Merit got her face painted for the first time at the Main St. Fesitval. She was a little giddy about it.

We told Merit that after her nap, we'd be taking her to a surprise....the Main Street Festival carnival!

a few family pics

this pic of Merit makes me want to cry for oh, so many reasons...

We had a fun time celebrating Easter in Jackson!

We hunted Easter eggs in our backyard today. When I asked Merit how she thought they got here, she said, "Well, I guess they just rolled in." However they got here, she was SO excited to hunt them all!

(more Easter pics to come...)

We took a walk down our street today. I had August in my stroller, and Merit decided her guitar needed some fresh air.

It is getting harder and harder to keep up with this girl. She'd rather crawl than sit, and recently, would rather pull up and stand than crawl. Slow it on down, August Rose.

merit's 3rd birthday party!

Merit was a bit indecisive about what kind of party she wanted this year. I figured she was old enough now to have a say, so I wanted to do something she would really enjoy. We started out thinking about Care Bears (a Mer-Bear party!), then she moved onto ballet, then macaroni and cheese (true story), then she would mention pink and purple... so I just decided to stick with pink and purple. I'm honestly not much of a fan of those two colors by themselves, so I threw in some mint green for myself. :) 

the invites

 

The day of Merit's party started with ballet. Nina and Papa were in town, so they got to come watch her do her thing.

After ballet, we went into party mode. We ran some last minute errands, and Mama helped me ice the cake and cupcakes. We made a pink and purple layered cake with pink and mint green cupcakes.

 While we finished getting everything ready, Kevan grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and PaPa took a nap with the birthday girl.

It was fun when she woke up to everything decorated and ready.

Since there wasn't really a theme other than her favorite colors, I decided to base the foods around her favorites, as well. I asked her all about her faves, and was sure to include all of them.

(Thanks to Grammie for the yummy homemade mac-n-cheese!)

The favors included some Merit faves, too - sidewalk chalk, fruit roll-ups, and Toy Story and My Little Pony stickers.

Merit was so excited as she waited for friends and family to arrive.

When they finally did, she led them all to her new "yellow park" to play a while before we ate.

After we ate up all of Merit's faves, she blew out her candles.

opening presents...

We didn't have much success with a kids on the couch pic...
Ava, Liam, Audrey, Merit, and Liberty

the mamas

PaPa, Nina, Grammie, and Popsy

our little fam (and proof that sweet August was indeed in attendance. poor second/maybe-someday-middle child - toward the end of the party my parents realized she hadn't had her supper yet, so they fed her for me. )

It was another fun Merit party. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MERIT FEY!!
Thank you to all of our friends and family who came!