Of Birds and Bees

Yesterday we were in the car and Maya was talking to herself as usual.  I mostly just tune out her chatter so I was caught off guard when all of a sudden she said, 

"Mommy, how do you make babies?"  

Me:  "Ummm, hrrmmm, uh..."

Her:  "Do you make babies???  Can I make babies???"

Me:  "Well, you see..."

Her:  "Cause you just flip it over and put the battery in."

Um, ya.  Turns out she was talking about how to make a baby doll.  I was preparing myself for a very interesting conversation with a not-quite-three year old, and she was trying to make her baby talk like in "Toy Story" :)

And because a post isn't complete without pictures, here are some of our weekend :)  Grandma came up to visit on Friday/Saturday, Uncle Chris was here Saturday-Tuesday, and Aunt Laura was here Saturday and Sunday.  Good times were had by all!

It's almost crazy how much I love the little crooked smile Charlotte has now with her 3&1/2 teeth.

Maya loved sharing the swingset with Grandma!

Charlotte got to paint for the first time this weekend.  I was so excited to get pictures of it, but it quickly went from "oh what is this new thing to play with???" to "ahhhhh!  I have paint in my mouth!  Now it's in my eyes!  Ahhhhhh!"  So you get the cleanup picture instead :)

Maya painted a picture for Charlotte to make her feel better after the paint-in-the-eyes incident :D

The One With Lots Of Birthday Pictures!

Charlotte's first birthday party was a few weeks ago, and we were so happy to be able to share her special day with friends and family.  The weather was great, and although Michael and I aren't super thrilled with the giant pine trees overtaking our back yard and roof, they did provide nice shade for the sunny day!

Before Maya was born, I had no idea how emotional birthdays would be for me.  I cry just thinking about how big my girlies are getting, and how blessed I am to be their mama.  This year I also had a bit of a breakdown because I had overlooked making a special "smash cake" for Charlotte.  I was convinced that she wouldn't feel special or loved.  But it turned out that Charlotte wasn't all that interested in the cake anyway!  She licked the icing a bit, smooshed the cake around her tray, and then went straight for three slices of watermelon!

Ok, without any further ado, here are many many pictures of Charlotte's big day!  If you want to see them all (700 pictures ~ eek!), click here!

We had a "cupcake bar" which was a big hit with Maya and Isabella.  Also, it has become quite apparent that the two  are sisters at heart ~ while at the cupcake bar, Isabella turned to my mom and said, "Grandma, can I have some more sprinkles?"  

Charlotte, on the other hand, wasn't so sure about the cupcake...

The watermelon was just too tempting!  She shared some with Daddy :)

But ate most of it herself!

The end result was, well, messy (as usual!)

The water table served two purposes ~ fun for the kids, and cleanup station for Charlotte after the cupcake/watermelon incident!  Even after it fell over, the kids still had fun!

Uncle Chris thought he'd try out a new 'do for Charlotte!

Aunt Laura's super awesome sing-along was quite exciting!

We are really thankful to our friends and family who made the day extra special for our sweet sweet girl!

God Bless America

On Saturday night, Michael's family came to visit and we went to the fireworks in Kent. It was a GREAT show! We got there about an hour before the fireworks started. Loaded up the stroller and walked a couple blocks to secure our spot.

Penny thought ahead (thanks!) and brought snacks for all of us and bubbles for the kids!

Charlotte took a little nap before the show started.

But once the show started, she was awake and in awe.