hannah's birthday celebration

Hannah started her day with a breakfast date with dad (it's one of our birthday traditions). She ordered this HUGE chocolate pancake and ate only a few bites. But she had a great morning with one on one time with her daddy!!

We went to the pumpkin patch with our friends to take a few photos and to allow the kids to pick out a pumpkin...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that this sweet independent girl picked out a "bumpy" pumpkin. So awesome. She's an original and I love her!!!

We also let the kids pick out whatever they'd like for dinner (within reason). At first Hannah said she wanted "grapes and tomanos" I talked with her some more and we decided on a menu of grilled cheese and tomato soup to go with the grapes and tomatoes. But it wasn't just any grilled cheese and tomato soup this was gourmet...only the best for our little girl. It was a grilled black forest ham, sharp cheddar and granny smith apples on sourdough bread sandwich!! Amazing! And thick creamy tomato soup made with heavy whipping cream and oregano and basil! Delish! And the birthday child gets their special meal served on our special "it's your day" plate!

We ate dinner in the living room because we were watching the Cardinals play the Dodgers in game 2 of the NLCS....and they won so that made it all worth it!

I always like to make a cake that the kids specifically request. When I started asking Hannah about what she wanted on her cake she kept telling me "flowers, blue flowers"...so I made her a cake with blue flowers. I also like to make them shaped into how old they are turning if possible...just makes it easier on me when looking through photos!

My first go round with homemade fondant was pretty good. This fondant is just marshmallows and powdered sugar (and a little blue food coloring gel).

Talking to grandma and grandpa on the phone!

So since we ate dinner in front of the tv we just stayed out there for cake time also. By this point Abi had been let out of her highchair because she was done eating and we didn't feel like listening to her scream. She was walking around the table and trying to get the kids cake. We moved her many times, trapped her behind the foot rest and my dad boxed her in at one point too but she kept coming towards the kids cake. Naomi and Micah finished their cake pretty quickly but Hannah takes her time with eating so she was still sitting at the coffee table with her cake. Abi made her way around the front of the table when a commercial came on that we didn't want the kids to see so we told them to cover their eyes. Abi saw that as her opportunity. In one fell swoop she grabbed Hannah's plate and it fell to the floor, she grabbed some cake and shoved it in her mouth. Hannah realized what happened and started crying. We were able to salvage some of the cake and Abi got a taste too. It was HILARIOUS!! I wish I would have had it on video. It was so smooth. Abi is patient and sneaky and waits for her opportunity to get what she wants. The day before she grabbed a cake ball off a cookie sheet that was headed for the freezer and stuffed it right into her mouth. The girl knows a good thing when she sees it!

Despite the number of fingers she's holding up...she just turned three!