alex's 3rd birthday

alex turned 3. in september. so like, 5 years ago in blogging time.
i consulted her on the desired theme for her party & she relied: "cake. & presents."

well kid. thanks for your input. so i decided on an Aloha theme. why? because i like hawaii. because i wish i lived there. because oriental trading was having a super sale on their aloha crap. perfect.

the forecast called for rain so i ordered this tent from Amazon: huge party tent
i was a little skeptical in regards to the quality but i have to say, i was impressed. yeah- it wasn't a wedding quality tent, but it was perfect for backyard parties. it went up easy & didn't bend, rip or break. it handled 2 days of rain (afterwards) & it came down in 1 piece, wrapped up & ready to go for next year.

anyway, it didn't rain. but still. we had sun shelter & somewhere to hang party things.
i made aloha type foods & drinks & instructed people to wear their hawaiian best.

the adults sat on mats/stood & the kids sat at the picnic table/laps. they played with stickers & coloring books & simply ran around. i didn't really attempt any games because we ranged from 1-3 years old & i just didn't see it happening.

it was a great party. plenty of food, friends, family & alex got more princess stuff than anyone could ever want. ever. seriously. make it stop.

picture overload:

food: the husband smoked pork (it's his "thing" & he's quite good at it) & we made BBQ pulled pork. i also made BBQ pulled chicken, homemade BBQ sauce, coconut rice (rice cooker) & pani pop (hawaiian bread).
cheese & crackers  veggies & dip, veggie chips, fresh pineapple, sweet & sour cucumbers, juice, soda, seltzer water & passion ice tea lemonade made up the snacks & drinks.

dessert: i made pineapple angel food cake with German buttercream. the cupcakes were white cupcake with German buttercream. i also made mini crème brûlée's topped with coconut milk whipped cream (aaaamazing). 

favors: i made mini pineapple angel food cake loaves + hawaiian suckers for the adults. the kids got bags filled with fun hawaiian toys, stickers, suckers & other random things.

it was fun, fairly simple & came together really easily. this is her last "big" party (each kid gets 3- then we start the big parties again when they hit grade school) so i wanted it to be special.
she loved it (although she loved her princess stuff more) & it was a fantastic way to ring in her 3rd awesome year of life.

aloha.

happy birthday alex

so, this kid is 3 now. as of 09.24.12.
i'm actually doing a pretty good job accepting this fact because she's greeted her 3's like a champ.
& by like a champ i mean, like a crazed bear. complete with roaring & ground slapping. it's pretty incredible to watch.
sometimes i really want to ask her what she'd like for dinner, but i hesitate because, what if this is the wrong thing to ask?! maybe she doesn't want dinner....maybe she's not actually alex, but Princess Jasmine & if i call her by her God given name she'll flip the eff out on me. or maybe she's actually a puppy & "OMFG MOM PUPPIES DON'T EAT DINNER!!!!"
...but maybe, just maybe, she's actually hungry & if i don't ask her if she wants dinner then i've failed at my parenting duties.

..."hey alex, hon, do you want dinner...?"  ::wince::

we still love her though, just in case you were wondering. because when the bear hibernates she's pretty freaking awesome. & hilarious.

and demure:

clearly.

& then she's got this insane love of band aids. everything requires a band aid. brynn touches her? band aid. she gets food in her hair? band aid. a legitimate injury? 3 band aids.

a butterfly could land on her head & she'd insist it knifed her & she needs a band aid. which is why 95% of the time she walks around looking like this:

oh, hey Rambo.

i could go on & on. there are so many unique & interesting things about alex.

- she loves all things Disney Princess. ALL THE THINGS!!!
- she pretty much lives on mini bagels with cream cheese. & apples.
- she says things like, "oh mom, that's hysterical." & "i think you need to calm down."
- she loves to sing. sing, sing, sing.
- her memory is crazy good & i can no longer trick her because she's sort of a genius.
- she loves shoes, dresses & clip on earings.
- sometimes she's so sweet to brynn that it hurts & other times she's 2 hand shoving her.
- she adores her grandmothers.
- she's super outgoing, fun & loves other kids.
- she can count, knows her letters, knows her animals, knows her colors, etc etc etc.
- she's still tiny. 18month-2T stuff still fits. shoe size = 7.
- she doesn't like to color but she'll sticker the crap out of anything.
- she can recite entire movies. awesome or incredulous?
- she calls cupcakes "pup cakes" & asks for ice cream but really only want the cone.
- she likes to refuse naps but still needs them.
- she wakes up like her father: angry at everything
- she knows all her body parts & is fascinated by boobies.
- she's just great.

happy 3rd birthday alex. we love you. & we really can't wait to see what your 3's bring us. seriously- we're stoked.