My little boy is now 3 years old! How in the world did he turn 3?! The birthday week started off with Pops and Mimi coming to take over so that I could finish everything that needed to be done...alone :) It was so nice having them to take Pearce to school, pick him up from school, AND he spent the night with them 3 nights in a row at the "ho-tay-all." That's what he called the hotel every single time! I have no idea why he has such a southern accent with some of his words...but it's hilarious! I don't think he missed me much! By Thursday, I had everything finished. Thursday night GG came into town and Pearce and I went to eat dinner with her. Pearce was so excited to see her and go to Chick Fil A for dinner and playtime. Friday our new furniture finally arrived, so we were ready for the rest of the family to get here. Mama and Papa brought Charlotte with them and got here Friday afternoon. Pearce was sooo excited to see Charlotte! It was fun for Charlotte to get some time to herself with Pearce because we knew once Nay Nay arrived, NOBODY was going to get any time with Pearce :) They played and played together and totally wrecked his room, but oh well! Friday night, Auntie Ashy, Nay Nay, Auntie Jen, and Robert finally got here. Pearce was in Heaven with all of his family in town ready to celebrate him. Chris made us queso, salsa, and tacos for dinner. Papa said the queso was the best he had ever had! We had a great time just visiting and watching the kids play.
This is Pearce yelling "Get out of my room Mommy!!!!" Notice sweet Charlotte :)
Saturday, we got the kids up and headed over to Phil's Ice House for lunch and more play. I love Phil's because they have great burgers and fries and a fun little playground for the kids to play on while the adults can sit and eat and watch. We also had a little birthday celebration for Robert's 13th birthday coming up soon! After we ate, we went home to put Pearce down for a nap. While he was sleeping, Ashley and I went to get the cupcakes and balloons. We had a little snafu with the cupcakes. I had ordered white cupcakes with white icing and colored sprinkles. I did not want to risk getting colored icing all over Pearce's white birthday shirt and I figured the other moms would appreciate that, as well. When I picked up the cupcakes, they had red, yellow, and blue icing and sprinkles! I had to tell the bakery that the order was wrong and could they please fix them!!! Thankfully, it only took them 10 minutes to redo the cupcakes. We ran home and got ourselves dressed and all of the birthday supplies loaded up and then we woke up Pearce so that he and the kids could have some playtime on Pearce's birthday present Pops and Mimi got him! Mama had fun on the Jungle Jumparoo, too!
Now it's birthday party time! We booked his party at Gymboree and I was so excited about it! This was Pearce's first "friend" party and I thought Gymboree would be the perfect place for it....and I was right! Pearce and I had been going to Gymboree since he was a baby and we have loved having that time together. This will be the last month for Gymboree, so what a fun way to have it end! I LOVED Pearce's birthday shirt I ordered and the cape Auntie Ashy made just made his birthday outfit perfect!! Pearce wore his superhero cape the entire time! Auntie Ashy also made Charlotte's cape....so cute! We all got there at 3:45 to set everything up. Auntie Ashy took over and got the tables ready in no time. Pearce, Nay Nay, Charlotte, and Robert got a head start on playing before Pearce's friends started to arrive. Once his friends got to Gymboree, the fun really started! The teacher that led the party, Ms. Holly, was so great! She had a great balance of free play and teacher-led activities. I felt like all the kids really had fun running around, climbing, jumping, and PLAYING!! Ms. Holly did all of the fun Gymboree activities that Pearce loves including the parachute and bubbles. This was actually the one time Pearce did not cry and throw a fit when she put the parachute up :) At 5:00, the kids had worked up an appetite and it was time for snacks and cupcakes! I was really excited for everyone to see the decorations I had. A superhero theme is so easy and fun to do! I ordered the table cloth, cupcake stand, plates, and napkins from a party store online. I knew I wanted to keep the food simple, so I just had veggie straws, applesauce pouches, juice boxes, and cupcakes. Ashley helped me make the little capes that went on the applesauce pouches and I thought they turned out sooo cute! For the party favors, I knew I wanted those to be simple, too. My friend, Heather, gave me the idea for the superhero suckers and I just loved them! One of Chris's friends' wives made the superhero cookies as a gift for us, so that was an added bonus and just added to the party! I let everyone enjoy their snacks for a while, then it was time to sing Happy Birthday to my little guy. Whenever he gets shy, he always puts his fingers in his mouth....the fingers went straight to his mouth when everyone started singing. It was so cute! He blew out his candle and then all the kids got a cupcake. People started leaving soon after everyone finished eating. Pearce made sure to tell each of his friends thank you for coming to his party and showed them where to get their cookie and sucker. My friends all said it was such a fun party! I was so relieved that everything went just as planned and that all of the kids, and especially the birthday boy, had so much fun at Gymboree!
