Princess Party!

Well the dust has finally settled from the big birthday party.

We decided to have a joint Princess Party for Grace's 3rd and Emma's 1st birthday. It was the best decision and actually worked better than I could have imaged. We had about 15 kiddos and their parents in our house and to me it never felt like it was too crazy. I think everyone had a good time. Only thing I was bummed about later is that I never got a picture of all the kiddos and I didn't take a picture of the front door decorations or the cupcakes. Oh well... but I will say that I thought it was all pretty cute! :)

So here is the party in review:

First off... Happy Birthday girls!

We decorated some princess tiaras

and pirate hats.

We ate some pizza

and crawled on tables!

Bounced a little.

Sang Happy Birthday and blew out some candles!

Ate some cupcakes... yummy!

Shared a little.

Bounced some more.

Laughed a lot.

And had the best Princess party ever!

first steps

Yesterday Emma took her first steps!! She took one step a couple weeks ago, but I think it was more of a fluke. But then yesterday she was taking lots of steps. We only got up to 5 steps at once, but I'm sure in just a matter of weeks she will really be walking well. Woo Hoo! I really hate the whole crawling thing so I'm super excited that she is starting to take some steps. Here is a short video of her taking a few steps. I think Grace wanted some attention from daddy too :)

More updates coming soon on the girls birthday party!

now and then

I love looking back at pictures.... how quickly they change.

Days old

1 year

2 years

3 years

3

How in the world am I mother of a 3 year old?

Three really seems so old. I know I know... I say that every time I come to sit and write these posts, but its so true. 2 is still toddlerhood, but 3 is a preschooler and before I know it Grace will be walking up the steps to Kindergarten. And even then I'll wonder where the time went and how she can be so big and grown up.

So much has changed in one year.

Grace you have gone from putting 2 words together (barely) to saying full sentences with 6+ words... although not all those words are understood by all.

You have gained a little sister. You are far better a big sister than I could have even imagined. You are so sweet and caring and you always want to know where she is and what she is doing. You love her and I know that despite the screaming matches you have that one day you will be best buds.

You also became potty trained this year... Woo Hoo! You are just down to wearing a diaper at night time although I think those days might be short lived.

You favorite things to do these days are playing games like Memory or riding your bike outside. You just love to do anything really... arts and crafts, going to the park, you love story time at the library and you LOVE school. You also love reading new books so we are always trying to add to our collection.

This year you also developed a little attitude. You know what you want and you wont stop till you get it. In the same breath you know where the time out spot is and you know that mom isn't afraid to send you there. :)

Overall though, you are the sweetest little 3 year old I know. You just have this little infectious smile and personality that draw people close to you. I love you more and more each day!

So my first baby is 3. Another year gone by and another one to look forward to. Now we are off to enjoy the rest my little Valentine's day :)
Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you are having a nice day with the ones you love :)

Fireproof

I just finished watching the movie Fireproof. And while I am normally fast asleep by this time, I just couldn't go to sleep until I wrote a post about this movie. I guess my blog is really sometimes just like a journal to me. But what I wanted to say was that you need to go see this movie. Or better read the book. My best friend, Hailey, read it and she told me about it. Since I'm up to my ears in books right now I rented the movie. Unfortunately Adam didn't get to watch it with me, but I totally want him to see it too. I've always felt like I'm one of the lucky ones... a lucky wife with an amazing husband, but you know its probably because of our love of Christ that we do have an amazing marriage. Anyway, I just wanted to tell everyone to go rent it. It's a great one.

Oh and grab your box of tissues... you will need them!

Check this out too.

Peek-a-boo and ABC's

Just a little video for you on this beautiful Friday. Grace was playing Peek-a-boo with Emma and I had to get it on video. And I got her to (sort of) say her ABC's... its still a work in progress but she is doing great!

11 months!

Happy 11 months Emmy!

Where is the time going?

It's already time for me to sit down and write about you at 11 months.

Weight: ~20lbs! My big girl!

Here is what you have been up to this month:

*Teething all month. Although you still only have 2 teeth (hmmm.)... but I can see those top 4 teeth. Hopefully they will come in soon or mommy might go crazy!

*You are a little copy cat and a little shadow. You love to do anything your sister does and you are constantly following her around. You two really are super cute together!

*You are a screamer. You will start these little screaming (for fun) contests with your sister. It's quite loud, but you guys just scream and laugh. I really should get it on video sometime.

