Sweet Girls...

Elle's Half-Birthday

We celebrated Elle's half-birthday last night, and she was so excited because it happened to be the same day that the movie, Tangled, came out on DVD. So, we had a Tangled-themed celebration, complete with decorations (per the half-birthday girl's request! She even remembered that I had tied something around Lauren's chair on her half-birthday, so Elle, of course, needed a special decorated chair also!), her special meal request (quesadillas), a Rapunzel barbie present, and a game (pin the frying pan on Flynn Rider). We did have a little scare while she was blowing out her candles, and her hair caught on fire. Luckily, daddy saved the day--I'll have to post the video when I get a chance! Elle always loves her moment in the spotlight, so she was in heaven! I can't believe my little girl is 4 1/2. She even looks so much like a little girl now and not a baby!

Cleaning out my phone...

Some of these are really old (like right when Ava was born), but I just cleaned all the pictures and videos out of my phone and there were some cute ones in there. I love my girls!

Ava laughing...

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day was always a fun holiday in our family growing up, and I miss the parade and all from Augusta, so I like to do a few fun things to celebrate with the girls. The week leading up to St. Patrick's Day we did a countdown and did crafts and discussed different things about the holiday each day (like information about Ireland, St. Patrick, shamrocks, leprechauns, etc.). Then, after our visit from a leprechaun in the morning, Elle and I made a rainbow cake to have for dessert after our Irish dinner, and as you can see, my little helper thoroughly enjoyed her job:

And here are a few pictures on my baby in her green, just because she's so cute and I can't get enough of her little chubby cheeks! This was at the end of the day, so she's a little sweaty (we had a beautiful, warm day here!) but still adorable as always:

We had a visit from a sneaky leprechaun this morning...

Happy Half-Birthday to Lauren!

We celebrated Lauren's half-birthday yesterday (she's 2 1/2). It was a couple of days late, since we were busy over the weekend, but she didn't notice, and since she's the middle child, I always love the opportunity to focus just on her. And, she certainly relishes the attention! I decorated the table while she was napping, and as soon as I told her what we were celebrating, she kept yelling, "It's MY happy-birthday!", especially any time Elle tried to steal a little bit of the attention. Ha! It was a perfect day to focus on Lauren because during craft time yesterday morning, she stood up on her chair at the kitchen table and proceeded to fall and use the side of her face to catch herself on the table! The poor girl! I was really worried that she had cut herself all the way through, but after a visit to daddy at work, we all calmed down. However, she was in pain the rest of the day and didn't eat much until it was time for her pink cupcakes! But, this is why her face is swollen/bruised/cut in all the pictures. My mom happened to send a headband with a cake on top and we got it in the mail today, which worked out great for Lauren to have a special half-birthday "hat". We had one of Lauren's favorite dinners, followed by a couple of presents (a princess shirt and a small Angelina Ballerina doll) and a game (we played pin the cupcake on Lauren's mouth!). Half-birthdays have become one of my favorite traditions. I don't spend much time at all preparing (I decorated with things I had in the house, used cupcakes I had in the freezer, and gave her a present from the gift closet), but the girls are always so excited about it, and I love that they get an evening all about them.

Here are some pictures from the evening (Oh, and Lauren only refers to herself as Gracie, so that's why it's on the sign. We said we would never start calling our kids only by their middle names, but then, Lauren decided she wanted to be Gracie and it's just stuck!):