To Kate on her 3rd Birthday (a little bit late)

Dear Kate,
I know this is a little bit late, but I wanted to make sure that I wrote you a letter on (or about) your birthday this year. Kate, you are my precious baby girl. I remember the day they told me you were going to be a girl. Boy was I ever mad! I was certain I wanted another little boy. I have never been more pleased to be proven wrong. You came into this world so quietly, barely a peep. I sometimes couldn't even hear your little cry so I checked you constantly. You were the easiest baby. It was like playing house. I really needed that. I called you my "feel good baby" because you made me feel like a good mom. You have been 150% girl from the word go. I have LOVED every single minute of it. If I never have another daughter, I will feel completely satisfied that I have, indeed, had the FULL little girl experience with you. I have loved dressing you up and doing your hair. Because of you I learned to MAKE hairbows and accessories. You would still prefer a dress or a skirt over shorts or pants any day. If I would let you, you would wear your big puffy church dresses every day of the week. Thank goodness we have been blessed with so many hand me downs so you have many options for play dresses and skirts to wear everyday. You have been known to go out and about in your princess dress up dresses. I think you attended at least half of Dallin's soccer practices last season as Cinderella complete with crown. It was funny to watch you dribble a soccer ball up and down the field in a gown and heels. I guess it is true what they say, women can do anything men can do.....in heels! You have also ventured to the grocery store all fancied up. Someday you will be too embarrassed to do this, so I enjoy it while it lasts.
You have so many emotions and you are soooo dramatic. I know it comes naturally to you as you were pulling the lip at 3 days old. Almost everything that comes out of your mouth comes out in a whine, and almost every experience is a crisis. You often grunt or point and talk in babytalk. We are really trying to get this to end. I have saved a hysterical you from countless chocolate blobs (bugs). Although it can wear on our nerves, it is sometimes very funny to watch. We will tease you about it occasionally....you do NOT appreciate this.

You love being my baby. Until very recently, you would declare firmly that YOU were the baby whenever asked if you wanted to be a big sister. You waller all over my lap and love to be held, cuddled, stroked, tickled, hugged, and kissed. You will spend as much time as you can get just gazing into my eyes and stroking my face. I love this and I cling to every minute of it. You are such a precious little girl. I gaze back into your eyes intently and stroke your face too, hoping to burn it into your being that I adore you so that you won't forget it as you grow older.

Although you LOVE being beautified and getting compliments on your cute outfits and hair, you have really started complaining about having your hair done. You don't like the "tangles". Sometimes you will start yelling about how much they hurt before I even touch your head. But somehow every morning, you will sit on your little stool while I sit on the couch and do your hair. You are finally getting enough hair to really do things with. It took a long time to grow back since Dallin cut most of it off at Christmas time. (You have also recently cut off a lock above your ear...but it is not too noticable). The styles we do the most on your hair are braids, messy buns (in groups of 4), and puffy ponytails. You have even started combing my hair this year. When you first started, it was pretty painful. You hit me with the brush more than you combed. When you figured out the combing motion, you would comb in one place sooo long that I thought I would have track marks and be bleeding. You have pretty much worked out the system now, and I have to say I LOVE THIS. I love having my hair combed and spending time with you is a big bonus.
You love all things princess. Your favorite princess is usually Cinderella but you also like Sleeping Beauty, Belle ("Gold"), Ariel, and Snow White. You have started to pretend and will spend hours lining up your princesses or putting them in the dollhouse and taking them out....all while having full blown storylines. I love to hide around the corner and just listen. You are so amazing!

