Berkley turned three!

Lest some of you think I may have buckled under the criticism of my untimely blogging habits lately and would start writing about current events, oh no I am not there yet!! But getting closer...
One of the most important days of the year in our house is May 14th, and to celebrate Berkley's bday this year she got to have her very first friends birthday party. I was so excited to have a spring birthday because I thought it would be much easier to have a group of kids outside but after planning everything out we had a very soggy and rainy morning. I was so sad but decided we would just try and deal with getting a little wet. Berkley and I decided to do a Dora adventure so after everyone arrived Berkley got a present, but Swiper had stolen the gift and her cake so the girls had to help find them. They each got a backpack with the tools they would need. I couldn't believe how intent they were on reading their maps and following it. We had 3 places to visit- Crocodile Lake, where they had to fix the bridge with shapes from their packs and had to use their binoculars to find. Fiesta Forrest- here they had to help Diego rescue all the animals hidden in the trees with their magnifying glasses. Then last they found Swiper's Hiding Place. This was a cardboard box with a dark tunnel they had to crawl through with their flashlights that we had decorated to look like Swiper's Castle. Some of the little girls were so into things at that point that they were terrified to actually crawl through because they thought Swiper was really there! Luckily they had whistles in their packs to blow and scare him away. One girl took such reassurance in this that she did not stop blowing it until her Mom got there! After they crawled through they found the birthday cake presents and lunch. After we ate all the girls grabbed their presents to give to Berkley. They all crowded around to watch but when we announced it was one of the girls' turn to take over her present, we found her sitting behind us quietly already unwrapping the present she had brought. She had never been to a party and just thought that what she should do! Even in the rain it turned out to be one of my favorite parties we've had. I absolutely love 3 year olds and these 5 little girls were so much fun to have over.

Coloring before the guests arrive
I had a vision of the tramp filled with balloons and Kevin spent most of the night before blowing them up for me, but it was too wet to bring them outside :(
Matching their shapes to fill the holes then crossing Crocodile Bridge
Finding all the animals in Fiesta Forrest
Reading the map
Climbing through Swiper's Tunnel ( I was by myself this party so I attempted to take pics while keeping things under control)
Eating lunch, or just licking frosting as it turned out
Presents and playing! Perfect day!

Mark, get set, don't go...

Had someone ever told me how hard 5 years could be, I am not sure I would have believed them. You started out with a difficult pregnancy that ended with me covered in head-to-toe hives, that I would scratch until they bled, sleeping on an air mattress on our deck (in January!) because I couldn't stand the heat and a month of nothing but cold showers when my body decided I was allergic to you. Maybe I should have seen the foreshadowing then. As a baby you were difficult, fought sleep like it was the plague, and wanted to eat whenever it was inconvenient. Once you become a toddler it was like trying to corral a rocket. You never stopped moving, talking, or screaming. You still hated sleeping and never wanted to play by yourself. You possessed no fear which created the opposite in me as I worried incessantly. You wanted what you wanted when you wanted it and didn't have an ounce of patience. You learned to talk which meant you knew how to tell me "No!" You always wanted something new and better to keep you entertained. You were friends with everyone you met and had no concept of a stranger. You demanded that I carry you everywhere, you hated driving in the car and I still wasn't getting any sleep. We added a little sister, someone with a completely different outlook than you, yet she will always get into any sort of trouble you talk her into. Your infectious personality permeates everything in our home and when you ain't happy, ain't nobody happy! Then you went and did the absolute worse thing you could: you turned 5! This was a milestone I had dreaded since the day I brought you home. This was the day that marked the beginning of the end of what I had known since I become a mom. Because despite all the difficulties, the long days, and the heartache that came with you, you were mine. I know what you do each day, I hear all the things you say, I share these experience with you and I know what makes you sad. I can stop the kid whose pushing you, I can ask you what your thinking and I know everybody who is around you. But now we get to open the door and it is your turn to run head-on into this world. I know you are ready, I know you are a little scared like I am, but I know that even with some of the bad, just like we've had these past 5 years, that there will be so many great and wonderful things that I cannot even begin tell you about just waiting for you! You are beautiful inside and out, you are smart, you are brave and most of all you know who are. Please continue to care about others as much as you do now, many friends count on you to be there to help them through a bad day. Don't stop learning new things, your thirst for knowledge will push you to know great things. Remember where you came from, for that is where we are all trying to get back to. And most of all, absolutely the most important, don't forget I was there in the beginning and will be through it all. I cannot wait to see what trouble the next phase brings, for each day with you is better than the last. But I really hope I can start getting some sleep...
Happy Birthday Braelyn Paige!

Don't quit your day job!

