Happy 1st Birthday Dyer!!!

Dyer had a nice and relaxing birthday.  Luckily Nathan was able to come home during his lunch break and celebrate with us.  Nathan was working from 7am-9pm that week so I didn't think that he was going to be able to help us celebrate.  

Such a happy birthday boy!

He definitely loves his blanket.

Valerie came over early in the morning to wish Dyer a happy birthday!

When Valerie left this is what he was doing.  He was trying really hard to open that door and go after her.

I tried making this really cute panda cake for Dyer.  I baked it the night before his birthday and when I tried to get it out of the pan it started cracking.  Since I had lots of extra frosting on hand from all the millions of cupcakes I made over the last two weeks I tried "gluing" the crack together and left it alone over night.  It seemed fine the next morning so I went to town decorating it.  I got most of the white done on the front of the cake but the frosting was getting too warm/runny so I put it in the freezer for a while to harden up.  When I went back to finish up the white on the back of the cake, the whole front of the cake was missing.  I found it on the floor.  Surprisingly I just laughed about it.  I was just glad that I didn't get very far before it decided to take its plunge.  I'm sure I would have been a bit upset if it would have happened after I completed the whole thing.  I lucked out and actually had 12 cupcakes and a smash cake on hand since my mom wrote on the directions that the panda cake needed 1 1/2 cake mixes.  I made 12 cupcakes but had some left over batter so instead of making 1-2 more cupcakes I decided to make a smash cake.  I'm glad I had the extra cake/cupcakes otherwise Dyer wouldn't have had anything for his birthday.  I guess I could have given him the messed up panda but instead I opted to make it into yummy cake pops!

Dyer's smash cake.  Definitely not as cute as the panda cake but at least I had it right?

Such a happy little guy!  I just love his smiles!

Video of Dyer waiting for his cake:

Video of us singing to Dyer:

Just picking and poking at the cake.

Video of Dyer with his cake:

Easton was pretty upset that he didn't just dive in and smash his cake.  

Video of Dyer's technique for eating his cake:

He wasn't really a fan of the cake this time.  He loved the cupcake he got at Easton's birthday.  I think part of it was because he had a full tummy from lunch and he was also tired and ready for his nap.

He did enjoy his ice cream though.  I guess he is like his mommy in that he always has room for ice cream!

Opening presents.  This is what it should have looked like...

...In reality this is what happened.  Thank goodness for older siblings to help open all those presents!

All the fun presents his grandparents gave him.

He sure loved his pin full of balls until his brother and sister jumped in.

Dyer,

     Hey bubba!  I can't believe that you are already ONE!  This last year sure flew by.  I just wish that I could stop time for just a little longer because I'm definitely not ready for you to grow up.

     You are sure a happy little guy whose smile just lights up a room.  Everyone just loves and adores you.  You definitely are spoiled which concerns me a little bit since you just recently found you can scream and throw mini tantrums when you don't get your way.  I'm definitely not a fan of your screams but your tantrums are actually kind of cute/funny (for now)!  You fall down on your hands and knees and bury your head in the floor.  You already hate the word "NO" and will let everyone know that too with your blood curdling scream!

     You are most definitely taking your sweet precious time with walking.  You've taken up to six steps but you prefer crawling.  You are really fast at crawling and I almost think that is what's holding you back.  I mean why waste your time walking when it is soooo much easier and faster to crawl, right?

     I swear everyday you are saying/signing something new.  Your new favorite word is nana for banana.  Today when Roger (Valerie's husband) got home from work you had this whole conversation with him.  It was definitely gibberish but it sure sounded like you knew what you were saying.  This is what it sounded like:

Roger: Hey little man.

Dyer: Hi Roger.

Roger: How you doin?

Dyer: Good!  How you?

Roger:  I'm doing good.  You having fun?

Dyer:  Ya!       

It was the weirdest thing but Roger, Valerie and I all translated it to be the same thing.

