I love you too much.

My beautiful baby girl turned three. This one was extra special because she was really into it this year! We had a family party, a friend party, a school party, a resturant party and we have one more family celebration that she will share with her cousins over Easter weekend. She has loved every minute. Looking back over the last year, she is still the same kid...sassy & sweet. She can be shy at times but is gradually coming out of her shell. She is not a morning person, loves and adores her big brother, could eat all day long, is helpful, loves to help me cook, loves to dance and sing, can be bullheaded but gets her feelings hurt easily, is a girly-girl, and loves to color and do crafts! We managed to squeeze in potty training with a few days to spare before her birthday...this is where her bull-headedness came into play, big time! She just didn't want to do it untill SHE wanted to do it. And, she hasn't had an accident ever since! She is practicing using her big girl words and playing nice with her friends. She is a special little girl and when I tell her I love her she always answers me with "I love you too much". I think it is a combo of I love you too and I love you very much...and I love to her her say it...

She loves this bird...I don't know why but she must have asked me a thousand times to go to Red Robin. So we went on kids night when the big red bird is there, but...we were too late and he had gone home for the evening. When our super-sweet server found out that it was a special birthday wish, she called Red Robin's mommy and asked if he could come back to sing Happy Birthday.

My photogropher friend took these precious pics at her cupcake party.

She loves this book...can you tell!?

I'm three!

A star is born....

Ok, so I've known he was a star for quite a while. He was born with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. He has never been shy for a minute. He loves to perform...

So, I finally got up the nerve to let him audition for the Missoula children's theatre. He got a part as a grumpy caterpillar that later turns into a butterfly. Now, when you have a kid with endless energy and enthusiasm you take the good with the bad. Audition night was nerve wracking for me, to say the least. He was putting on quite the performance. He was the loudest, had to be a step ahead of the others and at times plain annoying.

I took him back for the first night of practice, hoping that he would be a little calmer and "fit in". He did do better but he still took every opportunity to be silly...his one liner of the night was when the teacher asked all the kids to say their name, age and grade, he replied "I'm [lil D], I'm 6 years old and your gonna think this is crazy but...I'M IN KINDERGARTEN!"

By the end of the night I seriously had my doubts that he would be able to stick to the script come the day of the shows. But we pushed on. And, I'm so glad we did.

In the end, he learned his way around the stage, made new friends and boy did he make us proud! In fact I have to say that all the kids were truly talented and amazing. They put together an hour long production in five days and put on two back to back shows on Saturday. They cheered each other on, supported each other and helped out when someone forgot a line. They learned how to be committed, work as a team and have confidence in themselves. The hard work payed off...big time. D took lil D up to turn in his costume and he signed a few t-shirts. And it was over.

The video is a little fuzzy but...enjoy!

Here he's on the right, blue wings.

(video coming later...Blogger isn't cooperating....grrrrr.)

Here he's the third from the left...

A Few Firsts

Ok, so I know it's been a while since I've updated my blog (thanks for the nudge, Jules). Life with kids is all about firsts. And we've had a few around here lately.

FIRST, came the dentist appointment where we found out that our 6 and a half year old had his first real loose tooth! He had been rather bummed b/c other kids in his class had not only loose teeth but had lost one or two already! I myself am not shocked...when lil D was 9 months old I remember taking him to a check-up scared out of my wits because the kid had NO TEETH. I thought for sure Dr. C would tell me that he in fact had been born with NO TEETH. He clearly was not meeting this milestone.

So our beloved, ever positive Dr. C said "Don't worry I promise he'll have teeth by the time he goes to prom". The very next week he started cutting his first bottom tooth. Pfffeeewww.

So, lil D has taken up eating apples. He's hoping it will make his tooth fall out. More power to ya!

NEXT, came the Snowmagetton. I LOVE snow, I do. I love sledding, skiing, snow angels, snowmen, and even shoveling the darn stuff. It brings back so many happy memories from my childhood and from my time in college in Erie PA. The kids had off school, we played in it, we drove around in it and we for sure tried our best to shovel ourselves out of it. Thank goodness a neighbor and an old friend came to the rescue with a snow blower...we couldn't hack it with a shovel. The funny part was that with all the snow he didn't really know where he was hacking away with that machine and we lost a couple landscape lights! But, oh well...it sure was fun!

The view from the house...



Snowball fight!~


And after all the icy fun, we would come in and make these...a total kid-creation. Hot chocolate with M&M's, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup.

Third, was a first I was not looking forward to. My lil A's first haircut : ( She is turning three this month and I had more than a few expectations of myself of a mother of a little girl. I would always dress her cute, she would never go a day without a bow in her hair and I would never cut that said hair. NEVER. I would just let it grow to Rapunzel-like beauty no matter what. So, then came the rats nests. The ends of her hair were getting really angry about being around since birth and decided to give up! I had to give her a trim and she still looks adorable and it will grow back...right?

She loves her new look!

So that's all for now...next up V-day and lil D's on stage debut! Stay tuned!