3 Years Old!

Charlie and Lily are 3 today! 3 years old! How did that happen? At some point this year, someone stole my babies and replaced them with these mini adults! They sing songs, play pretend, remember EVERYTHING, laugh, run and never stop talking. They know all their colors and shapes and recognize all capital letters and most lowercase. They can count to 20 and count backwards from 10 and can recite numerous Sandra Boynton books from memory. In our humble opinion, they're geniuses. They love Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street, Dora, Thomas and Doc McStuffins. In fact, they think they're doctors and spend a lot of time running around giving us check-ups and proclaiming, "I'm a good doctor!" They love to swim, go to the playground, finger paint, read and go to music classes. Their favorite foods include cake, ice cream and munchkins - very well balanced, right? Joe and I could not be more proud of our beautiful miracles, who surprise and delight us each and every day. Happy birthday, Charlie and Lily! We love you with all our hearts!

 Oh, how far they've come!

Carnival!

The neighborhood church carnival in our town has been a tradition to me and my family for my entire life. As a kid, my mom used to let us go over to it every single night and we had a blast. After I met Joe, he and I would always make it a point to get over there each year. In fact, in my 32 years of life I've missed the carnival only once - in 2009 when I was in the hospital after my water broke.

Even though they attended the past two years, this year Charlie and Lily are old enough to understand and really enjoy the carnival. They've been the last two nights and have loved every second of it!

Walking over with Daddy.

This lion puppet was incredibly creepy, but Charlie and Lily loved it.

The carousel - their favorite!

The nice guy working the Ferris wheel let us ride for free because it was Charlie and Lily's first time.

Lily is apparently some kind of carnival game prodigy. In two nights she won THREE carnival games all on her own. On her first attempt at each of them, nonetheless. Charlie wasn't quite so lucky, but after her third win she let Charlie claim the prize ;)

Sharing the carnival with MomMom and PopPop.

Win #2.

Can't go to the carnival without getting some cotton candy!

Happy Father's Day!

In my (almost) 32 years on the planet, I've seen a lot of fathers in action. Unfortunately, I've seen a lot of poor ones, but I've also seen plenty of good ones. But I can honestly say that I have never seen a father as wonderful as the one my children are lucky enough to have. Joe is kind, patient, loving, doting, affectionate, silly and strong - everything a child could hope to have in a daddy. He adores his children above all else, and it shows. And the joy in Charlie and Lily's faces when Joe comes home from work pretty much shows that the feeling is mutual ;) So happy Father's Day, baby! We love you with all our hearts and are thankful for you every single day.

2012 (Easter - we'll get a Father's Day pic today!)

Father's Day 2011

Father's Day 2010

Starting summer

It's only June 10th but we've been super busy all month. Charlie and Lily have been hitting all the local playgrounds and playing outside in their pool and water table. They've been on Sunday evening picnics with Joe (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the lake followed by a trip for ice cream) and are finishing up their spring semester of music. They've also discovered the ice cream truck, or the "music truck" as they call it.

They've also become birthday obsessed. This year is the first one where they really understand what a birthday is and they are SO excited for theirs. Charlie started off the month crying because he wanted to go to his birthday party and didn't understand why we couldn't. Plus, there are a million birthdays of friends and family in June, so they were getting confused over the fact that there were parties and cake for people other than them. To try to help make things clear, we made this birthday countdown calendar together. Every morning we cross off another day and get closer to their birthday. They really like it!

It wouldn't be summer without corn on the cob! I bought our first ears last weekend and took Charlie and Lily outside to husk it.

I'm not sure what happened here, but apparently it was Lily's fault.

Husking the corn was fun, but Charlie wasn't so sure about actually eating it.

Lily, on the other hand, was a fan. She was still eating her corn along with the chocolate chip cookie we gave her for dessert.

Just like last year, Charlie and Lily love the water. We pulled out their pool and water table and they've been having the best time with them.

It's important to wear sunscreen -good thing the application process is so funny.

You also need shades in the summer. Charlie and Lily love to go incognito.

Happy Birthday, Nana (and Memorial Day)

Memorial Day was hot. Like, really hot. But that didn't stop Charlie and Lily from celebrating the holiday and Nana's birthday.

Patriotic Charlie.

Firecracker Lily.

Memorial Day was also Nana's birthday and we were happy to be put in charge of making the cake. If there's one thing that Charlie loves, it's cake.

We baked the cake the day before and on Monday, after a trip to the gym, we spread Oreo pudding between the layers. Charlie and Lily really enjoyed this part.

Then we put on the frosting. I used the new Duncan Hines Frosting Creations - if you haven't seen them yet, check them out! You buy a container of unflavored frosting and then there a billion different flavor packets to choose from that you mix into the frosting. It's neat! We used mint chocolate.

Charlie wanted to eat the cake as soon as it was frosted. When I explained to him that we were bringing it to Nana's later for a cookout and had to wait to eat it until then, he burst into tears.

But a little taste of icing cheered him back up.

As did adding some sprinkles.

After the cake, Lily helped Joe wrap Nana's present. She took her job very seriously.

When we got to Nana's, Charlie and Lily took a spin in their Power Wheels Jeep. Aunt Jill bought them the Jeep for their 2nd birthday last year, but they were afraid of it at the time. This year, however, they were all about it. Their steering still needs some work, however, but thankfully Aunt Jill was willing to chase the Jeep up and down the street redirecting it.

Then finally, it was time for cake! Happy birthday, Nana!

Sweaty and covered in cake - the perfect way to end Memorial Day.