldn't get it to go, she would get off of it and hit the seat and scream at it. :)   Now she's a pro and LOVES it. 

Happy Birthday *just Ava, we love you so much.

*Whenever we call Ava princess, dolphin (when she swims), tiger (she's always growling at everyone), etc. she tells us, "I'm not a princess, I'm Ava". :)

Someday if I ever get her 3 year old pictures done, I'll add some more "Ava-isms" to that post.