Annie is in her "threes."

We celebrated Annie's birthday twice; we had a little party just the four of us the night before, and then a party with a bunch of the Nicoll side on her actual birthday.  It's so fun now that she really GETS it.  Annie chose to go to California Pizza Kitchen to get her favorite food- pizza- for dinner, for dessert we got gumballs from the gourmet gumball machine at The Gateway, and then she got to choose a bear and an outfit from Build-A-Bear.

She was in heaven.

Will said, "That was even fun for me!"   To finish off the evening the kids ran around in the fountain until their goosebumps became too much for them.  It was a perfect evening.

On her birthday I spent nearly the entire day creating a princess cake.  (I mean it- literally the entire day; I worked from 8 AM until 3:15 PM).  It was so worth it when she looked at it and said, "Mom, does a real princess live inside that castle?"  I'm going to have a hard time raising the stakes on this cake!  I made my own marshmallow fondant, and the entire cake was edible!

We had dinner, cake and presents at Grandma Kaiserman's house with a small crowd.  Annie was so cute that day and won the hearts of her Great-Great Aunt Pat's family.  Annie was spoiled with baking supplies and an apron, princess slippers, and some new clothes.

Annie is our little spit fire.  She can be so sweet, or so spicy, depending on the moment!  She loves stuffed animals and babies and is the greatest little mother (especially to Will, much to his chagrin).  She talks and talks and talks all day long without a break- except for maybe to sing a song.  Her favorites are "Twinkle, Twinkle", "I Am a Child of God", "The Temple Song", and "The Song That Never Ends".  She can count to 20, but it's out of order :).  She knows her ABC's and we are working on recognizing the letters- so far she has "A" down really well and even built it herself out of glow sticks last night!  Annie has a secret candy sense and she can sniff out gum or candy within a 1 mile radius, and she will sneak it if she can find it.  She stuffs purses full of all sorts of things- from markers to string cheese- and hides them all over the house.  She is sociable and will warm up so much easier than Will ever did.  She especially loves her Grandmas, Sariah, Audra, and Grace.

We love Annie so much.  Laughter is important, and she makes us laugh a lot!  Happy Birthday my sweet Annie Blannie!