Brisbane is THREE!

The number one thing I have learned being a mother is that all kids grow up and break their mommy's heart!  Good grief, I can't believe Brisbane is three!  The weekend of his birthday we went to Mack's parents house.  We went to church on Sunday and the Sunday School teacher asked Mack, "How long have you been married?"  "Five years."  "How many kids do you have?"  "Five."  "That's impressive!"  "Yeah, and I have only been a dad for three years."  "That's even more impressive!"

And it all started with Brisbane.  This is the kid that made me a Mom and Mack a Dad.  He is crazy in all of the perfect ways and we love him to pieces. 

He was very excited for his birthday this year.  This is the first year that he really got it.

 He knew there were going to be presents.  He asked me a dozen times that day if he could open them.  I kept telling him he had to wait until Daddy got home.  I think he was hoping I would forget because that didn't deter him from badgering.

 We actually celebrated his birthday a day early since we were going to Snowflake on his real birthday. He didn't know and didn't care.

 Love this picture!

Love this one even more!

 Grandparents are the best and Brisbane was very excited for his giant excavator/earth mover/truck thing.

 I just wanted a picture of Brisbane standing by his new scooter.  I kept telling him to smile and he just kept pointing at me and repeating, "YOU HAVE A BUG ON YOU!  YOU HAVE A BUG ON YOU!  YOU HAVE A BUG ON YOU!"
You would have thought it was a tarantula.  But no.  It was a common housefly.  Not that three year olds have a tendency to overreact or anything.
This is the first year Brisbane has gotten to choose where he went for his birthday dinner.  Let's face it, he just wasn't capable before.  It was tough for him.  He wanted McDonalds.  And Taco Bell.  And Chick-fil-a.  And Burger King.  He just couldn't decide.  When I asked him on that day he said, "Mom, just don't worry about it!"  Yeah.  That's going to work until we all load in the van and the three year old with all of the power has still not told me where we are eating.  He then declared that he wanted to go to his Aunt Jo's for dinner.  Since it was Jo's sons birthday that day, it just wasn't going to happen.  I finally suggested we go get pancakes (knowing that he loves pancakes, sausage, and eggs) and he thought that was a great idea!  It was a win for both of us.  He got to eat all of his favorite foods and I didn't have to go somewhere with a PlayPlace where I am always afraid of Meningitis contamination.
Now for the cake.  I asked Brisbane a few days before his birthday what kind of cake he wanted.  I was thinking "horses" or "cars" or "planes".  No, I got, "An icy one" (followed by maniacal laughter).  Either he was being intentionally daft, he didn't know how to answer the question, or he was torturing me by leaving me in suspense.  "An icy one?"  "Yep!  That melts!"  "Made out of ice?"  "Yes!  That melts!"  Grasping at straws, "How about an ice cream cake!?"  "YES, YES!" (Jumping up and down and acting like that is what he wanted from the beginning and that I am an idiot for not immediately understanding.)
So after dinner we stopped at Dairy Queen to get him an Icy Cake That Melts.  He was thrilled.

We love our little three year old.  He has gobs of personality and an opinion about everything.  He is my little shadow and fiercely independent.  We love you, Brisanator!