Lilly is 3!

After a day of celebrating her third birthday, Lilly takes a break with one of her favorite gifts- Pinkie, a Little pony baby. Pinkie crawls and talks. Lilly just adores her while Ellie is very much afraid of Pinkie. At least this is one toy that they won't fight over- for now at least.

Yummy Barney cake, vanilla ice cream, and Sprite - a big treat!

Lilly's cousin Amber helping her blow out her candles. We had a party for Lilly and Ethan because their birthdays are only 5 days apart. I'll post Ethan's pictures next week when he turns 5 on October 22!

Lilly loves Barney so thankfully our favorite cake decorator still had her old Barney pan!

The big surprise from mom and dad, Lilly's very own Barbie jeep! She (and Ellie) LOVE it! Here Lilly is jamming to the music from the real radio. It picks up our favorite Christian radio station so we all love hearing the songs play. The Barbie jeep has really been improved since we purchased one for Shelby 9 years ago. We finally got rid of it a month or so ago. It was beaten up and wouldn't go anymore, but it served all the children well for almost 9 years. We definitely got our money's worth, and we hope Lilly's will last equally as long!

Lilly opening presents from us and her siblings after breakfast. I just looked at all of the children as they gathered around Lilly sharing in her excitement as she opened gifts and I thought, "Large families are such a blessing." It's not easy having 6 children, but moments like this make all the stress worth it! (I'll keep reminding myself of that next week as we begin our first full week of homeschooling since Ellie joned our family!)

Stuffed french toast sticks for a birthday breakfast! Note the placemat: "Jan's Place". It was mine when I was a little girl. My grandmother saved it and lots of other things as well.

First picture on October 17, the day Lilly turned three! Lilly was SO excited about her birthday!

Little Girls Having Fun Together- YES!

Our 2 little princesses! Their great grandmother gave them each a gown for their birthdays. Ellie just got hers last night when we celebrated Ethan and Lilly's birthdays. Of course, they both love the wands that came with the gowns.

What a kiss! We are teaching Ellie how to pucker those lips. She has made progress since this picture because she loves to put on lipstick or chapstick. She has to pucker in order to get it. She is gaining more movement in the top lip which aids in puckering and getting food from a spoon or fork as well as speech.

Lilly loves to take the stool from the bathroom and put it next to the door so that she can look outside. Now Ellie joins her on the lookout for happenings in the garage.

The girls did this all on their own. I'm not sure who led the way into the dog kennel, but they stayed in long enough for us to take some pictures! Too funny!