   I just love your laugh and will do just about anything to get you laughing.  Unfortunately, you laugh the hardest when you are or think you are hurting someone.  Someone saying "ouch" sure gets those deep belly laughs.  I'm not sure quite yet what to think of that.
    I swear you are like a little puppy.  You love to drink and eat things off the floor (I know this one is pretty much a normal baby thing to do but it adds to the list).  You also love to roll around on the carpet.  The most dog like thing you do though is you like to crawl around in little circles.  It reminds me of when dogs chase their tails.  I really need to get all of these things on video one of these days.
    You are such a friendly little guy who loves just about everyone.  You won't go to everyone but you sure love the attention people give to you.  I love it when we are outside and a car drives past because just about every time you have to wave to the car.
   I sure love you Bubba!  I loved watching you grow and learn so many new and exciting things this last year.  I'm definitely looking forward to all the fun things this next year will bring and getting to know your personality more.  

                                                    Love you,
                                                     Mommy

My Birthday!

I had a great day and I was very spoiled!  Nathan got up really early to get me breakfast in bed.  He got up so early that he actually had to wait in his car for the donut place to open up.

Donuts and chocolate muffin!!!  I actually ate one before I thought to take a picture.  I shared the other two with the kids when they woke up.  Nathan had to work all day (7am-9pm) so this was when he sang happy birthday to me.

I also got these fun balloons which Dyer absolutely loves!  Blair of course ate all the candy that was attached to the bottom of the balloons.

And I got these beautiful flowers!  This reminds me of something that Easton said the other day.  "I love all the colors...well except yellow.  Yellow's your favorite color but I hate yellow."

Since I was taking pictures I finally remembered to take a picture of my room.  I finally got around to painting an accent wall gray.  I love it and the lines are so straight and crisp (way better than my first attempt at Easton's wall).  Now that I know the secrete with textured walls I will hopefully be doing more painting!

Anyways, back to my birthday...When the kids woke up and realized it was my birthday, Easton quickly grabbed my gift from him and Blair so I could open it.  Valerie helped them make this sweet pillow for me.  I already basically knew what it was before I opened it because when Easton and Blair came home from making it at Valerie's Easton told me they made me a heart pillow.  Yes, my kids are not good at keeping secrets.  Later in the day Valerie came over and brought me a gift.  A trip to "Hawaii".  She gave me a bag of sand with shells, sparkling apple cider, and a book.  She took the kids for a few hours so that I could relax and do whatever I wanted.  I decided to go shopping for myself since I can never do much of that when the kids are with me.  She told me to come back around 4 so that we could go swimming in her pool and have a BBQ.  Unfortunately the pool and BBQ didn't work out since the workers came a day earlier than what was expected to work in her backyard.  That's okay just having a nice day to myself was more than enough.  

My visiting teacher brought over a gift for me as well and my neighbors brought over cupcakes and cookies and then invited us over for dinner.  It was a great day even though I didn't get to spend much of the day with Nathan.  He did make up for it though by taking me out for dinner the Saturday before my birthday and then last Saturday (16th) he took me to see WICKED!!!!  We were apparently a little under dressed for the occasion but we still had a great time!  I totally forgot to take pictures of that night even though I actually remembered to grab my camera.  I guess we will just have to do it again sometime and actually get pictures....right Handsome? 

Happy 3rd Birthday Blair!

Blair turned three even though she will tell you she is either five (Easton's age) or one (Dyer's age)!  I guess it can be confusing with all those birthdays we have been celebrating recently.

All the kids had their well check ups in the morning and it went pretty smooth for the first hour and fifteen minutes but then they were all getting antsy and misbehaving.  I'm just glad they did that well for that long.  It's not an easy thing for any of us to be stuck in a small room with three little kids.  We survived and won't have to do that again for another year!

Stats: 

Easton: 41 in (14%) and 33.6 lbs (5%)

Blair: 36 3/4 in (48%) and 30.3 lbs (46%)

Dyer: 30 in (50%) and 20.8 lbs (17%) head 19 1/4 in (95%)

Luckily none of the kids needed to get shots.  They told me that Easton and Blair didn't need any which I'm not so sure about since Easton is going into kindergarten...I'll have to check on that for sure.  Dyer needs shots but because he wasn't exactly one yet he couldn't get his that day so I'll have to bring him back.

