Milestone Birthday Month...

TRISHA -
So, Trisha turned 16 this month.  In one week, she took her driving test and passed ("slightly" different system than when I was her age), got her license, we bought a 3rd vehicle, and added a vehicle and a 16 year old driver to our insurance policy.  Whew! We are now a 2 minivan family, and she gets to drive Brian's "dream car," which turned out to be less of a dream when 2 car seats had to be fit in the back of the convertible coupe... that doesn't mean that once the weather turns nice, he won't switch with her now and then... none of the vehicles are technically "hers."  I'd show you pictures, but softball season also started, and she made the JV team, so I don't see her except fleetingly on weekends.  I do have one pic from this past Fri when we took her and some friends to Buffalo Wild Wings for her birthday dinner...

The gentlemen next to Trisha is her boyfriend, Jesse...

Did I mention that she also got an iPhone 4 with housecleaning money (not our house, grandma and grandpa's house), and a tablet as a present from us too?  It's the month that keeps on taking, I mean, giving... we're expecting lots of slave labor around the house, complete with a great attitude.  We'll check back in and let you know how that's working out!  On the upside, since she got an X-Box 360 for Christmas, there really shouldn't be anything left that she wants or needs (sure, right).


CORYNN -
Corynn turned 3 on Tuesday, and started her festivities 2 weeks ago to accommodate the schedules of the friends she wanted to invite.  She had a bowling party with a purple flower cake, at her request.

We discovered 2 weeks prior that she loved bowling, so it was an easy party idea.  One game is plenty with toddlers, though... she can lift a 6 lb ball all by herself and shove it down the ramp, and does about as well as I do without the ramp and bumpers!

The very next day, she took her first trip to the circus.  It wasn't part of her birthday, per se, but worked out so that it fell in the "Month of Birthday" celebrations.  The little girls did great, even with the noise, crazy lights, and smell of elephant poop (that's a different story, for a different time).  Callie especially liked watching the dirt bikes jump and catch air in the middle of the arena.

Last weekend, Trisha took Corynn to Chuck E. Cheese as a birthday present, and they had a game/lunch/ice cream date.

Corynn's festivities continued and she received a special present from Gram - big girl bedding for her bed, purple (of course) Little Mermaid sheets and comforter.  I washed them and put them on her bed while she was out running errands with Brian so they would be ready to go when she got home.  Here is the video of her discovering her present...

On Sunday, Brian took the girls to Grandma and Grandpa's house, where they doled out their birthday gifts for Corynn while mommy stayed home in bed recovering from food poisoning... parents sure will do anything for a 3-hour nap, eh?  She got some clothes, a piano/keyboard, and 2 board games - kid essentials - Candy Land and Break the Ice.  The keyboard has a volume button - here's a "shout out" to that manufacturer!

On Tuesday, the big day finally arrived... Corynn loves cards, so after sleeping with both grandparents' cards under her pillow the night before, we gave her a giant one (poster board folded in half), which now she'll want to keep forever, or color on... We took her first ever school birthday treats to playschool (what we call day care, in honor of Caillou) to share with her class - purple rice crispy treats!  She didn't take a nap the whole day, so she was in tough shape by evening, but once she got pizza for dinner, a birthday cake (store bought this time - my limit is 2 homemade treats per birthday), and her NEW BIKE from mommy & daddy, things started looking up...

Last night, Grandpa dropped off the "family" birthday present of a new trampoline... we are going to be an active family this summer, no matter what!


CALLIE -
My baby "Callie-Wallie," as Corynn calls her (developed so we could tell the difference between "Callie" and "Daddy" in toddler-speak) is 9 months old today, already.  I am packing up baby clothes and new born stuff to find new homes for... *sniff, sniff*

She's not getting quite as spoiled as the other 2 girls are, but she's not any the wiser right now.  She is almost crawling, by definition.  She has perfected the army crawl over the past few weeks, and can now do several official, tummy off the ground crawl steps before resorting to the faster mode of transport.  Take your time, take your time.  The last method I have to leave a room now and know she is totally safe is to lay her on her back... she hasn't mastered rolling from her back to her stomach yet (though has been going the other way for months now), so if I want to keep her in one place, I just lay her on her back and she's stuck like a bug!  At the end of the day, I can tell how dirty my carpets are by looking at her clothes.  Yuck.  It's on the list...


Well, we are ready for this month to be done, with the busy schedules, and the cold weather.  There is light at the end of the tunnel (in the form of actual sunshine!)... This Sunday is Easter (and yes, the girls will each gets tons of stuff this weekend too), but it's a good reminder to re-focus on what's important.  Blessings to you all!