Celebrating Me

 

It was a big weekend for me as I celebrated my 30th Birthday on Thursday and Mother's Day on Sunday, with some other celebrating in between. Tim made my birthday special by taking Ty for a while during the day so I could relax, then throwing me a 13 Going on 30 party complete with 80's candy such as Razzles (from the movie)! I got flowers and Haagen Das from Tim, sandals from Ty, a season of Modern Family from Lucy, books about Nashville from Rod and Diney, a cookie scoop and muffin cups from Aubrey, and nice cards from Grandma and Grandpa Larsen (I used my money to get hot curlers!), my dad and Sheila, Aunt Kathi, and others. I really did get everything I wanted.

 

I also celebrated my biggest Mother's Day yet with this little beauty who gave me the gift of sleeping 8 hours!!!

...and this big helper.

 For Mother's Day, Tim made me a delicious breakfast of eggs benedict and berries AND dinner of salmon, potatoes, and salad. Ty mixed the orange juice.

 And now for the big news: I got a new, really nice camera (Cannon Rebel T5)!!!

 I'd been researching them for a while now because, as you can tell from previous pictures, when I take photos at home, they end up blurred or yellow. I was getting frustrated because I want to have nice pictures of my kids and family as they grow up. My thoughts for a camera were diminished when my laptop broke and I spent too much for a new computer, but Tim surprised me anyway. I had Tim try it out with pictures of me with the kids, and I am already blown away with how much better the quality is. I am so happy with it! Here's our photo shoot!

 As you can tell, I've been spoiled this weekend.

Rub a Dub Dub

...A happy girl in her tub!

Tim says she looks like a treasure troll when I spike her hair up.

What do you think?

 

She just needs a jewel in her belly button.

The Many Styles of Lucy

 

This adorable cutie is TWO MONTHS OLD already! I have to admit, the first two months are really hard, and I'm glad they are over with. Lucy is a champion sleeper. Though it is sporadic, she can sleep up to 7 hours at night! She has practically doubled her birth weight, and gained about 4 inches. At this stage, Lucy is pretty easy going. She prefers to be around Ty, and tends to watch him if he is playing. She smiles at her mommy often, and is still a cuddle bug. She LOVES being held, and will try to dig her head into your chest until she is right under your chin where she can settle. Just beware of her spit ups; she's a ticking time bomb and can aim!

Weight: 10lbs, 5oz (22%), up from 6lb, 3oz at 2 week appt

Height: 22.6 inches (55%), up from 20 inches at 2 week appt

She can now fit into her three month clothes, so I've had fun playing dress up. Of course, I need to take pictures to show everyone who got her these cute outfits! Enjoy the many styles of Lucy...

What to do with her hair?

3 Years!

3 Year Stats

Weight: 26lbs, 8oz (4th%)

Height: 36 inches tall (8th%)

 

At 3 years, Ty is very smart. He knows all of his letters, their sounds, and can say words starting with those sounds. He is learning numbers and often throws random numbers into his conversation, like "It's 86 today." He loves tv, and probably watches too much of it. But we let him watch tv while he eats, because he eats more when he is distracted (and we want him to eat more). He likes telling jokes, and has somehow picked up on bathroom humor, though he ironically has no desire to be potty trained!

 

Ty loves to be with friends, but doesn't always have to be interacting with them. It makes him so happy to play on his own while other friends are around, and he has a huge imagination. I often hear him yelling "Help!" and panic, when I find that it is just one of his toys "talking" to another. He is very good at playing on his own.

 

Ty has also been going to a class called Twoodles, that is kind of like pre-preschool. They do crafts, play with toys, read stories, and dance. He always has fun, though he only does the craft about half of the time, and has even made friends there. He also loves going to Nursery at church and is so good at remembering the lessons. He can recall them weeks later, though they sometimes get intertwined with random ideas. I need to think of an example of this.

 

Ty has taken well to the title of Big Brother. He loves to show Lucy off when we are out and about, and he loves to "cuddle" her at home. Although he is not yet in the habit of walking to and from the car (it was so much easier to carry him before Lucy came-now he likes to run away), he has not been jealous of Lucy at all. He just thinks of her as a visitor who never has to leave him. He is an amazing (yet typical) big brother!

 

 



A Special Visit for the Big Three!

 

 

Our next and last visitor was Aunt Aubrey. She came to meet Lucy on the weekend of Ty's THIRD Birthday! Naturally, there was a lot of partying. Ty wanted a "Mack" birthday (from the Disney movie Cars), so I had several plans including riding go-karts, but it was yucky weather, so we headed to the Lafayette Rec Center for their cool pool!

Lucy and I waited outside of the water, but Lucy seemed pretty pleased that it was her brother's birthday! This is the most she had ever smiled to this point.

That night, we partied at Chick Fil A, where Ty got his own Mack Hauler truck! He opened more presents at home where he got plenty more gifts.

Aubrey and I made the Mack Cake, and Ty was so pleased, he almost cried the next day when he realized some of Mack was gone.

He even had to call in his new Blade Ranger to help put out the fire on his cake.

Aubrey perfectly captured Ty "cuddling" with his sister. He does this often:

 

 She also got some cute pictures of little Lucy.

 

Her last day there was the nicest, so we packed another party in. We headed to Gateway Fun Park in Boulder to play at the arcade. Ty had a blast.

 

 We completed Ty's party with some "race car" rides. Between Aubrey and me, Ty went three times!

 On our way to the airport, we stopped at Hammond's Candy Factory for the free tour and some candy samples. We made good time until the freeway exit where we were stuck for about ten minutes. We kept wondering what was going on and why so many people were walking by, until Aubrey realized it was 4/20 in Colorado. This means there are marijuana festivals all over, but they are legal in Colorado. We were stuck in the middle of likely the biggest Pot Festival in the country! Traffic mystery solved.

 Candy mission complete.

We had a great time with Aubrey and all of our visitors. Ty loves visitors so much and is sad when they leave. Luckily, one little girl who came to "visit" gets to stay forever!

Lucy Belle

 My talented sister-in-law Kristen flew out to help for  a short weekend, and I took advantage by having her take these AMAZING pictures of little Lucy Belle. She's pretty much doubled in size since these were taken, but that makes me even more glad I have these to remember how little she was.

 We had a hard time getting family/sibling photos, and I think Kristen ended up photoshoping my entire arm out of the picture, but it turned out precious.

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Sheila

 

 Grandpa Tom and Grandma Sheila came to visit and see Lucy the week after Easter. Though they were only here a few days, we managed to do a lot.

Ty went to a babysitter while we practiced our bow hunting skills at the archery range:

We took a hike up the Flatirons.

We browsed and ate lunch on Pearl Street (where we saw this cool replica of a baby T-Rex).

 And, of course, we spent time chatting and enjoying Baby Lucy!