Camera Party

About a month ago, Elle informed us that she wanted to have a “Camera Party” for her birthday.  Lovely, right?  Couldn’t she want something normal like a Backyardigans party or  a princess party.  Nope, not my kid.  She likes to keep me on my toes.

Obviously she seriously wanted a camera.  In fact, the day AFTER Christmas she told me that she wanted a camera for Christmas.  And basically it’s all she has asked for since then.  She’d been relatively patient.  So my parents asked if they could get her a camera for her birthday & I was left to plan decorations around it.

So here is what I came up with.  I decided to hang pictures of Elle (all from this past year) all over the house with clothes pins on string.  Hoping that it would somewhat resemble a photo lab.  But of course, plain ol’ clothes pins wouldn’t do.  So I set out to cover all the clothes pins with scrapbooking paper.  I thought it ended up looking pretty cute.  Plus, now my plan is to attach small magnets to the back of some of the clothes pins so I can use to them to hang stuff on the fridge.  Dual purpose, people!  How’s that for smart!?

We also found this photo mobile while we were in Salt Lake City a while back.  Joe found it at Urban Outfitters so we had it as our carryon luggage on the plane ride home.

Elle’s Birthday…Finally

Sorry to keep you all waiting.  Life has been crazy busy & it’s been difficult to find time to even catch my breath.  Anyway, we celebrated Elle’s 3rd birthday on Monday with our family.  Elle wanted a camera party so I decorated around that theme, but I’ll post about that later (I thought it turned out pretty cute).  I also let her plan our menu!  Here is what we feasted on:  Chicken strips, pigs in a blanket, fruit, chips, mac & cheese yogurt & string cheese.  Honestly, I thought it was kinda adorable.  Plus, after last years cake fiasco, we went simple with dessert and had a cupcake bar.

Yesterday was her actual birthday.  We started off  with pancakes , spent the morning at the zoo, had McDonald’s for lunch and she went with me to an OB appointment (where she got to hear Paisley’s heartbeat for the 1st time, she loved it).

It was a great time but I’m still having a hard time wrapping my mind around her being 3.  It has gone so quickly.  She told me last night that she is going to be 3 forever.

Elle planned the menu

Lovely pic of Chris & I

Opening a Fancy Nancy Doll

Trying out her skates

Enjoying a cupcake

Our little family!

From Great Grandma Barnard

Enjoying pancakes on her actual birthday

Posing with flamingos

A happy meal for the birthday girl

Welcomed home by balloons!

Progress

Whew. It’s was a busy weekend. I’m pretty much wiped out. We started off on Saturday getting the office (which we affectionately refer to as the “closet room”) emptied out. Eventually this room will be transformed into Paisley’s room. I say eventually because we had hoped to get paint on the wall this weekend but Joe & I had difficulty agreeing on paint colors (which isn’t unusual for us).

Here is what the “closet room” looked like at 9am on Saturday (don’t judge me people):

And here is what Paisley’s room looked like at 3pm on Saturday:

That picture on the wall was only hanging there temporarily while my brother, Scott, was doing some ceiling work in our bathroom.

Elle was so tired that she fell asleep eating dinner at Bread Co (and yes, she is licking her hand…).

Anyway, it was a lot of work but with a ton of help from our family it was totally survivable. Thanks so much guys! You all get to change onepoopy diaper each in this room as a thank you gift (you’re welcome).

Yikes!

Well, today kicks off the final week of the glorious 2nd trimester. I plan on totally enjoying it as much as possible knowing that I will soon slow down. I am still amazed at my size this pregnancy. It blows my mind how your body handles pregnancy a second time around.

I have a doctor appointment next week. It’s the super fun appointment where I consume a lovely glucose beverage & they draw a bunch of blood to check my sugar levels. Honestly though, this pregnancy has been a breeze. Paisley has been super active lately. The other night I actually couldn’t fall asleep because she was moving so much. OH! And I have actually had a tad bit of heartburn…so I’m hoping that she will have some hair. I had zero heartburn with Elle & baldness plagued her for so long.

Anyway, here ya go Tiff. The latest pic (please excuse the scarf, probably not the best outfit to wear for a belly pic):

Language Police

Elle has a new favorite pastime.  Informing us when we use “bad words”.  As I mentioned before she has dropped a few bombs thanks to TV & radio influence.  But lately she likes to inform us of the milder bad words that we shouldn’t be using.  Words like: stupid, hate, butt.

It has been really shocking how often those words come out of my mouth.  What is even more shocking is how closely that child is listening to what I am saying.  Joe & I will be having a conversation while she is in the backseat singing or playing at the table & without missing a beat she’ll chime in with, “We don’t say that!”  This is the child that I have to tell 4 times to put her shoes on.

I’m not sure if I should be frustrated because of her selective listening or proud of her for listening at all?

Here is our newest language officer playing in the sprinkler at her sitters yesterday: