traditions.

there are only a few things im a freak about.

1. fevers over 104.
2. picking up the house after the kids are in bed.
3. traditions.

(ok truth be told, im a freak about more stuff, but lets move on...)

besides the fact that i just dealt with sawyer's 104+ fever *and* my nesting is kicking in ;) its the holiday season - and also aidan's birthday is coming up. and both of those things are full of traditions.

here's a few of the things that i hold dear :)

waking you up with singing on your birthday. and video taping it :) if you go to TYLWL and click on some birthday posts, youll hear a lot of my horrible singing voice :) and some cranky kids who i woke up with that voice. i just love it. i want to do it forever. then laugh when they are 16 and want to throw something at me.

putting up a christmas tree. this is non-negotiable. we wont just *not* have one. ever. plus, i have such a sweet spot for it by the stairs in the front lol

taking pics of my kids on their first bdays in the cloud PJs.



EJ put reese down to bed the night before her first bday. and i FREAKED OUT. i woke her up and put the cloud PJs on her. the comparison is worth it no matter what.

opening a present before xmas. growing up we always opened up stocking presents the night before -- since the kids are too young to get the difference, for now, they can get a big gift early ;)

going to a christmas tree lighting. we have been to the downtown mck one since aidan was 1 :) its 10 seconds of magical :) and worth the crowds.

buying a pretty dress for pics and your birthday party. we go out, you can pick which one you like (or pick a dress we have that you love), and have a heyday. today, for instance, aidan and i were online shopping for her dress for the big 5!! (sigh). they love that stuff.

hmmmm... i'll add to this later :) but for now....

dear sawyer.

you are 3 now. wow.



lets recap a bit.

you are sassy. thats for sure. you have your own way of doing things and dont care what anyone else says.

you are sensitive. while so so tough, you can burst into tears over something small.

you are demanding. dear lord. your screams could pop an ear drum. and when you have your mind set on something, almost NOTHING will calm you down except for what you want.

you are funny. a silly silly girl all of the time. people love to know you. they love to have you around.





you dont let anyone mess with you. or your sisters. we were at target recently and some 2 year old (ish) boy was looking or talking to reese. all we heard you say was "dont talk to my sister" LOL you will go up to older kids at a playplace and tell them "be nice to my sister!!" if aidan is feeling a little sad. when another kid is rude to you, or pushes you, you get this look on your face like "are you for real?" hahaha oh man, im laughing thinking about it.

its so fun to watch how different you are from aidan. so opposite in so many things, but you are a copy cat to almost everything she does. you two fight like no one else could, but in the same breath, you are best friends - aidan can fix you right up in 2 seconds. she can change your mind, she can make you happy, she is sometimes the ONLY person you want to do anything with or for you. sometimes, you two will just say that you miss the other one at bedtime. it makes my heart swell.



you have gained weight this past year (thank heavens) and your hair is so much longer now. your vocabulary is above and beyond, but i am not surprised considering how well you could talk 18 months ago. you sleep extremely well - from about 730pm til 830am. lazy face. and still take a hefty 2-3 hr nap during the afternoon. :)

i dont know how much more i can say except that i love you.


you have such a piece of my heart and i melt every time you say "i love you mommy" and give me a kiss. i smile every time you randomly come up and say "i so happy!!"

so let me just say, sassy pants, that i love you and can't wait to watch you grow every day. youre my soul and light up my day constantly.


love, mommy.

birthday parties.

so.

we always have bday parties for the kids. always. for a few reasons.

1. we dont have a lot of friends with kids so its a reason for all of us to get together and have a great time.

2. the kids LOVE our friends and vice versa. so having them all there in one place at one time is phenomenal.

3. good food and good drinks. yep.

so sawyer and EJ's combo bday party was sunday. so much fun. we DID, actually, have kids there this time - some cousins, aidan's best friend, etc - so that was nice :) my parents and brother/sil were there. we had a nice baby station set up for reese and rylan (my new niece) lol

and we had yummies.

our snackies included (not all made by me. no way lol my mom and friends brought lots of stuff):

7 layer dip
buffalo chicken dip
mini-philly things
cream cheese/olive dip
little weenie pigs in a blanket things
sliders with all the "stuff"
cake
mojitos
beer
lots of wine
and all the sodas, chips, pretzels, etc.


yep. divine. my diet of the past 2 days has consisted of the extras. and thats okay by me. you can go to my other blog to check out some pics :)