Elliotte Paige is a Three-nager

Today is a big day in our home. 

The smallest member of our family 

is beyond proud to be the birthday girl 

and to tell anyone that will listen that she is THREE. 

Elliotte Paige may be small, but she is mighty! 

She has big personality, 

but somehow still manages to be the most calm and patient person in our family. 

She's happy to roll with the flow most of the time, 

but don't dare try to make her do something that she doesn't want to do. 

It's not going to happen. 

I love you and how much you look up to and admire your big sister! 

Sweet girl, thank you for loving to sleep, eat and laugh as much as you do. 

The world is a better place because you're in it. 

Happy happy happy birthday to you! 

😍😘💕🎂🎉🐶

Elliotte and her friend Zachary were born just over 7 hours apart.

Since we have mostly all of the same friends,

we opted to have one joint big birthday celebration

for these two fabulous 3 year olds.

It was TOO much fun.

A gymnasium with lots of fun ride-on toys.

A bouncy house with slide.

Face painting.

Pizza.

Cake.

Friends and family.

What more could two happy little kids want?!

We love you, Elliotte Paige!

xo

xo

💕

There's a line up of excitement for the bouncy house!

The kids were a little spoiled by their friends!

Loving her Skye birthday cake.

Cousins!!!

The rec center in our town had a pancake breakfast the same morning as Elliotte's party.
So much fun!

The kids loved it!

Elliotte's party dress was scratchy,
so after asking to wear it, she changed her mind.
Can you tell?!

Elliotte and Zachary's Paw Patrol cakes.
Elliotte wanted Skye and Zach wanted Marshall.

The last photo was of the back of the cakes.
This is the front.

She has been waiting forever to wear this shirt!

Sister love!

Happy birthday girl.

SO happy that MY sister could come with her family to celebrate!

My Empty Valentine

Piper and Elliotte love receiving mail.

So when Valentines arrived from Nana and Poppy,

they were über excited. 

That was until the cards were opened.

Then there was confusion.

Piper opened hers first and was thrilled to receive some stickers

and some money!

... But wait... who was it from?

There was no name inside the card?!

That's when sick little Elliotte opened her card.

To Piper's dismay, 

not only was there a name signed in Elliotte's card,

but it was also covered in hugs and kisses. 

HEAPS of them.

I can honestly say that this momma has not laughed

so hard in a long long time.

Piper's confusion was priceless.

She immediately called Nana and Poppy 

to sweetly ask why Elliotte received hugs and kisses,

but not her.

Bahahahahahaa.

After Nana stopped apologizing and laughing at her mistake,

she promised Piper a new card filled with hugs and kisses in the mail someday soon.

Piper was satisfied and exclaimed that,

"at least I got stickers and money in my card. 

If Nana forgot that too, then that wouldn't be very fair!"

Hahaha.

Piper notices everything!

Don't ever expect to get anything past her.

Today she was very pleased to receive the new and improved Valentine card in the mail.

FILLED with hugs and kisses!

xo

xo

💕

Two cards = Fair

One empty of xo's... = not so fair

Happy child...

Sad child... ;-)

Heart shaped grilled cheeses helped mend her broken heart.
Haha.

Even our ill little one enjoyed a sandwich.
(Notice the pretty black shoes.
She wears them all day every day!)
She looks for them as soon as she wakes up!

We've Been Sick

It's been a rough month in our home.

Piper, Elliotte and I have all been sick.

Hopefully we're on the mend now

and I can start blogging on a regular basis.

I must record the lives of my sweet girls

and their adventures as a 5 and very soon to be 3 year old.

xo

xo

💕

Piper's Birthday Party

Piper's birthday party was lots of fun.

We had it at the local Boys & Girls Club

and invited all of her friends to come along.

Everyone brought their bikes, scooters and ride-ons,

which made it even more fun.

We even had a face painter too!

Fun was had by all!

xo

xo

Piper asked for a Poppy Troll cake... with candy.

Here's what I managed to come up with!

I may have said a few bad words while working on this cake,
but Piper was pleased in the end,
so it was worth it. 

Pleased!

Piper Cee Turns Five

Today is the big day!

Piper turns five!!

And boy oh boy did she ever celebrate hard today!

Her party isn't planned until Saturday,

but today was pretty spectacular.

A new indoor playground and trampoline park has opened up

near our home.

We thought we'd try it out today.

One of Piper's PreK friends' mom contacted me to see if we'd like to go with them.

Great.

She mentioned it to a mutual friend.

Fun.

Then another.

I mentioned that I was going when I ran into another friend.

She said she'd like to go too.

Next thing I know,

Piper is celebrating her real birthday surrounded by the love

of many of her friends.

It was fantastic!

I had baked some cupcakes to bring along,

hoping I'd have enough.

I had no idea how many people had decided to visit the park today.

I had one left over. 

Perfect!!

We arrived at the park just before 10:30am

and didn't leave until almost 4:00pm.

I don't think I have to say how much fun we must have been having

to stay that long.

Or how exhausted we all were when we left.

Today was a great day!

Simply great!

And Piper felt so special,

so that made it even better!

Elliotte beamed at all of the attention that Piper was getting for her birthday.

She's so proud of her big sister!

My heart could explode!

Piper Cee - I'll love you forever.

I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living,

my baby you'll be. 

xo

xo

💕

Nicknames

I have not started off 2017 very well 

in the blogging world. 

I vow to be better.

For me and for remembering 

every wonderful moment with my girls as they grow.

On the Eve of Piper's birthday,

I thought I'd share a funny from last night.

This was an actual conversation at our dinner table:

Piper: I'm going to give you all nicknames! Elliotte will be Talks-Too-Much because she talks too much. 

Me: I don't think she talks too much, but she sure does talk a lot.

Piper: Okay. We'll call her Talks-A-Lot! Mommy, you can be Loves-A-Lot because you love us a lot. 

Me: (melting)

Piper: And now it's Daddy turn. What does Daddy do a lot? (Pauses to think...) I know! GRUMP-A-LOT!!!!

I decided then and there that Piper's nickname would be:

Makes-Me-Laugh-A-Lot!

xo

xo

💕

I told Piper she wasn't allowed to smile in her passport photo.
Apparently she takes direction very seriously!  

A little more relaxed approach to "not smiling". 

Fresh Beginnings

It is 2017. 

A big year in our home. 

This is the year that Piper Cee will start kindergarten.

Her mother is not ready.

Not even a little bit.

Sure, I'll admit that there have been days

that I would have sent her to school already.

And probably with a sigh of relief and a smile on my face!

But those days have become few and far between.

Piper is only 11 days away from turning 5 years old

and is growing into such a lovely kind person.

On most occasions, she's happy to help me out, 

especially where her little sister is involved.

Speaking of little sisters,

this year will be a big year for Elliotte as well.

Not only will she have to adjust to not having her big sister around all day,

(she's not a fan of being away from Piper)

but she is also due to start PreK and ballet this year. 

That means there will be 2.5 hours each week

where I will not have either of my little girls in my care.

The thought is strangely terrifying.

 Sorry... Piper just woke up. 

Will continue this post and add a photo tomorrow!