After their doctor's appointments I took the kids to the splash pad on base.  They don't turn the water on until noon so we had to wait about 30 mins but luckily they have a playground right there so that kept the kids entertained until then.  Once the water came on Blair had a huge melt down because she didn't want her swimsuit to get wet!  I told her she didn't have to get it wet that she could just play on the playground but she wasn't listening and kept running away from me.  After a while she calmed down and wanted me to go in the water with her.  I tried explaining to her that I didn't have my swimsuit so I couldn't go in.  I probably would have gone in with her with the clothes I was wearing but I had on white pants and I'm sure if they got wet they would have been see through.  She didn't like that one bit and had another melt down.  She then wanted me to drive home so that I could get my swimsuit.  I told her that if we went home we wouldn't come back.  Blair decided she was done and wanted to leave.  Poor Easton wanted to still play but since it was Blair's birthday we left because she definitely wasn't have fun.

 This was between her two melt downs.

Dyer sure enjoyed himself.  He definitely loves anything to do with water.

Easton.  

At his Dr. appointment the doctor asked him who he could talk to if he ever got lost.  Of course the doctor was hoping he would say a police officer but Easton said he could talk to Heavenly Father if he ever got lost.  CUTE!!!

Since it was lunch time I took the kids to Burger King on base.

Princess Blair

Prince Easton

Blair lucked out and got to eat out twice for her birthday.  When Nathan got home from work he asked her what she wanted for her birthday dinner.  She said she wanted chicken nuggets (exactly what she had for lunch) so Nathan took the whole family to Chic-fil-a.  

When we got home we had cake and ice cream and then Blair opened presents.

Birthday cake.  I was too lazy (or tired) of making cakes so we bought one instead.  I did add the writing. 

Video of us singing to Blair :

Princess legos

Princess doll from Grandma Gma

chef/baker stuff.

Blair,

      I sure love you!  I'm grateful everyday that you are a part of this family.  You definitely make life fun and challenging but I love that about you.  You are definitely all girl but you also have a tough side to you.  I guess you have to be tough with two brothers and being smack in the middle!  You love dressing up and wearing makeup but at the same time you also love wrestling.  You also love singing and dancing.

     I love your smile and how happy you are most of the time.  Nothing seems to ever bother you (at least not for very long).  You just seem to love life and will often go with the flow.  At the same time though you definitely know what it means to have attitude.  One of your newest nicknames is Missy (or Little Missy) because it seems fitting when the attitude starts seeping out.  You've just about mastered what it means to be bossy and in charge.  I can't help but laugh most of the time when I see and/or hear you telling someone off for not doing what you know they should be doing.  I often times call it you just being "motherly".  

     One of the things I love most about you is how much you love your family (especially your brothers).  You are very protective of your brothers!  You will stick up for them no matter what.  If someone does something to one of your brothers and you don't like it, 10/10 times the wrath of Blair will come out and I can guarantee that person will get an ear full from you.  

     You are just so dang cute and funny.  Some of the things you come up with out of no where are just hilarious.  Punishing/correcting you can be difficult at times because of this very reason.  There are many times when keeping a straight face is just impossible.  Yes, I know this is probably encouraging bad behavior and I do understand that we are probably in deep trouble!  We are working on this...  I'm just used to Easton debating/arguing everything from why he did what he did (or didn't do) and why he should/shouldn't do something that is asked of him.  You just gives short, sweet answers like "I don't know" when asked why you did/didn't do something and "ummm no" when asked to do something.  Your "ummm no" is like you are saying, "thanks for asking but I think I'm going to pass this time."  How does one get upset with that?  It's definitely a lot easier to get upset and punish/correct someone when they are arguing/debating with you.

    Blair Bear, thanks for being my sweet cuddly little girl.  I love you so much!          

                                                    Love,

                                                  Mommy

Fish Papa and Grandma Sharon's Visit!

My dad and Sharon stayed with us for a few days of their month long vacation.  I tried entertaining them with some local things and hopefully they had a good time even though my kids can be loud at times!  My kids sure love all of Fish Papa's silly songs.  They could sit on his lap and have him sing to them all day if he would let them.

