#SweetCharlotteElsie, as she is affectionally known on my social media accounts, has turned three years old.  She was the child that made our family complete.  Charlotte upgraded us to having “children” (plural) and promoted Avery to a big sister.  She’s a special one that has the sweetest smile, but will run all over you if you aren’t prepared.  It’s that ‘second child’ syndrome I’ve heard others talk about.

She has the vocabulary of a 3rd grader and can’t be fooled about a thing.  When the wind howls at night, I try to spook her into thinking it’s a ghost.  “It’s just the wind, Mommy.  It’s not a ghost!”  When she runs the other way from me in Target, I threaten to leave her and turn towards the door.  She doesn’t bat an eye and picks up speed in the opposite direction.  Her newest saying is, “You’re the bestest Mommy, ever.” She keeps up laughing every day, and for that we are thankful she is in our lives!

This past weekend, we invited her friends to celebrate her birthday at Everland Play.  Since she’s into My Little Ponies (thanks YouTube), the party venue provided all the decorations, pizza, drinks, plates, etc. and I just showed up with a cake!  IT.  WAS.  FABULOUS! Not to mention, she had 25 friends in attendance.  We are grateful and humbled that so many sweet families came to her party.  I hope you enjoy some of my favorite images from that day.

I accidentally bought “trick” candles that kept relighting.  Her daddy and I were ready to extinguish those fire hazards as her cousin looked on in panic! 
Rapunzel made a guest appearance.  We were missing 10 other kids in this picture, believe it or not!
Selfie time.
Our first grader, Avery, took these next two pictures.  She’s a photographer in the making.If you’ve stuck with me this far on all of the party pictures…then thank you!  It was Charlotte’s first real birthday party, so at least I owed it to her to document it like I have all of Avery’s.  Just because she’s the second baby doesn’t mean we love and value her any less.  (We are just too tired sometimes to care about the details than we were with just one kid!)

Happy Birthday Charlotte! Love, Mommy and Daddy.

“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” Psalm 127:3