100th Post and it's a Doozy

Last night at our MOPS meeting got me thinking about the theme of Adventures in Motherhood and my own adventure I embarked upon a few short years ago. We talked about making videos showing us in the throes of the adventure so I thought I'd let the kids play while I got some chores done this morning and let them make an authenic mess. How big of a mess could they make for heavens sakes? Apparently a pretty big one. Note, this is not staged. Not at all. Not even the pair of underwear that got wedged between the crib mattress and the crib slats. And yes that's Grace wearing two pairs of underwear and nothing else because that's the only thing she'll keep on today. Heaven help us.

Oh, and David please do NOT look at the photos below. I know you'll have a heart attack and might start hyperventilating. Don't worry. The house will be spotless by the time you get home from work. Maybe. If you work late.

Here is our lovely home after Hurricane Grace and Tornado Ethan hit...

Gracie Grew!

Grace had her 3 year pediatrician appointment yesterday and I'm happy to report that she grew...or at least stayed on her 10th percentile curve in both height and weight! This was the first visit that they checked her height while she stood up...such a milestone!

Here are her stats:
26lbs 4oz
35.25"
24cm Head Circumference (I think? Can't remember for sure) 3rd percentile but still on the curve!

Dr. Farah was happy with her development and told Grace how proud she was that used the potty, just like I told Grace she would be. I love Dr. Farah! She was impressed with Grace's language skills (she's a chatter box now and last year wasn't even putting two words together) and pleased that Grace is staying on her growth curve. We talked a bit about Grace's diet and she told me we can go ahead and keep Grace on whole milk which I was happy about. I was worried I would soon be buying three types of milk soon...whole for Ethan, 2% for Grace, and skim for David and me! As long as we don't notice Grace bulking up (ha!) she said it was fine. I'm also keeping her on the regular yogurt/cheese/etc. instead of the low fat versions that the rest of us eat. The other big discussion was that Dr. Farah noticed a benign heart murmur when she listened to Grace's heart while she was laying down but not when she was standing. I guess it's common in kids and may go away or may not. She said it wasn't a big deal but it's still not something a Mom wants to hear!

So all in all the big changes between her 2 year visit and yesterday were:

She gained 4lbs 4oz
She grew 1.75"
Her head size hasn't changed
She can put 2 words together (actually she has some long sentences these days!)
She potty trained

Time for slumber.

Dandelion Wishes

There's just something about dandelions that attracts little girls to them like bears to honey. They just can't get enough of them! Grace calls them "yellow flowers" and loves to pick them and bring them to me as a gift. She certainly had a fun time picking all the yellow flowers in Grandma's garden yesterday and by the time she was done Grandma's garden was weeded and I had a lovely posey of dandelions!

Grace's Pink Party

We had a crazy good time this morning hosting Grace's 3rd birthday party with the theme (did you expect something else?) of Pink Party. She has been talking about her Pink Party for months now, telling us all about the pink presents and pink cake that would be there. I think our party fit the bill.



She had quite a long guest list too! She was lucky enough to have two sets of great grandparents in attendance as well as her Grandpa and Grandma and a great Aunt and Uncle. Her friends Gabriella, Miriam, Spencer, and William joined the party with their parents and younger siblings. We also enjoyed having our friend Pat in his shocking pink shirt (next time don't listen to David when he tells you what to wear to a function...or at least double check with me first!) and Deb with her boyfriend. Yes, Grace was a very lucky girl to have so many people come to her party and her Mommy and Daddy are completely worn out by it all!



We held the party in our backyard which served the dual purpose of keeping everyone in one general area and kept the house cleaner by not dragging out every single toy we own to be thrown about the house in random chaos. Instead only a few toys made it outside and cleanup was much easier. Too bad we can't figure out a way to hold our Oscar party outside since that one gets super messy!



I made a Pin the Candle on the Cupcake game which the kids enjoyed, though only Grace was brave enough to wear the bandana to cover her eyes and she barely did it. Guess we'll try that one again next year!



Then we had a rousing dance session to the tune of the Hokey Pokey. Grace loves to Hokey Pokey.



Then we dived in to the strawberry cupcakes (pink of course) and sang Happy Birthday to Grace. I was rather amused that she sang the song to herself along with us! This year she wasn't afraid of the fire on the candles, so that was a plus.



After everyone had enjoyed a cupcake or two we let Grace open her mound of presents which she very much enjoyed. What 3 year old doesn't like presents? She was particularly excited about the pink dress up shoes and the tricycle. She's been talking about wanting a tricycle for what seems like forever and I've been telling her that Big Girls That Use the Potty get tricycles. I used the logic that Elmo uses the potty (thank you Elmo Potty dvd!) and he has a tricycle, so obviously Grace needed to learn to use the potty before she could get a tricycle. Thank God she potty trained herself within the last few weeks!



After the party wound down we spent some time with my grandparents and had a nice calzone dinner that my Mom brought with her. We all fit around our dining table which made for a great meal. Everyone took off after dinner and we let Grace ride her tricycle some more and did our best to calm her down before a much needed early bedtime.



Now the house is quiet, the kids (and the new pink Sleeping Beauty phone) are in bed and I'll be joining them in slumber soon. Throwing a Pink Party is exhausting!



Thanks to all our friends and family, we're so glad you came to celebrate with us :)

Testing out ping fm. Just had a nice dinner with Kellie's side of the family.

Give a Girl a Doll House and Her Mommy Plays Too!

I have a bit of a confession to make. I think I may be enjoying Grace's new doll house more then she is. That's not to say she hasn't really liked to play with it, it's just that it's the one toy that I find myself wanting to play with even after bedtime! There's something so soothing and enjoyable in rearranging the furniture and making it all neat and tidy. It's fun to watch Grace play with it and see her put things the way she wants them and hear her play act with the dolls. I foresee a lot of good times with this particular toy.