| happy 3rd birthday kayla |

Kayla turned 3 this last weekend! (Jan 21). And boy did she party it up! She requested Strawberry Shortcake. She LOVES strawberry shortcake. And I was happy to go along with it. I mean who doesn't love eating strawberry shortcake???

I have an awesome neighbor who made a cake topper for Kayla. She does it for a living. You can check out her other AMAZING creations here. I knew Kayla would think it was the coolest thing ever, and I was right. She just kept saying thank you over and over again. And the cake I made was strawberry shortcake. And oh so yummy. Turned out better than I thought it would. Love when that happens!

Friday night we had Bryan's family (and my parents) over to have cake and ice cream. Here are a few pictures from that party.

 

We got Kayla a box of dress up clothes. She LOVES to dress up. She has come home from playing at friends houses sad because they didn't want to play dress up. She instantly had a new dress on which remained on until bed time.

On Saturday I threw a friend party for her. We were glad all our friends could join and celebrate with us. Kayla sure is one lucky girl!

Happy Birthday Kayla!

| crawling |

It's official! Mitchell started crawling last night. It's more of an army crawl right now, but it is finally FORWARD motion, not the rolling a million times to get from point A to point B. Our world is about to change over here!!! I think he quite enjoys himself too. He has a permagrin on while he crawls around.

| piano |

I have been wanting a piano for a REALLY long time. I love the music that comes from a piano. I am always in awe at the beautiful songs even young kids can play. We finally decided to purchase one. I have been on the hunt for quite some time. I have never played, I don't need a fancy one (yet. Once I am so amazing, I will need a baby grand or something right??) I just needed something that worked.

Well we found it. And refinished it. Which was an absolute must. And I am SO glad we did. Bryan was a trooper and helped me work on this large task. It turned out fabulous. Now onto lessons. I can't wait!!!

(sorry for the crappy pic. I almost forgot to take it right before the staining began)

| Santa |

Kayla had a big party again at her school for Christmas. They had all sorts of reading activities and crafts for the kids. They also had Santa come. Kayla talked the WHOLE night about how she wanted to see santa. She acted as though she couldn't wait. We waited in line, got up to go see him and she panicked (of course). She wasn't very sure about him anymore. I told her I would sit with her. This picture shows her reaction quite well. No tears, but definitely panicked. She quickly told him, "I want a bike" and then wanted to get out of there! 

| zoo trip |

These posts are going to be all sorts of out of order. My computer is busy working on other stuff...so I am blogging :)

We just went to the zoo the other week while the weather was a bit better and we LOVED it. Couldn't have asked for a better "winter trip". It's always quiet and calm in the winter, but the animals are so much more active. (the only problem is they always have a BUNCH of stuff closed down, and animals gone)

I don't think I have ever seen the tigers this close before. It was so cool. I don't know if the girls even appreciated it as much as Shelli and I did. We couldn't find our camera's fast enough!

And I just love this little man. He enjoyed the zoo too! All bundled up and happy.

| 8 months |

I can't believe Mitchell is 8 months old already. I just love this little dude. He is getting to be quite the ham. He smiles anytime I put the camera up. Glad he has that one figured out already! He definitely has become quite the gabber too, dada was his first words, but he has moved on to mama, which I am ok with :) He is such a silly guy, always laughing when someone burps (which I have to admit is kind of funny). And he can always make someone smile with his little giggle he has. I just love him. I took some pictures of him a few weeks ago and I can't even stand how cute he is...and I will be honest...I don't think you will find it hard to agree! I had to capture his "chub, it's all everybody talks about. So here he is, in all his glory.

(absolute favorite photo of him...ever!)

Kids and Christmas

This is a great little movie to kick off the Christmas season. I love the views children have...wish I could be more simple like them every day of my life.