A Lemonade Party!

Just wanted to Share some photos of the Pink/yellow Lemonade stand party we had yesterday.  I think it turned out cute, and  she seemed to have a blast. 

The dessert table

Make your own lemonade: we had regular, sugar free and Iced tea(not pictured) with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries to add flavor

The girls playing with a balloon

We found this table on craigslist, painted it and added a sign.  We will use it (minus the sign) as Jaela's coloring table at home

Yes, she's eating a lemon, and liking it!

The girls eating off 1 plate I guess

Pink lemonade cupcakes and yellow/buttercream cupcakes

Our friend Ashley gave her a chef hat, apron and mini kitchen utensils and a cookbook.  Do I see a photo op in our future?

She did really well with gifts this year, very excited to see them, and even said Thank you after each one!

Her new little laptop! 

Our friend Ashley, who Jaela shares a birthday with.  She decorated Jaela's cake last year, and came to the rescue to frost our cupcakes this year when I couldn't find my supplies.  She's pretty amazing :)

Presents!

Playing in her playhouse @Grandmas

Family Photo, we couldn't get her to look at the camera anymore

These 2 photos are the morning of her birthday.  She was being quite goofy.  It must have been all the sugar from the day before or maybe the birthday donut holes.  She's just silly

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Our Jaela Rae turned 2 this weekend--2!  I can't believe that it has already been 2 years since our Lord blessed us with her presence.  She is a great joy to our lives, and learning new things each day at a pace faster than I can ever imagine.  Here are some of her favorite things and some of her new activities:

Words: too many to count, she is saying short sentences now.  She can be very polite, with phrases such as "Thank you, Mommy," or bossy, such as "Riley, go house" (riley is our dog haha)  Some of her other words/phrases are "please" "mommy" "Daddy", "Mamma/PawPaw (for Grandma/pa Cooper), PopPop/MomMom(for the Burtons), "want snacks", "sing songs" "mee nose (that's Mickey/minnie mouse, for those who don't speak toddler), "babydoll", "sheebabankieat (I think it's either "you seen my blankie, or silly blanket, but whatever it is, she laughs everytime she says it), "Pita" (which stands for pizza, pitas or peanut butter.  Sometimes she says it in threes: Pita, Pita,Pita!)

Likes to play with: babydolls, her swingset and playhouse outside, bubbles, "fort" (made by throwing a blanket over a table.  She takes her books there and says "mommy, we hide from daddy?" or "read books?", balls, phones (especially iphones and kindles) princesses and make believe

Favorite TV shows: Curious George, Veggie tales (she asks by saying "Bob"), Toy Story(loves Buzz), any of the Disney Princesses, esp Belle

Food:  Loves Sweets! Also loves, peanut butter, cottage cheese, blueberries, apples, sloppy joes and hotdogs and crescent chicken.  When she's in a good mood, she will eat carrots and peas. 

Favorite Songs: She loves to sing!  She sings "this little light of mine" "it's bubbling" "way up in the sky" "Baby Beluga", "Brush my teeth"(a song by Raffi from my childhood).  She even will try to sing during church services too.  Her favorite praise song is 10,000 reasons-she sings the chorus so cute.  I have a video I will try to post later. 

Mobile Skills: It's more like what doesn't she do, or where can't she get now.  She can crawl (sometimes she does it to be silly), walk, run, climb.  I've found her on kitchen chairs and tables, on a wooden storage ottoman that she pushed over to reach my piano keyboard, you name it.  She hasn't quite mastered hopping, but she is getting close. 

Bible stuff:  She loves going to Sunday school and wednesday night class.  it's so neat to see her interact with all the kids, and imitate those around her.  In addition to songs, we have been teaching her some memorization.  With a few prompts, she can say the 4 gospels, and Psalm 34:8 (Taste and see that the Lord is good) We are also starting to do the days of creation.  

She loves bathtime and stories with her daddy.  That is their special bonding time, and it's quite precious to sit back and watch.  As part of their nighttime routine, they review basic body parts, like eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, elbow, toes, etc.  She is quite good at identifying.  She also can identify circles, and animals and squares. 

She's a helper: She loves to help sweep the floors, wipe things down with a diaper wipe or clorox wipe, help transfer laundry over to the dryer or the basket, throw things away (sometimes tries to put my bowls and spoons in the trash!)


