G is THREEEEEE!

My little G turned three last Tuesday.  She's getting so big!!

She woke up at 6:30 am screaming, "MOM!!!!  I'M THREEEEEE!!!!"  I guess she didn't forget what day it was.  She's really into Minnie Mouse and wanted to have a Minny birthday, so I did my best to make that happen.  She had some really specific ideas for her cake, specifically that it had to be pink and strawberry.  Seeing as how we were having guests and I knew no one else would want to eat a strawberry cake, I did what I had to do to fool her.  Pink food coloring.  It turned out pretty tasty, and looked cute, too.  I used regular and mini Oreo's to make Minny heads, then added pink bows with frosting.

Please disregard the wine in the bottom of the photo.  Thanks.

We had her favorite food for dinner, Buca di Beppo!  She would eat at Buca every day of her life if we let her.  My parents and my brothers J and M, M's girlfriend B, R and J came over for dinner, cake, ice cream and presents.  It was a great day, she was so appreciative of everything, I was very proud of her!

Opening presents with Grandpa

A princess dress.... and a very unfortunate hat.

Unfortunate for everyone.

This is the best three she can make right now.  We're working on it.

Dad and J dressed alike.  They're so close.

The following Saturday was her birthday party, we try to keep them very low key (read: cheap) and fun for the kids, so this party involved the swing set, a blow up pool and a pinata.  Bring on the fun!

G and C and their bestie A

Aunt K pushing G and A on the swings

A, A, G, C: One of the only pictures of all the kids together (minus two babies also in attendance)

Blowing out the candles.  This was the ugliest cake I've ever had at a party.  Shameful.  I had big plans for this cake...specifically not having it look like this. Kroger really dropped the ball.

How much gross blue frosting can you lick off of one Minnie figurine?

A big thanks to my friend B for taking so many great pictures.  I took exactly zero pictures, glad I could count on her to take 500 pictures (give or take) of the day!  There are many other good ones of the kids but many of them involve me looking not as...ummm... thin nice as I would like. 

Some good news to end G's third birthday post:

I mentioned in a previous post that G has been having some medical issues.  She has been having dizzy spells where she feels like the room is spinning.  They started about two months ago and were sporadic but have been happening more frequently.  Her pediatrician sent her to an ENT and pretty much said let's hope the ENT sees something because if not then we're going to have an MRI to look for a mass in her brain.  The ENT didn't see anything and we had the MRI last Thursday.  She had to be sedated and it was quite traumatic for me- she did great, she didn't cry once!  I, on the other hand, cried a lot.  The doctor called this weekend to tell us that her MRI was normal!!!  Thank God!!!  We still have to see a Neurologist and are still trying to figure out what's going on (possible seizures, etc.), but she does not have a mass in her brain.  Thank you all for your kind words, thoughts and prayers.  We are so very thankful.