I took them on base the first day to see the air museum, the hospital were Nathan works, and the park/duck pond.  I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures.

The second day I took them to the Jelly Belly Factory.  

Blair all ready for the tour.

Fish Papa getting his hat on for the tour

Dyer chilling out

Easton with his friend, Ian.  Ms. Valerie and Ian came along with us.

Dad and Sharon

On the third day I took them to the outlets because my dad wanted some new shoes.  Afterwards I had to make a quick trip to Home Depot to get a new dryer hose since Dexter broke the old one.  He likes to hang out behind the washer and dryer and I didn't realize it was broken until I tried to free Dexter of the balloon that was clipped to his collar.  I have never seen Dexter move so fast trying to run away from the balloon that just kept chasing him.  Poor Dexter was scared out of his mind.  Then we made a trip to nut tree.  Sharon wanted to see how different nut tree was from the last time she went there.  We ate some lunch and then we drove through downtown Vacaville.

Later that evening Valerie invited us up for dinner.  Easton and Blair both got to open a gift from Easton's preschool teacher, Ms. Laurie.  Easton got a dinosaur and Blair got a Dora dress that she couldn't wait to put on.  When we came home I let Blair open an early birthday  present so Sharon could see the baby doll quilt she made for Blair's babies on the new baby doll bed Blair got.  I got the bed at Ikea but then I spray painted it so it would match Blair's room.

Opening her gift

Putting one of her babies to sleep.

Feeding her baby.

The kids got to open their birthday gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.  Easton and Blair both got camping chairs (I should get a picture of them sitting in them because they are so cute!) Easton got Spiderman and Blair got Hello Kitty.  They also got a movie and a puzzle.  Dyer got a stuffed bear that he just opened today for his birthday!  Thanks Dad and Sharon.  The kids sure love all their gifts and we all loved having you here.

Just Cute!

I caught only the tail end of this since I had to grab my camera upstairs but I just love moments like this...

I'm not sure which part I like best them slow dancing together or them having what looks like a dance competition.  I sure love these two!

Okay this might not be cute as much as I find it kind of creepy.  Blair got some make up from one of her friends and she definitely had fun putting make up on herself.  Does this remind anyone else of Mimi off of Drew Carey Show?

Easton and Blair's Birthday Party!

I decided to combine Easton and Blair's party since they basically have about the same friends and I thought it would be easier to have one party instead of two.  Since they were sharing a party I thought it would be nice to have a BIG party.  We decided to go to a jump house place.  Also since they were sharing a party we had to come up with a theme that would work for both a girl and boy.  They settled on Dora and Diego.

Dora cupcakes

Diego cupcakes

Valerie of course helped me out a lot.  She helped me make the cupcakes, she made the girl goodie bags, she filled up all the balloons I ordered online (10 total), and she helped a ton during the party.  Unfortunately I did a horrible job of taking pictures/videos of the party and party process.  Easton and Blair seemed like they had a lot of fun so I guess that is all that matters.  

Easton with some of our neighbor friends

Blair

Dyer sure enjoyed himself.

Blair

Easton and Ben

Blair and Jenna

Easton blowing out his candles

Blair after she blew out her candles

Some of the party guests.

Blair opening up a gift.

Easton opening up a gift. 

I felt a little bad for Blair because she really didn't have very many gifts to open.  Two of her friends forgot about the party and another couldn't make it.  Also, Blair invited two girls from Ms. Valerie's other preschool class but Valerie only had Easton's invitations.  She gave them Easton's invitations but told them it was for Blair.  Both girls came to the party and brought Easton a gift instead of Blair.  Oops!  One of Easton's friends brought Blair a gift too which was really nice!  Also, Ms. Valerie bought Blair this really cute Dora balloon that sings Happy Birthday when you tap it.  All the kids at the party got really excited about the balloon and all attacked it and ended up popping it.  It was sad.  The music still works which Blair likes but it would have been nice if the balloon would have lasted a little longer than 30 seconds!

Thanks to everyone who came to Easton and Blair's birthday party!  Easton and Blair had a lot of fun and love all the fun presents they got!