After the party was finished at Gymboree, it was time to continue the birthday celebration at our house with our family party. Chris cooked yet another amazing meal of his Mimi's chicken spaghetti. It was soooo good! We also had salad and Texas toast. Everyone had a great time visiting and watching the kids be crazy together. They got to play outside on the Jumparoo some more and then it was time to open the family's presents. He got so many great things including lots of superhero toys! Here's the rundown: GG: Batcave, Gotham Jail, Imaginext heroes. Pops and Mimi: Jungle Jumparoo and Razorback overalls which are so adorable!! Mama and Papa: A pop gun, goggles, and swimming lessons! Pearce kept asking if someone was going to get him a "dun" for his birthday :) He loves his pop "dun" and I'm so excited for him to start swimming lessons in a couple of weeks! Auntie Ashy, Nay Nay, Charlotte: Two big superhero guys...Spiderman and Captain America. Uncle Wayne: Uncle Wayne had to stay home and work at the last minute so he was sad about that and got Pearce a special present just for him....a new Texas Rangers Airplane! Pearce has a collection of these airplanes and this one completed it! Auntie Jen, Robert, and Alexandra: A new Woody guy! This Woody is so cute because his hat comes off, which Pearce loves, and if you squeeze his leg, he swings his lasso :) Mommy and Daddy: Play Doh tools, Spiderman Play Doh set, and a magnetic doodler. He loved playing with his new toys and so did Nay Nay, Charlotte, and Robert! On Sunday, Pearce's real birthday, he got to open his presents from all of his friends. He got some really great things from them, as well! It started to get late and Pearce started having meltdowns, so it was nighty night time for the birthday boy. Everyone left and met back the next morning for Chef Chris's breakfast. Sadly, Pops and Mimi had to go back home early that morning because Mimi came down with bronchitis. We all ate a great breakfast and started saying goodbye to our family. I never like to say goodbye to anyone, but when Auntie Ashy and Nay Nay and Charlotte left, it was sooooo sad for Pearce which made it really sad for me. I mean Pearce was genuinely sad and could not stop crying and asking for his cousins :( I just love how close the three of them are and I know that's how it will always be. I just hate that we have to say goodbye, though! I have to brag on Nay Nay, too. Pearce wanted Nay Nay right by his side the ENTIRE weekend. It can be exhausting to play with a 3 year old constantly and I know there were some instances where Nay Nay just wanted to take a little break and play on his iPad. BUT, every time Pearce asked Nay Nay to do something with him, Nay Nay was such a good sport and jumped right back in! On Sunday, after everyone left, Chris and I just had fun watching Pearce play with all of his new toys. I couldn't help but think back to the day he was born, and remember how happy that day was for all of us. We had a really nice, laid back day just watching our little boy and talking about how thankful we are for him.
Thank you everyone for making the effort to drive into town to celebrate our little Pearce and his 3rd birthday! We are so lucky to have our family love our Pearce almost as much as we do! We love you all!
Happy 3rd Birthday, Pearce! Mommy and Daddy are so lucky to have you! We can't wait to see what all your 3rd year brings!
