Makena's 3rd Birthday Snow Party!

Last year, within a few days of Makena's 2nd Birthday Mickey Party, she said she wanted a snow party next year. I was like, what? A snow party? She'd never even been to the snow, but I LOVE snow so I was all for it!! I took that idea and ran with it. A week after Christmas I hit up Michael's and bought everything I needed in their 80% clearance sale. Birthdays in January are awesome with all the sales, so a winter themed party taking place after Christmas is a brilliant plan!

The invite was from etsy, I loved it!

As we rushed to unload the car we had Makena hold the balloons and stand guard. This is the only photo that Pam took the whole day, lol.

A few months ago I joined a page on facebook that was having a giveaway for a party package at the local JCC. I entered, and had my mom and Pam enter too. I think at the time of the drawing there were less than 8 entrants, lol. Our chances were pretty good, and Pam won! YAY! An awesome free spot to hold Makena's party!

We chose the gym package (as opposed to the pool or playground package) since I had a theme and party games and such that I planned on. The banner I made came out so cute, this photo doesn't do it justice. I want a better camera for next year. I say it each year and I think it's time I have a real camera and not just my phone for photos!

My mom made these adorable penguins from olives, carrots, and goat cheese!

And Andrea made this unbelievable cake!! The detail was really amazing, the name letters had tiny snowflake sprinkles on them, and there was bigger granulated sugar all over it so it shimmered like real snow! And she made snowball cake pops, too! Makena requested an igloo cake with penguins, so we looked at a few photos online for ideas and I asked if Andrea was up for the challenge  Luckily for us she accepted! It was such a hit, everyone was in awe!! As I bought the #3 candle I paused for a second because it seemed surreal that my baby was turning THREE.

I got these super cute custom cookies from Party Girl Cookies with a Groupon. She used a beehive to make the igloos. Genius! They had a citrus flavor to them and tasted amazing.

This was Makena's outfit. Ian and Colin's mom knew we were having a snow party and she texted me photos from Gymboree asking if this would work. We loved it, so she bought it for Makena as a birthday present. Later Pam and I were there and saw the silver sparkly matching boots and just had to buy them too! :)

Cousins busy at the sno-cone machine! 

How cute are these labels I made?? They said 100% Pure Melted Snow. :) I'm usually anti-plastic water bottles, so I had actually made a sign to hang on the huge water jug but we had these mini bottles leftover from something so I wanted to used them up. They also doubled as balloon weights!

Pin the Penguin on the Igloo!

I couldn't believe I found this perfect mask for like 20 cents!!

 The kids enjoyed throwing snowballs at the big kids as they played.

My mom brought these snowflake balloons.

Apple-raspberry juice sno-cones!

Playing transfer the snowball to the bucket without dropping it-

"NO! Don't take them OUT!"

"Hey, stop taking them OUT!" Lol, I love my little rule follower!

Makena has so much fun with her friends, even friends she rarely sees. She was so excited to see her friends arrive. I think the only bad part of her party was that her two best buddies couldn't make it since they were out of town. It was very sad when I realized the dates they'd be gone fell over her party weekend, and they were crushed too. When I told Makena they couldn't come she was confused so I had to explain that of course they were invited, and they WANT to come, but they would be out of town and unable to make it. She made sure that we saved them a goody bag. :)

I didn't get a photo of her blowing out the candles, or a video of us singing happy birthday to her. I thought I did but I guess I didn't press the button. :(

My mom also brought this huge snowball pinata that she hid a gift inside and let the kids play with. Then she told Makena there was a present in it and she opened it with some help from the big kids.

It was a Merida dress!

I'm totally bummed out that I forgot to bring out the parachute. We were going to play with it and bounce all the soft glittery snowballs. Makena specifically asked for us to play with it as we were planning her party but then we had such a time crunch (it was a 2 hour time slot) that I forgot completely. She still had a blast and didn't mention it again, phew!

I had this brilliant idea (okay, I got the idea from pinterest, but in the original it was just a family) to have each party guest put their thumb print on a plate. I'm going to take it to the pottery place and turn each thumb print into a penguin! I can't wait to see how it turns out!! And that's a pile of the snowballs that we played with at the party. I got 6 bags of them for about a quarter each. It was so great to score such awesome deals! I'll update this with a photo of the plate when it's finished.

This is what the goody bags looked like, I loved them, and I loved the snow globes I found on sale! They were exactly what I was looking for, and I was ready to pay $3 each for them so getting them all for under $5 was amazing!! I cut blue sparkly paper and glued on a photo of each kid on one side.

On the other side I put this photo of Makena trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue. :)

Everyone loved the personalized snow globes, and I was so happy with how they came out! 

