"Happy Birthday to me!"

Annabelle's birthday celebration this year was a little bit unorthodox. We celebrated it as a family the day before because Michael had church responsibilities on her real birthday and wouldn't be home til after Annabelle went to bed. We started the birthday celebration by going to the store and getting some balloons. Annabelle had been waiting and waiting to get some birthday balloons. The only problem was that in less than 24 hours after we got them, 2 of the 3 balloons popped. One of them popped less than 2 minutes after we came home with them. Annabelle was so upset that Michael brought home 3 more balloons the next day. After dinner, we opened presents. Annabelle was so excited for this part. I'm amazed that she didn't sneak into the room where we'd been keeping the presents and open them early. We didn't have a cake (we didn't want any leftovers), so instead we made chocolate chip cookies and put candles in a cookie for Annabelle to blow out, then we enjoyed birthday cookies and ice cream.
One gift has been a particularly fun gift for Annabelle (and Michael). We can't wait to play "baseball", as Annabelle calls it, outside in the summer. Here's a video of Annabelle and Michal playing together.

The next day on her actual birthday, we made cupcakes (another thing that Annabelle demanded for her birthday) and we took them around to her friends in the neighborhood (in place of a party). It worked out well because she got to see her friends and we got rid of almost all of the cupcakes. And of course Annabelle had to enjoy one of her birthday cupcakes as well.Annabelle has become a big fan of Mickey Mouse and here she is using her new catching pads as Mickey Mouse ears.

Meanwhile, Jillian was just hanging out and resting during the celebration. Overall, it was a great birthday and finally, Annabelle could say, "Happy birthday to me" and have it actually be her birthday.