*You LOVE bath time! I can now say to you "let's go take a bath" and you take off to climb up the stairs. (Also something you love...climbing stairs... if you only understood how to go down them!).

*You love singing songs. Patty Cake, Peek-a-boo and The Itsy Bitsy Spider are your favorites right now.

*You are still a fast crawler, but you are getting more brave and standing for longer periods of time. Maybe those first steps will be this month?

And here you are ready for Valentine's Day. Even your jeans have little heart patches!

25 random things about me

I posted this to Facebook, so if you read it there already sorry.

Anyway, enjoy hearing stuff about me that you probably already know or didn't really want to know. I enjoyed writing it.

1. It only took about 20 people sending this to me for me to finally do it. :)
2. I don't really like chocolate. Never have. I will eat an occasional M&M or oreo, but that is about it. Just the idea of a slice of chocolate cake makes me sick.
3. I love reality TV ... you know The Bachelor, Biggest Loser... but I don't have as much time to watch as I would like (really 2 hours of TV... in my dreams!)
4. I am so happy to be back in Texas. I don't ever want to move away again.
5. I love going and doing with the kids. Like going to the zoo, going to park, etc. I just hate the preparation that some activities take.
6. I want to go to Disney so bad (I've never been!). But I'm waiting another 2 years until Emma is potty trained, but before Grace starts school! So if you want to come with us in the winter or spring of 2011 let us know! :)
7. Most of my vacations as a child were to the ski slopes. I was a pretty good skiier... was even ranked twice! I haven't skiied since college :(
8. My mom is my best friend. I don't know what I would do without her. Seriously, I'm so lucky to live only 20 minutes from her!
9. I have a huge extended family. My mom is 1 of 9 and my dad is 1 of 8. Plus almost all of those aunts and uncles are married and have several kiddos so holidays are very busy for us! But I LOVE it! (oh and most of these family members live in the DFW area).
10. I would love to be a teacher someday. Maybe when my girls are in school?
11. I love anything crafts. Love to sew, paint, scrapbook, make cards. Only problem is I don't have the time for it all. So I just do it when I can. I think I will do a lot of this when I retire one day :)
12. I love to give gifts.
13. I am sort of a control freak.
14. I love to read. But I didn't really start reading for pleasure until I was out of college at 23. I just finished Twilight and I'm reading 2 other books, one for Sunday school and the other for a bible study.
15. I am a MAJOR neat freak. Just open my cabinets or look in my closets next time you are over. Seriously I love my label maker and love to organize.
16. I don't really like to shop. Some days I enjoy shopping, but I HATE trying things on. I usually just buy and return if it doesn't work. This is sort of hard now with kids.
17. I don't know that I have a favorite food. I love anything I didn't have to cook.
18. My favorite color is blue. I think its because I have blue eyes.
19. I met my husband when I was 20. I actually had another boyfriend at the time (only for a week) when I dumped him and Adam asked me on a date like the next day!
20. I have the smartest husband I know. Seriously, Adam is so smart. I just wish I knew more about what he does. I really have no clue. (That sounds bad like I don't care, I really do, its just that electrical engineering really is like a foreign language to me!)
21. Adam and I are big savers. But its paid off. We have no debt at all, except our mortgage. We even bought our last car with cash. It was an amazing feeling!
22. I wasn't a big saver until I met Adam. I actually owed about $800 or so on a credit card when we got married and he paid it off that month. Such a sweet hubbie.
23. When our kids are grown, Adam and I want to travel. Hey we will only be in our late 40's!
24. I am so happy that I have 2 girls. I always wanted a sister (I have 2 brothers). I'm so happy that they will always have each other.
25. Not sure I want anymore kids. But ask me again tomorrow and I might give you a different answer. :)

dentist

Grace had her first visit to the dentist (finally!). Our pediatrician recommended that she go after for her first check up when she turned 2. It only took us 11 months to get there. Really though last year was so busy with having a baby, and moving that the dentist just didn't fit into the equation.

Anyway, she did great! She did everything they asked and got lots of prizes and even an award for having no cavities. Oh and the dentist was great! The office was just for kids so it was decorated all fun and had fun kid stuff. She just loved it. I wished they would have had dentists like that when I was a kid! I mean if I got a sticker, a balloon, a little toy frog, an award, a toothbrust and a cool kiddie flosser I might want to go to the dentist more often than every 6 months. Seriously she got all that!