Julia's 3rd Birthday

Our beautiful little Julia is growing up so fast! She celebrated her 3rd birthday in August. We celebrated at both Grandparents houses, spent her actual birthday on the road back to MI, then opened our presents for her once home. It was great to again be able to celebrate with our families. Grandma L. made a yummy homemade cake for Julia and I decided after hours and hours spent creating Julia's Elmo cake for her 2nd birthday that I was buying one this year. Julia wanted a little cake (about 1 in. by 1 in.) and chose Nemo. After all, we were just at the Shedd aquarium and saw Nemo. She didn't get her tiny cake but got a Nemo cake made out of cupcakes - close enough. ;)

Here's a cute, random story ... Cousin Jacob had left a birthday message on our phone on Julia's birthday, I replayed it for her just a couple of weeks ago (about 2 months after her actual birthday) before deleting it and apparently I confused poor little Julia. She thought she had another birthday and was now 4. The next morning she told daddy she was 4, when Jeff told her she wasn't 4 yet, she came running into the bathroom crying (as I was in the shower) saying, "Daddy told me I'm not 4." We explained the situation, and she is now back to knowing she is still 3 and won't be turning four for a while. It's so fascinating to see how her little mind rationalizes and relates to things. She remembers everything and understands so much more than I'd expect her to, but time is such a tough thing to conceptualize.

The first few pictures of of birthday celebrations at Grandma/pa L's. The last pictures are taken at Grandma/pa S's.

Below: Playing with her new train and Nemo when we got home.