Saturday, March 30, 2013

Jolie's 3rd Birthday


I cannot believe my baby is three.  It's crazy talk.  But it's also very exciting.  She's growing up and turning out to be quite a fun, sweet, smart little girl.  I'm not surprised; she was that sort of baby.  But still, it's wild to see just how quickly time can fly.

This year we opted to do a fairly low key birthday party.  We always say we should make it just a family affair, but I tend to get over excited about birthdays and parties and make it into too much of an event.  This year, I kept things pretty simple.  I was worried that because of this simplicity Jolie wouldn't feel like there was an adequate fuss made over her, that she wouldn't feel special enough.  But I was wrong.  You don't need a crowd to have a party.

For weeks leading up to Jolie's birthday, she had started telling people, "When my is three, my is going to go to ballet school!"  I'm not sure when or why she got that into her head, but she was pretty confident in it.  It kind of crushed me, as this was not in our plans.  So I looked into it, just to see what was available.  Turns out, there were several options and a couple that were doable.  But none of them felt like the perfect fit, and the scheduling etc stressed me out.  So - after much contemplation and a good amount of googling, I decided that I was going to take things into my own hands... I was going to teach Jolie and her friends ballet! (So much for not overdoing it, lol.)
  
The night before Jolie's birthday, I made the cake(s) and Derek and I decorated the house so that she'd wake up and feel excited and special.  I love doing this. It's like playing Santa or something; it's very exciting.  And it was effective.  She was very excited and (I believe) felt very special.  She's so sweet.  It was fun making her happy.




The morning of her birthday was the first ballet class.  She opened one present that morning: her new, adorable ballerina shoes!  We ate breakfast, got all ready and headed out.We met at the clubhouse as there was lots more room and it would feel more official.  The friends we'd invited to do ballet with us were: Kamry Beus, Lucy and Janie Francom, and Anneliese Bradfield.  Five little girls total.  Perfect.  The first day was kind of crazy (three-year-olds aren't particularly great at following orders and do not have stellar attention spans, ha) but also very fun.  We ended up doing the ballet classes once a week for about seven weeks total.  They got substantially better at being obedient little ballerinas, and it was really fun to see them progressing and developing.  Lots of work but so, so worth it!  





After ballet we came home to eat lunch, send James off to school, read a ballerina story in the newly-created princess fort, and take a wonderful nap.


Later that night, we had Jolie's low-key birthday party.  Michael and Grandma Marilyn joined us, but that was it.  Small, simple, lovely.  We ate crepes for dinner (sugar) then followed it up by a delicious pink cake (sugar) and pink ice cream (sugar).  Then she opened presents and played with her spoils.  



My sweet little Jolie felt special for sure.  I needn't have worried.  She was happy and fussed over all the day long.  And I sure hope she knows that we love her to bits. 

I love you, Jolie baby.  I am so, so glad you're mine. xo


Happy 3rd Birthday.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You are such an amazing mom! Doing a ballet class. Adorable decor and everything. Beautiful Jolie too. Holy cow I just realized the last time I saw you was at her baby blessing. Sad. Love you!

Morgan said...

I have a little toddler ballet barre I wish I could give you. Someone gave it to us, and I don't want to store it until A is big enough to use it. So, if you're ever down this way, you should give me a ring. :)