On the day you turned three...

Caroline,

Last Thursday you turned THREE.  I know I say this with every passing month (and now year), but I cannot believe it.  My precious little baby turned into a precocious toddler and has now turned into a sweet and funny little preschooler.  The night before your birthday I put you in bed, like any other night, only this time left me in tears.  Two was such a good year for you.  Don't get me wrong, it was certainly hard.  You loved showing off your new found independence and having a new little sister didn't make it any easier for me, but it was so much fun.  I cannot wait to see what special and exciting things three will bring!!  Happy birthday beautiful girl.  I love you more than you will ever know.

We started the day with breakfast.  You got to pick.  I offered to make any one of your favorites - pancakes, muffins, etc.  You chose cheese its and fruit.  Even though I pulled out the big guns and said we could go get doughnuts or cinnamon rolls, you wanted those cheese its.  So cheese its we ate...

After breakfast, we got dressed and ready for your big day!!  You chose to go bowling with your best buddy, Sydney.  You also spent the day you turned two with her.

Birthday girl ready to go!!

You had the lane to yourselves!!

You two had a great time bowling!!  I think you made it to the 8th frame before you started to lose interest. After lunch we headed to Diplomat Deli for lunch.  You ordered peanut butter and jelly, but I think the only thing you ate were the 3 enormous pickles that came with your lunch.

After lunch we said bye bye to our friends.  I took you and Ann Parker for some ice cream.  You loved your ice cream, but you thought the best thing was watching AP walk around and be silly!!

We came home and put Ann Parker down for a nap.  You and I had some one on one time, which was wonderful!!  We broke out some of your new dot paint that Sydney and Brooklyn gave you for your birthday.  They must certainly know what you like to do!!

After we painted, we went outside to play.  You wanted me to draw Millie, Geo, and Bot from Team Umizoomi over and over.  So I did...sort of...

Then you requested we turn on one of the sprinklers.  It's funny that we have about 5 different sprinklers, a splash pad, and a few little pools that you request often - but never get in.  You just like to watch.  I say funny but daddy says huge waste of money as our water bill gets pretty high each summer ;)

When Ann Parker woke up, we headed to the grocery store to pick up some dinner and cupcakes before heading to the park.  We went to Overton Park in Homewood.  You love this park!!  We did some swinging and sliding for a while before we went home.

We headed home and you ate hot dogs and strawberries for dinner - your pick.  Then you devoured about 5 mini cupcakes (really just the icing).  Mommy and daddy had to go to a dinner for daddy's work, so Miss Harper came over to play.  She brought you and Ann Parker the sweetest matching jammies for your birthday.  You put them on right away and have asked to wear them every night since.

You had a wonderful day turning three!!  We kept on celebrating for the next couple of days too - ice cream the next night and going to see your very first movie at the theater the day after that!  We saw The Croods and you LOVED it!!  It was hard to know what you loved more - the movie or the popcorn.  Years down the road, you won't remember what you did when you turned three, but I will always remember that precious day and the sweet moments we spent celebrating YOU.  You are a true blessing little girl - at every and all ages!!!

Summer Days

Yesterday officially began our summer break.  14 weeks y'all...that how long I have to come up with activities every day.  I opted to not do summer school since we have a couple of trips planned and I wanted Caroline to do gymnastics this summer.  It only Tuesday and we have already:

Gone to the allergist
Gone to the dentist
Played with sidewalk chalk
Played in the sandbox
Played turtle tennis
Had friends over to play outside in the sprinkler
Splashed in the baby pool
Painted
Rode bikes/scooters
Read books
Watched a movie
Eaten popsicles
Played with our new slide
Had a dance party
Dress up
Puzzles
Dollhouse and princess castle

This was all by lunch time on Tuesday...it's going to be a long 14 weeks guys.  Stay tuned.

Thirteen Months Old!!

Thirteen Months Old - May 20, 2013

Ann Parker turned 13 months old yesterday.  It's so amazing to me to see how quickly things change these first few years.  The first 12 months is all about physical growth and it seems the next 12 are all about cognitive growth.  She learns something new every day and we are enjoying watching our girl grow!

