My kids have come down with colds, so while I’m snuggling a sick baby on my lap, I thought it’d be good to use this time for a little catching up on here!
Nella was very excited about her birthday party this year, and although it was perhaps one of the simplest celebrations we’ve had, I know that she had the absolute best day. As soon as she woke up on her party day, she kept asking, “Happeh Birbeh?”, meaning that she was ready for us to have cake and presents.
She was even a really good sport about getting her picture taken! She smiled and let me take quite a few before she tired of it, which is really unusual for her.
She had been undecided about having either an Elmo or a Daniel Tiger cake. They are both her favorites, but ultimately, I ended up choosing Elmo, which was a lot simpler. She was yelling, “Yaaaaaay!” the moment she saw me put the frosting on.
She was so shy when we sang “Happy Birthday” that she wanted Daddy to blow out the candle for her.
He got frosting on his nose and she licked it right off, haha.
It was just our immediate family, but it was actually nice to just have a small, easy party. Nella definitely didn’t mind, as long as she had cake and gifts. I love this silly girl so much. Kaya took this picture. She’s getting pretty good at it! 
Nellie wanted to skip eating the cake and open presents first. We had just three things for her, since her Grandmas and Grandpas had already given her their gifts at Kaya’s birthday party when they were in town. I also made this Elmo t-shirt, which she absolutely loved.
She had waited so long to have her own Calico Critters, and she was so happy when she opened them! We got her the baby treehouse, monkey family, and guinea pig mom with babies. Her sisters were just as excited because now Nella won’t take their Critters all the time!
She had early presents at Kaya’s party two weeks before!
Elmo undies! She was so excited about these that I think they really helped jumpstart potty training.
A plush Elmo and Elmo books!
TWIN BABIES!!!
I sincerely hope she grows up to have lots of real babies. She just loves them so much.
We went back to the table to eat cake. This is true happiness right here:
The way she eats cake always cracks me up. At least she used a fork this time!
She played Calico Critters with her sisters for the rest of the day. I loved seeing our Birthday Girl happy.
We love you so much, Nels!