Country singer Wynonna Judd is giving fans a rare glimpse of her 3-year-old granddaughter to celebrate the toddler’s birthday milestone.
Judd is raising Kaliyah at her Tennessee farm.
And that’s where she threw Kaliyah’s fiesta themed third birthday party. Judd labeled it a “THREE-ESTA!”
In a post on her Instagram page, Wynonna put up pictures and videos of the toddler dressed in a bright yellow Mexican-inspired sundress. The post’s several pictures and a video show the little girl riding a small pony led by Wynonna as they stroll around the farm, visiting an inflatable.
In one of the pictures in the post, Kaliyah has changed out of her yellow dress and is wearing a pink and purple tutu. Another video shows her swinging a stick at a colorful piñata shaped like a donkey.
Kaliyah’s bright pink birthday cake and cupcakes also had a fiesta theme, with a sombrero, chili peppers and several cacti on top made out of icing. There was also a large number 3 on the top of the cake.
In the caption for the post, Wynonna wrote, “Had a 🪅 THREE-ESTA 🪅 for our girl’s 3rd birthday! We love a good theme around here. 🌵🌮🎉”
Wynonna Is Raising Her Daughter’s Daughter
Judd’s daughter Grace Kelley gave birth to Kaliyah in March 2022, just two weeks before Naomi Judd died by suicide at age 76.
Kelley was on a temporary leave of absence from jail, where she was serving time for a parole violation stemming from a 2016 arrest, according to The Daily Beast. Since then, Kelley has had a string of legal troubles, most recently in October 2024, when she was arrested on several charges including stealing a church van and testing positive for heroin.
Despite Kelley’s struggles, Judd has expressed her pride in her daughter, “My daughter is the strongest Judd woman in our ‘herstory,’” she stated in an interview on “The Pursuit! With John Rich” in February 2020. “She’s healthier than I was at 23. How she got there, I would not go that way, but I was also sequestered. I was on a bus with my mother. Kind of hard to get in trouble.”
Judd Rarely Shares Pictures of Kaliyah But Says She’s Changed Her Life
The few times Wynonna Judd has posted pictures or videos of her granddaughter, including in the latest birthday post, she is careful not to show the toddler’s face.
In fact, glimpses of Kaliyah on Wynonna’s social media are rare.
But her granddaughter’s impact on her life has been profound.
Judd says raising her granddaughter is helping her live a more simple life. “My life on the farm is simple and sweet, which is what we need more of, I think,” she told Jenna Bush Hager when she co-hosted with her on the January 30 episode of “TODAY with Jenna & Friends.”
“We don’t do phones at dinner. … I do what I have to do to learn how to just live off the road ‘cause I was on the road at 17. So, I never got to learn how to do life outside of show business. So, now I’m learning.”
In fact, the showbiz life is no longer what appeals most to her. Judd says her ideal day involves staying put on the farm, cooking and spending time with her loved ones. “Food, family and fun is my goal,” she says.
In an interview for an US Magazine cover story last June, Judd said of Kaliyah, “My favorite thing in life is to sit on the porch with her and eat ice cream. She’s in the rocking chair and she [says,] ‘Noni, where are you going? Noni, what are you doing?’ Being with her in those moments [is] where I realized no amount of money can ever make you this happy. I thought it would, but it doesn’t. Lying in the bed with her before bedtime and her putting her nose against mine and me singing to her, and she’s starting to sing back… [it’s] heaven on earth.”
Wynonna Judd Continues to Tour
While there’s no place she’d rather be now than on her Tennessee farm with her granddaughter, Wynonna Judd hasn’t given up touring altogether.
Judd will play two shows in California April 24 and 26, then have a nearly month-long break before a show May 23 in Midland, Texas.
But in June, her touring schedule ramps up, kicking off with an appearance at Nashville’s famed CMA Fest June 7. She’ll have 40 more tour stops before wrapping up on October 4 at Ocean City, Maryland’s Country Calling Festival. You can find tickets to any of her tour stops here.
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Wynonna Judd Throws ‘THREE-ESTA’ for Adorable Granddaughter [PHOTOS]