G's Birthday Weekend

This was the conversation when I went to wake G up on Friday morning.

Me:  G, it's time to wake up.

G:  Mommy, am I fee (three) now?

Me:  Yes, honey. Happy Birthday!

G: Can I have choclate cher-o cerall (Chocolate Cheerio cereal)?

Me:  You sure can!

You see, while I was getting my hair cut the night before, J took the kids to the grocery store and let G pick out her special birthday cereal.  Her selection this year was Chocolate Cheerios...which she thoroughly enjoyed :)

C approved!

After C went to school, G and I worked on her birthday cake.  Her request:  a Pink Chocolate Cake.  I made this Too Much Chocolate Cake cake recipe (YUM and SOOOOOOO easy!).

Later that afternoon, Mom and Hayden (my nephew) arrived.  We had a great time playing. For supper we ate pizza (And since it was my birthday too, J let me order one with bell peppers and black olives without giving me any grief...yeah!)

Saturday morning, I finished up her cake using Wilton's Buttercream recipe (tinted pink - of course).  Then off to the ball field for C's T-Ball game.  After the game, we got ready for the party. My cousin was kind enough to bring one of those bounce-house things so the kids really had a GREAT time!

And of course, they enjoyed the swings!  My Uncle Rusty is SUCH a good sport - I'm pretty sure he spent 2 hours pushing swings :)

J made burgers and hot dogs on the grill.  Per G's request, our side was Macaroni and Cheese and chips.  Then on to birthday cake and ice cream.

It was a really fun day!  So thankful for G and the family and friends who were able to join us!

G is 3!

Well, technically, her birthday is tomorrow, but I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in cake batter and pink sparkle sprinkles so I figured I'd go ahead and post a day early :)

What can I say...G has been taking us by surprise since before she was born.  I was surprised to find out I was pregnant, surprised to find out she was a girl, and surprised when she decided to make her grand entry on my birthday!  And I gotta say, I couldn't be more thankful that God's plan wasn't my plan!

Here's my little walk down memory lane that sparked the idea for this post...

Born April 29, 2008

3 Months

4 Months - we noticed early on that she LOVES those two fingers and she's very flexible :)

6 Months

11 Months

Happy 1st Birthday!

14 Months Old - She has ALWAYS loved the beach!  The more sand, the better!

Just before 2nd birthday - hair is getting crazier by the day - and STILL loves those fingers!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2 Years and 2 Months - first pair of glasses

2 years and 4 months - another fun beach trip!

A Budding Trend setter!

HELLO Terrible Twos!

Christmas 2010

Happy Birthday, my Sweet Girl!

Skater Girl!

G received an early birthday present from her Uncle Johnny this weekend.  She thinks she is HOT STUFF now!

As her daddy used to say in his younger years..."Skate or Die!" :)

Easter 2011

Dad came and got the kids on Wednesday morning for an extended Easter visit.  So, J and I were on our own from Wednesday - Saturday morning.  I'm not gonna lie - that was NICE!  I slept late, enjoyed some peace and quiet, watched waaayyy too much TV, and even got in a shopping trip to a nearby outlet mall.  I learned several things from this experience...#1 - if it weren't for my kids, I'd probably be a totally unmotivated slob :)  and #2 - shopping without kids in tow is B-A-D for the budget.  Here I was thinking that I had grown out of my frivolous spending ways...when in reality I was just too distracted and bumfuzzeled by my kids to successfully make purchasing decisions :)  At any rate, I enjoyed my time sans kiddos, but was very ready to see their smiling, spoiled rotten (by the grandparents) faces on Saturday morning!

We arrived at my Mom's house just in time to take the kids to her church's Annual Easter Egg Hunt.  Now my kids are the ones who struggle to find their shoes in their closet, so while they enjoy Easter Egg Hunts...they definitely aren't going to be walking away with any prizes :)

Grandma helping G hunt

Saturday night, we ate at our absolute FAVORITE BBQ restaurant with J's mom and my family. Good times!

What was not good times was the fever that G developed Saturday evening.  Though  you would have never guessed it to look at her (she was acting like she felt fine), her fever was between 101.5 - 102.5 from Saturday evening  - Sunday afternoon.  Needless to say, we didn't take her to church on Sunday morning.  Consequently, there are no super cute pre-church family pictures to share.  Lucky for us, the true meaning  and joy of Easter has nothing to do with how pretty we all would have been in our Easter-finest :)  Thankful today for our Risen Savior and a fully recovered, healthy family!

Old Friends and New Lessons

This morning we had lots of fun catching up with some old friends at the park.  We met the Bryant family 3 years ago and became fast friends.  Unfortunately, our preschool schedules this year have conflicted in such a way that prevented us from getting together for play dates.  Since the boys are both on Spring Break this week we were finally able to work something out.  It was a beautiful day to be at the park!

The fun was interrupted, briefly, by an unfortunate encounter with an older child on the playground.  I was across the playground, but because C wears his emotions on his face, I could tell that the encounter with the older boy wasn't going well.  As I began to walk over, I notice G standing right beside C pointing and yelling something back at the other child.  When I caught up with C and G they explained that the other child told C to "shut up" to which G yelled back in C's defense "POOPIE!"  (NICE...that's my classy girl!)  C then went on to say that the boy was NOT his friend and he wanted him to get hurt.

I explained to C and G that we should love others (even those who aren't nice to us),  not wish them harm.  We talked a little bit about Jesus' example...people said some VERY unkind (and untrue) things to Him, particularly in the week preceding his crucifixion, yet He responded with grace and ultimately forgiveness (Luke 23: 34-38). I wish I could say that C came to a place of peace and forgiveness with the offending child...but not so much...not yet, anyway :)

At any rate, as I look back on that incident I realized two things:

#1 - It REALLY bothers me when other children are unkind to my kiddos!  Hello, Mama Bear...where did SHE come from?!?  Apparently, I need to keep reminding myself of the aforementioned truth of Jesus' example :)

and

#2 - Though I don't condone her actions/potty words, it is nice to see that G IS loyal to her brother when the  going gets rough (despite what the never-ending arguments, crying, and tattling might have you to believe :)

Flying Kites With Family

When the kids found out that we were going to visit Aunt Joan, Aunt Leah, and Grant - they were excited.  When Aunt Joan presented them with kites and a place for them to fly them - they were over the moon! :)

  

Never get tired of seeing this sweet crooked smile in pictures...always takes me back to the early days :)

A Loud-Mouth With A Purpose!

I have one volume....LOUD!  Doesn't usually have anything to do with being angry, frustrated, or even excited (though I suppose it doesn't help that I am easily excitable :) - It just seems to be the way I'm wired.  

And honestly, this particular trait drives me BONKERS!  Everyone's got things they are self-conscious about...well, this is one of mine!  

God is gracious though.  The other day He reminded me that I am "fearfully and wonderfully made" - right down to the way I talk.  We were visiting with Mrs. Delores when out of the blue she mentioned that she likes how I always speak loud enough for her to hear what I am saying clearly.

Now that's just FUNNY!  And trust me, I did laugh!

The very characteristic I'd love to change is one of the specific things that she appreciates.  Leave it to God to redeem my weirdness by matching my loud-mouth with a pair of ears that don't hear so well...He's quite the planner, that one!

And as far as I'm concerned this is all very good news to my non-hearing impaired loved ones.  Just bear with me!  It appears that as you age you may well grow to appreciate my quirkiness in this area :)