Birthday Parties

Jenna's first 4th birthday party was on May 23. Early because some of the Colorado family would be gone on her actual birthday, May 30. The theme this year was Dora. When I originally thought of her birthday cake, I was thinking she'd pick princess and had planned on making a dress cake with a princess on top. Then I thought, that could work for Dora, too! Her dinner request: Pizza and peach ice cream.

 Beautiful birthday girl and a pretty cute cake! (See video 2229 in Jenna's 4th bday folder.)

She never specified anything she wanted this year. So, I had to do some guessing. Just a few days before, she mentioned she'd like a big girl swing so she and Kellen could swing together. I was glad to finally get a suggestion!

Rain boots! She's wanted these for a year. Daddy and Mommy finally came through!

Dora umbrella from her cousins - we've got a theme going! She also got an outfit, a bubble wand, and a princess fleece blanket and pillow from Papa and Mima. What great gifts!

The pinata was great fun! The body had all the candy in it and broke off the head quickly. So, they first tried beating it on the ground. Then Kevin put himself at risk and held it by the arm for a while.

Forward a week to May 30th . . .

 4 years old today!

Flip flops from Kellen and a beach towel from Daddy and Mommy. This girl is ready for her first swimming lesson - on her birthday!

Her second birthday party was on her actual birthday. Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Katie, Papa and Mima came to celebrate our girl. Uncle Matt and Aunt Leslie really wanted to come, too but couldn't make it. We'll have to have a third party in July! Dinner request (again): pizza and peach ice cream!

Another Dora princess cake.

 

 Beautiful Snow White outfit made by Mima.

Dora bowl and plate, her second set. Sometimes grandmas think alike! One to use, one to wash - perfect.

KU shirt from Aunt Katie

(See video 2291). Daddy made her say it! Shameful!

Tinkerbell jammies, necklace, books, puzzle and games from Grandma. This girl got quite a load!

So many people love her so much! Thank you everybody for helping us celebrate! (See video 2241.)

Birthday girl

So hard to believe that this girl is 4 years old today! Only one more year until she'll be in school - Wow! She weighs 35 lbs and is 38 and 13/16ths inches tall. Her greatest joy this morning was watching "Scoopy" Doo after breakfast.

She has a new love: picking dandelions. She'll pick a big bouquet, bring them to me and say, "These are for Mother's Day." So, we've been celebrating Mother's Day for several weeks.

 Love this sweet girl!

One thing we know for sure she DOES NOT like is the wind! What a facial expression!

She loves splashing in puddles! We finally got her some rain boots for her birthday.

She is still our dramatic, musical girl, and is quite the budding comedian. She can play "pretend" for hours. She loves to "talk" her stuffed animals and dolls and is thrilled when anyone agrees to "talk" them with her. A few nights ago she wanted me to sing a particular song to her. I couldn't remember how it went, so she started it. Then I recognized it and joined in. At the end, I got it wrong and she said, "Let me teach you how it goes." And sure enough, when she sang it I remembered the ending - she got it perfect. Lately, she has loved for me to sing "Baby Mine" from the Dumbo movie to her at sleeping times. That one, or "Always There" from The Land Before Time: Mysterious Island. We love the chorus lyrics: "Always there, someone you can count on to comfort you. Always there, like the green, green valley; you can come home to." I so wish that I could get that on itunes!!

She loves stories so much and always wants to hear one when we ride in the car. We recently pulled out a CD book/dramatization of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. She wants to hear it every time we're in the car (sometimes to her music loving Mommy's dismay). She has several lines memorized.

I just love this picture! She wanted the helmet to keep her hair from blowing in the wind when she went out on the deck. Then when she went out, she was too cold in her tank top and shorts (it was 67 degrees). So, she went back inside and chose the heaviest coat she has. We'll keep this one for her wedding slide show!

First swimming lesson today!

Party pictures coming soon . . .

Reminiscing

Doing some reminiscing. Can't believe our girl is about to turn 4! Enjoy my favorite video of her, she had just turned 2 years old. (See "What!" video.) She stayed on the phone so long that the "If you'd like to make a call . . . " speech started. That's when she started saying, "What?"

