Three.

Three is mastering 25 piece puzzles.

Three is requesting popsicles for breakfast.

Three is blaming all spills or breaks on your brother.

Three is knowing that K is for Katie Wynn, T is for Thomas, and A is for Addi Clare - and being able to point these letters out on anything.

Three is wearing chapstick.

Three is putting your stuffed animals in your brother's crib so he has some babies to sleep with.

Three is wearing big girl panties.

Three is pushing a chair up to the fridge to get out your own snack, with or without permission.

Three is giving air high fives.

Three is counting to ten perfectly and to twenty imperfectly.  

Three is being a picky eater at dinner time.

Three is changing your little brother's diaper.

Three is asking to be read stories and rock to prolong bedtime, but then crashing hard and fast as soon as your head hits the pillow.

Three is being incredibly opinionated about the cup you drink out of.

Three is volunteering your brother to go first...for bath, teeth brushing, getting dressed, etc.

Three is doing it yourself - closing doors, turning on/off lights, scooting chairs, opening packages.

Three is touching every surface of every toilet seat everywhere.

Three is bossy.

Three is knowing the tag goes in the back...and then being confused when your panties have a tag in the side seam.

Three is drinking "gay-gade" (gatorade) like Daddy.

Three is doing forward rolls.

Three is picking your nose.

Three is being a cheerleader like your big sister.

Three is following a toot with "Scuse me, I stepped on a frog."

Three is a complete meltdown in the backseat of the car because Mama won't drive back to daycare so you can buckle yourself.

Three is loving to cut and paste paper.

Three is having an opinion about the clothes you wear.

Three is knowing all your shapes and colors.

Three is sharing with your brother...when you want to.

Three is losing your ever-loving mind when we're out of powdered donuts.

Three is braiding Mama's hair everyday.  

Three is ditching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for Little Einsteins.

Three is getting home from daycare and begging to change into "play clothes," as if that's not what you're already wearing.

Three is "reading" favorite stories to your little brother with 85% accuracy.

Three is pulling back your comforter and sheets to sleep under your throw blanket instead.

Three is being a good helper.

Three is crying through teeth-brushing.

Three is asking if God stopped working when the snow melts away.

Three is pulling out your ponytail and bow everyday.

Three is building a pillow fort on your bed for nap time.  

Three is tracing the letters of your name.

Three is big hugs and big kisses and a big heart.

This is Three.

Halloween Week

It's hard to believe that Halloween 2015 has already come and gone!  What a busy week it was.  Part of me was really dreading trick-or-treating this year since our kids are so clingy and shy, but they both did it like champs.  It ended up being so much fun!

I had every intention of letting Katie Wynn paint a pumpkin this year (didn't think she was quite ready for carving yet) but we never got around to it.  We did, though, decorate a pumpkin with some nail head polka dots.  (Idea from Katie Bower.) She loved every minute of it and was actually really good at hammering the nails.  And I, of course, loved that it didn't make a mess!

The week leading up to Halloween was dress up week at daycare.  Each day was a different theme.  The week started off with hat day on Monday.

Tuesday was crazy mismatched clothes.  It's the hardest day for me because you know I like things that match.

Wednesday was pajama day which is sometimes frustrating to me since I spend every other day of the year saying, "No, you can't wear your pajamas to school!" 

Thursday was Breast Cancer Awareness day and they were supposed to wear pink.  No pictures before school because I was so frustrated that I couldn't find a pink shirt for Thomas to wear.  So he didn't participate.  Maybe next year.

Friday was Halloween party day and costume day.  Katie Wynn helped me make little "Bugs and Kisses" bags for their classmates.  

Can you tell which Crayon was more cooperative for pictures that morning?  Also, how appropriate is that rug they're standing on?

Guess who was not super excited to be included in the dressing up this year...

That's right, this year's Halloween theme was a family affair.  Good thing Matt is always such a good sport.  :)

With rainy weather all morning, we really didn't know if we'd be able to trick or treat or not but I talked it up with Katie Wynn anyway.  We practiced saying "Trick or Treat!" and I told her that she wouldn't get candy if she didn't say it to whoever answered the door.  She looked at me and said, "I will do it!"  I told that story to both my mom and nephew, Jett, and asked if they thought she'd actually do it.  Without hesitation, they both said "NO!" 

Well guess what, she actually did it!  Our first stop was Mimi and Poppy's house and she marched right up like she knew exactly what to do.  T-Man was hot on her heels.

When Mimi and Poppy FINALLY answered the door, she yelled "TRICK OR TREAT!" as loud as she could.  :)  And Thomas was so excited that they both got candy!  (We originally didn't even have him a bucket but quickly realized he'd need his own when he saw her get candy and pushed his way in for some.)

From there we went over to the Schwartz's house for chili and hot dogs and to wait for it to get a little bit darker.  Our neighborhood has LOTS of houses but the lots are big so it's too spread out for the kids to just walk door to door.  We were fortunate to be invited to tag along with some friends who had a trailer to pull between houses.  The kids loved the "hayride" and climbing off and on it.

Glow sticks for safety!

I think this was the best way to do it - KW seemed to have confidence with her buddies with her.  Hopefully we'll get to do it again this way next year!

On our trailer we had a gangster, Tinkerbell, a UPS man, a pink crayon (and a blue one not pictured) and Coach Ditka.  And two adult crayon boxes.  :)

The only catastrophe of the night was that the pink crayon hat went missing for a while, but it was eventually recovered after some retracing of our steps!  

Our kids both crashed HARD when we got home.  I was hopeful that they'd forget about the piles of candy they got, but Katie Wynn's first words that morning were, "I want some candy for bwek-fess."  Maybe next year we'll tell them we ate their candy for Jimmy Kimmel.

Car Wash Party!

Before we start this post - have you left your guess for the Tie Challenge?  If not, please do so!  He's still going strong but it looks like more ties have been worn than are left to go!


I finally have Katie Wynn's birthday party pictures to share!  After Thomas's Petting Zoo party last June, she spent the whole summer asking A) if it was her birthday yet and B) if all the "amimals" would be at her party.  I had resigned myself to the fact that we were just going to have a repeat of Thomas's petting zoo party since that seemed to be what she wanted.

But, we couldn't really get the timing to work out with the Petting Zoo.  I knew there was a cute vintage ice cream truck that could come to her party so I started really talking that up.  We would have a backyard playground party at Mimi's and Poppy's house like last year but this time the ice cream truck would come and serve treats.  Easy.  Done.  She was excited about the ice cream.

And then I was perusing Pinterest one afternoon and saw the cutest idea for a car wash.  Our kids play in their Cozy Coupe cars nonstop when we're outside.  At first, I thought I'd tuck away the idea for next year but then it hit me that I still had time...the party was still two and a half weeks away!  

Honestly, I was kinda glad to finally get excited about planning the party.  I found super easy plans online, got my Dad and Matt on board (they are the best), and before the weekend was over they had two car washes assembled.  Then it was my turn to decorate them.  The hardest part was finding pool noodles since summer was over.  I ended up spending more than I would've liked by buying them online, but the dollar stores didn't have them anymore.  Special thanks to Lala and Poppa (Matt's parents) who helped me decorate in the heat of our garage!

All the info you need to make one of these on your own is in that link I posted in the last paragraph.  We only modified the plans to make it a little wider.  I used a shower curtain from Target for my flaps and the sponge balls came from Oriental Trading.

I had a helper while setting up for the party.  In addition to the two car washes, we also set out buckets of soapy water and big sponges.  I got them for super cheap at Dollar General!

When Katie Wynn woke up from her nap and got to come outside to see it all set up, she was so excited! 

Now on to the party pictures!  The ones above were taken from my phone.  Credit for the following ones goes to Kasey McAlpin.  Disclaimer: from these pictures, it will look like the birthday girl did not have any fun at all.  I assure you she did!  She is SO incredibly shy around big groups of people - especially when everyone tries to talk to her.  Neither she nor Thomas actually rode through the car wash while our guests were there but she went on and on that night about how fun her party was and when she could have another one.

Matt and I dressed with the understanding that we might have to be active participants and get very wet!

Matt and I dressed with the understanding that we might have to be active participants and get very wet!

I bought this gas pump off Zulily on a whim and it arrived a week before the party.  Perfect timing!  And it worked great with the theme!

I bought this gas pump off Zulily on a whim and it arrived a week before the party.  Perfect timing!  And it worked great with the theme!

Watching guests start to arrive while building a tower of sponges.

I love that Levi drove his present up to Katie Wynn!

I love that Levi drove his present up to Katie Wynn!

