Julia Turns 3!

Can you believe it? My other baby turned 3 on Saturday. Let me tell you, I thought Jules was so little until Bailey came along. My dad said it perfectly, "Jules grew up a whole year just right now." I feel like that - like I somehow missed something - like I missed a lot. Somehow she is a little girl and I didn't realize it. Ugh, I'm so sad. Why are my babies growing???? Can anyone make it stop?

So, we had a party for Jules on Saturday. Luckily her daddy had a change in schedule and was able to be there for the whole party. I cheated and just bought some pizzas from Walmart. I wasn't up to making something for a crowd quite yet. I did, however, make her cake. Although the Grandmothers both suggested I buy one, I couldn't help it. I would have felt guilty had I not made her one. As my sister said, I would have blamed any future problems Jules had with me not making her 3rd birthday cake. (Jess knows my irrational side well.) My icing was somehow slightly runny for decorating, but I managed and the cake part was very tasty.

We had a nice day with Aunt Jess (who got to see Bailey for the first time), Aunt Sue, Uncle Matt, Ryan, Max, Spank, and both sets of grandparents. Jules loved all her presents and gave everyone kisses and hugs. She especially loved a little baby doll her cousin Spanky got her. She hugged it while it was still in it's box! She didn't get "Happy Birthday" sung to her 4 times this year (like last year), but she really did enjoy having everyone sing to her. She was running around telling everyone it was her birthday and when asked "who's the birthday girl," she emphatically answered "me!"

After present and cake time, we also gave each girl a special item that they've been working hard to earn. Jules' job has been to go pee on the potty well (we're not all there yet), and Nat's job has been to sleep in her bed all night (she's made 100% improvement). What did they earn? "Camp bags!!!" (sleeping bags). They are both so excited to go camping in the back yard this summer, to roast marshmallows and hot dogs, and to look at the stars with daddy. Now they have the gear to do it. =)

The boys (big and little) spent the rest of the afternoon outside, on the four wheeler, walking the woods and playing in the creek. While the big boys were "supervising," the little boys somehow ended up soaking wet from head to toe. They were practically swimming in the creek. Yes, it was in the low 60's and the water temp was probably in the 30's. It's a wonder they didn't have hypothermia. Boys will be boys, I guess. I'm positive God knows what he's doing when he gives one family 3 girls ;)

Anyway, we had a nice day celebrating my little Julie baby. I love that little stubborn, sweet, sour, silly, love-bug.

My Baby Is 5 =(

I can't help it. This was a very hard birthday for me. I am excited to see her grow and learn new things, but the prospect of sending her away to school is just ... well..., just horrifying for me. I know it's probably somewhat selfish, but I love her! I know she'll enjoy making friends and showing me all the new things she has learned, but I will be lost without her. She is my little buddy. I don't think I want to spend my day Natty-less.

Ugh, and then there's the mean girls, and the inevitable misunderstandings with teachers, etc. that seem so unfair, and little boys who think she's cute and... ugh. Anyway, I'm sure there will be much more agonizing over kindergarten in posts to come.

Back to the birthday -

There were many other stressors for my already emotionally-fragile pregnant self:

-Family scheduling issues causing us to have the party well after her b-day

-Miscommunication between daddy and me so that we did NOTHING for her on her actual b-day (no cards, no presents, no cake). Just "Um, it's your birthday. You're 5 now."

-The entire weeks leading up to her party, she was talking about how she didn't have any friends here and she would have no friends at her party. She even told Nana, "I don't have any friends anymore, so I just invited all my family."

I was completely ready to have a melt-down. How could such a big birthday be celebrated so un-eventfully? My heart was broken.

Anyway, we did have a party, although everyone had to leave early. She got a lot of cute outfits and some fun Littlest Pet Shops. I made her a special cake too. In the end, the day turned out okay. The cake was very good and she was happy eating pizza. It was not the party I would have liked, but I'm sure I took it much harder than she did and in the grand scheme of things, she won't be too emotionally scarred. ;)

Bella's 3rd

On Saturday, we were lucky enough to be invited to our friend, Bella's, birthday party. It was held at the Hershey Tea Party Company - what a GREAT time. The HTPC specializes in theme parties for girls and teens. This party was a "fairy" party and it was magical. =) There were butterflies and glitter and a beautiful tea party set up. There were skirts and wings and crowns for each girl. There were even pirate outfits for the boys. They painted nails and did make-up too! I could go on and on, but check out the pics! Nat simply ate-it-up. The party was MADE for her and she is already planning her own fairy birthday party =)

Big Birthday Weekend

Well, this was a big weekend for us. My nephew, Max's, 6th birthday was on Thursday. My MIL's birthday was on Friday. Our friend Bella's birthday party was on Saturday and Daddy's birthday was on Sunday!

