Claire turns 3!

On New Year's Eve we celebrated Claire's birthday with a Minnie Mouse party. She was so excited that when we put her down for her nap, we didn't tell her that the party would start soon after she woke up! We learned our lesson from Christmas Eve and the lack of sleep from all of her excitement then.
A co-worker of my Mom's let us borrow some decorations and we raided the local Party Corner for the rest of the Minnie stuff. Charlie was given the job of blowing up balloons...and one of them popped while he was blowing it up and Grayson might be afriad of balloons for the rest of his life! Poor boy!
When Claire woke up we took her to the dining room to see the decor and she told us over and over "this is the best party ever!" Haha, no pressure for next year!
My Mom found a Minnie dress for her to wear in the Halloween costume section of Kmart for $2! And my Mother-in-law got her the Minnie hat from Disney World when they went in September! They turned out perfect!

After the guests had arrived we ate dinner and then came down to the den to open presents. All the practice on Christmas Eve and Christmas paid off, Claire tore through all of them at lightening speed!

I tried to get her to slow down and listen to the cards...

but presents were so much more exciting!

This particular present was a big hit! A Belle doll and a Belle dress!

We then went back to the dining room to eat cake and ice cream!

Don't you love the Minnie cake? My Mother-in-law's friend has so many character cakes to choose from. I sure wish I had the talent to make that!

We sang "Happy Birthday" and Claire blew out her candles.

It was such a great party! Oh, and if you are wondering where Grayson was during all the fun...

He was eating up all the attention he got as he was passed around to all the family that was dying to hold him!

What a great last night in Tennessee!