Bear's Party

Bear in all of his Chuck E Cheese glory!

 Every time I make a cake I start out excited and having fun, but by the end I feel totally stressed and think I will never do it again.  But this is probably one of my favorites and both the boys LOVED it.

 Cute party kids.

'S' signing the Happy Birthday Song while we sung to Bear.

 Loving every bite of his cake. I guess he thought using his fork would take too long?

 After the party we took naps, and then the boys proceeded to play this "Angry Birds on thin Ice" gift for the next 3 days straight.  I had a hard time getting them to even take breaks to eat and go to the bathroom. 

 I think I look WEIRD in this picture but it is the only one I have from the day that I am it and I think it is important for moms to be in the pictures too, and not just behind the camera.

Happy Birthday our BIG THREE YEAR OLD! Mommy and Daddy love you so so much.

Bear's Third Birthday

When the boys arose they were given orders to get geared up to fight birthday balloon ninjas.

Afterwards Bear headed into the kitchen to see his gifts. I really wanted to get him a big boy bike but they just seemed too expensive. Then Gigi found him one at a thrift store for only 8 bucks!

 Next we sang Happy Birthday and ate chocolate chip pancakes topped with strawberries and honey.

 The weather was beautiful so we headed outside to play.

 Before bed the boys read books to Belle. 

Bear had a very happy day!

Sunday

Sunday's have become quite the conundrum since adding Belle to the family and "losing" Bondy to the Bishopric.  If I didn't have my parents to help during Sacrament meeting I don't know what I would do.  Luckily the kids are pretty well behaved during that hour. I attempted to get a good shot of the kids after church but it was more like a wrestling match.

Courtesy of Bug

Courtesy of Bear

Dr. Seuss

My friend, Alissa, threw the cutest Dr. Seuss Birthday Party last Friday.

 After reading Cat in the Hat, the kids searched through rice for items from the story.

 And they ate One Fish, Two Fish cupcakes and goldfish.

 Belle observed from the sidelines.

Will Someone Please Stop Time?

I seriously have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that in less than 48 hours Bear will be THREE! I wish he would stay my sweet, kind hearted two year old forever.   Multiple times a day he tells me, "Mommy I love you......because you're so pretty."  He gives the BEST hugs and melts my heart with his tenderness.  A couple of weeks ago I was still in my pjs and it was late afternoon.  My unshowered and undone hair had a hideous blue bandanna in it. 

 Bear looked up at me and said, "Mommy, you look pretty with that blue thing in your hair.  Bug, don't you think Mommy is pretty?"

Bug: "Yeah, super pretty, way prettier than Daddy."

Being a mom of three under 5 is VERY challenging, exhausting, and chaotic, but I LOVE MY KIDS SOOO MUCH. They make my life full of crazy joy.

A very generous friend gave us a toddler bed about six months ago.  Knowing Belle was on the way, I was not ready to let Bear move into a big boy bed yet, because I wanted to assure he would still take his nap after she was born.  We had been storing the bed in our garage with the promise that Bear would get it when he turned three.  He has been thrilled about the idea and it finally came to fruition for him.

 I made this rag quilt for his big boy bed and used some of Bondy and my old jeans in it.  I included the pockets so that Bear could store his "friends" in them.

 When I checked on him he was sleeping soundly with his "Hoppy" on his face.  Thirty minutes later he was asleep on the floor.  Hopefully he'll get the hang of not rolling out.

 Bear was an AMAZING potty trainer.  In fact, he potty trained himself before he was even two.  I have kept a diaper on him at night since he was still in a crib and couldn't take himself potty at night.  When his last diaper ran out, we put up his bed and celebrated with banana splits.

 Adding some marshmellows....

 Um, that IS a smile. 

Our Contribution to Husker Nation

Belle's 3rd Month

 Just wanted to post a few pictures of this precious girl's third month.  We adore her, and even when I feel like I'm getting my trashed kicked as a mother (which has seemed like a lot the past few weeks), this girl's smile makes it all seem like maybe I'm not doing as bad as a job as I sometimes think. 

At three months she loves the following:

Looking at and chewing/sucking on her hands.

Waking up about every three hours at night to eat.

Being bounced in my arms on the edge of the bed when she is ready to go to sleep.

Talking and smiling at any one who will talk and smile to her, but especially Daddy. 

Sleeping on her tummy and sometimes waking herself up when she rolls over.

She HATES when I touch her nose to clean it.  She cries as soon as I start and stops as soon as I stop.