setting the stage for #3

The preparations started when I went and purchased quite a few (enough to have people giggle at me trying to get them in my backseat on a windy day)helium balloons at the Dollar Store on Sunday afternoon.

Then I picked up color copies at FedExOffice, and proceeded to cut out 48 circles. (Vowing that next time I’m buying a circle punch!)

Then, after an evening of food/wine/friends/Oscars, I came home to assemble the cupcake flags, bake secret strawberry cupcakes and frost them with blue frosting before I turned back into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight.

And then I started crying about my little Miss L, whose only birthday request was a “Cinderella party,” and all of the joy she’s brought to our home and our lives. Cliché to say that you’re a weeping mess on the anniversary of your child’s birth, but amazing to remember how special birthdays should be each year for everyone involved.

We’re going to party like it’s 2010 tonight… maybe even celebrate at the locale of Miss L’s last meal in utero… or just whatever Asian cuisine she’s craving tonight (oh the sashimi she can devour in one sitting!).

Happiest of 3rd birthdays Miss L. May the sunshine you share with all of us last forever!