You love your brother and he loves you back. You always want to play with him. You also pester him mercilessly. Unfortunately for you....he is MUCH bigger in size and when he has finally had enough....you get the short end of the stick. You are both very good at pretend and will act out elaborate stories. You especially love to play Scooby Doo. You are always Daphne Blake. Dallin is always Freddy and Macy is Scooby. Dallin is still young enough that he will place Princess/Prince with you. It is not unusual for you two to get married several times a week. This usually entails you dressing up in a princess dress up dress and asking me to do your hair and makeup since you are "getting married". Dallin also puts on his Sunday best. He is always done before you and keeps telling you that "you look fine!!!", but you want everything just perfect. It always makes me laugh. After you guys are "married" you usually share a slow dance around the living room. It is just precious and I love watching how magical everything is for you.
You tried out dance class this year, and although you LOVE to dance and are really a good little dancer you did NOT like to go. You loved BEING there, but you were always worried you were missing something at home. You were so self conscious and if you didn't do the "head shoulders knees and toes" dance just right, you would burst into hysterical sobs. I still think you were one of the best little dancers in the class and I LOVED watching you in your winter recital, but we called it quits in the spring until you were old enough to stick with something else a little better. You are insisting that you want to be in soccer this fall.....we shall see. I think you can do anything you want to do, but we will see if the drama gets the better of us in a physical sport. Also, you are convinced that the jerseys should be pink or purple and the team should be all-girls. I have explained over and over that it's not that way in 3 yr old co-ed soccer and I am hoping that it is sinking in. You have visions of sugarplums! FUN FACTS ABOUT OUR FAVORITE 3 YEAR OLD:
Height: 37 inches (all legs.....when you sit down you are the same height as your cousin Madison...who is a year younger)
Weight: 29 pounds (yep, you are my feather weight....people are always amazed that you and Dallin come from the same genes since he was 31 pounds at 2)
Favorite Color: Pink (purple is a close second)
Favorite Song: Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me (It is very cute listening to you and your brother belt out "i wear high heels I wear sneakers over and over while you are playing")
Favorite Food: ANYTHING sweet. You LOVE sugar. You also like strawberries, bananas, and bread.
Favorite Book: 5 minute Princess Stories
Favorite Show: Scooby Doo
Favorite Movie: Cinderella (or Cinderella II)
Favorite Thing to Do: play with princesses or look at your princess books. you also enjoy riding your bike.
Other fun facts about you:
*You LOVE LOVE LOVE your nana and spending time with her doing ANYTHING, even errands. This backfires though since you are very jealous of Madison being anywhere NEAR nana (or anyone else for that matter....you are a jealous little thing)
*You are VERY coordinated and flexible, you can almost balance on your head all by yourself.
*You are developing a relationship with your cousin, Madison. You girls are actually starting to play together and hug each other. You have even said that you love Madison and she is your best friend. This has been a long time in coming as you used to get upset if she even blinked at you.
*You are quick to say "thank you" and point out when someone says "kind words" to you or someone else.
*When you get excited you jump up and down or start dancing. It is adorable.
*You are very sensitive about being laughed at....just like your mom
*You are looking more like your daddy every day. You have his eyes and his mouth.
*You are learning your letters and can recognize most all of them by sight. You can also tell me the sounds they make.
*You are potty trained!!! Although you occasionally use it as a weapon and pee on the floor when you are upset with me....we call this chemical warfare.
*You know how to put the laundry on the couch from the dryer, unload the dishwasher, put away the silverware, set/clear the table, clean your room, dress yourself, and brush your teeth (although you still like for me to do it). You also love to help me vacuum with the little pink vacuum.
*You call a hangnail a "booger" and you don't like them at all. You also don't care for most things slimy or sticky. You insist on being clean....except for mud....you and Dallin LOVE mud.

I love you Kate and all your girly ways. I am enjoying watching you grow up and become a big girl. I am proud of you. You are truly fabulous!

Love you forever,
Mom

Kate's Not So Hidden Rage

This is the picture Kate colored at church of her family. Except for the baby, it is pretty dead on. When we picked her up and they gave it to us we cracked up for the rest of the day. Do you think Kate has some hidden rage against someone in particular? Maybe. Hmmm....Hmmmm....Who could it be?

LOL I can't help myself. It still makes me laugh every time I look at it. Christopher was actually the one who picked her up and pointed it out to me. No, Kate does not have issues with her dad. She is his princess. Yes, there are MANY other explanations. (She didn't have TIME to color it all or the fact that almost everyone in the family HAS red hair or maybe that was the only crayon she could get during nursery brawl), but I think it was hilariously funny to interpret anyways. Kate's Hidden (or not so hidden) rage. LOL

