A special 3rd birthday

 I promised to write more.

Life just moves so fast, doesn't it? *sigh*

I will get back on the wagon. Have lots of things in my head that I want to "talk" about here, and several things I want to catch up on.  But, for today.....it is a special day. A third birthday!

Little Lola and I had a good but low key day to ourselves. I (and several of the fam) have been sick. I was lucky that this sweet little girl wanted to do easy things that a sick Mommy could manage without too much trouble today.

She was good to pose for me :)

Silly girl....

I asked what she wanted to do. The answers? Take a showerbath (her term for letting the water fill up in the tub while taking a shower *heehee*), paint her fingernails....

....paint her toenails...pink, of course....

....play beauty shop, play "hold me like a baby, Mommy" (that one is a personal favorite of mine) and play beauty shop, put on real lipstick, snuggle, and watch a Veggie Tale. We had so much fun, despite my not feeling well. (I particularly enjoyed the snuggling part.)

When her brothers came home, much to their delight, she wanted to play trains. 

Of course, a birthday girl must wear her princess crown while playing trains!

Then it was time for presents!

The crown didn't last through those. *heehee*

It may be TMI, but undies are a big deal in the Merritt household. 

Lola got some new Hello Kitty underwear  and was thrilled!

Colin, being the loving big brother, painstakingly took every single pair 

out of the package, unfolded them, and showed them to her.

Lolee girl is in a phase right now. She loves all things "twirly". This means skirts, 

fluffy dresses, and especially night gowns. She gets so upset at night if her nightgowns 

are not clean and she has to wear two piece pj's! It is almost funny. :) I have done a bit 

of extra laundry just so she could always have her twirly pj's, but thought her birthday 

would be a good excuse to add a couple of new nightgowns to her rotation. 

If you hadn't guessed already, Lola happens to be on a Hello Kitty kick these days.

While I was taking pictures, the boys got an idea--they all ran down to their room to grab their DS's, so that they too could take pictures of Sis opening her gifts!

  It was hysterical! She posed for them and everything.

Then, Daddy got to show her another something new....the look on her face is priceless.

"You mean to tell me....my baby gets one too! WHAT?!"

Then, the big gift.

I have to tell you about this. It is the most amazing thing. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine emailed me and asked me if Lola would like a dollhouse that her daughter no longer played with. Without knowing anything about it--size, cost, etc.--I said, "Sure!" Lola loves playing with her friend's dollhouse, and I assumed she would love one of her own. I also assumed that is was probably older and smaller. I didn't care about those things at all, I just knew Lo would love playing with whatever she had!

Well, I came to find out that this dollhouse--and all the accessories we were gifted at zero cost to us--is one of the most popular toys on the market right now, and is probably well worth over $150 or $200. I had no idea, and couldn't believe someone would be kind enough just to give this to Lola! It was an incredible blessing to our family, and could not have come at a more perfect time!!

And, by the way....she wasn't the only one who loved it. *giggle*

Checking out the family

Super duper excited!

She and Ethan played the longest. It is now all set up and ready to go for her tomorrow. 

I envision hours and hours of use out of this wonderful toy and am so grateful to have it!

Time for pj's and bed. The twirlies made her so happy.

{Lolee and her most favorite baby doll}

 Kisses before bedtime

Just about the cutest thing I've ever seen....

As you can see, we ALL just adore little Lola and are so thankful God gifted us with her. It's been a wonderful three years, with her in our lives...Happy Birthday, sweet baby girl!