Thank goodness for my nephews!  They wasted no time jumping on their bike/trike and riding through the car wash.  It helped the little kids understand what to do!

Isn't this the cutest picture of them washing their bikes together?  Sing it with me..."workin' at the car wash..."

I'm pretty sure those bikes were squeaky clean when they went home.  :)

Ever the shy one, Katie Wynn opted to supervise her friends instead of really participate in the fun!

Here are a bunch of snapshots of all of our guests at the party.  So fun, right?!

I LOVE these of Davis and Addi Clare filling up their gas tanks.  :)

I love the one below on the right of Thomas...it looks like he's bracing for cold water impact!

Grant doesn't even have to get out of his car to clean it!

Grant doesn't even have to get out of his car to clean it!

Watching from a safe distance.

Watching from a safe distance.

Bren is serious about detailing her bike.  :)

Bren is serious about detailing her bike.  :)

How fun is this group action shot?  Wax on, wax off, boys and girls!

Awesome shots of Everett driving through the water!

Everyone was busy washing their cars and having fun when all of a sudden, we could hear loud music and this cool vintage ice cream truck pulled up!

Katie Wynn was so pumped about the ice cream truck.  She constantly asked me about it beforehand and I told her she would get to climb on the truck and pass out the ice cream to everyone.  One day at daycare I told her to tell her teacher what we were gonna do for her party and she responded with, "There gonna be uh ice cweam twuck and I gonna pass out!"  I had to finish that sentence for her teacher...that she was going to pass out ice cream, not fall out from excitement! :)

Are we surprised that when it actually showed up she got scared and needed me to hold her?

This is about as good of a family pic as we could get.  

Before we climbed onto the truck, the driver (her name escapes me but she was so nice!) gave Katie Wynn a present.  It was the cutest mini replica of the truck made out of paper that she opened up to reveal a chocolate cupcake!  It was seriously the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Then Katie Wynn and I climbed into position and got to work - there was ice cream to be eaten!

Here we are settling up with the ice cream truck at the end.  If it looks like we're in deep deliberation, it's because we were trying to decide which ice cream treats we wanted to stock our freezer with for later that night!

Our photographer, Kasey, was only able to stay for the first hour or so of the party, so her pictures stop there.  Thank goodness for Lala being there with her camera to pick up where she left off!  Here are more snapshots that she captured.

Do you remember back in June at Thomas's first birthday party when Katie Wynn had face-planted on the driveway and had a scraped up face?  Well, Thomas did the same thing for her party!  His scrapes were a little fresher - he fell right before the event started - so they weren't scabbed up yet at the party.

He didn't let a couple of scrapes keep him from enjoying goodies from the ice cream truck, though.

Note to self: don't hand the birthday girl a bright pink ice cream bar until after we're finished taking pictures next year.

This was the first time we'd really done the whole open-gifts-in-front-of-friends thing and my goodness, they were ALL excited to see what Katie Wynn opened.  :)

Our party came to an end after we finished with the gifts.  Good thing too because after playing in the water on an overcast day and then eating ice cream, there was lots of shivering going on from our little guests.  :)

I love that we have these carwashes now!  They broke down easily for us to store flat in our garage but will be so easy to pop back together next summer when the weather heats back up.  And if anyone else wants to have a carwash party, please borrow our supplies!  

12 Month Photos

At the time of writing this, Thomas is 17 months old.  At the time of this photo session, he was 13 months old.  So, we were a little behind on having his one-year photo shoot and I'm even more behind on posting the shots.  Oops.

I've mentioned this in another post but before Thomas was born, we purchased a "First Year" photography package with Lisa Mac of LMac Studio.   The package included four photo shoots - a newborn session, one at 4 months, one at 8 months, and the finale 1 year session.  (Click those links to see the pictures from our past sessions!)

For this last session with Lisa, I asked if we could do some full family photos.  I really wanted some good ones of us all together.  We couldn't get it worked out to have the big kids with us too, but I still wanted some of the other four of us.  During the days leading up to our appointment, I fretted over coordinating outfits for us all to wear.  When we finally arrived, I had three complete sets of clothing for all of us to wear together plus more for each of the kids.

Matt and I never changed clothes.  Why?  Because our kids would not cooperate at all!  We set up for pictures outside...in July...so it was really hot.  Combine the heat with two kids that couldn't peel themselves off of us and it was a bit of a disaster!  But Lisa Mac is so awesome that she still managed to get some good, usable photos.  (All photo credits go to Lisa Mac, obviously.)