First Swim of the Season

We took our first swim of the season today! Yay! Pools have been open and warm weather has been around for a while, but we haven't ventured out. Today was also my first time to take both kids to the pool ALL BY MYSELF! I was so proud of myself for attempting it (and way happy that it worked out and we had such a good time). Both kids are at least somewhat comfortable in the water and familiar with floaties and flotation devices (plus I think I told them that we ALL stay together like a million times). It was nice to be able to take them to the pool without having to enlist help. They are really growing up.
Dallin loves the water and immediately began splashing and "swimming" about with his floaties and such. In the picture above, he kept dunking his head and kind of swimming along before he would come up sputtering (this water was only a foot and a half deep) He actually got pretty good at flipping onto his back and swimming along with just his floaties on. I can tell he has lost a little bit of his finesse since last season, but it is nothing a little practice and some lessons won't take care of. Kate probably had the most dramatic improvement since last year. She literally went from being very afraid of swimming and not able to be left alone AT ALL (for her safety and because she was scared) to actually kicking her little legs and paddling herself around the pool with her ring. She could flat make time across the pool Yes, she wears a lifevest, floaties, and a ring, but then she can have a little bit of independence without she or I having a heart attack. She is not quite ready to go underwater or venture out of the comfort zone of wearing so much safety equipment it would be impossible to sink. The kids were absolutely exhausted and fell asleep on the way home. We had been out for 2 hours. Dallin ended up with only a little sunburn on his cheeks and nose area. I actually applied sun lotion twice while we were there, but the second time I used a different lotion and as soon as the kids hit the water it ran into their eyes. There was a lot of hysterical crying and eye rubbing. Dallin's eyes were soooo red and sore looking. Poor little Mr., so I flushed them out with the water we brought to drink. This helped, but I also think it washed the lotion off of his face...hence the burn. Definitely buying one of those sticks for the face in the future, Fortunately, his arms and everything else were fine (Yay for our SPF 50 swim shirt!!) Kate has no burns (she has a fortunate skin tone) All in all it was a big success! Can't wait to go out and swim again! Love my kiddos. :)

Dallin Rides a 2 Wheeler!

s, it is true! Dallin can officially ride a 2 wheeler bicycle. He never ceases to amaze me. He will go from not being able to do something at all to doing it very well or even flawlessly in the blink of an eye. When he decides he's ready...that's that. I don't think I learned to ride a 2 wheeler until I was 7 or even 8 years old, but my 4 year old lil guy is riding up a storm "just like a big boy!"
He outgrew his first lil bike a while back and we had found this pink bike in the trash complete with training wheels in the next size....so we snatched it up. He doesn't seem to mind it and is happy to HAVE a bike. (Yes, there has been a teasing incident about it--and about the training wheels, but I nipped that one quick....hey, I'm a mama bear!) Anyways, the training wheels never tightened correctly and so they would wobble and sometimes one would flip up and he would be leaning and balancing on one. It really made it difficult for him and he would fall over a lot. I kept trying to convince him that it would be easier to just take the training wheels off, but he wasn't going to go for it. It was so bad recently that I would barely let him ride it. We were also worried he was going to learn to counterbalance the training wheels which would make the transition without them much more trying.
Then 3 days ago, he was goofing around with the bike in the driveway. and I noticed that the training wheels were flipped up and he was balancing and "riding" about on the driveway without noticing. So, I got really excited and told him he was riding his bike as a 2 wheeler like a big boy. He was like "huh?" I showed him that the wheels were up and asked him if he wanted to try riding down the sidewalk. He was all for it and away we went. The first day, I ran behind the bike holding the seat and letting go. Then he would pedal a little ways and tip over. The big problem was that he would stop pedaling or pedal too slow. I kept saying "if you pedal to slow, you tip over!" He never really wiped out though. (Seriously, I remember wiping out and quitting several times before I got it) I was very excited for him and offered to take the training wheels off. He was not ready for that yet and was emphatic that they stay even if he wasn't using them.
The second day, it was better and he was pedaling more without stopping. He was able to do some starts on his own but still needed a little push to get going every once in a while. The big problem the second day was that he wasn't paying attention and was counterbalancing a lot with his steering. He was totally off roading and all over the grass and everything else. A couple of times he lost control and ended up in the road (thank goodness we live in a cul-de-sac!) Again, he never really wiped out. One of the training wheels was really flipping around this day and kept messing with him so I convinced him to let me take it off!