Here's the translation (in case you didn't get it all):

"Hi Gwarrson" (she morphed Grant and Garrison)
"We got here in Texas. We got here in Colorado. We leaving take a picture typing. We eating lunch with a hotel. And me take a bath in my swimming pool and get out." (I think she was telling them about our trip because we went swimming at the hotel.)
"What?" (the operator came on with the "If you'd like to make a call . . .")
Lots more "What?s"
"No, I taking picture for you." (She knew I was recording her and was telling the operator in response to "If you'd like to make a call . . .")
Then the beeping you get when you leave the phone off the hook for too long. Oh, and Kevin and I cracking up!

Twenty-five Weeks Old

 

Twenty-five weeks old today! Kevin is done with school for the summer, so for the past three nights Kellen has had "Daddy Camp." Kevin's been sleeping in Kellen's room and getting up with him. First night - up twice, ate once. Second night - up five times, ate none. Third night - up once, ate none. So, now we know for sure that he doesn't need to eat in the night. We just have to figure out how to get him to put himself back to sleep. AND, I've gotten two whole nights of sleep after over a year of interrupted sleep!!

 

  Sweet Potato! Yum!

Peas! Yum!

I've been making his food and freezing it in ice cube trays. He's already a two cube man!

Jenna had an early birthday party with the Whitelaws and Keetons on Monday. One of her presents from Daddy and Mommy was a big girl swing. So, now both kids have a swing.

 The swing put Kellen to sleep in just a few minutes.

Twenty-four Weeks Old

Twenty-four weeks old today! Had to get this one quick before he rolled sideways. Speaking of rolling, look at those rolls! And, on Tuesday, he rolled from his stomach to his back for the first time. Today, he rolled from his back to stomach twice. It made him mad . . . twice! Maybe I'll get it on video one of these times, but for now it's still too unpredictable.

Cute picture during the week. This is a 9 month size onesie, on a 5.5 month old boy, from a sweet friend!

 Avocado! Mmm!

 Mirror fun - who's that cute baby?!

Green beans! Mmm!

Twenty-three Weeks Old

Twenty-three weeks old today! First time to grab for the blocks and I'll bet you can guess what happened next! (Hint: Look at how big his eyes are and how he's slightly leaning toward the left!)

We've had a busy week Kevin and I attended 4 concerts this week, the kids went to three of them. Kevin conducted two of them. During one of the concerts, Kevin raised his arms to start the song, and the kids started playing a completely different song to play a joke. It was great, they really got him!

Check out Jenna's new trick! Discovered all on her own: (See "cheerio" video.)

I got the best Mother's Day present in a conversation with Jenna today. She said, "I'm so glad God made Kellen." I said, "Me too. And, I'm so glad God made you!." Then she said, "I'm glad God made you, too because we need a Mommy."

 This is what the band hall looked like when Kevin arrived this morning (minus the people).

The Senior class traditionally plays some kind of prank after the last concert. This year, they set up tents and a couple trees in the band hall overnight. Jenna loved exploring the tents!

 Pretty good Senior prank!

Our budding composer

(See "I love you God" video.) Okay, so she did borrow a line from another song, but other song writers have been know to do that, too. Can't wait to see what this girl grows up to do! Love her little heart!

Twenty-two Weeks Old

Twenty-two weeks old today. Had to post two pictures today to catch up with showing off what this boy can do! He's really good at grabbing and playing with toys AND look at that head control sitting up!

So far, adding cereal has had NO effect on sleeping. He hasn't even dropped a regular daytime feeding. The boy likes to eat! Maybe we should start saving now for the teenage grocery bills.

Five Months Old

Five months old today! 18 lbs 3.2 oz and 25.5 inches by my home measurements. That's 2lbs and 0.2 inches more than last month. This boy is growing!! Froot loops shirt in honor of trying cereal today (though, not exactly froot loops just yet). We'll see if we sleep any better.

Hmm, what's this?

Mmm, good!

Had a better video, but for some reason, it wouldn't load. Here's this short one: (See 2187 & 2188 videos.)

He would fuss a little if I didn't get the next bite fast enough and he liked grabbing the spoon.