"Happy Birthday To Me!"

June 5th - Olivia's 3rd Birthday. Actually I think the whole week was Olivia's birthday (at least that is what she says). It is so hard to believe that my baby is already 3. It's been a long but fast 3 years (if that makes any sense - as we struggle with the independence that 3 year olds assert). Olivia had a wonderful birthday, in fact so wonderful that on Monday morning she told us that her birthday would continue another week.

We celebrated her birthday by going to Chuck E Cheese, twice! On Wednesday evening, Grandma Janie, Uncle Alex, Aunt Elayna, Great-Grandma Connie, & Baba met us in Cedar Rapids to eat pizza at Chuck E Cheese. We had a wonderful time and Olivia (& Anthony) had fun opening presents and eating ice cream cake!! Then on Friday afternoon, I surprised Olivia by picking her up early from preschool. We spent the afternoon playing with baby kittens - Olivia was in heaven. In fact, I can't count how many times the baby kittens heard "I love you".

On Saturday evening, we celebrated yet again by going to you guessed it - Chuck E Cheese. This is by far (well maybe second to McDonalds), Olivia's favorite place to eat. She is really starting to enjoy playing the games and winning tickets (well at least spending the tokens). This time we were joined by Grandma Carrie and Papa, Aunt Janice, Great-Grandma & Grandpa De Berg, and Great-Uncle Duane De Berg. Anthony didn't make it quite as long playing, eventually he crawled up on Grandma's lap and fell asleep.

Tony and I are so proud and happy at how much we have seen Olivia grow in the last year. She is very informative about the ways of the world and helps us to understand what we are missing. She is always helping out around the house - I'm not sure there is a 3 year old out there who loves to clean more than she does. We love you Olivia Rae and look forward to spending LOTS and LOTS of birthdays with you (hopefully not all at Chuck E Cheese).