Today, he is riding like a pro. I am amazed, excited, and frankly a little weepy as my little boy is checking off another milestone. He starts on his own, steers well, and keeps pedaling. Plus he is always asking me to go out and practice some more! That's my boy! I sure love him and I am very very proud of his accomplishment. Here is the video from today.

And for your viewing pleasure, a short clip of Kate as she has recently mastered her tricycle and pedals it everywhere. I think it helps that her legs are finally long enough to reach the pedals. It cracks me up watching her little legs work so fast and ride that little trike. She is pretty good at it, and I love that she will ring her little bell and lift her legs on the hills and yell "wheee!!!" She reminds me of Elmo riding his little trike on Sesame Street. What a cutie pie!

Kate's 3 year old pictures

We had Kate's pictures done today at JC Penney. I must say I was completely shocked at how adorable and cooperative she was today. The past couple of years, good pictures have been due to purely talented photographers who could make my kids look like angels when they were actually being little devils. Kate was soooo darling today. All morning I kept telling her that they wanted to take her picture because she was so beautiful in her Easter dress. She got so very excited about it. She really loves that dress! She was happy to see the photographer (Miss Lisa) and did everything she asked. Dallin was equally well behaved in the waiting area! Hooray! Consequently, we have loads of beautiful pictures! Enjoy!

Pictures We Did Not Order (but included here for your viewing pleasure)

Yes, by this point she was done doing pictures and was going crazy with the tulle.

This one was tough to pass by, but we had so many beautiful pictures we had to cut some somewhere.

These are the pictures we ORDERED!

Love her big beautiful blue eyes in this one!

This one is my favorite shot of all. I don't think I would have thought of that pose, but it totally worked.
This one is so totally Kate. Her confident determined little face, sparkling impish eyes and grin and little hands on hips! Love my little diva!
I loved this shot because she looked like a little angel fairy dancing around (which she does A LOT at home)

Ta-Da! It's the taco tongue!

Such a little girly princess. On her tippy toes showing off her pretty dress and looking like she just knows she looks great!

Enhancements that we did NOT order (these are shots you already saw all fancied up)

Enhancements we DID order (again, pictures you already saw that they fancied up or grouped together)

It says Sweet, Silly, Smiles on the 3 little pictures on the side

Ok doesn't she look like one of the little fairies herself? LOL I thought it was so fitting.

Remember When...Cone of Shame

So on April 16, Macy got spayed. That's right, no puppies for us! She was dropped off early this morning at the vet. There was some definite action going on as one of the dogs there being dropped off bit another lady dropping off and then bit one of the vet techs. I didn't get a good look at the dog, but it was german shepherd sized. I didn't even realize it bit the first lady. I just thought she was mad about something that I didn't know about. She just started swearing and threw down her keys and check in paper and ran out. It was only after she returned that I realized she had been bitten. Anyways when the vet tech tried to take the dog back, he totally bit her hand. I mean he REALLY got her. There was lots of blood and you could see that there were deep punctures. Blood was spilling all over the floor. It was gruesome. I have never seen a dog bit in person before. The vet tech went to the back, got stitched and bandaged and came back out...she kept right on working. I don't think I could have. I later learned that she went to the ER and that the dog was put down (apparently he was a repeat offender).
Anyways, Macy had an uneventful surgery and I picked her up at 5. It was really weird spending a day without her. It seemed so quite and slow at home (even though both kids were there). When we went to pick her up, we had to purchase her first ever.....CONE OF SHAME! This was to make sure she wouldn't lick her stitches until they healed. So after we had the vet tech help us pick the right size, they brought her out. At first she wasn't going to come for anything, but then I called to her and she perked right up. She was soooo excited and didn't let me leave her sight for several days. She wouldn't leave her stitches alone so she ended up wearing her cone of shame for several days--until they were on their way to healing. It was HILARIOUS! As soon as we put it on her, she hung her head. She would just drag her head along the ground when she walked and she looked so so so humiliated. I felt bad for her, but I was very amused. They told us not to let her run, jump, play or anything for a week. I kept her pretty still for about 3 days. After that, it was a lost cause. She is a puppy. She is completely back to normal now and the scar is barely noticeable. The cone is a distant memory....except when the kids find it and try it on. Then Kate runs around the house saying "I the cone of shaaaame!" Ha Ha! Gotta love that!