Celebrating Two!

Bridgette woke up on her birthday to a fun box of gifts from Grammy Deb and G-Daddy.  Rooke and Gretchen got in on the action too with some new shirts and Gretchen's favorite gift of the morning - matching dresses for the girls!!

Bridgette and I took the big kids to school, then walked to a local children's center where she loves to play.  

While Rooke and Gretchen had their swimming lessons that afternoon, Bridgette and I enjoyed the sunshine on her special day.

She still doesn't like to put her hands down when trying to get up after a fall!

Daddy came home and we gave Bridgette her new balance bike!  I expect she'll be whizzing around our loop by summer.

We had "B" foods for dinner: Bacon, Bread, Baked Eggs, and Beet smoothies.  Then it was time for cake!  Rooke and Gretchen helped me decide that, since Bridgette likes singing Twinkle, Twinkle, her cake should be in the shape of a star.  It was great to celebrate our fun girl with some fun cake!

The day after Bridgette's birthday, I'd planned to take the girls for their first official hair cut.  That's right, my four-year-old is just now getting her first haircut at the same time as her younger sister.  We stopped at the corner store for our treat and then walked to the beauty shop.  Gretchen was super excited!

My rookie mistake on this first salon trip was to give Bridgette her lolly before she sat in the chair.  We watched Gretchen be a rock star with her haircut, but then Bridgette was absolutely NOT going to take her turn.  Turns out with just one day of experience, she's pretty good at being two.  We headed home for another Mommy-one-inch-trim and will try for a proper cut on another day.  In the meantime, Gretchen's hair looks nice and we'll do a finished photo later when Little Sister is not distracting mom from the camera.  

Kaye K and Big Daddy joined us on Saturday for some more birthday fun . . . 

I love how opening presents is always a sibling affair.

Along with some much needed shoes and socks, Kaye K and Big Daddy gave Bridgette this flashy flamenco dress from Spain!

And then, being the global girl that she is, Bridgette grabbed some flags and asked Kaye K to march with her.  Random?  Yes.  Fun to watch?  Totally.

B Turns Two!

Our beautiful Bridgette turned two today!  We loved getting to celebrate this happy little girl.  While she's growing in having her own opinions (and making them known!),  Bridgette is still a happy, content, fun girl to have around.  Her vocabulary is taking off and right now she's in the stage of trying to mimic what people around her say.  She is absolutely determined not to be left out and has some stubbornness to go along with that!  She still loves her mouse lovie, which she affectionately calls, "mousie me".  Bridgette quickly realizes when we think she's being funny, and she'll keep going to get more laughs.  She likes dancing, reading, and doing everything on her own "mine" (which often creates drama in the morning when she desperately wants to put her own socks on but hasn't figured out how).  She also adores Rooke and Gretchen and loves to be included in their playing.  We wouldn't be a complete Bunch of Paynes without our busy B.  Happy Birthday special girl!      

Changing Mousie's diaper . . .

Cute chubby cheeks

Asking for Photos

Sometimes the kids will ask me to take a photo of something.  Here are a few of their requests from last week:

Rooke and Gretchen have really been into playing Angry Birds this past week.  They will pull out the plastic bird figurines, choose a structure to work with (legos, doll house, block tower), and they are off in their own imaginary world of play.  It's so fun to watch and listen to.  And as long as I'm able to keep Bridgette from knocking down the tower that they are using for their story, the gingers stay happy playing together for quite a while.  

"Make sure you can see all the birds and pigs in the picture".

 I was helping him put air in his tires and he thought the moment deserved photographic documentation. =)  Just after this photo, he creamed me in a race around the loop.  I'm not a very fast runner!

Bridgette had an owie that she wanted a photo of.  She wouldn't move her hand from her knee so we could actually see the owie, but I love her pudgy little fingers in the photo.

February Photo Dump

Most of these are from my phone, but a few are just random photos from the month that didn't make it into a previous post . . .

Setting up for our Chinese New Year meal

I helped host a shower for my friend, Claire, who is due with her first baby in a couple weeks!

And here is beautiful Claire!  I told her I took a photo just like this the day before Bridgette was born, but no such luck this time!  We enjoyed a morning bowling, though there wasn't as much bowling going on as there was talking amongst the ladies and eating amongst the girls!

"Hi Big Dada!"

Gretchen and her sweet neighbor friend getting home from school and running over to our house to play.  We are going to miss this family so much.

My parents gave me an overnight personal retreat for my birthday.  And what a treat it was!  A full 36 hours by myself to read, journal, pray, sleep, eat, and walk.  It was so refreshing, to say the least.

Walking along the coastline in Southend-on-Sea.

His homework was to build his own version of a steam engine.  He wasn't excited about the idea, but had a great time once we got started and came up with most of what you see here all on his own.  He also loved using the hot glue gun!

Rooke's Valentine cookies.  These days, the double seat in my stroller gets used more like the trunk of a car would!

We were passed due for lunch after our weekly grocery shopping, so I let them snack on an apple. 

"What??  Do you have a problem with the way I eat an apple??"

Playing at the park near Kaye K and Big Daddy's house

 

An impromptu walk through the village with special friends

A fantastic thrift store find.  She calls it her "office girl dress".

"Playing games" and "doing work" on their phones (which don't work at all!).

Skip-Bo has been our latest game craze

This little monkey has started putting up a fight when it's time to nap or go to bed.  Despite my efforts to give her more opportunities to be active in the mornings, she has not been sleeping for her afternoon nap.  We both feel a little tired and pouty when we don't get what we want.

They decided last week that they are best friends.  Melt a mommy's heart.