Our Budding Artist

I don't know that I've mentioned it on the blog, but many of you already know: Libby loves photography. Maybe I have mentioned that before. Well, that's neither here nor there. She loves it and is crazy about taking pictures. It's a frequent request, and one that I have a difficult time turning down. And, if you've seen any of her previous work you'll agree, she's getting better!

I don't know that I've mentioned it on the blog, but many of you already know: Libby loves photography. Maybe I have mentioned that before. Well, that's neither here nor there. She loves it and is crazy about taking pictures. It's a frequent request, and one that I have a difficult time turning down. And, if you've seen any of her previous work you'll agree, she's getting better!

3rd Party

By the title, you may think that's she's 3, this is her 3rd party.

Well, while that is sort of true, I meant it in the sense that the girl had 3 birthday parties. Okay, maybe not quite 3 --- But, we did have a party the weekend before her birthday, then we partied on Wednesday (her actual birthday) and then she had her 3rd and final celebration on Friday, when some of her friends came to play. See the pictures below, it was a fun time!

Mama, will you take a picture of me with Barnabas?

Okay, will you take one more?

Kiddos enjoy lunch.


Personally, I think there's a lot to be said for a feminine tiered birthday cake. And, Libby thinks there's a lot to be said for a chocolate cake with pink and purple, regardless of the shape or form. But, for this party I decided to go out on a limb and attempt to make Libby's favorite little creatures: baby alligators. She watched me work on them all afternoon and was so delighted to name them all (if you're in the family, your name went to a gator) and determine whether it would be laying in the "dirt" or the "water". (Sorry, I'm not good enough to create a marsh.) She really was pleased by the final result and didn't seem to mind that all that laboring over the cakes allowed them to get pretty dry by the time they were to be eaten!

Post-party Glee

Happy Birthday Libby!
Thank you to everyone who has helped make Libby's 3rd birthday so special, and so purple! So pink and purple, but mainly so purple. She received many phone calls today, and packages in the mail, and all this just as she was coming down from her high after a fun birthday weekend. We had a really good day, enjoying our family and in particular, our gift of Libby. We enjoyed Bible Study this morning (okay, Libby and Xander played in the nursery, but they enjoyed that too) and then lunch with our pals Brittany, Hudson and Maren. Libby wouldn't have wanted it any other way. We spent the afternoon coloring and playing and waiting for daddy to come home, then we had a special birthday dinner with some of Libby's favorites - namely, corn on the cob. It was the one food that I could think of that truly gets her excited (aside from grilled cheese, which she got for lunch). When she saw the corn cobs on the counter she literally cheered and asked at dinner if I would please take a picture of her and daddy eating their corn. I'll certainly post that gem later.

And NO, I didn't let her have ice cream for breakfast. (However, she did get some for lunch and dinner.)

By the way, did you notice the new birthday ticker?
(For those of you who may not know, Libby's very incredible imagination is swarming with stories about baby alligators. She can spin quite a yarn without a moment's notice, and tell a very elaborate story that usually has me wondering if she might be an author at heart. She also makes up songs - that rhyme!... even if they are nonsense. She's such a card.)

Anyway, Happy Birthday to my sweet sweet girl. I love you so very much.

Birthday Menu

This morning I explained to Libby that on her birthday (tomorrow) she gets to pick what we eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The birthday girl gets to eat her favorite foods all day long! I'm still learning.... I needed to set some parameters around that policy. I proceeded, "what do you think you would like for breakfast?" Without any hesitation, "ice cream." I thought quickly and spoke slowly, trying to decide what I was going to do about that request, and where to go from here. I think I probably laughed nervously. "What about lunch?" This time she thought for just a moment before replying, "hmmmm, brownies." (now that's my girl, for sure.) I told her I figured she would want grilled cheese for lunch, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich....after all, too many desserts in one day can make a girl have a tummy ache, it's not healthy and can make you sick! No, she confirmed in her sweet as ice cream voice, "brownies....you don't get to decide mama, I get to decide. It's my birthday." Okay, we'll table that for later discussion. So what do you think you'd like for dinner? "Ice cream again!" Oh boy.

It's a Happy Birthday Party / Family Chili Bowl

Can you believe she's almost 3!? Libby's birthday is Wednesday but we were able to begin her week-long celebration this weekend. Her family began arriving at our home on Thursday evening, with others coming Friday and then more came today. We spent Friday busy busy in preparation; we baked, we cleaned, we shopped, we wrapped and we decorated. We also managed to surprise the birthday girl, who was very excited to see her the pink and purple themed party zone when she woke up this morning. We were so thankful to be able to celebrate her and her life with Grandma Shelley (we missed you Granddad), Aunt Brett, Tylor, Uncle Mason, Tara, Bocephas, Grandpa Larry, Grandma Anna, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Jon, Aunt Em, Great Uncle Doug, Great Aunt Sandy and Cousin Kelsey.

We also took this opportunity to host the second annual family Chili Bowl. Only six chilies were submitted this year, due to illness, pulled wisdom teeth, and family who have moved out of the state (we missed you too Aunt Wendy). The entries were delicious and Uncle Mason and Tara took the trophy home. Grandpa Larry and Doug, Sandy, and Kelsey were runners up.

Once we had sampled and scored our chilies, it was finally time to open birthday gifts. Libby scored. Word had spread that she requested purple and pink. When asked what she wanted for her birthday she told Aunt Brett she'd like purple flowers. Aunt Brett asked about toys and she agreed, she'd also like pink and purple toys. Her wishes were granted. She received three bouquets of purple flowers and pink and purple gifts of all varieties. She really did enjoy getting all her gifts, and was genuinely thankful, which was very sweet.

Xander was a popular man this weekend as well, as he is growing and changing in many ways but continues to be incredibly sweet and adorable. All too soon we'll be gathering to celebrate his birthday, oh time flies.

So, below are pictures that were hastily chosen for posting, and I'm not planning on captioning most of them, but I'll scroll through and probably add some captions to clarify the picture. We wanted Granddad in particular to be able to catch a glimpse of her fun day, we hope you are healthy and able to visit soon! Anyway, the pictures are not in any order but do reflect in various ways the fun that we had celebrating the blessing that is Libby. We can't believe we're about to begin our third year with this wonderful little lady.

Oh, and though I should add several of her little commentaries, these come immediately to mind.

Grandma and Libby: watching for Aunt Brett and Tylor to arrive.... they're running late.
Libby: Is Tylor a good driver?
Grandma: We hope he's a good driver?
Libby: Well, they better not be dilly-dallying and they better hurry up and get here!

Libby: Out of bed but rescued by Aunt Brett, and luckily not mama or daddy. Could you bring me Baby Sue?
Brett: goes and brings Baby Sue to Libby.
Libby: You did a very good job bringing Baby Sue to me, thank you. But you forgot to bring me her lovie.
Brett:explains to Libby that she is trying to help Libby and doesn't want Libby to get into trouble by mama and daddy for being out of bed, but she needs to get into bed, etc.
Libby: Baby Sue really sleeps better with her lovie...

have we mentioned that she now LOVES dora? one reason she attributes to loving dora..."well, she kinda looks like me."

She has a birthday girl t-shirt and decided this morning that she didn't want anyone to see it until she surprised them with it when it was time for birthday cake. Here, she makes the big reveal. (this was similar to her revealing that she was going to be a big sister, which she did last year at this time by showing her family her big sister t-shirt. however, mama and daddy did not suggest the t-shirt surprise this morning, this was all Libby's doing.)

once partying was wrapped up, the party moved to the wii. even libby got in on the action.

it was BEAUTIFUL outside today, praise to the Lord it was the nicest day of the year. Libby received some outside toys for her birthday and we were able to go out and play croquet. here, she runs for mama out of excitement.

oh cake pictures. i like these because she was so excited about the cake. it was really the single most important part of the day in her mind. as soon as she finished opening gifts she asked, "now can we go have cake?" she was very specific in requesting her cake. i asked if she'd like a strawberry cake, which i thought would be pink and pleasing to her, but she made it clear that she'd like a chocolate cake with pink and purple. and so, that is what she got. tara and i were up until the weeee hours of the morning making it beautiful for her, and it was delicious too.

tara stands on the podium to receive the trophy for her and mason, grandpa larry, doug, sandy, and kelsey sport their silver and bronze.

what a beautiful little man.

libby poses under her decorations.

playing shy. or being shy.