The Journey of Parenthood…

Tess’s 3rd Birthday Party

Tess has been SO excited for party! She celebrated her birthday at school at the end of the school year so since MAY she’s been asking about her birthday and every party we’ve attended she’s insisted was actually for her.

I was so thankful that we didn’t have any sickness the day of the party. I feel like Tess will randomly get the crud at the worst times (like her first Disney trip wahhh) and I was nervous she’d get it again for her party but she was in a GREAT mood and so cute and happy!

You can see all the party decor here 🙂 

Kye wanted in on the photo fun…he was a HUGE help in getting everything set up and ready while the girls napped!

Putting together the kids birthday slideshows is never a quick or easy task but it’s ALWAYS worth it. I always turn it on nice and early to allow the kids to watch it. They love seeing themselves and reliving memories from the past year. Tess was in LOVE with hers! You can see it here.

As we were snapping pics of our family the door opened and in came BIG DADDY! It was such a great surprise! I can’t think of any (at least not in a LONG time) of my kids’ parties that he’s attended. You can tell I’m just so happy and excited to have him. I adore this picture! 

Uncle Brad is Tessie’s fav

Three generations!

The Mickey Ears were a hit with Michael bahaha

Tess was REALLY into the food. It’s the thing she talked about most leading up to the party (and I focused on it with her b/c it was something I could control. I KNEW what food we’d have. I didn’t want her all excited to swim and then it rain. Or all excited for certain friends to come and then them not show. Etc). She ended up with two MASSIVE plates of food and she only picked bits and pieces off each but whatever…the birthday girl gets whatever she wants! 

Tess was also such a sweet hostess. Anytime a new guest arrived she went running in to greet them. She was the MOST excited about Carter. She raced to him and hugged him and he was her favorite party guest for sure. I love the love they share!

A simple craft can really be such great entertainment for all ages of children. The foam star stickers and blue party hats allowed the kids to transform into “Sorcerer Mickey” and they all LOVED it! 

Mary Allen and Aubry are two of my favorite kids to have at our parties b/c they get really truly excited about everything and they have so much fun that it’s contagious!

Carter looking for himself on the birthday slide show 😉 

The pin the nose on Mickey was also a big success! ALL the kids played and were laughing and laughing the whole time! 

My kids get so excited to be allowed to go back again and again to the party food table 😉 

I was pretty excited about the cute candle I found to make her birthday cupcake special 😉

I got the candle from AliExpress…you can order one here!

You can watch her blow out her candle here! It was so cute that she KNEW what to do this year…and that a lot of spit was involved ha! She was so proud! 

I’m all about a quick party. It started at 3:30 and by 4:30 we were opening presents 😉 Y’all opening gifts at a party stresses me OUT. I just feel SO claustrophobic with all the kids crowded around. This time I just stepped outside the circle of kids and let Zach deal with all the madness hahaha!

While I didn’t have to cope with all the kids, I did miss out on Tess’s adorable excitement over each gift. Zach said she’d say something about each present and that it was super cute. She had some great reactions and was truly so excited about each gift she opened! 

Thanking all the party guests! 

We had a great turnout. I like to try to list everyone so Tess will have it someday as a record of who attended her parties each year: Little Mama, Big Daddy, Mema, Big Papa, G-Mama, Courtney, Brad, Colt, Payton, Casey (who had a ONE WEEK OLD BABY and came to the party I mean so awesome of her!), Carter, Kori, Michael, Aubrey, Mary Allen, Lora, Bruce, Margo, Nola, Louie, Sara, William, Andrew, Kye, Britt, Mommy and Daddy! 

It was so good to get to spend some fun time with Sara! She is battling stage 4 cancer. She and her family just moved to our area last year and have three sons. Please continue to lift them in prayer during this time…you can learn more about how to help them and how to specifically pray here! I was so glad she was able to come and to bring William as he’s one of Tess’s very best buds!

The Hidden Mickey’s around the house were lots of fun for people to find!

Tess LOVES to swim so I was so glad the rain missed us for a couple hours in order to allow the swim portion of the party to take place. With her parties I like to do ALL the party related stuff first (and knock it out pretty fast) and then announce that anyone who would like to stay and swim is welcome to do so. We had a lot more people stay to swim this year than the years prior and the kids all had so much fun together. Tess just wants to swim back and forth from me to the steps over and over! 

She did start asking for Daddy which he loved that she wanted HIM and I didn’t mind the break 😉

Part of the cousin crew!

Tessie and Carter snuck off to play in her room and were hoping we wouldn’t notice so Carter wouldn’t have to go home 😉 

Once the party cleared out we let Tess open up ALL of her presents and play with everything. She was SUPER PUMPED about her sleeping bag and Minnie Mouse rain boots!

I think my favorite part of parties is the after-party. I love watching the kids open all the new toys and play so sweetly together. 

Tess had SUCH a blast at her party and we always appreciate everyone who is able to come out and celebrate our babies with us. She has talked about her party and has said that everyone needs to have a Mickey and Minnie party and that she wants another one next year 🙂 

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Emily Parker
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