The big 3!

Yes, Blake did have a birthday last month. And yes it was quite exciting. I mean, when you're the youngest, how could it not be? Wyatt and Sadie get more excited over Blake's birthdays than even he does! In fact, the kids had been counting down to his birthday, so the day before his birthday, he woke up in the morning and said, "Am I three yet?" When I had to answer no, he was so disappointed!

 We let Blake sleep in Wyatt's room on the top bunk for his last night being 2, which worked out great because it gave Matt and I the opportunity to set up his birthday present--a big boy bed.

(I love when we can give our kids a gift that is actually a necessity that they would have gotten anyway!)

Of course, we had the traditional birthday streamers on his door, so it made it that much more exciting for him to burst through them....

Showing off his 'highly-practiced' new age on his fingers! 

(Three is a tough one and he was so proud to do it on his own, without having to use his other hand.)

LoViNg his new bed!!

Wyatt picked out these pillows for his new bed and Blake was equally as excited! I love how excited my kids get when they pick something out for one another and Wyatt was quick to help him with the packaging.

And what else would you do with them besides play baseball and football?

After Blake got to see his new big boy bed and pillows, we got ready and headed to church (the rest of his gifts would have to wait until lunchtime). 

Apparently turning 3 provides a newfound confidence because he chose to wear this hat....all the way into church...we were cracking up!!

Cake and gifts after church..yes, he wanted the exact same firetruck cake as last year. I was a little bummed that he didn't want anything different, but this was my 3rd time making this cake (once for Wyatt and twice for Blake), so it was by far the easiest cake!

Gotta love that smile..

The boys coaching him on a 'real smile'

He was so meticulous about taking off each piece of tape and wrapping paper!

Lovin' his Bucky Badger hat

And his Wisconsin hockey jersey

Trying to figure out what this gift is....(it's one of those punching bags that sits on the ground and pops back up after you hit it). Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Blake playing with it...only video of him literally tackling it!

This one he immediately knew.....a dump truck!!

And he's off!

And finally cake time!!

This is my favorite picture of the entire day..SO proud of himself for blowing all out his candles!

When I had asked Blake what flavor of cake he wanted, he kept saying orange. I tried explaining to him that there isn't orange cake--white, yellow, chocolate or funfetti but no orange. His persistence, however, forced me to come up with a plan........yellow cake mixed with red food coloring.

And it turned out great, although this picture doesn't do it justice. The color was a bit alarming but it was just the five of us, so we all thought it was great!

After a short nap, we headed to meet up with some friends at Macy's to see the 8th floor Christmas display of Santa's Elves workshop and then grab some dinner just in time to see the Holidazzle Parade. Blake loved every minute of it and I think it may be a new birthday tradition. 

He got to pick out a special birthday cookie at Macy's

(Notice who snagged his new hat--yep, big brother Wy! But Blake was happy to let him wear it.)

Sadie was in heaven, getting to have a 'little sister' for a few hours. And Paxton loves having a big sister for it works out great! Paxton and Blake are the same age (just days apart), so it was a fun little birthday celebration for both kids.

One final pic of the day, taken with my phone....Blake watched some of the parade on Wyatt's shoulders and they both thought it was great! Such a fun day....and hard to believe our baby is 3!