The Big 3!

Olivia turned 3 on Feb 24th. The night before, while she was asleep, I set the table, put some presents by her plate, and put helium balloons all over the house. When she woke up, she was so excited and kept saying, "I'm 3 years old!" while practicing holding up 3 fingers. She was super pumped about her pancake with whip cream and strawberries until she opened her present from Grandma and Grandpa Martinsen. It was another doll with accessories to go with her dollhouse. Breakfast was over - she was totally focused.



Our next birthday event was a little party with some friends from the ward. I invited the kids and moms from our playgroup to come and play games and decorate cupcakes. We had a cake walk, a toy hunt (I bought a little toy for each friend that came and put their name on it, then hid it. They had to find their toy somewhere in the toy room. Then we had a treasure hunt. They ended up in the kitchen where the treasure was the cupcakes. They all seemed to have a great time, especially Olivia. She looooves people and is a little social butterfly (though I do admit, she was quite possessive of her new toys, and understandably so:)).



Our last activity was going to Grandma and Grandpa Monson's, which she was the most excited about. We had dinner and cake and ice cream and she opened more presents. I spent quite a while a few days ago in Toys R Us with Olivia (and Brooky) trying out tricycles. She liked them all of course and Brooky got quite attached to a dune buggy. Liv finally decided on the Minnie Mouse one with a billion little gadgets and gismos. It's super cute.


I love this picture of Livvy and Sophie. They have so much fun together.


Blowing out her candles on her very fancy cake. I do have to say this was dang good cake. I found it online, it's called "Too Much Chocolate Cake." It's so great I have to share the recipe.

1 box Devil's Food Chocolate Cake mix
1(5.9 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together in a large bowl the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and water. Stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan (I always just use a regular cake pan). Bake for 50 - 55 minutes or until the top is springy to the touch or a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan before transferring onto a plate. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top, or I used cream cheese frosting. Ohhhh, this is the yummiest cake and quite addicting so beware.