I got her this snow globe that reminded me of her. I thought it was perfect for her snow party. I have this idea that I can get a Sesame Street snow globe and a Mickey one, and then get one for each party she has over the years and display them on a pretty shelf.

When asked what kind of party she wants for her 4th birthday, Makena says, "A Disneyland party!" Sounds good to me! I'll see what I can do. ;)

Interview and Birthday Survey

This kid interview was going around on facebook a few years ago, and I knew I wanted to return to it once Makena was able to answer questions in a cute funny way! I'm hoping to ask her these each year, along with a birthday survey.

1. What is something mommy always says to you? 
Hi. And cuddle me.

2. What makes mommy happy?
 Me!

3. What makes her sad? 
I don't know. Soda. Sand in my little tiny horse.

4. How does mommy make you laugh? 
With funny faces. And you laugh at my ideas.

5. What was your mommy like as a child? 
Food. (No, not what did I like, what was I like? What kind of kid was I?) You had brown hair.

6. How old is your mommy? 
Four. Thirteen.

7. How tall is your mommy? 
Big!


8. What is her favorite thing to do? 
Read books, sing, look at pictures.

9. What does your mommy do when you’re not around? 
I don't know. Get me. Go to a store?

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? 
(shrug)

11. What is your mommy really good at? 
Cutting. Mommy remember when I really wanted some broccoli and you cut carrots? You're good at brushing my teeth.

12. What is your mommy not very good at? 
Brushing your hair.

13. What does your mommy do for her job? 
Babysit!

14. What is your mommy’s favorite food? 
Apples. And pears. And lemons. And rice. And tofu. And peas.

15. What makes you proud of your mommy? 
Because you're so beautiful. You're happy.

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? 
Sofia. (from Sofia The First)

17. What do you and mommy do together? 
Cook. Play. We go to places, the park or Eagle Pool.

18. How are you and mommy the same? 
We have both jammies on. Bowling. Our eyes.

19. How are you and mommy different? 
Our hair. Yours is black and mine is brown and curly.

20. How do you know your mommy loves you? 
You show me you love me. Your heart beats.

Awww! I love her. She surprised me by being able to answer these all within a couple hours. I thought I'd have to spread it out between a few days because I figured she'd get annoyed and bored.
And now some annual birthday survey questions-

Favorite color?
Purple. And red and orange and yellow, green, blue, purple, black, white, gray...

Favorite food?
Rice and beans and carrots and peas and snap peas and olives.

Favorite drink?
Water. And apple juice, orange juice. And tea, cold tea.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A "firemam" firefighter. And a doctor and a police officer.

What's your favorite movie?
Daniel Tiger ('s Neighborhood) on tv.

What's your favorite toy?
The Cat in the Hat game.

What is your favorite thing about being you?
I like when we play you can't catch me.

Where do you wish we could go right now?
To the park.

What would you buy with a million dollars?
A big big big toy dinosaur!!

What's the best thing you've done this past year?
The snow!

Almost 3 years old.

It's so unbelievably crazy to think that:

1. We have an almost three year old daughter.
2. We have a daughter.
3. We don't have another baby yet.

When Pam and I were first talking about having kids someday (this was back in New York around like 2004 probably) I said I wanted either 2 or 4 kids. I knew I didn't want a single or middle child. I enjoyed having siblings and didn't enjoy being the middle child. Actually that's not true. I was fine, it was only as an adult looking back that I realized I didn't want to have a middle child. I also knew I wanted them to be somewhat close in age, maybe 2.5 or 3 years apart.

And now here we are, with an almost 3 year old and no second baby in sight. I know I should count my amazingly wonderful blessing for what it is, a true dream come true child!! And it's the absolute joy of her that appeases my nagging desire for baby #2. Here's this completely awesome kid, and who knows what adding another child will do to the incredible bond we have? What if we don't get as lucky the next time? What if we get a kid who naps and sleeps as easy as pie but is a total handful and we regret upsetting the beautiful balance we have now? One kid with 2 highly devoted moms isn't a bad thing at all!! With our limited income and maximized time spent with our one child, maybe adding another mouth to feed and splitting our attention between two children isn't the wisest decision.

But yet, I really feel that a sibling would be such a gift for Makena. And especially because we'd love for Pam to get pregnant this time, a special gift for she and I as well. Oh if only it were simple...
So. We had this baby and she was adorable. Then she turned into a cute sweet toddler and I didn't think it was possible to love her any fiercer. And now she's grown into this really spectacular kid. She's thoughtful and smart and funny and loving and compassionate.

She comes up with the best solutions to problems- "I know! How about we go to the park AND THEN do a craft later!"

