When is my actual birthday?

We have been celebrating Isabelle's 3rd birthday for a week, so we thought it was pretty funny when Jelly asked us When is my actual birthday?

We started the celebration in Houston cheering for Grammie, Aunt Alee and Uncle Nick as they finished the Seabrook Lucky Trail Half Marathon. When Grammie was awarded her 3rd place plaque, Belle gladly accepted on her behalf and posed for many cameras. While the Christensen's went home to rest, we met some of the Cosby clan downtown for a little fun. Fortunately, it was Spring Break, so we were lucky enough to meet in Houston for a few days and Ben even shared in the fun for the first day before catching a quick flight to NYC for the rest of the week. We had fun eating yummy food, touring the Houston Aquarium and visiting. Jelly especially loved riding the carousel, in the rain, with Aunt Katie, and playing in the splash-pad in her clothes with Grandpa Van. On Tuesday night, we hosted a birthday party for any and all of our family who were in town at my parents home. Belle kept asking, When is the party going to start? Once I tied balloons outside and told her it was officially party time, she started singing Welcome to the Party and kept singing it for hours. We had a lot of fun eating our favorite sweet pork with tomatillo dressing, playing lasso golf and opening gifts. Belle loved each and every present that was picked out just for her and graciously hugged and thanked each guest! Unfortunately, just moments before the party began, Jelly was a bit too excited and fell on the cement and was scratched and bleeding on her knees, hand, forehead and nose. The scabs gave all of the photos an authentic 3-year old look!

After our fun in Houston, we kept the party going in San Antonio. Grammie and Grandpa Elmo, Nick and Alee and Aunt Tara all arranged to be in the Alamo City for the weekend and we ran from one thing to another from sun up to sun down. Saturday after a trip to the airport to grab our last guest, we ate lunch at Culvers and all enjoyed some custard afterwards. We then headed to La Cantera where Belle FINALLY went to Build-a-Bear and brought home Jack Russel, the newest member of our family. (More on that at a later time.) At home, Ben had a treasure hunt waiting and we all followed Jelly as she searched for her gifts. She was surprised with more wonderful gifts, including a pink electric JEEP. After eating her chocolate cake, Belle could not keep her eyes open and was asleep in bed dreaming of cupcakes and sprinkles.

Today, her "actual" birthday, we ate lunch at Chipotle, her request, and dropped Aunt Tara off at the airport just moments before Ben took off himself. We have had such a fun and busy week and little Jelly is simply exhausted. She was again in bed before 7:00pm and will need a few days to recover from all the excitement. She is such a sweet little girl and tries so hard to make good decisions. Sometimes after she has a "toddler moment" and yells NO, she quickly starts singing When my mother calls me, quickly I obey! She is such a joy to be around and continues to amaze Ben and I everyday with all that she learns and understands. I remember when I was expecting her I saw a picture of a little baby on a parenting magazine and I thought, "I hope Isabelle looks like that!" Of course, she has completely surpassed any expectations I ever had and I look forward to her future. Thank heavens, for little girls!

On a side note, Ben and I were fortunate enough to be granted 2 tickets to the Elton John vs. Billy Joel Face 2 Face Tour Saturday night. My family was kind enough to excuse us from the fun and we were blown away by 4 hours of non-stop singing and piano playing. It was absolutely one of the very best concerts we have ever been to and everyone in the box couldn't help to get up and dance a little. We got home at midnight, deaf from all the sound and grateful we had such wonderful babysitters!