Our Little Girl is Three!!!

As many of you know, we just returned from a week-long vacation to Florida (sigh). However, before we can fill you in on just how much fun we had there, I feel it is important to highlight the fact that our baby girl turned 3 on September 9th. We celebrated in a low-key manner with a few friends and family members--a "Dora tea party" at Kylee's request (tying those two themes together required a little more creativity than I had originally imagined it would).

Here's Kylee with our family...she's sporting her new Cinderella dress from Grandpa and Grandma Lori in some of these pics:

Kylee with her friends, enjoying her birthday lunch:

Kylee has been asking for Wysteria, a My Little Pony, for months. The Blakemores answered her prayers...

While Kylee is still insistent that she wants to be 4, or on some days, even 6, knowing that she is 3 means that we're entering a new chapter in life...gone is the baby stage, and now, in my mind, even the toddler stage...we now have a budding preschooler in our house. She runs the joint in fine style and continues to be passionate about laughter, snuggling, and occasionally, screaming. It is hard to believe that three years ago, she was about the size of one of the babies that she so regularly carts around the house now.

Favorites in Kylee's world include My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, and all things Princess. I had briefly contemplated trying to ban all princess paraphenalia from our house, and quickly gave up when I realized that this was going to be an almost impossible goal. I triple dare you to walk through the aisles of Target without finding at least 20 princess accessories in any girls' toy section. Kylee is also into "make-up", which fortunately for us, means lip gloss. She can occupy herself for (literally) hours by putting on her make-up...dabbing her fingers in the Hello Kitty lip gloss she got in a McDonald's happy meal and rubbing it on her lips over and over again. It's quite precious.

We hope and pray that our little girl continues to grow healthy and strong...both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We thank God for all that she brings to our world and hope that her precious smile continues to light our world for years to come!

Happy Birthday, Kylee J!!