Brett's 3rd birthday

How is it possible that my baby boy is 3 years old?!  He is growing up WAY too fast.  I just want to put him in a box and keep him this age.  He is turning into the sweetest, funniest, and most amazing little boy (or big boy as he would correct me!)  Thought I would use his birthday as an excuse to write down a few things I don't want to forget about Brett at this age:

- He still loves all things boy- cars, sports, monster trucks, wrestling, running, playing in the woods, collecting sticks and rocks, tractors, and being outside

-He, I am proud to say, LOVES his momma.  He often tells me, "I love you Mommy"- melts my heart every time.  And yesterday he said, "I like your pretty shirt Mommy"- I could just eat him up.  Don't get me wrong- he loves his Daddy too- but Mommy usually wins out right now.  I am told that will change in a year or so- so I am trying to soak up all I can right now.

-He loves all things Toy Story.  He has only seen the movie one time- but he loves the characters.  He has assigned each member of our family as a character on the movie- I will do a post on that soon.

- He is the absolute BEST big brother.  Just today I gave him a rice crispy treat and he would not take it from me until I gave him one to give to Kate too.  He will also tell her all the time that she looks pretty after I dress her.  He is her biggest cheerleader- I will often overhear him saying, "You can do it Kate- good job Kate".  He takes such good care of her and I have loved seeing him take on his role as a big brother- he has done it with such grace and we are so proud of him.

-He says the funniest things and makes me laugh all the time.  My mom recently taught him to tell me that I was the best mom in the whole world.  Well my cute little guy gets it mixed up and tells me that I am the biggest mommy in the whole world- makes me laugh every time.

-He has such a sweet heart.  I can't wait to see how the Lord uses his heart.  

-He is still active- very active.  If he is awake- he is usually running.  He will sit still to watch Curious George (one of his favorites) or a movie- but that is about it.

- He is happy 99.9% of the time.  He very rarely whines or complains- and when he does it is usually because he is sick or tired.  And he has still never thrown a temper tantrum (thank goodness)

- He loves to play the Wii - and if you don't mind me bragging for a minute- he is really good.  And by really good I mean he beats me a lot of the time- and I am not letting him win either.  Brian thinks this means he is going to be an athlete- we will see.

WE LOVE YOU BRETT!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

So on the morning of his birthday he wakes up and is so excited about getting a birthday cake.  Oops!  I was making him a cake for his birthday party, but didn't think about getting him one for his actual birthday.  So, after lunch at Moe's (his very favorite place to eat), I take him to the store and tell him he gets to pick out any cake he wants.  Most of the cakes are huge and I start to worry but decide you only turn 3 once so I was just going to stay quiet and let him get what he wants- just knowing he was going to pick the enormous Diego cake.  Well what does my boy pick?  This teeny tiny $5 cake.  That's my boy!!

So excited about blowing out the candles

Icing- wonder where he gets his love of icing from?

Showing us how old he is.  Isn't he the cutest thing!  We tried to teach him how to hold his fingers down, but he came up with this idea all on his own.

Brett's birthday cake for his construction themed party

Kate and Brett checking out the cake (can you believe how much taller he is than Kate!)

Some of the "job sites" for the party.  I gave all the kids a "work assignment" card with all the centers I had set up for the party listed on it.  They were to do each "assignment" and check it off when they were done.  

Their work aprons complete with everything they would need to get all of their "work" done.

Brett hammering in a nail

Jumping in the Jump Zone- apron, glasses, and all! 

Digging with Daddy

Mary Joy all dressed and ready

Kate hammering

Sam getting ready to knock down the tower

Mary Joy making matches with the tractor cards.  On one of the days that Brett was sick and we were going stir crazy in the house, we went out and took pictures of different tractors and construction scenes near our house.  I then made doubles of the pictures and made a matching game with them.

Sweet Daddy Bob helping Brett paint the house

Bryce, Chloe, and Molly Beth building lego towers

Our "peanut" loving her peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles