Feeling Old, but Grateful

You know those moments when you feel old?  I've been having more and more of those the past few months, but February 23, it hit me again.  I have a FOUR year old!!  How the heck did that happen?  I feel like I blinked, then bam.  There she was.  Four years old playing barbies, talking like a teenager, going to plays, and driving her electric car around the block.  We have been going on more and more mommy daughter dates, playing board games together, and doing mani pedi's.  I feel old, but I must say I am loving this new phase.  

She is so grown up and so much fun.  Her sense of humor is coming out more and more everyday :)  She is funny!  She is so smart.  She is so sweet.  I love my lexi girl, attitude and all.  I know she was born with her strong willed personality for a reason.  She needs it to be able to stand up for herself in these latter days.  She needs to be able to stand up for whats right and defend her testimony, her faith, and her religion in all circumstances.  Although at times it is difficult, inconvenient, and downright frustrating; ultimately, I am so grateful for her strong willed personality.  

At four lexi's favorite things are: ice cream, cake, sugar, cheerios, steak, chicken, mac and cheese, barbies, playing dress up, playing doctor, getting massages from mommy, being read to, doing home school, getting her nails painted, going to Disney Land, going to the park, going to movies, and being a great big sister.  She is able to read three letter words and writes all kinds of made up words, or sounded out words. She can count to 60, knows the 12th and 13th articles of faith, write any word I spell out for her, draw people with detail (nose, eyes, ears, mouths, hair, zits (hahaha)), and simple addition and some subtraction.  

For lexi's birthday I knew exactly what I wanted to get her, even though when we asked, all she said was something pink :)  Grandma and I pitched in to buy her a barbie dream house, car, bike, scooter, and 25 barbies :)  She was sooo excited when she came down stairs on her birthday.  She goes, "What is this?!?!"  "A doll house!"  "well, did you guys forget to wrap it or something?"  Then when she was opening all her presents she opened the one with all the boy barbies and she goes, "Boy barbies? BOY BARBIES!!!! AHHHH!"  She was thrilled.  Shes spent all of her free time every day since her birthday playing with all of her awesome new toys.

Her birthday was on a Sunday this year, and she chose to wear her new princess dress, Cinderella dress up shoes, and Elsa crown.  She looked pretty dang cute.  On the way into church she was waving to everyone with only 4 fingers and saying, "Hello! today, I am four."  She loved being sang to in primary.   

Lexi chose the theme of her birthday this year.  She wanted a tea party, so that's exactly what I did.

We started off with a painting craft... 

in our ghetto painting smocks.

Each girl received a princess tutu and some pearl necklaces, along with a customized bracelet with their initials.

We would come get the food then serve it to each princess.

lexi chose this cake when we were looking at different ones... she actually wanted a 5 tier, but I convinced her this was good enough.  She loved it!!  "Mommy, its so perfect.  I wish I could just stick my face in it right now!!!"

Grandma, Zach, and Cj came down to celebrate with us :)

Overall, it was an awesome day for my favorite girl!  All the stress and overwhelm of the party was totally worth it when my little girl looked at me as I was pouring her tea and says, "come here you little mommy," and precedes to give me a great big hug and says, "you're the best mommy!  This is the best party ever.  Everything's perfect."  She is the best and I think she is perfect.

Love is in the Air

We worked hard making valentines this year.  Lexi wanted to give each of her friends a special prize so they knew how special they were to her.  After searching on pinterest together, she decided she HAD to do the S'more ones.  "I need s'more friends like you."  I was so proud of Lexi for doing it all by herself (minus printing and cutting out the valentine, and stapling the bag shut).  She broke the graham crackers and put two squares in each bag, added one chocolate bar and one giant marshmallow, and wrote her name on each valentine.  

Gauge wanted to make his friends something special too. So I cute out a bunch of hearts on the cricut and let him color them.  Then we glued a hug to each one so he could give all of his friends a few hugs. He really liked drawing on the first 10... then he got bored so lexi finished up the last half for him. 

The morning of the big party lexi reminded me they needed boxes to put their valentines in.  She requested a mermaid.  After numerous searches online I found NOTHING.  I finally just threw this little mermaid together.  It turned out pretty good for having nothing to copy from.

Gauge's was much easier.  I found a shark online and decided to that with a few moderation's.  It looked really cute, and he loved it! He kept having it eat my hand, foot, nose, and anything else he could.

We had so much fun at the valentines day party!  Everyone brought a snack to share and enough valentines for everyone.  The kids loved passing out treats to all their friends and the adults loved snacking on all the yummy food, win win.

Gaugey Boy Turned Two

What a year!!  It is crazy to look back at pictures from last years birthday party. So much has changed since then. Gauge has grown and learned so much in the past year.

As a two year old, Gauge is 34 1/2 inches tall, weighing in at 25 lbs 9 oz.  He is 70% for height 25% for weight.  In the past year gauge has grown a large vocabulary, learned how to use the potty (not potty trained yet, but very close!), sleeps in a toddler bed, and has lost his front teeth.  Gauge talks a lot, loves to be read to (his favorite book is the Dr. Seuss nose book).  He loves playing with lexi, holding Addie, and being with his family.  He is such a sweet boy!  Full of hugs, kisses, and laughter.  Sometimes, he is a little aggressive towards other children, but has been doing MUCH better recently.  I feel so blessed to have such a great son.  My favorite thing about Gaugey Boy (its so tough to just choose 1!!) is his smile.  His smile isn't confined to his mouth.  When gauge smiles, his entire face lights up.  You can see his smile in his eyes.  It is amazing.

We decided not to do a huge party for Gauge's birthday this year, and instead had an impromptu gathering at the park, Gauge's favorite place.  We started the day with a surprise "balloon party" in his room.  He was thrilled when he woke up to a room covered in balloons and crate paper.

For breakfast we had french toast, one of Gauge's favorite breakfast foods, and had his presents all laid out along with his new "birthday" outfit.

We made a cake to look like his favorite toy ("choo-choo"), had his favorite food (pizza), and played at the park until nap time :)  He had the best birthday ever!

This balloon, may have been his favorite present he received (he is still enjoying it right now as a matter of fact).

If he isn't the handsomest boy I've ever seen, I don't know what is.

He literally ate the entire engine part of the train right after this picture was taken.  He couldn't get enough, and I didn't stop him.

We got him a new scooter (which he LOVES) and helmet (which he HATES, he loves his sister's princess helmet instead)

He still wasn't interested in opening a lot of presents.  He would open one and want to play with it right away.  

We love Gauge and couldn't imagine our life without him.  He is a bright spot in each of my days, with his brilliant smile, funny personality, and adventurous demeanor.  Happy Birthday Gauge!  I hope this year brings as much joy and happiness as your second year brought; however, I'd be ok with less (or NO) teeth being lost, pulled, or knocked out. :)