Happy Birthday, Cora!

Yesterday, our baby turned 3! How does that happen? You just blink once or twice, and all of a sudden, you have a little girl running and dancing around talking your ears off! Love her! We had such a fun time yesterday. It was very low key, for her family get-together is this weekend, but it was still fun. She woke up and was serenaded by the kids and me. She grinned from ear to ear. She requested "oatmilk" for breakfast, so that is what she got. I took her to school and her class immediately sang "Happy Birthday," and she was given the birthday crown to wear.

notice the old cell phone in her hand...hard to pry that away from her

After school, Cora and I made a quick trip to Target, and she picked out the plates she wanted her birthday dinner served on...Dora the Explorer, of course. She then requested corndogs for dinner. Being the semi health nut I am, we had the veggie corndogs. We also had mango, sweet potato fries and broccoli with a bit of Ranch dressing. The kids had a mango tango smoothie with their dinner as well. Cora also wanted a picnic! So, we spread the tablecloth on the table on the porch, lit a candle, and had our corndogs outside! Then, we sang "Happy Birthday" again, and the kids ate the adorable cookies that my friend, Amanda, made for Cora's class. I can't wait to see what she does with the cupcakes for Cora's family party. I am going with a vintage Strawberry Shortcake theme. I had such fun remembering my sister and I playing with the Strawberry Shortcake dolls and accessories as I searched Ebay for some vintage items. I had forgotten about so many of the different Strawberry Shortcake toys! She is so "berry" sweet!

Aren't they adorable?!

We gave her one of her birthday gifts last night. She fell in love with the rocking chairs at Cracker Barrel over the weekend, so Kelvin asked me to get her one for her birthday. I think she was a bit confused when it was at her house and not the restaurant, but she loves it. She wanted to sit in it last night to watch some TV, and it's the first thing she asked to do this morning!

Still can't get enough of that paci...I'm not real concerned about it.

You might have noticed an outfit change and different hair do. The other dress found it's way to the washing machine after a bad blow out diaper (I'll spare you the details...you're welcome), and my friend and her teacher at Wee School loves to put Cora's hair in piggies...when Cora will let her! No, I'm not real concerned about the paci. She probably won't graduate with it. As far as potty training goes, she promised she would start going on the potty when she turned 3...we shall see. I'm pretty sure she won't be in diapers at graduation either.

At 3, Cora is such a delight...and so smart! She blew us away one day when, out of the blue, she busted out with the "Pledge of Allegiance." I'm so glad I have it on video. One day I'll remember to load it onto the blog. She loves Dora the Explorer and her cousin Diego, as well as Strawberry Shortcake, Cat in the Hat, and anything else marketed for children. She is usually pretty easy to please. She loves the Chick-fil-a cow and big characters like him from afar. If they get too close, she screams and cries. Cora loves her brother and sisters. She talks about Emma, and breaks my heart some days when she wants to go see her and doesn't understand why she can't. She is a Dunnam, loving to climb and scare the begeebers out of me. She sings, repeats everything she hears, and loves to create things. She's also my little cuddle bug. I wish I could freeze her at this stage. I don't remember being able to enjoy the others at this age, because I was always toting an infant around or nursing, or just plain exhausted. I'm still just plain exhausted, but I am enjoying this stage.

Here are the out takes from yesterday morning as I tried to get a photo of her in her precious dress that Carleigh passed down. Enjoy!

The End!