Birthday Extravaganza!

Jordyn had a great birthday! I made her a special birthday breakfast. She asked for pancakes. She LOVES to cook and bake, so she asked if she could help. I must teach her that your birthday is a day off from this and other tasks! She ate her breakfast off the special birthday plate, a tradition in the Stuart house. Her birthday fell on dance night. Being that dance is one of her favorite activities it was icing on the cake. Afterward she wanted to go to Applebees, or as she calls it "The Neighborhood" (from their advertisements), for dinner. Her favorite part of the meal/day was the birthday sundae. She received a few cards and a package in the mail. She loves getting mail!!! She opened her mail as well as some small gifts we bought her. She's at the age where she wanted the gifts to keep coming!

Friday night we had her party. She chose to have it at Jump and Bounce (a bouncy castle place). What a great idea. The kids were perfectly behaved, as they were having too much fun to be anything but happy. After exhausting themselves, they sat very still and quietly while they had a snack and some cake. I didn't have to pick up a mess at my house or worry about anything else. How fabulous! As usual, the child was spoiled rotten and got so many cute and thoughtful gifts. She's been playing dress up and playing with all of her new and wonderful gifts. She had a BLAST with her friends and family. What a memorable birthday party. We went to dinner, with my parents and her 2 uncles, at Red Robin after the party. Although she just had cake and ice cream at her party, she had ANOTHER birthday dessert after dinner. They sang her a special birthday song, which she wasn't too sure about, but it was entertaining. On Saturday she tried out her new big-girl bike, which we gave to her at her party. When she was done riding it she wanted to play in the snow. What is left of the snow is not significant enough to play in. It seems like we are always ruining her great ideas. She did stand on some mounds and kick at it for a bit.
Well, she's 3 now. Wow! Where has the time gone??? We really enjoyed celebrating, and we know that she had a GREAT birthday. Especially since her birthday stretched out over the course of quite a few days. Is one day ever enough?? :)

Just a cute picture of a special party guest. :)

Pulling Up and Valentine's Stuff

Well, it didn't take long after Kennedy began crawling to begin pulling up on EVERYTHING. We are very busy keeping after her. She's so tiny (weight-wise and compared to those her age--she's smokin' everyone in height!) it just seems so odd to watch her pull up and stand. I'm not saying that she'll be walking within the week. And probably not within the next three weeks (did I just jinx myself??); however, I would venture to guess that it will be very soon. You can watch the wheels turning in her head, as she stands; she's really trying to figure out how she can get from whatever she's standing at to something else within a few inches. I can't believe how she's developing. She's really beginning to chat a lot and move. Babies, well....children, are quite fascinating.

Jordyn had a lot of fun at her preschool Valentine's party. I had a good time watching the kids, but it was quite a relief to be done with it. It was difficult planning a party for two preschool classes by myself. Add a fire in our main classroom to the mix, and you have a whole new set of problems. A young boy, who attends the church that we rent from, intentionally set fire to our main classroom the Sunday prior to the party. All the parents and our facilitator had to completely rearrange our classes and party plans for the week. We're supposed to be back to our regular set up within a month; but we are thinking it won't be back to normal 'til next fall. The fire was a major frustration. In the end, it has really put things into perspective for us, and all is well.
This same Friday we took Jordyn to Playhouse Disney Live. She was pretty excited about it. She was mostly excited about the $18.00 toy we bought her, which probably costs $1.00 to make. :) I know, I know! This is how these things work and it's part of being a kid. Wow! I never realized how a toy could change a kid's life. I guess it's big to her! Our world revolved around this cheaply made Handy Manny toy, or as she calls it, "Handy Manny Swinger Swinger" for the entire duration of the show and the following few days. This toy is also quite dangerous if within close proximity while operating for the entire duration. It's still a favorite, but not as much as it was. Especially being that her birthday and party has passed (I'm getting to those posts after this one!). Kennedy liked the bright lights and action, but mostly she was mad that this event interrupted her nap schedule.

Jeremy and I celebrated Valentine's Day and our six-year-dating anniversary the Thursday prior to Valentine's Day--yeah, it was a VERY busy week! We had a GREAT dinner at Wolf Lodge. On the ACTUAL holiday, we had fun as a family and cooked a great steak and taters dinner. I made, from scratch, molten chocolate cakes for dessert. Mmmmm, mmm, mmm!

February has been a busy and eventful month for us!!!

Party Fun!

