Three!

Today Noelle had her three year appointment with the nurse practitioner. We are lucky to have a healthy little girl on our hands! She weighs just short of 35 pounds and is just shy of 38 inches according to her stats at the doctor. This puts her between 50-75% for height and between 75-90% for weight. I think she is slightly taller than what she measured as but my wiggle worm is hard to keep still for these things!

Instead of writing about Ellie, I decided to interview her about what she likes. Here are her answers:

1. What is your favorite color? Yellow

2. What is your favorite toy? Ice Cream Truck

(She loves to race with Kellen on this right now!)

3. What is your favorite fruit and vegetable? Bananas and Broccoli

(Although she told Bethany at the doctor it was watermelon today so who knows!)

4. What is your favorite tv show? Dora

5. What is your favorite movie? Dora Pirate Adventure

6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Dress

7. What is your favorite animal? Giraffe

8. What is your favorite song?  Twinkle, Twinkle

(Could we stop listening to the Fresh Beat Band CD on repeat, then?)

9. What is your favorite book? Max and Ruby

(We haven't looked at this in months. Her recent favorite is really Make Way for Ducklings)

10. Who is your best friend? Kellen, Katushka (daycare), Evie (playgroup)

11. What is your favorite snack? Fruit snacks

12. What is your favorite drink? Apple Juice

(Which she gets like once a month so I guess we are mean!)

13. What is your favorite breakfast? Blueberry Waffles

14. What is your favorite lunch? Peanut Butter and Jelly

15. What is your favorite dinner? Steak

(Yum! A girl after my own heart!)

16. What is your favorite game? Math Game 

(Team Umizoomi iPad game)

17. What is your favorite thing to play outside? Soccer

18. What is your favorite holiday?  Grandma Day

(I guess we need to work on teaching her these, although she does like her grandma an awful lot!)

19. What do you sleep with at night? Violet

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A grown up

(She wants to get married and have babies. Feminists would die!)

So that's Ellie at three in her own words! I am going to ask the same questions every year and see how things change over time.

One, Two, THREE!

On Thursday, my baby girl turned three. Well according to her she is a big girl now, not a baby. I try to explain to her she will always be my baby but that seems lost on her. Ellie won't go to the doctor til the end of the month so I'll post then about her stats and milestones but just wanted to document our many celebrations a bit here! 

First there was the bowling party with friends in late July. Then daycare had a little party for her on Wednesday complete with cupcakes, balloons, and a trip to Six Flags!

Then Thursday morning we had a lovely birthday breakfast before opening her gifts from Mom and Dad, Grandma Evans, and Great Grandma Reed. Noelle loves flowers and her favorite color is yellow, hence the sunflowers. Mom and Dad are no fun and got Ellie practical gifts like the new pig hamper below and her baseball glove. Fun stuff and lots of clothes are what grandparents and great grandma's are for!

On Friday we had Noelle's fourth, and last, birthday celebration of the year! She got her wagon, some My Little Ponies (yes, they are cool again!) and the awesome necklace she is sporting below!

And best of all, we had ice cream cake. Chocolate ice cream cake. I'm not sure who was more excited - Noelle or me - but either way, it was a great end to almost a month of celebration!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! We love you!

Day is Done

Last Thursday after having a morning birthday celebration for Ellie with B, I headed down to the OBX with the the kids and Maddie. Unfortunately B had to stay home for some work stuff going on, and since daycare is closed this week we weren't flexible with our beach dates, but we are having fun but missing him! Our days have been busy with the two little ones and the two puppies, but each evening we spend some time walking (or riding since Noelle got this awesome wagon for her birthday) up to the beach after dinner before getting the kids to bed.

I think Noelle liked the idea of the lifeguard chair better than the reality...

Me and my little man

The awesome birthday wagon

Sunset on the porch before bed

Out with the Old, In with the New

Bryan and I have been talking about it for months, years even. My trusty 2003 Elantra has been a little less trusty of late. The check engine light has been on the better part of the last two years, my front tires needed replacing, and my car almost didn't start both days I had to drive to Alexandria two weeks ago (although maybe it was just tired of driving there like me!)

The Saxton's have been happily without car payments for about five years. And pulling the trigger to have another monthly expense has been hard, but it was time. And so our search for a new car began again a few weeks ago. I knew I wanted something bigger with more storage space so I went out and drove a minivan, figuring it would  give me plenty of room for more people and more things. True, but it was also huge and I felt uncomfortable driving one around. And the price tag and gas mileage weren't appreciated either so I passed on that and went a step down. Third row SUV's were all either super pricey (with horrible gas mileage) or had zero space behind the third row seat. Then I checked out regular SUVs like the Santa Fe, CRV, and RAV4. They were nice but when we actually looked at them carefully, they had no more room in the trunk or 2nd row then large sedans but came with a higher price tag and gas mileage that left something to be desired.

So I gave in and drove the new Prius V Station Wagon and loved the space but not the drive. Bryan, Ellie, and Kellen and I took it out on the highway Friday night and it left a little to be desired. I think I could have gotten use to the jerks and noise as it switched from hybrid to regular engine, as well as the slower acceleration, but since the purchase price was quite a bit more and the batteries are really expensive when they need replacing, the great gas mileage and the save the world factor weren't quite enough to seal the deal.

So on Saturday morning the whole family was out again to do some more driving. This time we were back at Antwerpen Hyundai. I really have loved my Elantra and my parents have loved their Santa Fe that they got at the same time. I have had so few problems over the 140,000 miles and honestly, if we had put some money out, I probably could have driven that little car at least another year or two.

