Fun Party!

Mom will post photos as soon as she has time to edit them, but we had SO much fun at my party on Saturday!  The forecast was for rain, so mom and dad ended up moving things inside to set up.  Better safe than sorry!  Dad stayed up all night on Friday to smoke two pork shoulders and a beer can chicken in the smoker (for Uncle Jay who wasn't there, boo...).  Mom made cupcakes in ice cream cones and got some cute ice cream bowls for my friends and I to have ice cream in.

My friends and I got to run around and play for a while.  It was so much fun to get out all the toys and not have to clean it up right away!  A lot of my family was able to come:  Aunt Terry and Uncle Mike, Aunt Laurie, Grammy and Grampy Clements, Grandma and Grandpa Coble, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Coble, and my Great-Great Aunt Faye!  I'm sorry I didn't get more time to spend with them, but there were so many friends here!  We all had some snacks and then mom let me blow out candles on my cupcake :)  I loved eating it and got chocolate frosting all over my face.  Mom even let me have some ice cream afterwards - with chocolate syrup and sprinkles!

After we had cake and ice cream, daddy got the pork out of the smoker (a little backwards to have cake and THEN dinner, don't you think?) The BBQ was YUMMY!  Then daddy played soccer outside with us for a while with my new goal!  Then mom and dad tried to get me to open some presents, but I had such little interest.  How strange is that?  A three year old who didn't want to open presents?  I finally opened the present from Arabelle - she got me *three* princess dolls!  Belle, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty (she had told me earlier that she got me Sleeping Beauty, ha ha). After that, I wanted nothing to do with the whole table full of presents!  I started to get fussy, so I said goodnight and went up to bed.  I got to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed so Aunt Terry and Uncle Mike could have my bed!  I was so excited to sleep in their room :)  I got to watch an episode of Diego in mom and dad's room (a real treat for me!) and then I went to sleep.  Dad said when he came to bed later that night, I was asleep on his pillow and when he moved me over, I yelled at him and said "But daddy, now I don't have a spot!"  Then I rolled over and poked mommy and told her that daddy took my spot.  We managed to all fall asleep no problem, though.

I woke up around 7 on Sunday, so mom and I came downstairs.  It was mommy's birthday and I remembered and sang Happy Birthday to her (totally unprompted!!!)  That totally made her day :)  The house was surprisingly clean (THANK you Terry, Laurie and Grammy!)  I had breakfast and we played quietly until other people got up.  When a few other people got up, mom went to Panera to get us all some bagels.  Yum!  I played with the Belle doll, but still wouldn't open any other presents.  So strange!

Grammy and Grampy left a little before noon to head back to their bay house so they could be there when Uncle Jeff got there (he was visiting Beanie in Fredericksburg, so came to the bay overnight to visit).  Laurie left shortly thereafter and finally Terry and Michael followed.  We left at lunch / nap time so I could nap in the car.  Worked out well and mom and I *both* got to nap almost the whole way there!  Uncle Jeff was there when we got there - I haven't seen him in a long time, but I gave him a big hug :)  I got settled in and finally opened a few new presents!  I got a really, really cute leopard vest from Aunt Laurie, Uncle Dan, and my cousins Courtney and Kaylee.  But once I opened it, I didn't want to try it on.  Again, so strange!  After being bribed with some crackers, I opened my gift from Jeff, Lee Ann, Jennifer and Beanie - two awesome shirts, a matching pair of pants and the cutest hat EVER!  Mom managed to at least get some photos with the hat on :)  I also opened my present from Aunt Terry - an awesome I Spy Snoopy Halloween book - I was *really* good at it!  I've kept it in the car since we got back, so I have it to look at every time I get in the car. 

It was raining, so we couldn't really go outside, but I at least got to see the bay out of the window and got to see a few boats go by.  Grammy got a lot of toys out for me to play with and I had a blast - a kitchen with some play food and a Fisher Price town!  It was so much fun.  We had a yummy dinner - pasta and meatballs!  And then grammy had a cake for mommy's birthday!  We all sang to her and I helped her blow the candles out.  I played for a little bit, then mom put me to bed on my cot.  It took a long time for me to fall asleep and I woke up crying a few times.  Mom ended up moving me to the bed until she came to bed, then moved me back to the cot.  I woke up pretty early again the next morning and of course woke everyone up much earlier than they wanted to be up :(  I had some oatmeal for breakfast and we played for a bit.

It had stopped raining, so I got to go out and play on the deck for a while.  I even got to go for a walk with Grammy, Grampy and Aunt Terry.  After lunch, we packed up the car and headed home.  Daddy had asked about his old wooden sleds, so we found those in the garage and packed them in the car!  Daddy was really happy to have them and I think Grammy was happy to be rid of them.  Dad says he'll fix them up so I can ride on them this winter!

Mom and I napped the whole way home again.  Mom and dad had some work to do when we got home, then mom went to do her long run for the week.  Dad had gone out earlier that day at Grammy's house - he's a champ and did 10 miles!  Mom only made it 8.75, which is her longest run since last October!  It'll have to do - the Army 10 Miler is next weekend, so hopefully they'll be ok with it!