Last Saturday the girls celebrated Valentine's Day with our play group. Jordyn decorated a cookie, made some Valentine-themed crafts, played and colored with friends. She had a ton of fun (and sugar). Kennedy must have had fun, too, because she fought her nap until just prior to leaving. Since we were near Grandma and Grandpa's we stopped by for a quick visit. Just thought I'd post some pictures. As you can see, our Jordyn doesn't have an attitude and loves to smile for pictures....right. We have our preschool party this week, which I'm still busy planning, as well as another exciting Valentine's event. Phew...holidays are such a big deal around here.

Coloring and Crawling!

Yesterday Jordyn had her birthday pictures taken. The day prior she got into some markers, which were NOT washable, and covered the majority of her body. I tried and tried to get the marker off, but it was still pretty noticeable on her body. I nixed the dress I wanted to put her in and found a cute pair of pants and a shirt. While this mostly solved the problem there is a little marker visible in her pictures on her hand. I guess we'll just remember it and laugh. However, a lot of you probably know how finicky I am over the kids' clothes, bodies, etc (I'm pretty sure I've been called the smock Nazi at preschool). Maybe it will take a long time for me to laugh about it. Despite the ink on her hand, I'm pretty pleased with how the pictures turned out and I will post them soon.


Kennedy began crawling, by definition, yesterday. Yep, she's figured out the arms in combination with her legs. She's no longer "worming" nor "army crawling" like before. Of course there is still a little of it, but mostly she's cruising around. Even when the laptop bag is hanging out on the kitchen floor it doesn't stop her. I'm VERY quickly remembering how babies can find any small item on the floor!!! Lots of cleaning and excitement with all this moving around. I will need to do some different baby-proofing now, as Jordyn was already walking when we moved in. Eek!!!

One last thing that happened today; Kennedy was enjoying some Cheerios in her high chair, when Jordyn asked if she could have some. I gave her a bowl and she finished it. She asked if she could have some more. I told her she could, but she'd have to wait a minute until I was done with what I was doing. She said she was going to grab the box for me. While I assumed she would wait for me to help her, I was wrong. She poured some for herself and for Kennedy. Her bowl was fine. Kennedy's tray was a different story. I don't think Kennedy minded much, though. Oh, boy! Never assume anything with Jordyn!!! We were still finding Cheerios on the floor after we put the girls to bed!!!

Kennedy!

Kennedy is beginning to pull up on things. She's tried for quite a while, but has been successful the past two days. Wahoooo! EXCITING!!! She creeps and scoots. She can pull herself into a seated position. She's feeding herself snacks, manipulating silverware, and holding a cup. My big girl!!!

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She's loooooooooving solids. I can't remember if I've posted this yet. She is so eager for the next bite of whatever we're feeding her. I swear she could eat 3 jars in a sitting. hehehee She loves puffs, crackers, biter biscuits, and zwieback toast. We're excited to start the next stages. She's such a great little eater.

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She's such a content and happy girl. We love her sweet temperament!!! Our beautiful, sweet little baby.

A Sophisticated Kid and a Sisterly Bond

I like lattes, well...coffee. We all know this. I stop by coffee stands every so often (more often than not). When I stop by Starbucks I occasionally allow Jordyn to have a child-size hot chocolate. Earlier in the week I did just this. As I looked in my rear-view mirror I see my almost three-year-old sipping away on this miniature cup. There's just so much sophistication that comes with a mini-mommy cup in her hand. It transformed her into a big girl in a little girl's body. SCARY! Either way, it left me to wonder if by starting this habit, and others, we may be raising a little girl who will grow to expect a lot of things like this. Who knows what else!?!? I'm just kidding...I think. I guess, don't be surprised if she's toting a laptop and cell phone soon. HAHAHA.....kidding again! While she was sipping on this transforming cup, she was reading Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear? Apparently the peacock says, "BROCKA BROCKA." I wasn't quite sure why, but she told me that's what they say. By hearing her read this to me I realized that she, in fact, is still a little girl . For how much longer? Will I look in the backseat next week just to truly see a young lady? I hope time goes by slow enough to savor the sweet moments--like these. BROCKA BROCKA!!!

Jordyn and Kennedy love each other soooo much. It is the SWEETEST thing I've ever seen. Jordyn's eyes light up when she sees Kennedy. The second Kennedy wakes up from a nap Jordyn races to her room to greet her. If she doesn't know that Kennedy's gone down for a nap, she asks me--with a lot of concern--where her "sweetheart" is. It is sooo cute. They are playing more together now, too. Kennedy worms down the hall and all over the house behind Jordyn. In the car Kennedy tries very hard to see Jordyn over the seat. She grins and giggles at her for the duration of the trip. Everyone told me how sweet it would be to watch them grow up and play together. They are sooooo right!!!! This is just the beginning. Awww...sweet girls.