Smile!

Lorelai started smiling right about a week ago, but it's been pretty infrequent and hard to catch. However, today=success! Hope you love it as much as I do!

Oh, my word! She is such a happy girl!

Who wouldn't be happy? She spent the day with Ms. Jayne getting loved on by a pro!

Etc.

I still feel like a slacker for the lack of Easter pictures, but all of my favorite ones are on Kasey's camera. Here are a few random ones from the past week or so that I love. On a side note, this has been an eventful week for Ms. Lorelai. She went on her first girls' weekend with the ladies from YCW and had a blast. Who wouldn't love having 7 doting women at their beck and call? I think she spent about 20 minutes not in someone's arms. Over the weekend she started coughing and sneezing up some yuck, so we got to visit our favorite pediatrician Monday who decided it would be best to stick a q-tip on a wire half way to Lorelai's brain to make sure she doesn't have anything serious. Luckily, we really love her :) She was such a good girl. She always is! Even when she's upset she settles down instantly when she gets her bottle, diaper changed, q-tip out of her nose, etc. I may not have anymore out of fear that they will not be nearly as good as her! Just kidding, I thought I shouldn't have any more after Maelie because they could not possibly be as fabulous as she is and here Lorelai is, amazing in her own right!

Gotta love all that pink-ness with sweet sisters

I just fall in more in love with that sweet face everyday!

She is smiling now which makes my day and makes it feel like 5 minutes of goofy baby talk is worth it when she finally grins

She is getting so strong!

How can you not love that face?

Back to the Grind!

Well, I started easing back into work last week, and this week have been a little more. I really thought that it would be harder to go back this time, but I think that since I took it so easy for the first month it was actually easier. I was ready to see my friends and be back in my office. It really made me realize all over again how much I LOVE my job and what a blessing it is. Being able to take my girls there and spend the day multitasking as director and mommy with Lorelai right in my office is the greatest thing ever. Plus, I have the greatest friends - it was a great mix of working/being with my baby and working/having people I love love on my baby! I have missed those ladies, those sweet kiddos, and all of my responsibilities as well. I am so thankful that the Lord saw fit to put me in this place where I can (hopefully) use my gifts to His glory in the midst of my church family.

I also have to give a "shout out" to the amazing staff that I work with. They all worked extra hours and really stepped up so that I could be gone and not worry. They encouraged me to take the time I needed to be with my baby girl and I knew that everything was in good hands. They are so talented and I am so blessed to be a part of this team! They are also such a gift in their sweet friendship as well as the examples they give me of different types of great moms.

I Love This Kid!

Okay, this is not on the bloggy to do list, but I had to write it down so I won't forget it. tonight when I got home from Bible study we had the following conversation:

Me: Tomorrow we are going somewhere really fun with someone we really love

Mae: Who?

Me: Guess.

Mae: God.

Me: (loving this kid): Well, He's always with us. Someone else we love is going, too.

Mae: Kasey (yes)

Part II

Me: Now, guess where we're going - it's somewhere really fun.

Mae: Sam's? (the real answer was the zoo, but, hey, who doesn't love Sam's?)

Maelie Turns 3

I know that every mother says this, but I truly cannot believe it has been three years since Maelie came into the world and changed my life. Some of it has been harder than I thought, some has been so much better than I could have ever imagined, it has all been funnier and more fun than I thought it would be, and all of being her Mommy is something I would never give up for anything.

Her birthday - so sweet! She and that binky have been friends from day one.

Her first birthday - spontaneously moved to RHCC due to the weather, but we still had fun.

I remember thinking 1 wasn't so bad, she still felt like a baby to me.

Her second birthday - Mickey at the park!

I honestly didn't have the chance to get to sentimental at this one because she was such a stinker that day. (that's also why this is the best picture I got!)

This year's 3rd birthday girl!

We had such a great day at the zoo with "everyone we love!"

The rest of the weekend, anywhere we went she asked if "everyone we love is going to be there?"

This is just a shameliess plug because Aunt Kasey and I made the hippo cake and we were very proud of it :)

A Few Things she does at Three:

(Really, I almost feel like what doesn't she do?!)
She's been potty trained since September

She can "read" (recite from memory) entire 5 or 6 page Bible stories from her children's Bible

She's known all of her letters and their sounds for a long time now, but lately she asks me to spell things a lot.

She can spell her name

She has three Bible verses memorized - John 3:16, Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 6:1 and we're working on Psalm 23:6

She can remember anything - long songs, small details - it's amazing!

She can dress herself with very little assistance

She just started playing games and she loves them - Candy Land was her first and we play it almost every night before bedtime.

She is the BEST big sister! Every morning when she wakes up she asks where Lorelai is, then goes to her and kisses her and talks to her in this sweet little "baby voice" that cracks me up. She has been so gentle (mostly) and sweet with her. When she cries she runs to tell me "sister's fussin'!" and loves to sing ger songs. She has done better than I ever expected - it is such an answer to so many prayers!

She weighs 31 lbs and is 38 inches tall

There are so many more things she does that I am so proud of and amazed at! I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

She likes:

anything princess

she's very into "girl things" if it's a "boy thing" she won't touch it, wear it, etc.

coloring and "snipping" with her scissors

baths

almost any food, but especially pizza, burritos, blueberries, cheese

her favorite places to eat are Jason's Deli, Pei Wei and "poach-lei" (chipotle)

singing - she sings all the time!

reading

Imagination Movers - favorite TV show

Tinker Bell and Robin Hood - favorite movies

Grammy's - favorite place to go

She doesn't like:

Not getting her way

waiting, especially waiting to say something

heights

loud noises (still)

having that crazy hair brushed

My Blogg-y To Do

Some things I need to blog about soon:

Maelie's 3rd birthday
Lorelai's 1st and Maelie's 4th Easter
My first day back at work

Check back soon and keep me accountable!!

TWO funnies for the day!

First one - Maelie was talking and singing in the bathtub and I said "What are you doing?" She looked at me and said "Just praising God in the bathtub." I LOVE it and said who told you you could praise God in the bathtub? She said "Oh, Jesus did." and kept singing. I am in love with her!

Second one - on the way home from the big Birthday party at the Zoo I asked her what she thought about her birthday party. She said, "Oh, Mom, it was totally perfeck!"

Too Good to be True?

Seriously, I'm wondering when the other shoe is going to drop - this baby is so good! She eats, she sleeps, she LOVES the car, the only thing she doesn't do perfectly is poop, which she doesn't do enough, but hey, as long as the dr says it's cool, so isn't that a good thing, too? It has been such a great three weeks of loving on my sweet girls. Here's some pics!

She started sleeping in her bassinet two nights ago -

honestly, it's great, but I miss her sweet sleepy sounds right

next to me!

Her first date - lunch with the Camster!

Her first bath - not sure who was more upset, her or Maelie! Maelie does not like it when she cries.

The three kids on a trip to Target - aren't we brave?!