September - October 2013

You are getting to be such a big girl! You are very proud of being a 3-year-old and talk about it often. You have become quite independent for the most part. It is nice having you completely potty trained. (You even sleep in panties at night now!) You also dress yourself and usually even pick out your own clothes - although sometimes your outfits are quite strange. You would still rather wear a skirt or dress every day. I have to make you wear pants when we are going to do something that requires them, like playing on the playground or going to Uncle Sam’s football game.

You are very excited about your baby sister’s imminent arrival! You have been excited throughout my entire pregnancy. You touch and pat my belly all the time and give kisses to your little sister. You even talk to her sometimes. It’s so cute! You have mentioned that you hope I’ll be able to hold you in my lap and snuggle you better once Ariana comes out of my tummy and I have more room for you again. I’m looking forward to that too!

You are definitely in your curious stage of life. You ask “why” about everything. It is exhausting! I probably hear you ask “why” questions hundreds of times a day. And often it’s not the kind of question I can answer. For instance, you will ask, “Why is that slide green?” and I just have to answer, “Because it is.” You are learning a lot by asking so many questions though!

Here are a few things I journaled that you did or said these last two months as well as some photos from our adventures:

September 4 - Practicing your big sister skills.


September 6 - We pass out tracts every Friday and most weeks you get to "help Daddy drive" in the neighborhood afterwards.


September 7 - Daddy bought you a fishing pole! (He has yet to take you fishing though.)


September 8 - Trying on my big hoop earrings. You thought they were super fancy.

September 17 - I mopped the kitchen today and left the mop and the bucket in the kitchen while I went to take a shower. When I came out of the bathroom I found that you had tried to mop by yourself. The floor was soaked but you were so proud of yourself for “helping!”

September 19 - Today was your first official cleaning at the dentist and you were very brave! Miss Sarah, the hygienist, polished and flossed your teeth. She had a special toothbrush that looked like a zebra and let you choose the flavor of toothpaste that she polished with. You chose grape and said it was yummy. You were nervous at first, but handled it like a pro!


Also today, you told me that when I’m little and you’re big, you’ll be my mommy and you’ll fix my hair.

September 20 - At CiCi’s Pizza your hands and face got very messy so Daddy took you to the bathroom to wash up. You told him, “Just the women’s bathroom, Daddy” and were pretty sad when he made you go to the boys’ bathroom to wash your hands.

September 25 - I have no idea where you got this but it was super strange. You said, “Jesus doesn’t like it when I fart.” Yikes!

September 26 - We went to Disney On Ice at the Tulsa State Fair today with Grams and you loved it! It was especially wonderful because your two favorite princesses, Rapunzel and Ariel, were both there.


September 27 - We went to the fair today with Daddy and had a great time!

September 29 - Today you were talking to your baby doll and being very sweet. “You have to spread your legs so I can buckle you,” you said while putting her in your play car seat. “If you don’t, then you’ll die, and that would be sad!”

September 30 - In the Halloween costume aisle at Target you asked if I would buy you a wedding dress and save it for you so that when you’re big like Jordan (who is 12 right now) you can marry your daddy.

October 2 - “Santa must be lonely. We should get him a little kid!”

October 3 - Grandpa took you on a "date" to the fair and here you are playing with the bubble gun he bought you while you were there.


October 6 was Pumpkin Sunday at church. How fun!


October 10 - Today we had Grandpa take some family photos for us one more time before baby Ariana arrives. You made my maternity pictures look extra special!

 

 

October 12 - Today you whispered in my ear, “I told you a secret.” And that was your secret! Haha! You also called yoga pants “yogurt pants.”

October 13 - Today was Fall Festival Day at church and you had a great time eating snacks, playing games, hanging out with Jordan, and cheering for your daddy while he played football.

October 15 - You called a fire truck a “fire injury truck.”

October 16 - We went to the donut shop this morning - Daddy, Mommy, and you. You love going to the donut shop, of course!
  

Daddy reads you a Bible story each night before we pray and you go to bed. You always listen very intently.

October 17 - Today you finally started wearing your big girl panties to bed instead of a pull-up! (You have had 3 accidents since then, but I think you may have the hang of it now.)

October 20 - We went to Jordan's house after church to celebrate her 12th birthday. You are so cute with her. You adore her!

October 21 - “Why does God not have a body like us?” (I love that you listen in your Sunday School class at church and think about the things you are learning!)

October 24 - Daddy and I took you to the pumpkin patch.


October 26 - For Halloween this year you dressed as Snow White. We went to a community event in downtown Broken Arrow with "Aunt Lyndsie" Dar, Zuri, Hudson, and their cousin Alex. And on the following Wednesday we had Trunk or Treat at our church. (I didn't remember to take pictures there.)