Noelle was ready to help pick out a car. Her only requirement? That it be red!

The  praying mantis we saw at Antwerpen helped keep Ellie entertained for a good 20 minutes.

Bryan and Noelle had already checked out the Sonata the weekend before and thought it had a lot more space than my Elantra, particularly in the trunk. I was skeptical, but when we moved our extra car seats from my trunk to the Sonata's to check it out, there was about 9 inches of clearance behind them - pretty good! Bryan put the car seats in and could sit between them, albeit not super comfortably, but this was another positive point as we wanted to be able to take one car on quick trips to Target or restaurants when my mom is in town. B or I could certainly sit in the backseat between the carseats for short drives. And when Ellie is out of her monster seat and in to a small backless booster in about two years, there will be lots of space for an additional person.

So after two test drives and two careful looks at the space we were gaining, a 2013 harbor metallic gray Hyundai Sonata is now ours! (Ellie seems to have forgotten that she wanted red, at least for now!) We signed the papers yesterday while the kids were at daycare, and are heading over to the JHU Credit Union today to pick up the check. I am super excited to drive the new car, and even more excited that we have it before my drive to NC on Thursday. I was a little sad to say goodbye to the Beast Elantra yesterday, but know our new car will serve us well for the next 8-10 years!

Bye, Bye Beast Elantra! Thanks for 9.5 great years!

Bear Hugs

I love the look on Kellen's face in this picture. It perfectly describes how I am sure he feels every time Noelle comes in his direction! It's like, "Mom, please, save me! I am pretty sure she is about to "help" with me again!" You can say a lot about Ellie and how she reacts to the attention we give her brother, but she definitely loves this little guy!

Lead, Don't Follow

It has been a rough few days with Ellie again. She is so stubborn! Lately she has taken to peeing in her pants whenever she is mad at us or Ms. Rose to get a rile out of us. Timeout you say? Sure, but sorry I just peed on the floor. Dad, I wanted Mom to pick me up today. I'll go in your car, I guess, but I am going to have to pee all over my brand new carseat. Awesome! When we ask Noelle why she does this she blatantly tells us it is to get attention. Yes, this child is not even 3! We are in trouble!

As I stress about my 2.99 year old needing a therapist, this saying gives me some hope for the future:

I am fairly certain my daughter will never be peer pressured in to anything in her life. The pressuring, well that's a bridge I'll cross when we get to it. And I'm sure we'll get to it one day!

Restaurant Week

After spending late afternoon with 19 children and their parents at the bowling alley, Bryan and I couldn't wait for date night Friday night. We had planned to try a new restaurant with friends as we often try to do for Baltimore Restaurant Week. Lindsay and Adam were celebrating their 10th anniversary and Sean and Nicole celebrated 7 years earlier in the week, so while we were the odd group out with our December anniversary, we all got sitters and headed to B Bistro in Bolton Hill.

B Bistro was great! Everything we ate was fantastic, and despite champagne, wine, and three courses of food each, the cost per couple was actually really reasonable. I would definitely highly recommend you eat there if you haven't!

Here are a few pictures of our adventure out on the town!

The "Man" Couch

The Ladies
 

B and I

Happy Birthday to You and You and You and You

Friday was just filled with excitement for Noelle. Not only did she get her bike, we also celebrated her birthday with friends that afternoon at the bowling alley. Yes, her birthday is still 3 weeks away, but as you might recall if you have been an avid reader of the blog, all of Ellie's friends were born in July or August 2009. Last year we had a party to go to every weekend. That got pricey and for over scheduled families, was certainly not ideal. This year, four of us agreed to have a joint party for the kids that would include no presents. All of our little ones are spoiled and have too much stuff anyways!

So Friday afternoon after naps we met up at the bowling alley with a group of nineteen moving little people (plus 2 smaller infants) for 2 hours of bowling, pizza, pretend arcade game playing, and cupcakes. The joint party for Noelle, Will, Evie, and Emme was excellent! Not only did it save money and time, it also was so easy since the bowling alley did everything except make the favors and cupcakes. And anytime you can avoid having 19 small children in your house you have to call that a win!

Lisa, Caitlin, Katie and I met the weekend before to make homemade playdough for the favor bags. Along with a pencil, dinosaur stickers, a lollipop, and a stamp, this made for great goodie bags for the kids. I volunteered to make the cupcakes for the day. I wanted to do something cute but fairly easy and since my icing skills are not amazing, I decided to go with rainbow cupcakes. Since rainbows seem to be a fairly common occurrence this summer, and the kids love them, they were a hit! And thankfully while the cupcakes were slightly time consuming, they required no artistic skill whatsoever!

The rainbows - prebaked

Come on Emme, let's get this party started!

 

Ellie uses the ramp to make sure she knocks down some pins

Cheese!

Kellen and Dad are more serious about their bowling...

OK, we'll play too

Evie and Ellie get some "driving" in

Kellen's first piece of pizza. He at the whole thing!

Happy Birthday to You!

 Yummy Rainbow cupcakes!

 

I can't believe my baby girl is going to be 3 soon! We'll be having another little celebration when we are in NC with my family, and have a daddy, mommy, daughter date coming up to spend some Kellen-free time with our little one.

Ride, Ellie, Ride

Last Thursday night my mom and uncle met at our house for a "grandmother exchange" so that their mom could head down for her annual trip to the NC shore. Since this short drive-by was the only time my grandmother would see the kids for the next few months, Ellie got her birthday gift Friday morning from great grandmom. Ellie's new bike and helmet were huge hits!

Here is my little princess showing off her riding skills!