THREE!

Our Ellie girl is THREE TODAY!! I cannot believe it. How on earth do I have a three year old? I need to sit down and type up all the hysterical things she is saying these days, because she comes up with some doozies.
Anyway, since we are talking newborns, I need to jot down a couple of things from Ellie's birthDAY before I forget.
Checking in on Thursday August 27th, 2009. I believe I was scheduled around noon that day for my c-section. Ellie was breech and there was no flipping her, so she made the decision of c-sections from then on.
They called me in a few minutes earlier, but when we got there, they didn't have a room clean, so we waited. Don't make a mom wait when she is about to meet her baby! Things got rolling quickly and there were zero complications with Ellie's delivery.

Chris and I were THRILLED when they announced "It's a girl". She looked like an Ellie right out of the gate, and we could have been more in love with our little girl.

Our sweet sweet girl at her first birthday party!

 Our silly little water bee on her second birthday!

 My strong willed, opinionated and passionate little girl on her third birthday!

We love you so much Ellie bee! You make mommy and daddy laugh on a daily basis and we couldn't be more proud of the little girl you have become.

Your little brothers sure are lucky to have such a great big sister. I know you will watch out for them forever.

I do a big birthday party every other year for the kids. (Not that we have much experience with this, we are only on birthday #3). This year was Ellie's big birthday year. Unfortunately, I had just gotten home from the hospital about 3 days prior, so there was not much time or energy for a BIG birthday party.

Instead we invited a few friends over and all of our family to celebrate our little girl being three. Ellie was thrilled to have her best pals over to watch Toy Story 2 in her backyard!
I figured this would be the easiest, most non-cleaning up party I could host, and my sister and my mom were there to basically do everything for me! I wish I could have invited all of my friends and more family, but my energy was low and my pain level was up. Birthday #5 will be an all around blow out, so save the date :)

The kids curled up on blankets after hitting the candy and popcorn table to watch the show. Some kids (ie Grady and Johnny) liked the candy bar a bit more than the others. John threw up twice on Saturday, and I could spy the culprits.

Katie saved the day with her EAP pretzel from Pretzel Boys and extra quilts for the kids to sit on!  

all while lugging around her 3 kids by herself!

Johnny seriously had the best night ever. I think this is his 7th sucker of the hour. He ran laps in the backyard for a good majority of the night, all while wearing one boot slipper.

Ellie and Gretch getting their places on Gretch's princess sleeping bag!

Grady hitting up the table again :)

May May taking it all in.

A preview of future sleepovers! I have a feeling Ellie and Lilly will be the ones freezing the other girls underwear.

Plotting..

The movie starts! I was shocked that the kids lasted 45 minutes of true movie watching. Then the running around started. Too much sugar. We finally had to shut down the concession stand.

John was the only one that did not sit for the show.

Daddy and the birthday girl taking a load off!

Babysitter and nephew extraordinaire! We couldn't love Will anymore... and Johnny idolizes his big cousin.

and I'm outta here!

My friend Ryan did the favors for us. Personalized pillow cases with a monogrammed flashlight! I gave them to kids over one, and of course am racked with guilt about the babies now. I will make up for it at 5. Man, 5 is really going to be overwhelming for me.

If anyone is looking for an easy out for a birthday party, do a backyard movie party! The kids sit quietly and the adults have time to sit back and talk. It was the easiest party I have ever thrown, and Chris and I are seriously considering buying an outdoor movie system :) 

The party continued the next day. Sean and Catherine are in town to continue the celebrating and to meet Patrick.

Ellie is living in her Princess gear!  

A Barbie cake from Mimi to carry on the tradition from Gommy! Ellie was in love with the purple and Johnny was in love with Barbie!

Peterson, family of 5.  

Ellie finishing off the weekend of birthday celebrations by being loved on by her aunts! 

It was a great weekend of celebrations followed by her actual birthday, which is today. Ellie is at school wearing a crown and handing out cookies to all her friends. There were minimal tears today, which I think is because she knows she is being picked up before lunch time for a mom and Mimi lunch date!