3-Year-Old Stats

Age: Three

Height: Not sure yet, we'll let you know in a couple weeks after the visit to the Dr.

Weight: 27 lbs

--Favorites--

Color: RED

Animal: Goat. No joke, you ask her, that's what she'll say.

Food: Cereal

Movies: Lion King (but only today, every time you ask her answer is different)

Books: "Nigh-night Moon" (Goodnight, Moon)

Game: "Ladders One!" (Chutes and Ladders, she just got it for her birthday)

Primary song: Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam

Past time: "hmm, hmm, hmm. Maybe I wike, wike, wike, umm, hmm, play wid pway-doh!" (after much deliberation, it came out that play-doh is her favorite pastime. However, I'd argue that it's actually playing on the pbskids website, or watching movies, or playing games, or coloring...she does all of those things much more often than she plays with play-doh, silly girl.)

Favorite Birthday Present: "IIIIIIIIII don't know... maybe, maybe, maybe, hmm, umm, my, my, my, my, movie!"

Best Feature: Her contagious happiness. In general, Breanne is a very good natured little girl, and tries hard to please others, though she's not afraid to stand up for herself (or cry so I'll stand up for her... sheesh).

Funniest things said by Breanne lately: "Oh, sweetheart!" (to any and every doll... everyone must have a sweetheart (and usually it's their mom... :))). Also, "No Breanne, only Zuul!" (at Cory's promting. I'll post the video later. Hilarious.)

Biggest accomplishments in the last year: potty-training in less than a week(hooray!!) and losing the pacifier. Also, learning to be a great big sister, most of the time.

Best Friend: Attison

Favorite TV Show: "deh-mee Bweet" (Sesame Street.  We've been working really hard on beginning words with an "s" sound, but it just isn't quite there yet.)

I sincerely do love this girl. She keeps me on my toes, and sometimes drives me a little bit crazy with her constant demands and stubbornness, but she is one of the best things that have ever happened to me. Though some of the things we've dealt with as a family haven't been easy, she has been one of the constants keeping me going, forcing us to move forward, and see the good in the world around us. She also has adapted to being a big sister so well--rarely has she ever done anything to intentionally hurt Janey (though occasionally she will yell at her or block her out so she can't get to her toys...). I just hope that these girls can keep this great relationship they have throughout their lives, and can continue to be the best of friends. I am a pretty darn lucky mom.

Breanne's Birthdays:

I stole this stats idea from my friend Janet, I hope she doesn't mind, if she even reads this.  :)

Breanne's Birthday Thoughts

Sorry it's so small, I guess this is what happens when I take the video sideways in my camera, then rotate it...? Whatever. You still get the idea. Enjoy. :)

3

Today was Breanne's birthday.  I can't believe my baby is three!  Because we've been partying so much the last couple of days, today we were able to just stay at home and enjoy each other's company as a family, which was so nice.  We started the day by opening presents, then ate a birthday breakfast of pancakes.  

After that, we played with toys, then when Janey went down for her first nap, Breanne and I played both Candyland, and Chutes and Ladders, her new games.  She doesn't quite get the concept of a game board (moving her piece on the path through the game), but she's getting there.  

Once Janey woke up, we decided to go out to lunch at good old McDonald's, where Breanne happily ate her happy meal like I asked, then got to play in the play place.  There were some older obnoxious boys in the tunnels who'd taken some of the balls up inside and were throwing them at all the other kids.  Breanne bravely told them "that not nice!  We no throw our toys!", to which one of the boys pushed her down.  She stood up, put her hands on her hips, and said, "Hey!  We don't push.  No push me! That not nice."  At this point, the boy stuck his tongue out at Breanne, and turned away, allowing her to pass.  Even though I wish those boys could just learn to be nice, I have to say--I'm so proud of Breanne for sticking up for herself!  She's been quick to cry lately, so it was nice to see her try to teach the other kids to be nice, and to see her do her best to fix her problems.  Sometimes it really hits me that she's growing up right in front of my face, and I don't always notice it.  

Anyways, after McDonald's, we came home to play some more, Janey and I took naps while Breanne played on the pbskids website (such fun games that are perfect for her age--I'm so glad I found it!), and then we woke up, ate some dinner, and dressed up like princesses to finish out the night.  What a great day.

Breanne showing off her new Dora Princess Dress (thanks Great Grandma Wilde!)

Playing with (aka tackling) Hazel, of course.

I'm pretty sure this is one of the two cutest little Tinkerbells I've ever seen...

Seriously.

Getting ready for a...

Big sisterly hug and a kiss. Breanne's idea, not mine. I love this girl.

Fame

Why yes, in case you're wondering, that was me on the front page of the Daily Herald this morning.  Oh, and yes, it does make me look fat... even though I'm officially the smallest and most fit I've been since before I had Breanne.  But such is life.  :)

After a crazy busy weekend, I am glad to have my talk over with so I can go take a nap and relax a little bit.  I just wish it wasn't going to snow.  I'm pumped to do some gardening now.

Spring is HERE! (Or at least it's coming...)

Crocuses in our front yard... need I say more? I am so excited!

One-Year-Old laughter...

Sorry I'm not so great at holding the camera steady... but I love the video, so I thought I'd share.