How can I not include this video of your famous "knee dance?" It is the cutest and most hilarious thing. Your dance moves crack me up!

July - August 2013

July 2 - “Mommy, may I please have some carrots for my baby bunnies?”

“Sure, in just a minute.”

“Okay! That will be cool! And funny! And really amazing!”
(When in doubt, just use all the adjectives you can think of.)

July 3 - We had a fireworks show at church. (Daddy helps shoot the fireworks off!) You and Jordan watched the show together and you LOVED it!

July 4 - We had dinner at Nana & Grandpa’s and you had your first sparkler. How exciting! 

July 5 - You call QuikTrip “Quip Trip.” Also, Tatum recently handed down a pair of pink cowgirl boots that you try to wear everywhere, even though they are still too big for you. But they’re so cute!

July 6 - The men’s singing group from our church (which includes Uncle Caleb and Uncle Jacob) sang the national anthem at tonight’s Drillers baseball game. Here is a photo of you and Jase at the game.

July 8 - Today you spread your blanket out on the living room floor to practice your “carpet wheel.” (You meant cartwheel.)

July 11 - My Aunt Kristi and my cousin Kristin and all four of her kids (Hannah, Gideon, Gracie, and baby Haven) came to see us! We played at home, went to eat at the mall, got drinks from Sonic, and played at the splash pad. You loved baby Haven, which is great since your baby sister is on the way!
 



July 12 - Almost every Friday we go and pass out church tracts together. You love when Daddy lets you "drive" in the neighborhood when we're finished. Check out the video!

July 20 - Today you went to Natalie Hefner’s 4th birthday party and had a blast with some of your girlfriends.


July 19 - Here is a video of you trying to sing like Ariel does in The Little Mermaid. And another one from the next day.

July 24 - We went to the water park in Muskogee today with Grams, Aunt Jenn, Jordan, and Tatum. You played mostly in the little kid area and loved the lazy river once you got over your fear of it. It was a really fun day!

 

July 26 - Breakfast with Daddy and Mommy at Waffle House - our favorite breakfast spot.

July 29 - You love to ask me how to say things in Spanish. But you also love to make up your own “Spanish” words. You will mumble something strange like “blah de blah” and then tell me that it means “Come over here!”

And here is a video of you talking with Daddy about your day. You like for him to tell you all about his day and then you tell him about yours. It's so sweet.

July 30 - Today you “colored” on our brand new car with a rock. Seriously, our car is 3 days old and is the first brand new car we’ve ever owned. You found a rock and decided to scribble on your car door with it. Oh my…

July 31 - This morning you snuggled with Pixie when you got out of bed. And then at storytime you played the “bongles.” (The bongos.)

 

August 5 - Today you had your birthday party! We had a girls only party at the splash pad. Your guests were Jordan & Tatum, Natalie & Savannah Hefner, Hattie Boley, and Zuri Dar. Here are a couple of photos.

August 7 - Today was my birthday. Grams came to spend the day with us! We went shopping and out to eat at Cheddars. (Grams’ birthday is August 1st, yours is the 4th, and mine is the 7th. We were all celebrating our birthdays together!) But before all of that, we went and got pedicures together. You loved your first pedicure! Your toes looked so cute when we were done - pink with white polka dots and sparkles.

 

August 9 - I have no idea what this means, but you said it and I thought it was funny -- “Is that the end of the house and then we just fall in love?”

Today we also tried a little burger joint we had never visited before - we like to eat lunch out on Fridays since Daddy is home with us. It was called Bill’s Jumbo Burgers and it was delicious! Here is a photo of you and Daddy at Bill’s.

August 13 - “I love you for a million miles with all my heart.”

August 15 - Today we went to the zoo with Natalie and Zuri - fun!

August 18 - “God made spit in your mouth so that your teeth and your mouth won’t fall out.” Who knows what that means! 

Today we finished your “big girl room.” It’s the same bedroom you’ve been in, but we painted and put new furniture in it. You were extremely excited about your loft bed. You call it your “tall tall bed.” You also chose the paint color for the accent wall. I was afraid that it would be too bright, but it’s actually super pretty! Great choice!

 




August 22 - Called pancakes “pant-cakes”

August 24 - Asked “Why is the cat rumbling?” She was purring.

August 30 - Today you told me, “I am the biggest big sister ever.” I love that you are so excited to be a big sister! Just three more months until Ariana is here!

Here is a photo of you kissing my belly and talking to baby Ariana just a couple of days ago.

And here is a silly one of you in the car. 

May - June 2013

The weather is warm and we are enjoying our time outside! You would wear a summer dress every single day if I would let you. In fact, you get in trouble for crying when I tell you that you can’t wear a dress on any given day. It’s crazy and it’s definitely a girl thing. You also love our swimming and splash pad days. You have SIX bathing suits this summer. SIX! But you have had lots of chances to wear them all. We go to the swimming pool at least once a week, to the splash pad once or twice a week, and we have a little pool in our backyard for you to play in when we’re home. Summer has been really fun so far!