Braelyn grabbed half of a broken baton tonight and announced she was going to tell some jokes. We have had a few months of knock-knock she makes up so I was prepared with my fake smile, and she said, "What do you get when you cross a crocodile with a chicken?"
-I don't know, what?
"A croc-a-doodle-doo!"
It caught me off guard but was actually really funny, so Berkley and I laughed and laughed and she started again, "What do you get when you cross a bear and a chicken?"
-Hmmm, I'm not sure?
"A grrr-a-doodle-doo!"
Oh dear here we go...
"What do you get when you cross a turtle and a chicken?"
-Fake smile, I really don't know.
"Ummmm.....I don't know either, I don't know what turtles say..."
Ok, maybe she is really funny.

In Berkley news she has found a Jasmine costume that we got for a dollar in the Halloween clearance last year. I thought we would just put a shirt underneath but Berkley has other ideas, and now walks around with her cute little round belly out pretending to be Princess Jasmine. I get to be Aladdin but I am not so good at the man voice, I usually forget and revert to my high pitched granny voice, because that is usually who I get to play. Berkley does not like when I forget and makes me repeat everything I say in a deep voice followed by, "And I love you beautiful princess."

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

For those of you in the know (or anyone who has a calendar) you will know how behind I am yet again on this blog, but since it snowed here again this weekend (Hello? It's almost April!!!) I figure I will be in the right mindset to catch up on our winter happenings. It's probably not going to be profound, or creative or maybe interesting since I am just going to go but you have been warned if you, so here we go:

Braelyn had her first dance recital! They had lots of different classes performing so it was a huge auditorium that was packed with people, but she got right up there and did her thing. She was one of the oldest in the class so she memorized the routine a little better than the others and she didn't miss a beat. It was lots of fun to show Kevin what they had been working on, and we were so excited to see her up on the big stage. Berkley had been doing a Mommy and Me class, which thankfully for me, did not include a performance in front of others, but she was a little sad when she didn't get to perform. We took a break from classes this spring and just get our groove on in the kitchen while we make dinner.


After that we got into December and celebrating CHRISTMAS! I really love this time of year and get very caught up in the spirit of the season and all the fun that comes with sharing the magic of it with my little ones.
Braelyn had a Christmas program for preschool where we got to hear her sing some Christmas songs and then they got a special visit from Santa. Braelyn has wonderful preschool teachers and they do a great job with the kids.

We got lots of snow here at our house and after missing that last year, the girls were so excited for it. Neither Kevin nor I love to be cold so we put off getting outside, but after work one day Kevin got outside to build a HUGE snow man with them. Braelyn even tried to jump on the trampoline but since we didn't have snow boots she just had galoshes on and they were kind of slippery. All I had to wear were my tennis shoes that I covered with grocery sacks to keep the water out. Good thing the girls were ready to get back inside pretty quick. Next year we may have to invest in some real snow clothes.

On the 12 days of Christmas we have Santa's elves come visit our house and leave little gifts or activities for our family. This is a tradition I have had since I was little and this year we had some fun things to do.
We built a gingerbread house. (This was way too much for my nerves, between wanting to control how everything looked, it was unbearably sticky and kind of difficult to keep put together. Not my favorite activity but they sure liked eating it after.)

The girls painted Christmas sun-catchers. They absolutely loved doing this and I was surprised at how deliberate they were in making sure everything was the right color and looked just right. They enjoyed it so much that the next day I found them washing them off in their water cups just so they could do it again.

They got the electric toothbrushes that they had been wanting for months. It made teeth brushing pretty exciting for awhile, but Braelyn said it tickled her teeth and would giggle the entire time she was brushing.

We drove around to look at Christmas lights. We did a lot of driving and did not see very many lights, I guess we didn't hit the right neighborhoods. We had gone to see the big light show at the Horse park when my parents were here and the girls really enjoyed that. Here they got themselves ready to go, and for some reason that meant headbands.

On Christmas Eve we went bowling. It was a fun to way to spend the night before we came home and did the nativity story. Braelyn really enjoys acting that out and remembered being Mary from the year before so she was very excited to tell the story this year. We got Santa his cookies, but more importantly we prepared Rudolph's midnight snack which is a very big deal to Braelyn. She got him an apple, some carrots a cookie and some special reindeer treats (glitter and oatmeal) and she carefully made sure it was just inside the door so that he could easily lean inside and eat it. After that it was off to bed and I was very pleased that I even got to bed before 10:00 pm!

Christmas morning is nothing less than perfect when you get to experience it through your kids eyes. We woke up early and we had told Braelyn not to go into to the living room, but to come get us when she woke up so she walked down the entire hallway with her eyes closed. The girls were so excited for each gift and we spent a quiet day with each other enjoying playing and being together.

Well now we can get onto 2011!