In honor of her 13 month birthday I took her to see an allergist.  Totally kidding, but the appointment happened to be yesterday.  Shortly after she turned one (and I opened my mouth about how great she was doing on whole milk), Ann Parker got sick.  She had a fever and a cough.  She was also waking up in the middle of the night and it seemed like her stomach hurt.  She was tensing her stomach and trying to get in a ball and then stretching out.  She was very uncomfortable.  I took her to the doctor and they said it was most likely viral and would be gone in a couple of days.  As they said, the fever and cough went away a couple of days later, but the horrible fits of crying and pain remained.  Our great sleeper was suddenly getting up two to three times during the night plus it occasionally happened during the day.  I realized that this all happened right after her birthday, and the only thing that had changed was the fact that she was only getting whole milk.  The pediatrician recommended trying soy milk to see how that went.  Just like that, the crying fits stopped.  We were great for a couple of weeks and then they started up again.  I tried to figure out what it was and then realized - I gave her a significant amount of cheese that day!  Just to be sure, we went to the allergist to see what was going on.  He tested for the usual culprits - milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, soy, etc.  Luckily, all those were negative.  He did, however, say that she was lactose intolerant.  I learned that lactose intolerance is different from a milk allergy.  Luckily, it seems to be the lesser of the two so I am thankful!  Hopefully she will outgrow this and her body will start making more lactase to help digest the milk sugars.  If not, it can easily be controlled with her diet (limit dairy milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.).

Little Miss Priss has learned some new tricks this month.  She has been shaking her head no a lot.  It's precious.  She has also picked up a fake laugh.  She can give high fives.  Her favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, beans - all kinds, and peas.  She loves the bath, dancing, when daddy flips her and tosses her in the air, snuggling with mommy, and Caroline.  Being outside, swinging, and reading books are pretty high on the list too.

She is doing great with a sippy cup, but still getting a bottle or two during the day.  Since she's so small, the doctor said to leave at least one or two for another few months to make sure she is getting enough calories each day.  She is obsessed with her paci and I really trying to nip that.

She is a happy little thing and I cannot believe she is already 13 months!!!  She is becoming more and more of a toddler each day and I love my sweet little girl!

Look at those little curls coming in!!

Caroline's Birthday Party

We celebrated Caroline's third birthday with a fun party this past Saturday!  Her actual birthday isn't until Thursday though.  My goal for this party was that it was for CAROLINE, not me.  I asked her who she wanted to come to her party and she listed out her friends.  It was the first time I organized a party that I had to introduce myself to people.  Until this school year, all of her friends were the kids of my friends.  Now, she has friends that she made at school.

We had the party at Wald Park in Vestavia at 10:30 am.  The forecast was not looking good...thunderstorms and rain for most of the day.  I prayed and prayed for good weather and it actually turned out to be a beautiful morning - a little humid and overcast, but no rain!!

Several of her friends from her class and some other friends from outside of school came.  They had a blast running around!  Caroline's favorite part was when everyone sang to her.  She giggled through the entire birthday song.

She had originally said she wanted a pink party.  I picked out cute invitations and had planned on getting a cake to match the one on the invitation.  The Tuesday before her party, she said she wanted a flower party.  So we changed to a flower party.  On Thursday, she said she wanted a cow party...we did not change to a cow party.

Snack table - all the 3 year old essentials: cheese its, teddy grahams, fruit snacks

She picked out her own cake!

Party Favors: bubbles, kazoo, bracelet (girls) sticky frog (boy)

Even her dress had flowers!

Sweet Sam

Lois Anne

Caroline, Lynlee, Jack, Chambers

Jack and Nick

Luke and Sam

Asher

Cohen

"the other Caroline"

AP's dress falling down

It was an amazing birthday party - exactly what C wanted: friends, cake, singing, and fun!  It was also just what I needed - easy!  Crazy to think how far we've come over these years...

C at 1 day old

C at her first birthday party

C at her second birthday party

Happy Birthday sweet girl!!!  So excited to celebrate your actual birthday with you this week!!