THREE

 Today Jeremiah turns 3.  Please do not get me started on how in the heck this baby

turned into this silly kid.

My mind cannot comprehend how quickly the last 3 years have gone, and I just want time to SLOW DOWN! 

We spent the entire weekend celebrating Jeremiah and the special 3 year old boy that he is!  Saturday morning we let him pick out a truck at The Learning Post.  Now that we know that they are a dealer for Bruder Toys, I am sure we'll be back often (or at least at Christmas and birthday time!).  J loves his new truck and trailer with backhoe loader!

While J was napping on Saturday, his special guests arrived-- Grandpa and Meema Wiers came from Wisconsin!  The birthday boy picked our dinner spot, and his choice was of course, Pizza Ranch!  No complaints from any of us! :)

J goes to the Pizza Ranch for one thing-- mashed potatoes!

After dinner we went home and J opened his presents from Grandpa and Meema and Uncle Matt and Aunt Cheryl!

"Reading" the card.

A Cars DUPLO set!

Serious business.

And then it was time for cake!

When J asked (several times) for a Mickey Mouse cake, I decided to put that into the hands of my friends over at Hy-Vee.  I think it turned out great!  It was MY pan that the cake was baked in, too.... that should count for something! :)

And HERE is a video of the "Happy Birthday" singing.  He likes being the center of attention!
J enjoyed some playing with his new toys, and then it was off to dreamland for the almost 3 year old.

Making a picture with his new Imaginets!

And stories with Meema before bed (no he's not sad, just listening intently).

Sunday we got up and went to church-- this was a big day because Jeremiah got sung to at Sunday School!  I was told that he just beamed the entire time (wish I could have been there to see it)!  And then got his birthday sucker from the Sunday School coordinator.  He was in awe of a sucker that has a Tootsie Roll inside it! :)

We hit Panera for lunch and then J got to have some more fun playing with Grandpa and Meema!

Making a tower as tall as J (with his new building blocks)!

Helping Grandpa and Meema with a bulldozer puzzle.

And finally, TODAY.  The big #3 birthday!  I had decorated the living room with balloons and a banner, etc and J was pretty excited to see that when he woke up!  Daddy had to work today (Mommy took a "sick" day and missed a day of professional development.  SO worth it!), and has school tonight, so we went ahead and let J open his presents from us right away.  J was okay with that.

Pretty excited about books.  Makes me happy!

Uh, read the card a little faster, Gramps!  I got presents to open!

A garbage truck!

Spent a LOT of time loading trash into his garbage truck today!

 

Happy boy surrounded by trucks!

Grandpa made a special green chocolate chip (oddly shaped) pancake for J's birthday!

Jeremiah challenged Grandpa to a game of vehicle Memory (another gift from us).  Jeremiah won quite handily!  He doesn't quite get the concept of only turning over 2 cards at a time (why not keep turning them over until you find the match?!?!?).

 
Then we had to head off to Target-- Mommy scheduled J's 3 year pictures!  WOW, did J do an awesome job!  We got some great pics, and he listened and followed directions so well-- made this mommy so proud.  Grandma thinks J may have a career in modeling. :)

After Target, we met Daddy for lunch at another favorite place of J's-- McDonald's with the Playland!

Apparently by this point he was a little sick of saying "cheese."

And after lunch, it was time for a nap and time for Grandpa and Meema to head back to Wisconsin.  J was sad to say good-bye ("Why did Grandpa and Meema have to go bye-bye???"). 

But the partying is not over-- J gets to celebrate his b-day with his daycare friends tomorrow (and yes, he will be wearing his "Happy Birthday to Me!" shirt yet again.  Don't worry-- I've been washing it between wears!).  Here is Mommy's attempt at a Pinterest Mickey Mouse birthday treat:

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jeremiah Adam!  Daddy and Mommy are so proud of our big boy and we love you so much! :)