Marching Soldiers

McKenna: Mom, girls are womans, right?

Meg: Yes

McKenna: And boys are mans, right?

Katie: Not mans, MEN.

McKenna: Oh! Mom, boys are men, right?

Meg: Right.

McKenna: And boys are also marching soldiers.

New & Improved Family Room

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:


New Additions:
mirror in entry

curtains + candlesticks


We love our new family room.

McKenna's Birthday

Happy 3rd Birthday McKennanator!

This beautiful Goldilocks turned three on Monday. Being the caboose of the weekend of birthday celebration, she sure felt special.

We started the morning with a trip to Krispie Creme (of course) - rainbow sprinkles, pink milk, and all. After we dropped Katie off at preschool, it was off to the mall for her birthday pictures. Boy did she love that spotlight. She was cute as can be, posing and smiling like a princess. She kept saying "I'm so good at this!" - and yes, she was. Apparently curly hair, a pink flower, and some glamor shots is enough to make a girl feel special.

This girl sure is special. She brings so much love + laughter into our home. She loves her family and is always concerned about how everyone feels. She is the first to offer a hug or kind words if someone is feeling sad. She is quick to say she's sorry.

She loves to laugh and loves to make others laugh. She does so easily with her goofy faces, silly voices, and contagious laugh. She loves to have fun and is so fun to be around.

She is our little performer. She is constantly singing. She picks up a tune faster than anyone I know and if she can't remember the words, she makes up her own. My favorite was her rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to the tune of We're Off to See the Wizard. "Ruuuuuu-dolph the red-nosed reindeer!" (go ahead, try it. It's hilarious). We were laughing for days. Actually, I'm still laughing about it now.

McKenna is such a joy in our family. She is our perfect Little Middle. She looks up to Katie and looks out for Brooke. We LOVE McKenna and are so thankful to have her in our family.

It's Me Lucky Day

May your day be filled with pots of gold coins, lots of luck, and one-eyed, one-toothed, Irish pirate clovers.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Digadigadiga

Little Einsteins Party

Mission Completion!

Disney on Ice: Befores & Afters

Disney on Ice was a blast and worth every pretty penny.
We thought a very special family date was an appropriate way to celebrate our first March Madness. We kept the event a surprise for the girls all the way up to the "ladies & gentlemen."

All the girls knew is that they would be dressing up like princesses for the main event. That was probably enough to make the night special for them. They felt beautiful and they sure looked it too.

Here we all are before the show

(they still don't know what's coming):

Right before, and right after the show began:

During the show:


After the show - still beaming:

On the way there, and on the way home:

After all the excitement, we all felt like this:

But it was all worth it because of this:

Brooke's Birthday

taco soup for dinner - her favorite

Brooke's mini-cake

Happy 1st Birthday Brookie!

Can hardly believe little Brookie Cookie turned one yesterday.

She is still as much of an angel as ever, and is so much fun. We all love playing, laughing, and cuddling with Brookie. Her smile is contagious and her cheeks are so very scrumptious.

She isn't saying much (in English) but she babbles all the time and seems to know very well what she is saying. Now all we need is an interpreter and we'll be good.

She's crawling like crazy and has even discovered her turbo crawl - she puts her head down, kicks into another gear, and takes off. She's pretty fast! She not walking yet, or even trying. She pulls herself up to stand on everything. She has yet to let go and stand on her own.

She loves water. She is our first that doesn't mind (actually loves) water in her face. She will dive head first into the bath and come up with a huge smile from ear to ear. We call her our little fish. Katie and McKenna thinks that's a funny nickname. I have a feeling we will be spending lots of time at the pool this summer.

First thing yesterday morning, Brooke was the first to wake up. Dave went and got her out of her crib, got her her morning bottle, and brought her in bed with me. We spent a few minutes, just the three of us, laughing and cuddling. It was the perfect way to start the morning. Dave said, "How old are you today? Are you one?" and sure enough, Brooke stuck up her little first finger showing us that she was one. It was perfect and priceless.

She has been showing everyone her "one" on demand ever since (unfortunately, everyone except the camera). Today at the doctor, she even showed the nurse that she was one after the nurse asked her if she had a birthday. When the nurse gave her a surprised smile, Brooke just smiled and clapped her hands in excitement. She may not be able to talk, but she sure is doing a good job communicating with her hands.

Brooke is pure joy in our family. I can't help but smile and get a bit misty whenever I think of sweet Brookie. I just love her so much I can hardly stand it.

Brooke's birthday was only the beginning of our birthday festivities.

Tonight we are going on a family date to Disney on Ice. It is a complete surprise for all three girls. All they know is they are dressing up like princesses for the occasion, but they have no idea what we are doing. I cannot wait.

Tomorrow morning is McKenna's birthday party - Little Einsteins theme. She is very excited. I am excited for her.

Monday is McKenna's actualy birthday.

I am realizing that from now on March will feel like a second Christmas in this house. Maybe even better than Christmas.

So...stayed tuned for lots of pictures - more from Brooke's birthday celebration plus all other festivities.