Wordless Wednesday... Zzzzzzzzz...

Where can't she sleep?

In the last one, she just had to finish her carrots and she could have had dessert... She sat at the table for about 20 minutes after everyone else munching  s  l  o  w  l  y  on them. She didn't fight, but she certainly wasn't in a hurry and she never did get that dessert...

Grace's 3rd Birthday! - It's not over yet!

Don't think that we could let the family miss out on the festivities! Gracie got to have another celebration with the family!

Grama made a very special cake... She totally loved it!

 Totally awesome, right?

 Grampa entertained them while we got ready...

And it didn't take long for them to talk him into letting them swim... Then Gracie managed to convince Katie to put her toes in the freezing water.

When I told her that she'd get to see Uncle Craig and Auntie Carla, she just wanted to know about Tessie ~ and they were nice enough to bring her!

 She loves this dog...

 I love this picture, Bryce is trying to figure out what Jack is doing...

She opened lots and lots of presents... this just cracks me up, she's wearing her new shoes and she is SO excited about this Barbie house.

 This one is equally awesome, she is in love with that cake!

 Aw, Jack and Reese... Too cute!

 After the party...just trying to keep her awake.

And finished the party playing with GG Bonnie's bunnies. What a great party! Three is an awesome year for a birthday. She was so excited for everything about it, but all she asked for was to have cake and candles. I know she loved every minute of her parties ~ thank you everyone for celebrating with us!

Grace's 3rd Birthday!

What a fun day! My baby turned 3 and it was a never-ending party!

It started with a birthday breakfast...

 And a birthday car ride... on the way to her birthday party...

Gracie shares a birthday with Jack's classmate Colin and so they shared a birthday party! Hooray for the easiest party ever! Here are the birthday siblings: Ali, Grace, James, Jack and Colin...

 Who knew that the little animal figures would be such a hit?

 Is this birthday excitement or is she just happy to be eating Doritos?

 The birthday kids... Colin turned 4 and Grace turned 3...

 Cake time!

Some how I didn't take pictures of them opening presents... But they had a blast playing at the park. We ran home really quickly to clean up and then took off for dinner with Grama and Grampa. This is Grace on the way to dinner.

 And it's time for more cake!

 Thank you Grama and Grampa!

 Jack enjoyed his cookie - big time!

 And it was time for more presents!

Happy birthday baby! I hope you had an awesome 3rd birthday!

Grace is Three!

Have you heard? My baby is three! I can't believe how grown up she is.

Oh Gracie, my buddy, I have so much fun with you. Most mornings, I wake up to you climbing into my bed. Then you talk to our baby, maybe sing her a song and rub my tummy. It's a nice way to wake up, but I can't help but wonder how it's going to change in the next few weeks. I hope you like your sister as much as you like your brother.

You and your brother get along so well most days. You're willing to play Star Wars (over and over) with him. You follow his rules, but you won't pretend to be a boy. Your favorite is Leia, but Asoka and Padame are pretty great too. In fact, they rate right up there with the other Disney princesses. You guys play almost silently for a good chunk of each day and I hope you are friends like this forever.

I do have to say that Jack is starting to manipulate you a little bit, but he is still so great in your eyes that you don't mind cleaning up his toys for him (sometimes). You take care of him too, just today you brought him a napkin because he needed to wipe his face. Which reminds me, you are quite the little mommy. You love to take care of your dollies, but real babies are much better. You love to make them smile and laugh. And every morning (and possibly multiple times during the day) you talk to your baby sister.

You're even good at playing all by yourself. You play with anything... I mean anything and you turn them into families or girlfriends. Whenever I'm getting ready, you play with my makeup brushes. There's a mommy and daddy one, I think there's even a grandpa. You love your little people and their doll house and I love to listen to the conversations that your toys have. Usually someone is named Lissa and they're not always nice to each other, but it's good to hear you working it out.

The other thing you love to do is color and draw. At least once a day you draw me a picture or ask to color in the dry erase alphabet book. You're getting better and better every day.

You love to play in your kitchen, you're always cooking something up and you love to play doctor. You've been to quite a few of my doctors appointments and you love to measure my tummy. One day, you even put lotion on and used one of your toys like a Doppler, pretending to hear the baby's heart. Last time I went to the doctor, you had the choice to stay home with daddy, but you wanted to come with me. I asked you wanted to be a doctor when you grow up, but you made a grouchy face and said that you would of course be a princess. After the appointment, we had a nice afternoon, you're always so well behaved when you're by yourself.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays when Jack's at school, we have lots of fun together. We run all the errands, go to your class at the library and/ or go for walks. You aren't a big fan of sitting in the stroller, so we somehow developed a bribe that involves marshmallows. You have such a sweet tooth. No matter where we go, you are fun to hang out with, you're almost always well behaved, you get tons of compliments and I mostly forget that I'm your mom.

Of course you're not always perfect. You can throw a mean tantrum and you've really figured out how to be the "damsel in distress."  There are so many things that you can do (buckle yourself, clean up, go potty, get dressed, put on your socks and shoes, count and get things out) but you ask for help every time. Even though we all know that you can do it, you insist on having help. I'm just not sure what to do about this, it really does drive me crazy. I want to you to be confident, strong and self-sufficient and I think you are, but maybe you're also a little bit lazy? Hmmm...

Oh, you're still a crazy sleeper. You fall asleep in the funniest places and yet never ask to lay down. Here are a few pictures, mostly all I do about this is take your picture.
In the rocker?

