Vita and Anabelle: Vita Turns Three!!

Last weekend, Vita turned THREE years old. I can hardly believe it. When Vita arrived at school on Friday, there was a big Happy Birthday banner just for her. We also brought mini cupcakes for Vita's friends to share.

Back at home, Vita spent some time reading Christmas books while waiting for Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob to arrive for a birthday visit. Vita's favorite Christmas book is The Night Before Christmas.

Once Joan and Bob arrived, the silliness began. Here's Bob, Vita and Ernie with silly hats.

Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob also got a chance to meet Anabelle for the first time.

Anabelle, as you can see, has been taking cuteness lessons from her sister Vita. The other day I said something to Vita about how beautiful Anabelle is when she smiles and Vita said "Mom, Anabelle is beautiful all the time". Awww. Anyway, we caught some of those Anabelle smiles on camera.

And smirks, too.

And pure joy!

The next morning was Vita's birthday, and she put on a cute birthday outfit and struck a sassy pose.

Vita can spell her name, and she's working on learning how to write her name, too. Vita wrote this with very little help from Ernie.

We were so excited all day waiting for the birthday party to begin.

Finally, at 2:30, a REAL fairy arrived to attend Vita's birthday party. Since most of Vita's friends arrived late, Vita had the fairy all to herself for a while, which was fun. Vita LOVED the fairy.

Here are a couple of shots of the birthday party in full swing. All the kids had fun, and they all loved the magic show, the puppets, the balloon animals and the face painting that Fairy Ember provided.

After the fairy flew off on her dragon, we sang Happy Birthday and had cupcakes. Vita blew out all the candles like a pro! (Don't let the broccoli fool you... Vita had THREE cupcakes at her party.)

All the kids were having so much fun that everyone stuck around for an after party in Vita's room and at her play kitchen. Here's Vita with her best friend Cleo.

Once everyone left, we had a quiet dinner with Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob, and then we opened presents. Here's Vita opening Joan and Bob's gifts which included a beautiful cradle for Vita's doll. The cradle was handmade by two artists that Joan knows. It's truly a one of a kind piece and will become a family heirloom. I still need to get a better picture of Vita with the cradle, but she loves it.

Here's Vita with Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob at the end of a very full day.

The next morning, Vita stumbled out of her room to watch some cartoons. She asked that we bring her cradle out to the living room so her doll could watch too.

We also played with balloons and ribbon. I love the smile in this picture. It's so authentic!

Soon, Mema Joan and Grandpa Bob stopped over for coffee on their way up north and we said our goodbyes.

Later that morning, Vita finally was able to open the gifts from her friends who attended the party, from her parents, and more. Wow, this girl sure had a lot of gifts.

The first one she wanted to open was the gift from Anabelle, and then she gave Anabelle a big hug.

Just when we thought all the birthday fun was behind us, a box arrived in the mail from Vita's Aunt Judy with all kinds of treats including a big sister book and LOTS of Disney princess play clothes. Vita was in heaven playing with all her new play clothes! Naturally, she's also wielding a sword. No princess should be without her sword.