We had a mini birthday/football party on Sunday. Jack got a new scooter, from Uncle Mike and Kiya, which he loves! Kiya and I were very proud of the cake. Jack kept telling me he wanted a "budgietales" cake. Nowhere makes them, so Kiya made the fondant pieces and I made a cake and frosting, and it turned out beautifully (not to toot our own horns)! 

I'm going to start a birthday tradition of asking the kids the same questions year after year. Here is my first attempt for Jack's 3rd birthday:

What is your name? um, Jack
How old are you? 2, I'm 2
What is your favorite color? um, red and black
What is your favorite toy? um, a little dumpster truck
What is your favorite food? um, fruit snacks
What is your favorite fruit? um, grapes
What is your favorite vegetable? um, fruit snacks
What is your favorite T.V. show? um, Veggietales
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? um, hot dog
What is your favorite outfit? um, red
What is your favorite game? um, dinosaurs
What is your favorite snack? fruit snacks, fruit snacky
What is your favorite animal? um, a cow
What is your favorite song? Hot Diggity Dog
What is your favorite book? Dora ones
Who is your best friend? Baby Erin
What is your favorite kind of cereal? I don't know!
What is your favorite thing to do outside? um, go outside and run down the hill
What is your favorite thing to drink? juice
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? um, toast
What is your favorite movie? um, Dora
Where do you want to work when you get older? um, at the fire station
Do you like school? yes
Who is your teacher? Miss Reaves
Who do you play with the most at school? um, Rylan
What is your favorite thing to do at school? um, i like gym
Do you take a nap every day? no
What do you want for your birthday dinner? um, a Eggo

Kelly, Devin, the kids, and I went to Magic Kingdom a couple of weeks ago. They were filming the Christmas parade, so we thought that would be so fun to see! Well, turns out it takes ALL day, literally. And they do soooo many takes of each and every part of it. People are also crazy about it... Not sure why exactly, but people would push and shove to get to their spot. Selena Gomez, Mario Lopez, and Justin Beiber were all there, so that could've been part of it. It really wasn't the best environment for the little ones. So we only saw a few minutes of it and spent the rest of the time doing rides. They did film the kids a few times though, so tune in to the Disney Christmas Parade to see if they made the cut! We rode Buzz Lightyear, It's a Small World, Dumbo, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Carousel, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White...and I think that was it. The kids loved it, but I think I finally came to the realization that you need a 1:1 ratio of adults to kids. It was insanely crazy, and each kid had a "buddy". I had Erin, Devin had Jack, and Kelly had Grace. Even Colin and I would have a very difficult time managing all 3 kids. We will have to wait a couple of years before we start going again (much to Colin's disappointment I'm sure).

Here we were just hanging out in the front yard on a nice day.

My mini Boilermaker:

Little Miss Mischief - I left the bathroom momentarily and came back to find her standing in a drawer and brushing Erin's hair...also getting into my make-up.

We went to an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party last weekend. We don't leave Erin with the babysitter yet, so she always gladly accompanies us to whatever social things we do. Here she is all decked out and ready to go!

 Jack got a black eye by running into the corner of a table while we were at the party.

 We went to Bass Pro to see Santa. The kids enjoyed the things to do while we waited in line just as much (okay, more than) as seeing Santa! Grace is still NOT a fan at all. Jack was unimpressed. He was under the impression that Santa was going to give him gifts right on the spot. When we were walking away he told me that he TOLD Santa he wanted red sunglasses, but he didn't give him any!

Our baby girl is 4 months old! She is such a joy to be around. Her doctor's visit today went well. She weighed 14.11 lbs (75th percentile) and was 25 3/4 inches long (95th percentile). She got 2 shots plus an oral vaccine, and seemed to do pretty well. She cried for a second, and then was a little fussy this evening I'm sure from the shots. She has a bit of a cold, mostly just a stuffy nose (along with Colin, Jack, and Gracie). Hopefully it will pass soon! She has been waking up once in the middle of the night, which she hasn't done since she was a few weeks old. Usually she will sleep from about 8PM-7AM. The doctor said it could be due to her congestion or it could indicate that she is ready for cereal. If she is still waking up after her cold goes away, I will start to gradually introduce solids. She's doing great! She is the easiest, most happy, social, and easygoing baby we've had (and the others weren't hard newborns at all).

Happy girl ready to meet Santa for the first time! Yes, this is what we wear in December in Florida.

And ending it with all 3:

New Years Resolution: (besides losing remaining 20 lbs. of baby weight by July, which is my 30th b-day and our 5 year anniversary) ... get back into blogging!!! I really enjoy blogging to record our family adventures.

We are still here and doing good! Just really busy and never a dull moment. Plus every time I go to upload pictures, it takes ALL DAY...literally. Not sure what is going on with blogger, but I'm going to decrease the amount of pictures for that reason. Hope you enjoy!

Fun at Paradise Park

Loving having their car seats in the way back together.

Visit daddy at the fire station

2 Happy Campers!

A show before bed

We love Christmas around here! Our tree has relocated to our front porch because of a new allergy I've apparently developed. Waking up covered in hives is no fun! I had to sacrifice the tree unfortunately. I will be out the day after Christmas trying to find a bargain on an artificial tree!

Matching jammy night is fun!

We had a fun Thanksgiving week with Mimi, Papa, and Aunt Court. It was pretty crazy in the absence of our baby zone at home, so that's my excuse for not taking any pictures. :( We had lots of fun though, staying at a house with a pool and hot tub. We had a delicious feast and Mike and Kiya came to share in the festivities on Thanksgiving.

I think we may have worn them out and kept them up past bed time!

Pictures from their Thanksgiving Program, which we were all 5 there this year! Very cute and fun. 

 

Colin and I deep fried Oreos for one of the desserts.

Our traditional front door pictures before they leave.

Aunt Court with Gracie before bed.

Jack and Aunt Court

Outlet Mall shoppin'! Only Starbucks for Gracie--jk!!!

  

Jack - same as always. Too smart for his own good. The most mischevious, strong-willed, and also affectionate kid there could be. Loves everything red, and requests to be "the boy in red" almost every morning (aka - red underwear, red shirt, red shorts). He wants Santa to bring him red sunglasses.

We went to Santa's Tree Forest, of course! Jack was playing in the hay.

Doing what I love!

Grace - The biggest thing about Gracie is that she is potty training!! To say that I am thrilled would be an understatement. She has pooped on the potty several times this week, and also peed a few times too. She even has done it without prompting. To think of only one in diapers, is sooooo exciting!!! Also her language is exploding, and she is learning lots!

Santa's Tree Forest

She finally fits into her Purdue cheerleader outfit!

I guess riding a horse for the first time is no big deal!

Erin - She is beginning to get very vocal. She seems like she is going to be very social, always smiling and talking. She recently started to really laugh and also spit and blow raspberries. The best baby ever! I'm sure I said that about all of them at one point, but she is always happy and so much fun! She isn't rolling over yet, but when she is on her back, she rolls to her side easily. She seems content to lay on her belly, so she doesn't even really try to roll over. She just lays there with her head up and look around.

Always smiling!

I always attempt to get pictures of her rolls!

Trying her Polo track suit on. I'm afraid she's already outgrown it!

Cheese!

We had family pictures taken a few weeks back, which turned out great: