Hadley Turns Three!!

I cannot believe my baby is Three!! And she was so very excited for her birthday (even if she kept telling everyone she was turning five) and requested a "flutter fly"cake weeks ahead of time (a book we have says the flutter flutter of a butterfly, so she started calling butterflies - flutterfly when she started talking).

While she napped I worked on her cake, she really only likes the frosting part of the cake so I made it just a simple buttercream and lots of M&Ms.

                                      

The finished product, its nothing fancy but we were so excited for her to see it, her screams did not disappoint!

 We started off with presents

 She loves sparkly things so I found a set of 48 necklaces for 8 bucks on amazon and gave her about 10 of them, she was thrilled!

My Mom made her baby a little matching Cinderella dress, we had to change the baby immediately.

We saved the big present for last! A friend was selling her little house so I snatched it up and Hadley was overjoyed to see it in her yard!

 She ran over holding her baby, the baby's new quilt and the 10 necklaces around her neck, she is hilarious.

 She spent hours that day and almost every day since then in her little house (my friend even painted it this cute green and yellow)

 My Mom bought little chairs for the inside, it was so fun to see her so very happy.

 After we were able to drag her back inside we had her favorite dinner of pizza and peaches and moved onto cake!

She needed just a little help blowing the candles out

Elise approved of the M&Ms

 We spent the rest of the day in dress up clothes and playing with our new toys!

Fun Facts About Hadley:

She is 96% in height and 90% in weight, she is tall and lean and fits somewhere between a 3t and 4t. 

Favorite Songs - Once there was a Snowman, Popcorn Popping and this English CD I play in the car that has Wheels on the Bus, Round and Round the Garden, Open Shut Them and Wake Up Your Muscles. She now likes to sing along to Angel Lullaby when I sing to her at night.

Favorite Books - There is a Wocket in My Pocket, The Cat in the Hat, we love anything by Sandra Boyton (currently Barnyard Dance and Whats Wrong Little Pookie), Happy Easter Mouse!(we read this all year long, she surprised me the other night be quoting almost the entire thing) and a Richard Scary Counting Book.

Favorite Shows - She tends to rotate favorites but always adores Curious George. Her current faves are Toy Story 3, The Lorax and Princess and the Frog.

Favorite Food - After a slight boycott of most foods when moving back from England, she now is back to her happy eating self. She loves Pizza, Mac and Cheese, Sausage, Spaghetti, Herbed Cheese and Trader Joes Yogurts (she can be picky, these are the closest we have found to English ones). She begs for Parmesan Goldfish and "sugar da butter" - cinnamon sugar and butter on wheat bread with no crusts. She likes Strawberries, Peaches, Apples and Bananas and will eat an entire meal of cooked carrots.

She loves to ride her bike, play with her tea set, dress up in her shoes and pretty dresses and twirl, make me "dinner" and push around the stroller or put her baby to bed, her Thomas the Train and blocks. She is always asking to get out the paints/crayons/markers and I love that she has started telling me stories with her pictures. She still loves to help me in the kitchen. She also asks everyday if we are going to singing time or the park.

Favorite letter is "W" (not entirely sure why) and can draw the letter "H". Her favorite color rotates daily, often landing on green and blue.

She practically crawls out of her skin with excitement when we go swimming. She loves animals and searches for doggies and critters when we go on walks. She also is very polite and sometimes will follow us around until we say "you're welcome" in response to her "thank you".

She has the sweetest, tenderest heart. She is so gentle with her sister and always bringing her toys or gifts when she is sad and honestly tries to include her in her playing time. Now that they are old enough  (and there is a slight lull in the sibling rivalry) they like to play cars together, play in the kitchen and her new house and push each other around on the bikes. Nobody was happier that Elise started walking than Hadley and she cheers her "Leesy" on! Hadley will also ask me if "mommy sad?" and tell me to "big smile" if she things I am sad or unhappy. I marvel that my kids come with such distinct personalities and I am just trying not to screw them up. Along with her sweet self we also have a flair for the dramatic and have been known to throw our arm desperately across our forehead as we cry, I cant help but laugh!

She is a talker and when she gets excited talks really fast and really high (no idea where that came from...) and has entered the "what's that" phase and it was been great to get a better glimpse of how her mind works.

She also is still a very meticulous child and is rarely dirty, loves to have things organized and enjoys helping cleaning up (this is all her Dad, I have a feeling sharing a room with her younger sister may kill her one day). She continues to be our sound sleeper and early riser.

She very much knows her own mind and will do things when she decides she is good and ready. She is pretty much immune to bribery, but sometimes succumbs to an ice cream cone.

She is a happy little thing that loves to laugh and be around people, she still follows me around to hold my hand and loves to sit on our laps when we read books at night. She is so full of light and makes me happier than I ever could have imagined. We are so glad you came into our family Hadley Jane, we are grateful for every minute and so proud of the little girl you are becoming.  Happy Birthday my Pretty Baby!