Happy 3rd Birthday Kelsey

A berry special 3rd birthday indeed! Kelsey was obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake actually attending her party. And, as it turned out, she had a prior engagement!

What was a Mommy to do?!

Strawberry Shortcake and I made arrangements for Kelsey and her guests to complete a series of tasks, each one providing another clue that would get the girls closer to the special gift that Strawberry Shortcake left for Kelsey. Along the way, all of the girls found goodie gifts to put into their special bag! The girls had to decorate Strawberry Shortcake's tiara, go on a cupcake walk, dig through and plant flowers in the colorful rice garden, eat cake, and finally take a walk through lollipop forest! Adults also played along with guess how many ginger snaps were in the vase! The girls had a blast and Kelsey still talks about lollipop forest!!! I really hope the girls had as much fun at the party as I had planning the party. (If you have found this post looking for Strawberry Shortcake party ideas, please feel free to contact me for more details!)

Shirt was courtesy of Duck and Drake!

Bunny Dance

I am so behind, but wanted to post this video from Kelsey's ballet class. Today, the parents were invited to see what the girls have been working on! Many of you know that we have had some struggles with dance. Kelsey started out great, but quickly decided that she didn't want to be without me and parents are not allowed in the studio. With the patience of the teachers and the support of the other parents, I think we have finally moved past the tears. Kelsey is only staying for ballet and we will hold off on tap for now and that seems to be working out for the best!

So enjoy Kelsey's Bunny Dance!

Halloween 2011

What a great few weeks! Kelsey loved all of the excitement surrounding Halloween. We sang songs, read books, make treats, bought tricks! Amazing how different a year makes. Last year, Kelsey barely made it to two houses, sat in the middle of the street, eating her few pieces of candy. This year, she walked barefoot through the entire neighborhood! She keeps a close eye on her candy stash that is quickly dwindling thanks to Daddy!

Kelsey was still uninterested in carving the pumpkin, however Julia was ready to dig in! Julia was very unimpressed by her ladybug hat, sorry Grammy, but I was able to get a few quick shots of her with it on. She loved the excitement of having other kids around and she even managed a few licks of a lollipop!

Many great memories were made and like always I have a millions of pictures! Time for a backup! ;-)

Patty Cake

We've Got a Crawler!

Finally! Kelsey's juice box was enticing enough to finally grab her interest.

Julia 9 Months

9 Month Stats
Weight: 16 pounds 14 ounces
Height: 27.25 inches
Nicknames: Hopscotch, Jules, Sissy
Julia's Playlist: Patty Cake and anything else with a beat

Milestones: clapping, waving, signing "more", continues to say "mama" and "dada", pulls up to standing, rolls, scoots, 2 bottom teeth

Julia loves to laugh! She is happy most of the time as long as someone is playing with her, can you blame her! She loves to be outside and gets very excited when the door opens. She enjoys swinging in the baby swing. Like her sister, she is also advanced and can often be found driving her cozy coupe around the neighborhood. Beeping her horn and cutting people off...I guess there is a little bit of Qatar in her!

Julia loves Kelsey! She beams when she sees her. She loves to steal Kelsey's num-num and hide it! Yup, can you believe it! It is so funny! For now, Kelsey thinks it is funny as well.

Julia is very observant and doesn't miss a beat! Pretty nosy to be honest.

Still no crawling! I am amazed that she isn't crawling. She doesn't at all like to be left alone and so it makes sense that she would start crawling to keep up. We call her "Hopscotch" because she hops around on her bum. Literally. She can get from one end of a room to another!

She continues to be such a blessing and a joy to our family!

The Dance Bag

Thanks Auntie Teresa for the adorable dance bag! Kelsey was so proud of it on Monday. She walked into class and announced in front of all her classmates and teachers, "this is my new ballet bag, see!" The teachers were very happy to see her name labeled as well as these little girls seem to think that every bag is their own!

Julia is Soooo Big!

Our Little Ballerina

Kelsey has started ballet and tap at Karen Domino's Studio D. It is a perfect little class of 2.5 - 3 year olds. She does have to go by herself, leaving Julia and me in the lobby. To be honest, I was shocked that she went and stayed and wants to go back! ;-) I guess a sign that she is growing up! I was excited to learn that she could stay for a tap session as well as I just knew she would love tap dancing. After all, Olivia tap dances!

We've had two very successful classes and Kelsey is very excited about going to dance school. She is always super proud of what she has learned and is eager to show us some of her moves.

Crazy dance parents reality show, here we come!!!

A Special Visit

The girls were so excited to have Grammy and Papa come to visit on their way down to Florida! Julia loved having an extra set of arms to hold her tight. Kelsey could be heard saying, "come on, I'll show you something" over and over again! While never long enough, we were so excited to have them at our newest pad!

Pushing 2

I have the best job ever!!!