Three...

Dear Elizabeth,


Tonight as your father was reading you books and saying prayers with you, I mentioned to you that this was the last night you would go to sleep as a two year old. Tomorrow you will be three. Can it seriously be true that you are three? Three years ago right now I was in labor... so eager to hold you but I still had quite a few hours of pain ahead of me. Pain that was worth it.


Enough about 3 years ago... what about now? You talk up a storm. You love Mommy and Daddy to make up stories and songs for you. You will occasionally make up stories for us, but they are very short. You love to tell people about things that happened and end with, "It was pretty funny." I think you got it from me. You love to dance. You turn on the music on the jumperoo and start bustin' moves (or doing ballet- as you say). You are in for a rude awakening when you start ballet classes. You always pray when you hear sirens, and sometimes you randomly tell me you are going to pray for someone you know needs it (like cousin Aaron who was in a car accident.)


You are my sunshine. You often tell me that you love me because I am your sunshine... if you only knew girlfriend. You also tell me that I'm your best friend... but apparently you hand out that title like it's candy because I've heard you tell many a person that they are your best friend. (I still believe you though.) Tomorrow, we will not have a big party at a park which is what we did for your first and second birthdays. We will have family over for dinner along with your godparents. We will eat, talk, and celebrate the fact that God blessed us with you. Tomorrow you will be three. Slow down.

Love, Mommy

The Butterfly Hollow

Our zoo has a new exhibit: The Butterfly Hollow. It is a giant tent with a fairy garden inside. I enjoyed it more that I thought I would. Elizabeth enjoyed it much more than I though an almost 3 year old would.

We were sitting still to see if a butterfly would land on us. After I got up, one landed on my shoulder for a second. When we went a few weeks later, one smacked me in the face- Not cool.

I love how, in the picture above, Elizabeth is clearly telling us something as you can tell by her hands. She must be Italian- not.

Daddy really likes the Kangaroos and Wallabies and somehow they are always doing something when he comes. When I come to see them without him, they lay there.

These are storks. I don't know what they are doing, but it's strange (at least to me).

Elizabeth amazed me in the butterfly hollow by being so patient. When we went again, we were in there for more than 30 minutes I would say. She just wanted to sit on a stool and look. I think she was partly interested in the butterflies and flowers and decorations... and partly interested in the mini stool. It was fun nonetheless. 

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter this year! We went to the Tridentine Mass and had breakfast at Patrick's family's house afterwards. It was so good. I forgot to take pictures there... or I didn't have my camera. I also didn't take pictures of E and A with their Easter presents and the Resurrection garden for some reason, but Patrick has some on his phone. Maybe I will edit this later and add them.

We went to my Mom's house in the early afternoon to hunt Easter eggs and hang out with my family that was visiting from New York. I took Elizabeth and her (2nd?) cousin Alyssia for a walk so the eggs could be hidden. 

Cousin love. Oh boy. 

The basket she has was my favorite one growing up. It has a bunny built into it. I love that my mom still has this stuff and my toys because it is nice to see her play with my things. I wish she had saved some of my clothes.

FOUND ONE!!

Elizabeth found the most; Alyssia found a good number with some help; Adelaide found none... but she didn't mind.

The girls playing in my mom's tupperware cabinet. It was so cute that my mom was actually excited for Adelaide to play in there like Elizabeth did... and make a ridiculous mess. If you know my mom and messes- that's a big deal.

Easter is an amazing day and the most important holiday of the year. I am glad we had so much fun spending it with family.

Easter prep

This is Elizabeth in my sunhat-- the cutest thing. She looks like she should be going to the Kentucky Derby. Moving on- I know this is late but I wanted to do a post about getting ready for Easter. I have seen may versions of a Resurrection garden online and I thought it sounded like a really good idea. It reminds me of the Nativity set at Christmas and how when the girls wake up on Christmas morning, baby Jesus is finally there! We go there before presents...it's first on the list of things to do that day. Elizabeth loves this.

We just got some dirt from outside and some leaves, grass, and small berries. We used a potato as the tomb, which was closed until Easter Sunday. We made the garden on Saturday- I wanted to do it on Good Friday which would have made the most sense... but we were busy- ugh.

We also dyed Easter eggs at Gramma's house with my cousin and her daughter. 

First trip to the Kitty Cat pool

In our apartment complex, there are some pools. One of these pools had a kid's wading pool right next to it. Elizabeth loves this kid's pool. She also loves the big one. And the ocean. And the tub. She is not picky when it comes to water.

Adelaide also really likes the pool. She tries to crawl around the water... with her mouth open, but at least she is having fun.

Also- leaves are delicious.

Elizabeth was walking home wrapped in a giant towel after our first of many trips to the pool. (The title of this post comes from Elizabeth. She thought that when I said, "kiddie pool," I was saying kitty pool, and thus referring to cats.) 

Long drive, short play time

So one Sunday, we were all a little grumpy. We needed a change of scenery, and I really wanted to go to a park.

Patrick wasn't too keen on the idea, but he did it anyway. We drove to a park in riverside where we went a lot when we were dating. They were doing construction on the road or bridge there and it was super crowded with no parking. We drove some more.

Eventually we found another park which was really nice. Elizabeth was so excited to be out of the car and playing (we drove for a while.)

So we play for about 10 minutes when Elizabeth tells us that she has to pee. We walk over to the port-a-potty (GROSS). and she has a little bit of an accident. I had no extra clothes for her.

We had to put her into one of Adelaide's diapers for the way home (we use the one size cloth diapers and they fit her fine). She was upset we wouldn't let her play in a diaper sans pants.

We drove through Dairy Queen after this so not all was lost. Also... I really like this picture of Patrick. I love when he seems like a kid and does fun stuff. He plays with Elizabeth at the playground, but mainly by helping her do whatever she wants to do. It's not usually his thing to drop his guard and just play for his own sake, but when he does, it's great. 

Beach day

I love this picture of Elizabeth and her Papa... or Poppy as she has taken to calling him lately... randomly.

Adelaide had fallen asleep in the car and stayed asleep for a few extra minutes on her Aunt Anne.

Beach days are fun. Even if Adelaide tries to eat sand the majority of the time.

Elizabeth likes to help her Uncle Neil with whatever he is doing... and then proceed to mess it up on purpose while he is asking her not to. We are working on that.

Oh my word... her face just makes me so happy.

They all looked good... and they all knew it.