This one is my favorite group photo, I think.

I like this one too but wish Thomas was looking at the camera with the rest of us.  I don't even care that they're not smiling (typical!).

See what I mean by clingy, shy kiddos?  Can you see us sweating?

At least she got a smile out of Thomas with this action shot!

But, while that smile above is cute, I think this one is my favorite of him!  That pouty frown!!  And those blue eyes.  Can you see why he gets away with everything?!

Sadly, that's all we got outside.  We were hot and had had enough so we headed back to Lisa's studio.  And we only had a few minutes left so I picked just one outfit for them to take pictures in (so much for all the time I spent laying clothes out!).  

I absolutely love these pictures.  They wouldn't cooperate enough to take a picture together (shocking!) so I asked Lisa to just try to get similar shots of them that I could hang together.  And with all of us standing on our heads and singing every silly song we know, we eventually got a smile out of Katie Wynn!

Of the bottom two, which would you pick to hang next to Thomas's?  The sweet, serious face or the silly grin?  

I have actually already had these printed out, I'm just dragging my feet on getting frames for them!  Hopefully they'll be on the wall before Thomas is two...

Frozen on Ice!

The weekend after Katie Wynn's birthday, Disney's Frozen on Ice was in town!  Obviously I had to take her to see it for her birthday (actually, I would've taken her even if it wasn't her birthday).  We also bought a ticket for my niece Bren whose birthday was in August.  We made it a girls' trip with me and Katie Wynn, Bren and her mom (Beth) and Bren's friend, and my mom, Mimi.  Our tickets were for 2:00 and with this being Katie Wynn's first ever show to go to and it being right in the middle of nap time, I just knew she would end up sleeping through the whole thing.  Thankfully, though, she took about a 40 minute nap in the car on the way to the show so she was wide awake when we arrived!

Earlier that morning before church, I had to try to use meeting Elsa and Anna that afternoon as a bribe to get Katie Wynn up and moving and out the door on time.  It totally backfired when my painfully shy little girl burst into tears about meeting them!  Wasn't really expecting that one.  I had to do a lot of back-tracking and explain that we weren't really going to meet them and they wouldn't even talk to her and that we'd just wave from really far away.  Thank goodness for one of our church friends that had gone the previous day and showed us pictures on her phone!

So, to say the least, Katie Wynn was a little bit nervous about going.  And before anyone tries to get on to me about not letting her dress up for the show (ahem, Kim!), please know that yes, she owns an Anna dress and yes, I had it with me in our bag but she did not want to put it on, even after I really tried to get her excited about it.  

I am not a huge Disney girl myself so this was also a new experience for me.  I didn't know what to expect either.  I have not seen a lot of Disney movies, especially the newer ones, and Katie Wynn has only ever seen Frozen.  The only tv show she has ever really seen is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  So, imagine our excitement when the first two characters to skate out onto the ice were Mickey and  Minnie!!  Check out her mouth-open stare.  :)

And I love this one that Beth got of the three of us.  I guess Mom and I were happy to see Minnie and Mickey too.  

There were several other characters that came out at the beginning that we did not know, but she enjoyed watching Mickey and Minnie and Donald and Goofy.  When the real performance (Frozen) started, she climbed up in my lap and settled in.  She stayed in that trance for a good long while!

I think it was the goldfish in our bag that broke her trance, but only barely.

We stayed in our seats during intermission.  In hindsight, I should've let her get up and run out some energy because she got restless during the last half (which was a lot shorter, thank goodness).  

She loved seeing Olaf and Marshmallow out on the ice!

And Mickey and Minnie and Donald made another appearance at the end of the show!

Katie Wynn was way too nervous for pictures before the show, but we got some cute ones of the girls afterwards!

Katie Wynn also had a pink tutu that she could've worn like Bren, but she wouldn't put it on either.

Bren and her buddy Maddi Grace were so cute!

I think Katie Wynn liked hanging out with the big girls.  :)

All in all, it was a really fun experience!  With the exception of getting a little bit antsy towards the end, I was really proud of how well Katie Wynn did.  Maybe we will be able to take her to a movie sometime this year!  (Or maybe we'll continue to hold off on that...who knows?)