Happy Birthday, Lauren!

 

It hardly seems possible, but yesterday was Lauren's third birthday.  Thankfully, I was too busy yesterday to sit and think about how fast the past three years have flown by- since I first had the chance to know what it feels like to say, "This is our daughter."  Three years have gone by since our house started filling with pink, since the sound of a little girl's raspy giggle started to fill our home.  Three years since I fell in love with the sweetest baby girl.

 

She awoke to a doorway full of pink and purple balloons.  I have to admit that I was secretly disappointed when she asked me about her "balloons", correctly pronouncing every single letter in the word.  It seemed like yesterday that she had so enthusiastically requested "purple gaboons" for her 2nd birthday party.  She requested a birthday breakfast of pancakes (just like she wants every other day of the year) and promptly gobbled up every last bite.  She picked out her outfit for church and then saw fit to announce to every person we saw that today was her birthday and that she was three now.

 

Party plans were in full swing for the afternoon-- in fact, we left Daddy home from church with a list of to do's to finish up preparations.  He blew up balloons and cleaned up the house and finished some food prep for us.  When we pulled into the driveway, Lauren was greeted with pink and purple balloons all over the front porch.  I think my favorite birthday moment of the whole day was the smile on her face and when she said, "Mommy, I am sooooooo happy!"

 

Lauren has had quite a love affair with the new Disney show, Doc McStuffins, about a little girl who gives her toys checkups and fixes them when they are broken or sick.  And so, our idea for the day was to have a Doc McStuffins party.  Sadly, since it's a new show, there is little to nothing available to help with the theme.  So this one relied on Mommy's creativity, Pinterest, Etsy and the gifted fondant sculpting skills of  Nicole Swanger at Cakes by Nicole in Lewistown.  We had a few little doctors around the house,and they kept themselves so busy with their medical supplies giving all of the toys in our waiting room checkups.  Once they were all done, they moved on to the people at the party, and did quite a nice job giving everyone diagnoses and treating their ailments.  All of the grownups commented about how quiet this party was compared to many of the others we have had--- honestly, the kids had such a great time that they were upstairs playing together (6 of them!) with no squabbles, no arguments, and no running and screaming.  I have to say, aside from loving the fact that they were having so much fun, I was thrilled that it was  quiet enough to enjoy some adult conversation downstairs.  We had to call them to come down to open presents and eat cake.

 

In the end, Lauren had a fabulous birthday.  She was surrounded by everyone who loves her so much (except Pap who couldn't come because he was sick...bummer).  She smiled all day long and has been so excited about her new gifts.  Honestly this morning, she can't seem to pick what she wants to play with first.  We are so thankful for everyone who made the trip to Turbotville yesterday.  It was a very special day for our family, and for our sweet THREE year old.



 

 







And now...the pictures!

 



 This was Lauren's cake- as requested....purple on the outside with pink on the inside between the layers.  The Doc McStuffins toppers were made by Nicole (Cakes by Nicole) and were made peanut allergy safe for Josh so that he could eat the cake.  Nicole did such a fantastic job on all of the Doc McStuffins gang.  Lauren absolutely adored them.  I used a few recipes from Pinterest for the cake and the frosting, and I think it's safe to say that they will by my new go-to's for birthdays.  Both were really good!
 

 My birthday girl and her cake.  Lauren loved her shirt that had her name and #3 on it, along with Doc McStuffins.  I found that on Etsy and just knew we had to have it for the party.

 And all suited up for her work with the animals!  I found these adorable doctor smocks for all of the kids and they loved them.  Earl found us a few surgical hats and masks to make the pretend play more realistic, and they really finished off the kids' outfits.

I wish I had taken pictures of Lauren's "The  Doc Is In" sign as well as the goodie bags that were labeled with everyone's Doc McName.  I thought they were cute and the kids seemed to like them.  It really was a great day.

Happy Birthday, Lauren!  We love you more than you can imagine.