Ani's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe another year has passed and our little one is 3 years old. I told her a couple days ago that I was making a new rule in our house and no little girls get to turn 3. She just giggled at me and told me she had to. She might be right, but I don't have to like it. 

She is our everything. She makes us smile more times than we can could in one day, makes us laugh, and has the sweetest spirit. She knows her letters like a pro and working on the sounds. She knows her address and we are working on memorizing my phone number. She loves to tell stories, sing, go to nursery, play at the park, read princess books, and playing dress up.  She gets out of bed on a regular basis, right after we put her down, and comes into the room and says "I just need a little hug and kiss". It melts our hearts. My all time favorite is that she loves to snuggle in the mornings. She is helpful around the house and loves that she has "jobs" like feeding Roxi a scoop of food, cleaning her room up, helping mommy make her bed, and putting a soap pod in the dishwasher. She takes other jobs on by herself like sweeping and mopping, but that isn't quite as helpful as the others. We can't imagine life without her. She is our joy and we love her to pieces. 

This year I decided to not do a big party for Ani because she just got back from Disneyland and that was part of her birthday present. On Friday Grandma and Bapa came and we went and got Ani's ears pierced. I have been having her ask daddy for them for a while now and he kept telling her when she was 3 she could. When the time came Mike really wanted to make sure that it was her wanting it and not me. He sat with her and made her watch multiple YouTube videos of little girls getting them pierced and crying. Ani was completely fine with it. She kept saying "I will cry for a minute, but I will be brave."  It was the cutest thing. Sure enough, she got there and wanted to sit in the chair by herself and we gave her "brave kisses". It took about 4 seconds for her to cry after the first one. She was trying to be so tough. She cried, but let the lady do the other one. She stood up and gave me a hug and was completely fine when they asked her if she wanted a sucker. She has been showing everyone her earings and randomly says "I love my earings. I'm so glad I have them". In fact as I'm writing this she is playing with her dolls and the mommy is asking the baby if she wants to pierce her ears. Haha! She looks so grown up (I don't know what I was thinking encouraging that), but they are adorable and she loves them so that makes me happy.   

 

  

On Saturday I made cupcakes and got ice cream and invited the family over for a BBQ. Grandma and Bapa were there, Grandma Watkins, Cristy's family, Deserie and her kids, and Shawn. Ani had a great time playing with her cousins and was way spoiled with presents. She got new earings, a princess crown and wand, an outfit, a puzzle, hair things,coloring book and crayons, bubbles, an Ariel barbie doll, and a purse. She has so many people that love her and we are so thankful for the great example they are to her. Mommy and Daddy got her a new bicycle with princesses on it. She was in love. That night we Mommy and Daddy took her out to Froyo for a little birthday treat.          

       

    

  

  

  

   

Sunday we had a birthday crepe breakfast because Ani loves those. We went to church and then watched a princess show with her that night after finishing off the rest of the birthday cupcakes. All in all, I think she really enjoyed her little birthday. She is the light of our lives and we couldn't love her anymore. Happy Birthday baby girl. We sure love you!

 

I have to throw this picture in here too. I still have her 4th of July dress in her closet and it is WAY too short to wear. She came out with her tiara on and wand and started dancing around in front of us saying that she was a real princess. We did convince her to put on some pants finally. 

  

Valentines 2016

I love celebrating Valentine's Day with this little girl. So many different Valentine hairdos to do too. Here are a couple she sported this week.
 

First we did our Valentines photoshoot.






After the torture was becoming unbearable (probably more-so for me than her), we went up and made all her friends a Valentine treat. Letting her help me make something in the kitchen, and allow her to make a mess, is not something I do very often. Maybe I should. Maybe that makes me a horrible mother. Maybe I'm ingraining some horrible habit or self esteem issue into her sub-conscious, who knows. There is just something about having to clean flour and sugar off all the cupboards, mop the floor more than I already have to, bathe her again, and scrub stains out of her clothes that just doesn't entice me. Odd, I know. However, every once in a while I do bite my tongue and hide the washclothes out of sight so I don't get the urge to yell "STOP" and clean everything up. When this phenomenon happens, I just pick up the camera and practice my breathing and calming exercises while I watch through a tiny whole. This time I used a box of brownies instead of making something from scratch. Hardly any mess to clean up. Who knows, maybe I'll do it more and Ani might have a better chance at being a normal nurtured child with no mommy issues.

That night Mike came home early and brought me a beautiful orchid and got Ani a panda bear and a tiny box of chocolates. It was adorable. He walked in and made her sit on the couch to give it to her. She was so excited. You can see the pure joy on her face. 

Then he took his girls out to dinner. Los Hermanos. Yum!

Sunday morning we had Valentine french toast and Ani thought it was pretty darn cool. Happy Valentines Day!