 At the kitchen table?

And the best one yet... mid hug:

You are always available for a hug and lots of times a day, you come over just to tell me or daddy or Jack that you love us and give us a kiss. 

You're really into your friends, you get excited to see them at the park or at Joy School. They used to just be Jack's friends, but now they're yours too.

You're aren't that picky about what you wear (most of the time) and you mostly like to wear your hair down. You love to wear lip gloss and have daddy paint your nails. 

I'm so glad that I have you, I never thought that I would have a daughter, but I sure am glad you're here! Happy Birthday Baby! And here's to many more!
~love mama

Home Depot's Craft Day

And one day we hit up Home Depot's craft day. It's really fun, you just show up and they have a free craft for you to complete with your kids.  Jack and Grace had a blast and are very proud of their cars.

Check Out the Shoes...

Two Years and Then Some...

True to form, I'm late. I've been meaning to write since April, but better late than never, right? I just thought I should check in and tell you, Grace, how much you've grown, how smart you are, how funny you are, and how much fun we all have with you. I do not have to remind you of how pretty you are because when people ask you "who's pretty?" or "who's cute?" you answer "ME!" And you are totally correct. At your birthday, you weren't totally talking, but now there's no stopping you. It felt like after your party you decided that you have a lot to say. You're pretty easy to communicate with on almost all topics, even when it seems totally random, I can usually figure out what you're saying. My favorite word of yours is "Ducky." You add a 'y' to the end of almost every word and I guess you can't make the sound of a 'J' so you call Jack "Ducky." I can't get over how cute it is. So far Jack is okay with it, we'll see how long that lasts. Another one of your favorite things to say lately has been "I did it!" And you say this for almost everything that you do, but your biggest accomplishment recently has been using the potty. You're doing really well, but you aren't finished learning yet. Earlier today, while you were on the potty, you brought your phone. You made a call to Cinderella just to tell her that you went potty. Too cute. Another thing I love to hear is "mama run?" I love that you are totally attuned to what I wear. If I go near my running clothes, you ask. In fact, no matter what I change into, bathing suit ~ "play wawa?," regular clothes ~ "mama, where we go?" you know what it means. You're good at reading social cues and you always pay attention to clothes. You're always checking out other little girl's outfits and commenting on their shoes and other things. You crack me up. Speaking of cracking me up, did I tell you that you are our little comedian? The other night you had Jack and I rolling on the floor, we were laughing so hard. Your facial expressions, dance moves, jibberish, and even potty talk get people laughing (especially your brother). You were hilarious. The other day I brought you and Jack to Sephora, the makeup store. I went to make my purchase and turned my back for just a second. Then I heard the sales ladies busting up. You had found a red lipstick AND tried it in just a matter of 5 seconds. The whole crowd was rolling with laughter because you did a really good job. The lipstick didn't stray too far from your lips. I know you practice almost everyday, but I didn't know you were that good. Also, I'm a little concerned because you have no fear. You always want to swing higher and faster. You love flipping upside down and jumping off of high things. You're a little dare devil. Here you are swinging with your eyes closed at two Papas, riding a roller coaster and making Daddy swing you again and again: The only thing you are afraid of is bugs. But lately, you've been talking yourself through the experience of being near a bug. You tell yourself "it okay, it's coot (cute), oh nice buggy." You're doing a really good job of being brave. Gracie, you are a really silly sleeper. When you stay in your bed, we find you in all kinds of crazy positions. But mostly you come into our bed some time in the night. You're a little sneaky about it because you just climb right in and don't say a word. Most of the time we don't even know you're there until we wake up in the morning. Last month you stopped nursing and these days are getting a little bitter-sweet for mommy. I love the personality that you've developed, but I really wish you could stay my baby forever.

Gracie Turns TWO!

Happy Birthday Gracie!!!

I'm pretty sure that she had the absolute best day of her life! She was happy and smiling the entire time. She loves her friends and family and was excited to play with everyone that she loves. I, of course, had a wonderful time planning everything and had to take pictures of it all put together! Grama Colleen made the cupcakes! Tons and tons of cupcakes! And there was a dessert bar! All kinds of yummy sweets! Gracie has a major sweet-tooth and I much preferred this party theme, over Elmo or Barbie (her current favorites). I think she loved it. I know Jack did. Every time he asked if he could eat something the answer was yes and every time he was shocked! This was the candy necklace station... There were all kinds of treats to string. What a perfect model! Her mouth is too full to smile... Getting some water with Grandma Karen. Eating lunch with Grandma Pat... This is Gracie hitting her pinata... It was a "custom" pinata - I didn't even know you could get that! It was supposed to be a cupcake, but I think Jeremey was correct in saying that it looked like Humpty Dumpty in a pink dress. Oh well! It was a great deal and it lasted through ALL of the kids and broke on the last one. So in actuality, it was perfect! Here is the 4 year old heat for the marshmallow race. They're so cute! Jack is wearing sunglasses from the pinata... And they're off! Gracie is getting ready for the three and under heat... All those sweets, but it was still time for cake! And then we were just going to open one present... from Grandma and Grandpa - that she totally loved! But it snowballed into opening all of them. She was so excited about EVERY single thing that she opened and it's really funny how kids love to watch other kids open their presents. She loved all of the attention and was really putting on a show. I think Olivia was just as excited about this one! And before we even got down the hill, she was asleep. She took a great nap and was ready to go to another party that night! What a trooper! Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us! We had a blast! *** Photo Updates