Our Little Princess Turns 3

Have I mentioned an adorable bundle of energy lately? Our Emma Jo recently turned three years old -- can you believe it?? She was so excited, that she would often remind us, "I going to be free [three] on my Princess Birfday!" So, in case I didn't have a plan, she had already planned it to be a Princess Theme. Do I see "Control Freak" applying in this one's future?? And she's spoiled enough that she actually got it.

Her daddy bought her a lovely Snow White costume to wear, and she thought that was the coolest thing. Snow White isn't necessarily a favorite, but it didn't matter: it was A Princess. The pink princess pin also wasn't part of the costume, but she wore it proudly anyway:

Having two teenage sisters just might have an influence on some of Emma's stylin' moves:

She smiled pretty for Grandpa. We obviously have a modesty issue here, but Emma has absolutely no inhibitions about exhibitions. (I tried to pin the dress snugger -- really I did!)

As is typical of our family birthday parties, there was a lot of "Heavy Hangover" happening. And any gift was a hit, if it had princesses involved. You can see the overabundance of pink here:

Great surprises require closing your eyes........

The Princess Cake was a HUGE hit. (She picked it out herself. And yes, that's like 4 layers at the tallest, and the castle toy on top of that......)

Need a closer look?

Try this.....

Those three tiny white sticks on the left side --- those are the birthday candles she just blew out.

I KNOW!!!

But the best part, was that her favorite new gift wasn't a princess item, and it wasn't even new. Years from now, she's probably going to cry foul and complain of being cheated out of a "new" present. Too bad, baby girl! You LOVE your New-To-You, But-Actually-Recycled-From-Our-Old-Toys-Stash......... a fully-furnished Dollhouse!

She thinks it's the greatest thing! Of course, she adapts her play to include princesses in the dollhouse. It's the first time she's gotten involved enough with a single toy that she plays with it for more than 10 minutes at a time. Score!! Now we have to figure out how to top it when Christmas hits.

(Probably should have edited that photo to remove the witch decoration in the background. But it's October, so we're decorated up! What can I say?)

She also loves her long Rapunzel wig. She's been dragging ribbons, belts, and anything else she can think of, behind her, and claiming that it's Rapunzel's hair. I'm not sure how I feel about her being a blonde, though.....

Happy Birthday to our littlest one! If you haven't met her in person, here's a few things about Emma that will tell you more about her:

She loves going places, but especially with Daddy. Shopping is big with her, and Home Depot tops her list. (Go figure.) If she thinks she can get away with not sitting in her carseat, she'll try it. Top favorite foods are McDonalds Happy Meals, Arby's, hot dogs, Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets (thanks, Costco!) pasta, and cheese. She's a night owl, and stays up pretty darn late most evenings. (Potty training has been a breeze with her. Maybe because we delayed, and she was totally READY.) Her current absolute favorite thing to do is to play "Plants vs. Zombies" with her dad, and make new zombie avatars. Baths or showers are a social event, and she doesn't want to be along, preferring to share those with one or the other of her sisters. She loves going to the stake dances with us, although having a 3-year-old hanging out with you at a dance is equivalent to social death. NOBODY will ask you to dance when you've got her. Church is fun, because she gets to see her friends in Nursery, and Preschool is even better than that. She's a huge copycat, even if it means copying the very behavior that JUST got the other person in trouble. And, her favorite person is the whole wide world, is still Darcie. When she wants Darcie, she usually says it in the possessive form: "I want my Daw-see."

We love our Em, and as the mom..... I can see the changes in our attitudes that we have because of her. Some people still look at us in sympathy, as though it's unfortunate that we should have this "trial" in our lives. They don't get it. And we usually don't try to explain what a blessing she is in reality. Maybe if they're lucky, they'll get a caboose baby, too.