Happy Birthday to Anna!

Yesterday, Anna had a party for her 3rd birthday.  She has been looking forward to this for weeks.  The theme was "Hello Kitty Stuck in the Mud".   Anna had a great time and got a lot of wonderful presents.  She said her favorite part was opening gifts and eating cake.  

Anna put the finishing touch on the Stuck in the Mud cake.

She was quite happy with her cake.  

Anna saw this dress and fell in love with it, so I got it for her to wear at the party.  She was so excited.  It was very motivational for potty training too.  She's been doing great with that.

Anna was dancing like a ballerina and Lukey was posing like a super hero. 

These pictures showed up better in sepia.  Maeve and Anna played princess very nicely together.

I didn't catch much of this game other than Maeve offering things to Anna.  It kind of looked like she was on the throne and Maeve was presenting her with various things like crowns, kitties, etc.

The kids all cheered with their Hello Kitty juice bottles.  They played nicely together.

Anna has been looking forward to and has been practicing singing that she was 3 years old for a few weeks now.  She did a great job!  I do not know what happened with our singing to her.  It was a total mess and people seemed to all be singing different things.  It was kind of funny.  I knew Anna was excited for her solo and she was starting to look a little worried with all the chaos, so sorry to anyone that I shushed, but this was a big moment for Anna.

This picture was edited.  Sorry, I couldn't resist...I'll change it back if requested. :)

Anna loves her baby cousin, Jacob.  He was very good at the party.  

I didn't really take pictures of Anna opening presents.  She got a lot of great ones though!

Mum Sisters.  Anna decided that we are the "Mum Sisters".  I don't know where she came up with this name but I think it is really nice.  It is a very exclusive club of just the two of us.  We have a secret handshake too.  It's especially nice when she knows it is a time when she has to be quiet and she whispers "We're Mum Sisters."  Yes, we are.

After everyone left and we were cleaning up, Anna stood here and played with her jewelry box until it was time to go to bed.  She was very happy about it.  This also made me realize that any nice jewelry will have to go in the bottom part so it doesn't get destroyed.

It was too cold to wear her new nightgown alone, but she really really wanted to wear it.  So, she wore it on top of her Hello Kitty pajamas.  Thanks to everyone who made her birthday so special.  Looking back at last years post about her birthday, she still likes the same things-macaroni and cheese, chocolate milk, kitties, etc.  She also really likes to dress up.  She pretty much knows all her letters, can count to about 20 when she tries, and is very good at talking and smiling.  She will be going to 3 year old preschool this fall and before then probably some classes like gymnastics and swimming.  For now, she's just having fun being Anna.

Jamie and Beth's baby shower

Yesterday Anna and I went to Beth and Jamie's baby shower.  We had a lot of fun.  Anna was very silly there but also very happy and pleasant.  A lot of people made comments on how good she was.  I really want to have well behaved kids.  Of course I think my kids are smart and exceptionally good looking, but there really is nothing that makes me more proud than when my kids are happy and have fun while also being respectful to adults and other kids and pleasant to be around.

Anna with Gramps

Anna and Nana

Jacob and Debbie

Jacob looking pretty handsome.  Jacob is a very agreeable baby.

Jamie and the mommy to be.  (sorry the pictures weren't clearer guys..at least you look happy in them!)

Buzi and her girls. 

Grammy and Anna and a cookie.  

Mamas and the Mama to be.

Anna got an early birthday gift at the shower.  When she opened it she said she loved it and when we got home, she wanted to put it on right away.  It's so much fun having a little girl that loves to dress up.  (she's right now looking at this and saying she wants to wear this right now).

Lukey was pretty thrilled with a few gifts that he got from the shower too.   He didn't go to the shower, he stayed at home all day in his Batman pajamas and went grocery shopping with Da.  Today when I dropped him off at school, one of his high school friends asked if he got a new haircut.  Lukey said that he did and that he liked it because it was cute.  Then he kept rambling on and on to the girls about Batman and how Anna likes to drink chocolate milk, etc.  He was being so charming with the high school girls.  They looked very happy to chat with him.  

Paczki on the potty

Nana brought over some Paczki from Hamtramck for the kids. They were a hit!  Anna still has all her meals right now on the potty.  That's how she watches movies too.

Anna and the Potty

We decided that it is time for Anna to start using the potty!  She's used it a few times before but not on a regular basis at all.  Today is her first day that diapers are allowed only at sleeping time.  She's doing pretty well.  She uses the real potty and the pink potty and seems to want to either be sitting on a potty or wee wee pad at all times.  And she's been happy, so all is good so far.

Lukey has been an amazing and very supportive big brother during the potty training so far.  He wants to do everything with his sister.

She decided that she wanted to eat her snack on the potty and Lukey wanted to eat by his sister.  They're being really good.  So far..

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, we took the kids to see Spongebob at the theater.  It was Anna's first time seeing a movie at the theater.  They had a lot of fun!  For dinner, we made a feast of filet mignon and mashed potatoes and corn and pink cheese (port cheddar).  Lukey's favorite was the meat.  He ate a lot!  Anna liked the pink cheese.  For dessert, the kids and I made some chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels and marshmallows.  Everything was really good.

Tim's Valentine's mustache.  It makes him look even more like Joaquim Pheonix in his role in "Her".  (We watched the movie after the kids went to sleep on Friday and you were right, Nana-looks like Tim...) 

Dress up day

This week, Lukey's class had a day where they had to dress up like something they want to be when they grow up.  Lukey refused to be anything but a builder.  I made him a tool belt out of a string from his old booster-high chair seat and a Meijer wine bag.  He looked so professional!

Tim took my camera in and there isn't anything wrong with it.  I think some of the settings got off and pictures were looking wrong.  Probably all my fault.  So, I was trying to learn how to take pictures and Anna kept wanting to pose like this.  She did not like me taking pictures of cats.

Lukey eating a burger after a hard day of "work".

Playing in the snow

 After obsessing over it, I really do think something is wrong with my camera and I need to take it somewhere to get it fixed, but for now, the pictures will just be slightly blurry and not focused right.  

It was really snowy on Sunday, so we went out to play and walked down to the golf course to sled.  It was really cold, but really fun.  Anna and Lukey liked going down on a sled together.  

Lukey singing "Frozen Heart" as he chops the snow.

Worst photo shoot ever

Paige and Jacob came over to play today.  We tried to get a picture of the cousins together.  I don't know if it was the closeness to the window and blending into the light or if it was just because she was not looking at the camera or that I really don't know how to take pictures, but Paige is blurred in every picture.  At least they were all good about sitting in the same area for a few minutes.  Lukey even tried to hold Jacob.  That didn't work out too well, but he did try.