bella turned 3!

bella turned 3 last month. it went by so fast, and i am afraid it will every year being so close to christmas. 

we always try to make a point of not really doing christmas until her birthday passes, but it makes our christmas season 12 days short. so this year, we put up the tree and decorated on the 5th (when my mom got here). bella loved that almost as much as having a birthday party.

this year, bella's birthday theme was cupcakes. the only thing she asked for was a pinata, but we have very limited selection here on base-a fire truck, a donkey and a monkey. after her birthday was over, she said she liked the monkey one. but up until then, she wanted a cupcake one. so i made her one. 

after three days of work and decorating up to the last minute, it went down with one hit. but bella loved it and the kids loved all the gummies that came out of it, so i guess it was worth it. 

we did a mac n cheese buffet for dinner, and while the parents all seemed to enjoy it, i don't think any of the kids ate it. 

since the theme was cupcakes, i made 2 dozen cupcakes and left them frost free and let the kids go to town decorating their own. i made each kid their own apron so they stayed semi clean while they decorated. they each had their names on them and a little bit of decoration, and they seemed to really like them. these also doubled as party favors along with the cutest little cupcake magnets that my friend, cara, made. 

other activities included coloring sheet and running all around the dining hall we reserved, chasing balloons and each other and trying to avoid corners. 

bella had a great time and cried when we had to leave. the next morning she asked to have another birthday party. all the work that went into the planning and executing of the party totally made it worth it when she said that. 

all in all, i would say it was a success, especially for doing it all with a 4 week old!