Leone Turns 3!

Leone turned three in July and we celebrated one day early since her actual birthday was on a Sunday. We had an "Under the Sea" themed party this year and since I was 37 weeks pregnant at the time I kept it pretty simple. However, I believe in birthdays so we were definitely going to have a party. I get excited just thinking about how we'll have two birthday parties to plan next year!
Months prior to her birthday I had asked Leone what kind of birthday she wanted and I would ask several times always giving her choices until we finally widdled it down to the one option she chose most often. I was adamant that the party be "Under the Sea" and not "The Little Mermaid" so the choices I gave were always general like "Under the Sea" or "Space". I had fun with the decorations and coming up with themed food that could feed a crowd. We kept the invite list to family and had her party at a splash pad we frequent in the summer months.  That is a perk to having summer babies: their parties can always be outside (which works out well since our one bedroom apartment can't accommodate anything close to a "party").

Leone really seemed to catch onto the idea of birthdays this year (except the fact that your birthday is only for one day) and that makes me excited for other holidays like Christmas and Halloween.

Leone snapped a shot of me working on decorations.

 Leone's favorite food are tacos so we enjoyed taquitos which were labeled as "Coral". We also had: "Ocean Water" - blue punch

"Sea Sponge" - Watermelon

"Sea Shells" - Chips

"Shark Bait" - Salsa

"Sea Foam" - Sour Cream

 Instead of birthday cake we had a doughnut cake. It was hands down the best idea ever! I have yet to actually make a cake for Leone's birthday. We had cupcakes at her first birthday but that's the closest we've come so far. Last year I made her favorite peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I'm just not a fan of cake and while I realize it's her birthday she doesn't really know. Except since two of her cousins had birthdays in the months leading up to hers Leone started asking for a "blue birthday cake" the week of her party (blue is her favorite color at the moment). I began to feel bad and wondered if I should make a cake but decided we'd stick with our plan since next year she'll have even more say in her party as she develops more preference. 

 Of course the one year we plan a party involving water it was the coolest and windiest day of the week. So windy we couldn't keep the candles lit but we sang and enjoyed ourselves none the less.

 Leone was given many lovely gifts such as her first tea set, an ice cream ball, dress-up clothes, and art supplies.

On Leone's actual birthday she woke up to birthday bunting hanging in the living room, her favorite breakfast: oatmeal, and church which she loves. That night we had tacos for dinner with authentic mexican rice.

Happy happy birthday Leone dear!