May 5 - The illustrator of the Fancy Nancy books (Robin Priess Glasser) was at Barnes and Noble today. You were able to hear her speak, meet her, get her autograph on one of your books, and look inside her tour RV. Tatum came with us and we met Natalie and her family there. It was really fun and you loved wearing your fanciest dress!

May 11 - Today we told you that we are going to have a baby! You have been praying with us every evening for a very long time asking God to give us a baby. You were very happy about the news! Then Grams and Pops and Uncle Caleb and his family came over and we shared our news with them. They were all so excited and happy for us! Especially Grams!

Then you put your tiny baby doll under your dress and told us that you had a baby in your tummy too! It was cute!

May 12 - Today was Mothers Day. We told Grandpa and Nana that we were expecting a baby. The really neat thing is that Aunt Jessica is expecting a baby at the very same time! We are both due to have babies on or near December 11th. We made a special book of photos for Nana to open as a special way to share our news with her. She was very surprised and excited! It was a very special day.

Here are some of the photos that were in Nana's special book.

And here are some photos that I used to share the news with our friends online.

We are so excited to finally be able to give you a baby brother or sister! You can't wait until the baby arrives!

May 15 - Today was Parents Day at your gymnastics class. I had a great time watching you do all the things you have learned! It's fun to see you and Zuri enjoying yourselves together in class.

May 16 - Today you when we talked about eating at McDonald’s you called it “Old MacDonald’s.” I thought that was so funny!

May 17 - Today you called dandelions “Daniel-lions.”

May 22 - You said, “It’s an enormous tiny little book!” I love how you try to use words you have heard us say even when you’re not quite sure how to use them.

May 27 - More cute Penny sayings! You call your goggles “gobbles” and a hula hoop a “hula scoop.”  How funny! Today was Memorial Day and we spent the day with Grams & Pops in Claremore. We ate burgers at their house and you played in the sprinkler. Then we went to Claremore Lake and had a great time together! You were a busy girl and kept us all on our toes!

Found a turtle at Pops' house!

All wet after some sprinkler fun.

Grams lets you have lots of cookies!

Fun with Daddy at the lake

You and Pops found lots of turtles while looking over the bridge!

June 4 - Here is the video of you singing a made up song to your baby Lucy. Looks like you're practicing being a great big sister already!

June 7 - You already love to kiss the baby!

And you are practicing taking care of a baby. You tell me you can change diapers and hold the baby and help give the baby a bath. Here is a photo of you practicing giving a baby a bath. So cute!

June 8 - You told your daddy, “I hope you’re the best daddy in the world!” Hmmm... is that a compliment?

June 10 - Today you were playing with a measuring tape and you measured me. I asked you, “How tall am I Penny?” and you replied, “Fifty-six pounds!” Later when you measured me again you told me I was “eleven-sixty pounds.” I love your math skills!

June 12 - We love to teach you new words and what they mean. And there is even a game you like to play on my iPad that is designed to build your vocabulary. That’s why it was so cute today when you said, “Nosey; that means for when your nose is running!”

June 17 - Another vocabulary lesson from you today: “Excluded means you’re really really cluded like clue.”

June 27 - You thought wearing my bra was pretty cool. I thought it was hilarious! After this, you striped down to your underwear, put my bra on again, and said, "I'm ready to go swimming now!" Haha!

June 28 - Today we had a "Gender Reveal Party" at Nana's house. Aunt Jessica and I had the party together to tell our families whether we were having a baby boy or a baby girl. Her family was there, my family (the Starrs) were there, and of course the Palmer family was there. (Samuel and Andrew both had to miss it though.) We had special cakes made to reveal our news. Grams cut my cake open and saw that the icing was... PINK! We are having a girl! You are going to have a little sister!

And guess what?!? Aunt Jessica is having a baby girl too! This December will be very exciting!

Here we are with our pieces of cake. They each have pink icing in the center to reveal that we're having girls!

Then I got to tell you our baby's name. Her name will be Ariana. You were so excited to find out that our baby is a girl!

Here are some photos we took to share the news with our friends. You are going to be a great big sister, I just know it!

Before you found out that our baby was a girl, you changed your mind all the time about what you wanted. It seemed like every time someone asked you what you were hoping for, or what you thought the baby was, you switched from boy to girl and then back again. Fortunately, on the day of the party, you were hoping for a girl. So you were very happy!

 June 29 - You had the best time "helping" Daddy and me wash the car. He was out of town most of the month of June for work so it was really nice to wrap up the month by enjoying a few days of quality family time.