Happy 3rd Birthday, Ryan!!

Ryan's 3rd birthday was on Friday, December 23 {at 5:24 PM, to be exact :)}. It was a fun and exciting day, just as it was in 2008, 2009, and 2010 {although I can't believe my baby is now 3}!! Where does the time go?!?! We are so blessed to have such a happy, healthy, fun, loving, sweet, active, strong-willed little boy!!

Our newborn baby boy at the hospital in his Santa suit :)

Ryan's 1st brithday party -- December 23, 2009

Ryan's 2nd birthday party -- December 23, 2010

We had a family birthday party for Ryan, just as we have the last two years, at 11:00 AM. Ryan was given the choice of Toy Story, Cars, Curious George, or Thomas the Train decorations, earlier in the week, and he picked Thomas {which surprised me a little considering his other options -- good thing I asked him}. Ryan seemed a little overwhelmed for the first 15 minutes of his party and only wanted Mommy {which may have had something to do with him not feeling 100% -- he was fighting an ear infection, the first one in 11 months}, but he was back to normal very quickly and enjoyed the rest of his party. We had lunch -- Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets, subs, pizza bread, Cheetos, chips and cheese dip, brie cheese, fruit salad, veggies and dip, and punch. Then we opened lots of presents, which Ryan did great with, and had birthday cake. We are so glad that Aunt Laura, Uncle Alan, Aunt Ray-Ray, Pop, Grammy and Doug, Ama, and Aunt Cathy, Uncle Jack, Joseph, and Alice were able to celebrate Ryan's special day with us this year!

Ryan's M&M cake with 7-minute frosting :)

The food and decorations.

Cousins <3

Ryan still loves playing with balloons!

The present opening begins ...

Happy birthday to you!

Mommy and Daddy gave Ryan a Little Tikes T-Ball Set for his birthday, not really knowing what he would think of it, but figuring it would be fun to use outside this summer. He was thrilled with it and wanted to play baseball immediately; so after we finished having cake, we headed outside {it was a beautiful day} ... but not before he got his baseball cap on :) The funny thing is that the minute he opened his t-ball set, he went upstairs {all on his own} and put on his hat. It was too cute! He did a great job hitting the ball too. We were impressed!

After his nap, Mommy and Daddy took Ryan to see Christmas lights {one last time for this year} at the Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier Islands Resort. After driving through the 7.5 mile light display, we stopped at the Holiday Village for a pony ride and hot chocolate. It was fun and a nice way to spend Ryan's birthday night {although it wasn't worth the cost so we probably won't be doing it again, at least for several years}!

And on the way home, we stopped at Mellow Mushroom for pizza -- one of Ryan's favorite foods {along with chicken}.

Happy 3rd Birthday, sweet boy!! We hope you had a great birthday! You bring so much joy to our lives everyday, and we love you to pieces! Love, Mommy and Daddy