Tuesday morning, mom took me for my 3 year well check up.  My development is "perfect" as my doctor says.  Mom and dad filled out my pre-visit developmental questionnaire - they're getting a lot more difficult to answer because some of the questions are SO specific, so we worked on that a little on Monday night.  Mom laughed at one of the questions - it asked if I spoke in 3-4 word sentences and asked for an example.  Ha!  Mom couldn't even come up with a good example since a lot of my sentences are well over 10 words and my language is pretty clear.  Mom's only concern was my sleep and the fact that it takes an hour to two EVERY night to fall asleep and then I wake up at least once EVERY night, but am usually not quite awake, yet very distressed.  The doctor told mom to cut my nap out and that should improve the nighttime sleep.  She said it sounded like I was having night terrors from not getting enough "good" sleep.  Fingers crossed!  My teachers kept me up today by putting my cot near the computer.  Mom's going to send a fun new book for me to look at tomorrow.  Bedtime tonight was still pretty rough, but it only took me a half hour to settle down.  I already woke up twice, but daddy got me to calm down the first time and I settled myself the second time.

I'm 30.8 lbs and 37 inches tall - 25-50% for weight, 50-75% for height.  Mom was super happy with my weight - I can stay rear facing in my carseat until 35 lbs, so that will probably get me close to the expiration of my carseat next December :) The doctor reminded her to keep me in a 5 point harness which clearly isn't a problem with a rear facing seat.  Mom and I both got our flu shots on our way out (well, I got the mist, but mom had to get the shot because she has a history of asthma).  When we got to school, the first thing I told my teacher was "I got the flu mist in my nose!"  Ha ha.  Hope it keeps us healthy this winter!

Pictures to follow when mom finds the time to get through them all!

Hugs to all! 

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

That's right - I'm THREE years old today!!!  Mom woke me up by singing Happy Birthday this morning - I was so happy!  Daddy even had to be at an early meeting, so I got to see daddy before we left for school too.  Mom and dad let me open one of my presents this morning - it was a pack of PIGGY PAINT!  Completely non-toxic nailpolish so mom can paint my toes :)  I keep telling her I love the color on her toes, so now mine can be pink too! 

We had a fun morning and got to play a bit before we left for school.  I ate my breakfast, drank my milk, got dressed, brushed my hair and teeth and we packed up for school.  Because it was my birthday, we got to take a treat to share with my friends.  I told mom I wanted ice cream, so we took Vanilla ice cream - my favorite!  I wore a cute dress and the necklace that Ruthie gave me at Marie's baby shower on Saturday.  I got lots of compliments and got a kick out of showing people how old I was by holding up my fingers.  Touching my pinkie and thumb to hold up three fingers was kind of tricky, so I figured out that it's easier to touch my pointer to my thumb and that still shows three! 

Birthday girl at breakfast:



Mom picked me up a little early so we could spend some time together.  I told her on the way home that I wanted to check to see if the red Mustang was in the driveway because if it was, that meant that daddy was home :)  Sure enough, when we pulled into the driveway, daddy was walking back from the mailbox, so I knew he was home!  Mom got me out of the car and I ran to meet daddy at the door.  There were a TON of packages on the front porch!  You'd think it was someone's birthday or something...  several were for me and a few were for mommy. 

I got a package from Grandma and Grandpa Coble - THREE new books that I'm very excited to read.  We got to read one of them at bedtime, but didn't have time for the other two.  Tomorrow, maybe!  The other one for me was from my Great Grandma Jean!  I was a little shy opening the presents, but you can see how much I loved them!

Awesome PJ's that say "I Love my Mom and Dad!" 



And my favorite, a quilt that Great Grandma made for me that has Eeyore on it!!!  I took it to bed with me tonight and I really love it.  I'm so lucky to know THREE of my great grandparents!!! 



While mom and dad got changed to go out to dinner, they let me open the rest of the presents from them!  Mom didn't have her camera for the first two - a new fleece coat that has my initial on it!  I love it and wore it to open the rest of my gifts :)  Next was something called Tangoes!  It's kind of like a puzzle where I have to put blocks on the paper to make the shapes.  May be a bit beyond my age, but mom thinks I can at least try it! 

The next gift was a US Map puzzle!  I love puzzles and mom and dad put up a big map on the wall before we went to Seattle so I could tell where people live.  It really helps when daddy's traveling and I can also pretty much point to places on the map where my friends live, like Seattle, Portland, and Raleigh.  Mom keeps meaning to print out pictures of people and put them on the map so I know where everyone is - one of these days when things aren't so hectic! 



This is a play sushi set!  How cool is that???  I have all the "regular" foods like apples and a ton of veggies for my kitchen, but now I can make sushi too :) 



Last, but certainly not least, my new Nook!  It's like mommy's iPod, but bigger, and all mine (though daddy might want to use it from time to time)!  I got to use Starfall on it and now I can navigate my own letters all by myself.  How cool!  I can even play Angry Birds on it :)  



After we opened everything, we headed out to dinner.  We decided to go to Dogfish - mom and dad really like it there and I love the mac and cheese :)  I had a great dinner and got a brownie sundae when I was done!  Dad says I ate a whole pound of brownie - no wonder I had a hard time going to bed tonight! 



Yum!  I got into my PJ's pretty well, but stalled big time when it came to going to sleep.  I've already done my nightly cry (happens at least once a night and I'm not usually fully awake, but can't get back to sleep until mom or dad actually wake me up).  I guess I just wanted to experience more of my birthday! 

Can't wait for my party on Saturday to celebrate with even more of my friends and family!!!  

Hugs to all and Happy Birthday to Me!!!