Daddy was working midnights so for breakfast, he brought home some donuts for us all. After church, I baked a cake while the girls decorated the house. Natalie, with Jules' help, spread Easter grass all over the floor. She figured it would be great to step on because "it's cushy." She also hid Easter eggs. I iced the cake and the girls chose the phrase "#1 Dad" to put on it. They then decorated with more icing and sprinkles. I swear, it says "#1 Dad" somewhere in there.

We also made a sign and our own hand-made cards for him. For activities, Nat decided we should hunt Easter eggs (...guess who found them all first... the girl that hid them!) She also came up with a rule that "you can't watch movies (tv) on your birthday." This was her clever way to make sure Fox News and hunting shows were not on TV. =) Daddy came up with a game too -- seeing who could pick up the most Easter grass. He and Nat raced. We both decided I was the real winner in that game =)

We love daddy and are so happy to celebrate him. He's a lot of fun and loves all of his girls very much.

Parties 3 and 4

Here are a couple pics from the party we had later Thursday evening with Daddy. Once again, we opened presents, sang Happy Birthday (4th time), and ate more cupcakes. Natalie even got a present for being a great big sister - a Tinkerbell jewelry/treasure box. Very cool.
Then on Friday, her actual birthday, we headed up to Nana and Pop-pop's. [we had to stop about an hour after we started because I was completely falling asleep. I think it was partly due to the sunlight. I got an iced coffee at McD's and the girls got (free) ice cream cones. We played outside at the PlayPlace as it was a gorgeous day and I was hoping the caffeine would start working. Then, we sat parked on I-80 in construction induced traffic for a while, finally getting up to 40 mph -ugh! I just wanted to make it home for dinner!]
When we finally got in, we had another little party for JJ. We sang before the presents (5th time) and also again before we ate the birthday cake (6th time). Here is a video from us singing. =) Does she enjoy being the birthday girl???

WARNING: This may be hazardous to sensitive ear drums.

J's B-day Pt 2 - "Meet My Little Friends"

Thursday morning we had Julia's friends over to celebrate. Big sisters were invited too so Nat was loving the play time as well. (I was loving the time with the moms.) The kids played and downed some snacks while a Barbie movie played in the background. Finally we brought out the cupcakes, candles and presents. Julia LOVED being the birthday girl. Absolutely loved it. We even sang "Happy Birthday" to her three times - she just ate it up!

And they ALL ate up the birthday cake..... (they didn't seem to mind that they "weren't much")

Oh, and smart moms strip their kids when eating =)

And we finished up the day with presents (which she loved as well) and playing outside. See the scooter brigade? A sign of the season to come. =)

Julia Turns 2!!

That's right. On Friday, April 24, my little Julsie Pulsie turned 2! Since we were heading to Nana and Popop's that day, we celebrated with Daddy and our friends on the 23rd. In total, we had three parties for her =) I will show you pics and tell you stories from each one, but here are some pics of the cupcakes I made for her big day.

Luckily I did not delete them (like Nat's). For only my second time using a pastry bag, I think they came out cute. I'm starting with easy =)

I told Nat she could help me make the cupcakes, but timing just did not work out well and I ended up working on these during the night. When she woke in the morning, I was in the shower. She came to me sobbing. After deciphering the cry-speak I realized she wasn't in pain or in danger. "Mom, did you make the cupcakes without me?!" "Yes, honey, I had to get them done last night before the party, but I left 7 cupcakes for you to decorate." "Seven?" "uh huh" "That's a lot"

When I got out of the shower I found she had pulled up a chair to the high kitchen counter and was looking at the cupcakes. I came out to her and could tell she liked them. With her serious and soft voice she looked at me with those big doe eyes and said,

"Well mom, they're not much.... but you did a great job."

"They're not much" ..... hahaha Where does she get this stuff?

More Birthday Pics

Here we are in the "Party Room, eating pizza and cake. We REALLY enjoyed it =)

I love this series. Pic 1: Nat isn't sure about this Bounce U guy getting so close to her. Pic 2: Ooooh! It's time to sing Happy Birthday to lil' ol' ME! I guess that's not so bad!