She outwits me all the time and I love her for it, because of the lessons it teaches me- "But Mommy, remember you said I could have a snack before I put on my shoes? So it isn't time to put on my shoes yet. Can you get me a little snack now?"

She means so much more to me than I could ever express. She is just to fantastic to put into words!

She really really truly is everything I ever wished for, and then some! My heart grows just thinking about her.
And my heart is also wistful for the baby she was. The little one I snuggled with on the couch for HOURS every day. We just sat there, getting to know each other. We spent quiet moments resting or nursing. We spent lots of time taking photos so I wouldn't forget the size of her cute little ears or fingers. She had the best few long strands of hair on the very top of her head, and I remember thinking that some day her hair would be so long I wouldn't be able to find those hairs. We didn't know we had a beautifully curly haired kid in the making!

Three. Three is so hard. Not a baby or toddler, and not technically a preschooler yet. What a transition. She's going to continue to grow so much over this next year. I have no idea what's in store!

Literally.

We had $10 in Toys R Us coupons that were about to expire, so Makena and I  took a trip there tonight. I intended to get a pack of washcloths or something useful that we need, but of course we ended up browsing the toy aisles. There were a lot of sales on games, and I spotted one that looked fun. It's a  Dr. Seuss game, called What's In The Cat's Hat?  Basically its a red and white striped felt hat with a velcro cover, and you take turns hiding a mystery object. There are playing cards that either instruct the guesser players to inspect the hat in a fun way (feel it with your elbows, poke a finger in the little hole, smell it, shake it...) or it gives you a question like- What room does it belong in? What letter does it start with? Does it float? Is it shiny? Kinda like 20 Questions.

So I went first and hid a hair brush. Pam figured it out quickly, and Makena made a few good guesses but didn't get it until the very end when we practically gave it away. Then it was her turn. We closed our eyes and knew she was in her toy corner. I heard something plop into the bag and she said she was ready.

"Is it something we eat?" Noooo! (As if that was the silliest question.)
"What room does it belong in?" The play room!
I felt the item and it reminded me of her wooden pretend food. I was fairly certain it was a carrot piece. Domed top, flat circular bottom.

Pam felt it too, so she guessed a carrot. Noooo! I asked if it was two pieces, because the rules say only one item and it felt a little like there were two wooden pieces velcroed together. She said no, she only put one thing in.

We were still stumped a few questions later. A cucumber? A little nesting doll? Nope. Finally we asked what color it is, and Makena said orange. We knew it was the dang carrot, so we asked again but she said no. "Is it a wooden pretend carrot??" "Yes, yay you got it!"

Lol. When asked if it was a carrot she responded literally. No. It isn't a carrot.
So funny.

Christmas and housesitting and 2013

On Christmas Eve Makena put out cookies and water for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer. We opened up our Christmas Eve present of new pj's, and she went to bed.

Pam and I finished wrapping and set up the living room. 

She woke up excited and ready, and when she exited the bedroom instead of heading to the tree/presents, she went to the kitchen to see if Santa ate the cookies, and all that was left was crumbs. :) Then she turned around and saw that Santa brought her three Minnie Mouse polka dot balloons, lol.

She unwrapped the doll and said "Santa went to TARGET!!" because we first saw that doll at Target and she told me that's the one she asked Santa for. I also got her a talking cabbage patch doll that I had when I was little, and she got lots of doll clothes and Disney movies and clothes and books and things she needed like new big kid silverware and a hair clip holder and undies. It was great, we loved seeing how excited she was for each little thing. And she loved giving us our gifts too.

I had these wooden peg dolls custom made to look like our family. I love how they came out!

 Makena was especially happy about matching clothes for her and her doll, who she named "Makena," lol.

We went to exchange gifts and have dinner with my parents at my sister's house.

Then we went to the house in Los Altos Hills that we were going to be house/pet-sitting at for the week. Makena had such a blast, she loved the 3 story house, especially the basement and toys down there. She found an old dusty wooden doll house and loved it, and they said we could have it, which was awesome! And Makena loved the piano, she'd sit on the bench and make music and sing Jingle Bells or the ABC's or Twinkle Twinkle, while the dogs howled along and she'd shout "STOP!!"

She liked giving the dogs treats and  letting them out when they wanted to go into the yard. And she went with Pam to take them on a walk.

The best part might have been the bathtub. It was huge and deep, and we loved taking baths with Makena!

Since we've joined the Disney Movie Club we earned a reward for 2 tickets to see Monsters Inc 3D. So my mom took Makena to see that while Pam and I saw Les Miserables. They had fun in the arcade. 

We had a Groupon to go bowling, so we took Makena for her first time. She loved it!

She loves wearing matching outfits with the doll. I love that their arms are both up in this photo!