Happy 3rd Birthday, Michaela!

My little girl turned 3 on Saturday! We went up to Williamsburg and celebrated at Busch Gardens and with G & G Avery. We bought her a Spongebob cake, and it was an ABSOLUTE hit! Both of the older girls loved it. :)

The big birthday girl!

Spongebob Cake!

Blow out the candles!

Happy Half Birthday to. . . . .

Alyssa! I can't believe my baby is . . . . . .

6 MONTHS OLD!

The time has flown. She's so small. . .a lady at IHOP this morning said she looked more like 3 or 4 months old, and still had that newborn cry. lol I don't know about the newborn cry since I can tell it's changed some, but she is quite small! Still wearing 0-3 month clothes, and starting to get into the 3-6's! Hasn't reached any of the milestones yet. She can skooch around on her back, but won't hold herself up, doesn't really roll over, hates tummy time, doesn't play with toys/won't hold things, is no where near being able to sit on her own or propped up (she'll tip over if we do), won't eat solid foods. . . .she ACTS like a newborn. . .lazy kid! She IS 6 months old. . . . .promise! She's content with the way things are I guess even though we try to get her to strengthen her muscles to do the things babies her age typically do.

Oh, also today. . . .8 years ago today. . . .Brandon proposed to me! :) I love you, Hon!

He's off!

So, I took Brandon to the airport this morning. . . . He was originally supposed to leave at 6 am, and we'd leave home at 4. Blah! American decided to ground some planes and some flights were canceled, including his first one. So, he was given a new flight on Delta that left at 10:30 instead, so we got to sleep in! He said to just keep Rachel home today, so I did. We left home around the time she'd be heading out to the bus stop. After dropping him off at the airport, I took the girls to IHOP. :) They liked that. He'll arrive back home on Monday night. We'll miss you, Daddy!

Brandon's Grandma died :(

April 3rd, his maternal grandma passed away. He's been looking for the best deal on plane tickets to go to the funeral, which will be in Idaho. It'll be this Thursday. I'm gonna miss him, but feel it's important for him to be there. He'll be going alone since it's so much $$$$. He wants to leave Wednesday, and will come back Sunday or Monday. Lots of nights alone in the house with my kids. . .scary! Hopefully Heavenly Father will watch out for us!

Twinner cousins? lol

So, my sister had Mackenzie on March 14th. Of course they have their own look, but doesn't she look a lot like Michaela!? Michaela looks like Mackenzie more than her own sisters!

Michaela:


vs.

Mackenzie:


I think it's funny how their mouths are the same in those! lol When I saw that above pic of Mackenzie, I thought, "I know I have a pic somewhere of one of my kids that looks like that." But, couldn't think of what pic I was thinking of or what kid! So, I went on a photo hunt! ha!

Michaela:


vs.

Mackenzie:

Another tooth!

Today Rachel lost her 3rd tooth! It's been one every other month since November. I'll have to take a picture of her mouth and come back and add it to this post sometime when I get a chance. The three she has lost are right together, so she has one permanent tooth part way up, and then blank spaces to either side. When they're really loose, she complains about not being able to eat with it, so it's nice when they come out, but now, she's not going to have anything to bite with at this rate!

A day with Daddy around

So, Brandon took today off of work to work on the yard. Having him around really changes the dynamics of the day! Nothing bad, just different. It was nice to see him though since normally, we don't get to see much of him. :( He worked on digging up the sand the previous owners had put down under their pool. Not sure WHY they put sand there, but we've since gotten rid of the pool since it broke, and we want to plant grass there and we found out last year that grass doesn't grow well in the sand. So, he had to dig it out. He didn't think he'd finish today, but he did! He even got the deck power washed in preparation to paint it wood color. He's going to try and get it painted while we're out of town with my parents. He feels like it was a productive day. :) He's very sore tonight! It was productive for me as well. Yay!

Other than that, same ol' same ol'. Did some school with Rachel, cleaned, had FHE tonight, etc. . . . I'm excited about getting a break from here and seeing my parents! Not crazy about my upcoming drive alone, but we'll manage. My mom has some fun stuff planned for the girls. We leave Wednesday morning. Part of FHE tonight was setting up the Easter tree. I'll have to take and post a pic of it sometime. . . . .We have it sitting on our kitchen table.

Oh, in case I don't post before Friday, I'm gonna be an auntie on Friday! My sister will be having a C-section that day since Mackenzie is breech and refuses to turn. :( I hope all goes well for her! This is my first niece (or nephew) that's actually related to me, so I'm really excited. We all know it's different when it's YOUR niece or nephew coming into the world vs. a niece or nephew by marriage. Although, they're exciting and loved too! Just different. I actually feel like a soon-to-be-auntie!