When you give a girl a cake...

Three years ago yesterday I was walking out of my OB-GYN's office, 37 weeks pregnant, stunned, and a little tearful.  What was supposed to be a routine visit turned out to be scary and a little nerve-wracking.  Everything had looked good to my doctor, although he was pretty sure that my baby was in the breech position.  No matter - they could turn the baby around, right?  He did an ultrasound to make sure and then noticed that my amniotic fluid was low.  Dangerously low.  He consulted with some other doctors and before I even realized something was wrong, I found myself going through another series of detailed ultrasounds.  The baby was in danger of being strangled by the umbilical cord since there wasn't enough amniotic fluid for protection.  The solution?  Emergency C-section - the very next morning!

So three years ago at 8:11 am I delivered a tiny baby girl and we named her Gabrielle Sue.  The whole family was greatly surprised that it was a girl, and I was absolutely thrilled!  The 6 lb. 3 oz little charmer with white blonde hair quickly took hold of my heart (and most definitely her daddy's!)

Gabi is my only daughter and lives up to her name daily, chattering my ears off and astonishing me with her observations and unconditional love.  I love you, sweet baby girl!  You are growing up way too fast, and I daily thank God for the blessing He has given me in you.  

Well, this year Gabi had very definite ideas of what she wanted for her birthday party.  Her favorite book is If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff, and we set that book as the theme for her party.

Here is her cake (and chocolate chip cookies, of course!).  Mommy was very relieved that Gabi thought it "looked just like the library book!"

And here is the birthday girl, wearing her new dolly pocket dress that her great-grandma made her.

Instead of all her little friends bringing her presents for the party, we decided to have a book exchange.  Each guest brought a gift-wrapped book, and the little girls drew numbers to pick a book to take home with them.  Here Gabi is unwrapping her choice - a book entitled Pinkalicious.  Gabi, whose favorite color is pink, was completely enamored with the book.

Making bookmarks seemed to be a hit, especially with the birthday girl.  Last I counted, she had put 6 layers of stickers on her bookmark...

Always a Daddy's girl. . . now you know why she always squints at the camera when she smiles!

And to top it off, Grammy sent her a pile of books, including the coveted If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and If You Give a Moose a Muffin.  I sense some long reading sessions coming on!

For us, it was the year of the games.  Now that she is old enough to play some board games, we gave her such classics as Candy Land and Cooties.  

Uncle Tim and Aunt Paula gave her a fantastic little Play-Dough kit, which she promptly got out and made several artistic creatures.

It was a great little party and this mommy is relieved that another party for the year is done. :)  Got to go and get some quality reading time in with my little (big!) girl....