There's Something Fishy Going On...

My baby turned 3!! How in the world did that happen??

I'm not going to lie, it wasn't easy for me, but I managed to

pull myself together to throw a party for him...

Ollie and I decided on a fish theme for his party, and I thought it would be fun to get 3 goldfish for the kiddie table centerpiece. Needless to say, feeder fish don't last more than a couple of days, so by the day of the party, our little threesome had dwindled to one.

Here's Finn:

Ollie loved him, and the boys keep asking me where the other fish are?

What am I supposed to tell them?

Ollie was so excited waiting for his "guests" to arrive. He really said that! "When are my party guests going to get here?"

Who talks like that at 3?

I decided to have a go at making these little fishbowl cupcakes from the Hello, Cupcake cookbook. They look simple enough, right? Not so much. I thought I'd have them whipped out in no time, but realized I was in over my head pretty quickly. It was about 8:00 the night before his party. So I called my cute cousin Hillary to see if she could come bring her Hilly Crocker self over and bail me out. I think she left around midnight.

Thanks so much, Hill! You're the best!!

Here's the finished product:

I'll give the run-down of the steps in case any of you are feeling adventurous! The cupcakes are dipped in the blue frosting first, then rolled in Betty Crocker praline crunch ice cream topping. Once they dry, you dip the top 1/4 of the cupcake in white icing. After that you cut leaf shapes out of green fruit roll-ups (thanks, cute hubby!) and twist and shape them like seaweed. Then you apply them to the cupcake with frosting. Next add the goldfish crackers using frosting to stick them, with a dot of black icing for the eye. Finally, you pipe a rim on top of the cupcake to create the fishbowl rim. I also piped bubbles coming up from the fish, but now that I look at it, I can see I missed the two right smack dab in front. Quality control was a little sleepy at 1:00 am!

I wanted to serve lunch since there are so many cute fish things you can do. My idea of fish shaped sandwiches on rainbow bread were a cute idea in my head.
That's when I thought my rainbow bread was going to look like this:

I have to say Smith's bakery gets and A for effort and enthusiasm at the idea of helping me create it, but didn't quite match what I described. Oh well!

I forgot to take pictures, but I also made little blue jell-0 cups with Swedish fish swimming in them along with a huge assortment of Goldfish crackers. Can you believe how many kinds they make now?

We had a fishing pond and fished for prizes. I think the kids thought it was fun!
Although now looking at it, they seem kind of bored!

Ollie and my dad. I think Ollie could be my dads' twin in this picture! Not the way my dad looks now, but when he was a little boy. And it's just this picture and the angle...I've never really thought he resembled him until now!

The best part...opening presents! Hudson and Beckett were right there with him to help him every step of the way.

Sometimes Ollie just sat back and let Hudson do the unwrapping.

Time to make a wish!

And one more surprise from me and Steve...

His very own "Up" house, complete with a weathervane! We thought about tying a million balloons to the top of it, but the weather was too windy and rainy.
Ollie and Hud love the movie "Up" so they were really excited!

These are the favors he gave out to his "party guests." Little fish cups filled with Swedish Fish. Thanks, everyone for coming! It wouldn't have been a party without you! (We missed you, Gretel!)

Here we are! Please excuse me and my cute hubby. We really can be cuter. Our kids, however, could not be. I just love Ollie's face.

The next day after church...I found this outfit in his closet and thought it would be so apropos! I wondered (it being a size 12-18 month) if it would still fit? Indeed, it did!

Even though he turned 3, maybe he can still be my baby after all?

Happy birthday, my Ollie Dolly. I love you so!

Oh, and speaking of I love you, the most amazing thing happened that night! We were snuggling together before bed and Ollie said "Mom, I love you so much today."

I guess 3 was the magic number !