Rewind - Natalie's Fourth Birthday Party

In addition to the little family affair we had on her actual birthday, we had a party at Bounce U for friends. At first, I was going to have the party here at the apartment. Natalie insisted on inviting all her little friends .... and their moms... and their siblings =) I was totally going to try to swing it and even had all the cute little invitations made. As I'm gluing the last bow on the last invite, John says something like, ".... how many girls? and parents? and your parents? ... You're crazy" "No, it will be fine," I said, "you'll just have to do exactly as I say and not be a party pooper. I figured we'd have nail painting in the bathroom...." "No, this is crazy," he said, "and your poor dad stuck in here? He'll have to leave..... I'll have to leave!"

By the end of the conversation, I agreed to look into Bounce U. As luck would have it, they had our date open and in the end, we were both glad we went that route. We enjoyed an hour of bouncing and then had Pizza Hut pizza and homemade cupcakes. They did all the clean up, served, and even wrote down the each gift and giver.

I think the kids had a good time. I know I did. Oh, and all the parents got to participate too! It was really fun seeing all these moms and dads letting loose! John and I even did a Tug-of-War game. I will let you guess who won, but I will tell you that it involved one of us flying through the air. =)

Life of the Party? or Party Pooper?

After the apprehension of the night before, I decided NOT to just drop Nat off at the door, but went inside. I knew the mom "gets" Nat and would be okay with that.

We got inside and all the little girls were in their bathing suits. The mom and dad were dressed in life-guard apparel with visors and goggles and the "life-guard" symbol pasted across their shirts. Before I even get my shoes off, Nat says, "mom, mom, you should see my friend's bathing suit!" Before I get Julsie's coat off, "mom, mom, you should see what's IN here!"

What was "in here" was a big (water-less) blow-up pool, beach balls, water noodles and all kinds of beach paraphernalia along with tons of little girls hopping in and out of the pool with new flip-flops and ribbons and kids getting nails painted. It was wonderful. I stayed for a while to see how Nat would do, but she barely even paid any attention to me! I did help paint some nails (not Nat's), but left soon after everyone was polished. Poor Julsie bawled to leave. She too was getting in on the fun!

When I returned to pick Nat up 1.5 hours later, she didn't even notice me when I came in (and if she did, didn't acknowledge me). I finally had to get her attention. "Mom, look at my ball! look at my bag!" "Those are so nice! You made out like a bandit! So, how'd it go? What did you do?" "We danced! We played, we played Freeze dance, we ate cupcakes and pizza!" "Pizza? and what kind of cupcakes?" "Pink! Pink sunglasses" "Pink cupcakes, of course! Oh my goodness, you love pizza and pink. Was it the best party ever?" "Yes, it was the best party."

So, she had a great time and survived her first "drop-off" party. What a big milestone =)

PS Special thanks to the party mom and dad. It was so special for the kids - a real hit

Priceless Party Prelude

Nat was invited to attend a "Beach Party Birthday Bash" on Saturday. She had been extremely excited to go ever since the birthday girl and sisters brought the super-cute invitation to our house two weeks ago. The night before was slightly different:

As I was leaving the bedroom after tucking the girls into bed, I get the usual (or so I think) stalling technique, "mom, I have to tell you something."
"Ye-es," I said, thinking, "here we go again."
"Mom, ... mom... could you call my friends at the "snow summer beach party" and... tell them, ...tell them I'll be a little ascared?"
"Are you going to be a little shy? There's nothing to be afraid of honey, but I can call them. "
"and mom,.... can you call my friends and tell them "tell Natty, "to not be ascared?" okay?"
"Yes honey, I can surely do that for you."

Julsie's big day

Here is my baby on her first birthday. We had a great time at her party...although the Toby made fun of the cake I made. "Is that the real cake?" "Where is the rest of it?" Aunt Sue, Uncle Matt, Ryan, Max, Aunt Jess, Uncle J, Nana and Papa were all there.

Jules ate her dinner well and knew EXACTLY what to do with her cake. She had it in her mouth in less than a second. She actually ate TWO cupcakes. We figured it was her day =)

After cake, I stripped her down to open her presents. She was pretty coated in icing. She got a lot of help from her sister and cousins.

To see the entire album of adorable pics from her birthday, check out the new section of the right called “my albums.”

Here she is on her actual b-day. Go to the new section on the right to see more. Please note, you'll see sunscreen slathered in her hair making it look crazy.