My New Camera

So a couple weeks ago, we got our tax return back. Hooray for tax returns... especially since this may be the last year we get one for a while (but that's a different story). At any rate, we were able to pay off some debts we had, and actually have a little money to spare! I chose to spend a little on the girl's birthdays, part of which included FINALLY buying a new camera (we've been using Cory's dad's first digital camera--a Kodak, and decent for what it was, but definitely dying...) so we could take decent pictures and video of the big event. After much research (Cory left the decision up to me... yikes!), I finally decided on the Canon SX 110.

It's sort of an in-between--not a point and shoot, but not a DSLR. And I love it! It has 9 MP, 10x optical zoom, and all sorts of cool features. Plus it's a Canon... hard to beat that these days. So you'll hopefully be seeing a lot more video from me (since I can very easily do short video clips with it), and better picture quality over all. Hope you like it as much as I do! :)

Janey Wants Cake

So here is the last of us singing to Janey last night with her cake and lit candle... I was afraid she'd grab for the candle and get burned, so I blew it out pretty quickly... turns out Janey just wanted the cake. :)

Birthday Pics

Birthday morning... Janey loves her new table and chairs set... she thinks she's such a big girl, and insists on sitting in her chair to open all the presents. Ok, actually, she didn't want to help open them. But she did insist on sitting in the chair.

Eating Cake...

Trying to get every last lick...

Janey LOVES her new rocking horse... thanks Grandma and Grandpa!



Other presents...




Everybody loves a good hat...


And a new rocking horse makes it even better!


Everybody had a good time at the party:



Isn't this one beautiful little girl? (Even with the remains of her shiner?)

Janey is One!!

I can't believe my baby is one.  I know most of you have heard me say this, but seriously--Breanne just seemed so OLD when she turned one--so ready for a forward facing carseat, so ready for oranges and milk... so ready to be a one-year-old.  With Janey, I do not feel this way.  This last year has gone by so fast for me, and even though I have loved almost every minute of it, I just can't believe it's gone.  Seriously.  This little girl has brought so much into my life.  She is such a momma's girl, and I honestly can't imagine a life without her sweet little person in it.  So, a few things about Janey (and some of my favorite moments relived...):

Janey was one of the most mellow babies I have ever seen, which was such a blessing for me.  She was sleeping through the night (8 hours, baby!) by 2 weeks (that's when I decided to quit waking her up for feedings... sheesh), and has continued to do so for her entire life thus far, minus a few nights of teething and other illness.  

She caught RSV when she was about a week old, and it was terrifying.  Watching her struggle to breathe in the middle of the night and knowing there was nothing I could do but hold her... very overwhelming to a new-to-two mom like myself.  She was a serious fighter, though, and surprised even the doctor by not having to be admitted into the hospital.

Janey started rolling over just after she hit the three-month mark... which is about a month and a half early.  She quickly mastered this art, and began rolling everywhere.  She (like her sister) rolled constantly until she was between 9-10 months, when she discovered the army crawl.  Within a month of army-crawling, though, she discovered the real crawl, and then walking (all within a month).

Janey started getting teeth during the first weekend of October (the Friday before General Conference, whenever that was), and has continued to get them very quickly.  She is now up to 9 teeth... four front top, four front bottom, and one top molar.  She loves to chew her food with her front teeth, which I think is hilarious.

Janey also makes a "funny face" on request--she scrunches up her eyes and nose, and breathes noisily through her nose--it is my favorite face.  If I can find a good picture of it, I'll post it.  She is just adorable, what can I say.  :)

Janey started to learn to walk right at the same time as I started potty-training Breanne... which was the first time I'd ever questioned the distance between my two girls.  Trying to keep Janey away from the potty while we were sitting in there all day was quite the feat.  So fun, though, to have both girls going through something so important at the same time.

Janey is now on the small side--she came out 8 lbs, and only 18 inches long, which was pretty chubby (she came out with rolls on her thighs... it was just too much! :)).  She's kept her chubbiness, and has also stayed pretty short, making for some adorable thighs and chubby cheeks, and a cute little belly.  Perhaps this is part of why I can hardly believe she's one--last time we had her weighed, she wasn't even 17 lbs!

And now... Janey is a full-blown walking climber!  I never would have guessed this, coming from her very very mellow beginnings and all, but she is such a daredevil these days.  Scares and thrills me to death every time.  Seriously, though, she is just reckless sometimes, constantly falling down and bonking her face on things... last week she had both a serious gash above her eyebrow, and a black eye... so sad.  I swear, I pay attention to her, she just has it out for herself.  :)  She is also already trying to jump, something Breanne didn't even attempt until she was much older.

I really do love this sweet little girl--she gives me hugs and kisses constantly (not very many people get these from her, as she's a little more reserved than other babies we know), and sometimes needs only me, which is a wonderful feeling.  I really can't think of any better words to describe this little girl--she really is just a sweet little one, and her little words she's starting to figure out are sometimes the highlights of my day.

March 7, 2008:

March 7, 2009:

How can she be so grown up?  Where has my baby gone?  As much as I miss the days of cuddling and cooing, I am also looking forward to the next stages of Janey's life--she continues to be more and more entertaining and fun as she gets older, and I am excited to see what she brings to our lives next.  I love this little girl.