I'm sorry this is such a long post, but these are things I want to remember someday.  I love this girl so much, and I can't imagine life without her.  I'm excited to see what new things she will learn this next year and in the years to come.  Everyday is a new adventure and a chance to learn and laugh and share. 

She'll hate me for this later...

Just a quick little story for the books today-no pictures, sorry. 

So, I went grocery shopping after work today, and when I arrived home, my hubby , while on the phone, came over to me and mouthed the words, "We need to talk."  Uh. Oh.  I figure those words are never good, especially when noting the seriousness of his voice and the look on his face.  I continue bringing groceries in while he finishes his phone conversation, and all the time I am thinking, "what in the world happened?  Did I forget to do something?  Did something happen to one of our family members?"  I racked my brain for what seemed like forever, until he gets off the phone.  And then he comes in and relays this story:

This afternoon, Jaela laid down for her nap, no biggie.  All was going well, until he heard her moving around  making noise, and then crying a little.  He goes in to find....Poop.  On her Hands.  Her Arms. Her Sheets.  Luckily, NOT the walls or her crib rails, but close enough.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, our sweet, adorable, ladylike daughter discovered the poop in her diaper and decided that it must come out.  I don't really know what to think of this ordeal, except for "I'm sooo glad I was at work for this one!"  Needless to say, she was showered, and her bed sheets were stripped.  But being the good mother that I am, I have decided to store this away for safe keeping so that we may tell her future boyfriend (who she won't be dating until shwe is 30) and embarrass her to pieces.  :)

And speaking of sheets, she apparently believed that today was a good day to clean ALL the sheets as she spat up some of her supper on our comforter when playing on our bed this evening.  I guess today was as good a day as any. 

So, after reading this post, aren't you glad there weren't pictures?  :)

It's all in the accessories

Every girl knows that the accessories can make or break an outfit.  Jaela is beginning to learn that at a young age, and experiments daily with her purses, sunglasses, hats, necklaces, etc.  Here are just a few examples that i recently found:

camo antlers and a wallet are nice

is green a good hair color for me?

Just like Mommy: a purse, diaper bag and baby all at once!

can't believe how much fun she had over a plastic hat!

You see, a blanket can be used as a head wrap and scarf as well!

stealing mommy's shades

a girl has to have different glasses for different outfits

and sometimes, she she try different ways to wear things

I couldn't get this girl to wear a hat in winter, but know that it's summer she wants to wear it all the time

Where's Jaela?

I see her

So cute!

Yeah, I don't even know about this one.  And just so you know, we do put clothes on our daughter.  In this photo, she actually had been fighting fever and we were trying to get it down.  And as for other times you see her in a diaper only, I can only say, toddlers are MESSY.  :)

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed these photos.  I am in the process of reorganizing my photos on the computer, so I will be posting some more random photos here shortly (I know you've heard that one before).  If I can get her to perform some for me, I will also try to post video. Have a good day!

Hi, Remember us?

So, yeah, I'm sorry about the extremely long hiatus.  I don't really have a good excuse, except for the fact that we have just been living life and have really just forgotten.  I'm not gonna really try to tell you everything that has happened in the several months we've been off here.  Basically, Jaela is growing bigger by the day, and is too smart for her own good.  She is now running all over the place, climbing on anything she can, and talking a mile a minute.  Mostly, single words, but a few short sentences.  In the last couple weeks, she has fixated on watching Toy Story, and saying "Where's Buzz?"  while watching it.  She also says "Where's daddy?"  "Who's that" and "Oh, look, a baby!" (the last one is when she is reading one of her books.

She has also begun attending Sunday School classes with the kids at church.  So far, she's doing great.  The teachers report that she seems to really enjoy it, and barely even recognizes that I leave her there.  (my little social butterfly!)  When I pick her up from class, she always seems to have a lot to say, even though I can't understand most of it.  Sigh.  My daughter is growing up, and it's happening waaayyy too fast!  So, without further ado, here are pictures:

Stacking boxes is fun!

Standing in them is even better

Why yes, I took off my diaper.  I think it looks better here

Look at what I colored!

Mommy's little helper, scrubbing the floors

Snow fun in Springtime?!

She didn't want to bundle up, so we brought some snow inside for play

Hanging with Pop Pop during our March visit

Playing with someone's Iphone

Fun at the park

Easter dress

18 month picture

Family picture at Easter

SO cute, I LOVE this girl!