Iris 3rd Birthday, Part 2

Iris' 3rd birthday was a full blown weekend celebration. The day after the party we headed to Seabrook Island to spend some time with Granny, Grandad and Nana. The girls had a great time at the beach. The water was calm and it was overcast so it was a perfect beach weekend.

Iris loved swimming in the water with Granny. The waves are usually so big at the beach that she just plays at the waters edge. The water was very calm at Seabrook. It was like swimming in a lake.

Isabella thinks she can swim (she can't!) and does not like to be held in the water so we played in this hole for a while...

Iris had some goldfish that she kept spilling in the sand. The Seagulls were quick to spot this and surrounded her...

Then she tried to catch one. Thank goodness she was unsuccessful.

Monday (her actual birthday) we finally opened birthday presents. She got a new Dora camping chair...

lots of Dora and princess goodies...

and a skirt that plays the Hokey Pokey song!

Happy 3rd Birthday Iris!

Iris celebrated her 3rd birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. She was SUPER excited about her party. It was suppose to be a princess theme party but the "princess" part got a little lost. It's hard to throw a themed party at Chuck E. Cheese in general. That coupled with Iris picking out a Dora cake meant the "princess" theme was a little less obvious. It was lots of fun though. I was worried it would be super crazy but somehow we managed to be the the ONLY party there on a Saturday afternoon ---YEAH!! Iris got to meet Chuck E.....

Played all the games including this weird one with Ashton...

Isabella loved this rollercoaster "ride"....

She seemed to like Chuck E. too....

At the end of the party Iris got to get into this TicketBlaster. She put on goggles and then they turn on the air and it blows tiockets all around her. It was hysterical! She did not really understand that she was suppose to grab as many tickets as she could. They even let her do it twice but she just laughed when she caught one and then let it go. Thankfully our party person was very nice and scooped up a bunch of tickets for Iris to keep. I videotaped the tickets flying around her head but forgot to take a picture. Here she is getting ready though...

This is the "Dora" cake she picked for her" Princess Party." At least Dora is wearing a Princess dress.

Happy 3rd Birthday Iris!

Isabella at 14 & 15 Months!

It's TRUE... Second children get the SHAFT! What can I say Isabella? "I am soooo SORRY!" I did not take a picture of you with a 14 month sign. I feel terrible. I did go back and find this picture from Edisto Beach that was taken one day before you turned 14 months. That helps explain why I forgot. We were on vacation without daddy, I had my hands full and got sick as soon as we got back. Your Nana actually kept you and Iris on your 14 month birthday because I was sick. With all that going on I just forgot. I just spent half an hour reading online articles about second children getting the shaft and how if affects their personalities. I promise I will start reading to you more and teaching you your ABC's instead of letting Sesame Street do it for me. I will even buy you some new clothes to make it up to you so you don't have to keep wearing hand me downs. If it's any consolation I just looked back at Iris' 14 month picture and it was taken without a sign. Ok, It's not really because I forgot, I printed it out but forgot to take it with us to Disney World which is where we were when she turned 14 months. Ok, that's even worse. You're now 15 months and have not been to Disney yet. I will just shut up now! Isabella at 14 Months! ( Edisto Beach) Isabella at 15 Months! ( our back porch) Statistics: Weight: 18.12 lbs, 3rd percentile Height 30.25 in., 45th percentile Head Circumference: 17.75 in., 27th percentile Your doctor is still not worried about your size. He says you are just petite. You are a great eater. I swear you eat twice as much as Iris in a day. We can not turn your car seat around (per law you must be 20 lbs). You do not seem to mind though. You can see Iris and you guys "talk" and make each other laugh in the car so it is working out fine. Words: Thank you (pronounced more like "Dank Tu") up down out baby bye bye pap pap (code word for her pacifier) Mama Da da Nana Papa baby ball map (thanks to Iris' addiction to Dora!) Favorites: swinging brushing your own teeth baby dolls watching Dora with Iris drawing ( you get a very intense look on your face and try very very hard, it's adorable) bath time your pacifier--trying my best to only allow it at nighttime and in the car! climbing ( onto or into anything!) "banky" (your blanky, you carry it around the house with you) You are down to only one nap a day. I sometimes try for two but it rarely works. You are in full toddler mode and love to play, play, play! You are starting to be a handful but you are a sweet one! We Love you Isabella!

Egg Face

Brad worked so hard on trying to get Iris to eat an egg. I thought it deserved it's own post. It was a great try Brad and very sweet. Sorry she would not eat it!

Pre-Birthday Party

Monday we celebrated Iris and Christian's birthday at the playground. They could not go to each others birthday parties so we decided to let them have their own special party. Christian's sister, Mara, helped us celebrate as well and made Iris the adorable necklace she is wearing. Isabella was there as well but she was in "A Mood." The only pictures I could get of her would have been crying so you'll just have to take my word that she was there as well. After our picnic it was time for cupcakes....

Happy Birthday Christian and Iris!!!!

(Next year your mommies will try to coordinate better so that you can attend each other's party)

Music on The Green at Kiawah

Friday night was Music on the Green at Kiawah. Plane Jane was playing and since they played at our wedding we have a special fondness for them. We met the Kirchner's there and had a little picnic while we watched the band. Clara and Iris had a blast! Here they are dancing... well, more like just running in circles and giggling.

Isabella: Whew! I'm hot just watching you two.

Isabella was a little overwhelmed with the dancing, loud music and surroundings. She stuck pretty close to daddy.

I'd like to say that Iris hopped on Lenna's lap just to be sweet. The truth is she was trying to avoid sharing the cup of red jelly beans... They worked it out though and settled down for a good book...

SO SWEET!!!

Take My Picture!

Iris is a Ham! She got ready for camp the other morning and ran to the door and asked me to take her picture. Right before I snapped the shot she made this funny face.... Then she came home and put her princess dress on and had a tea party. I think she wears this dress almost every day.

Summer Camp

Tuesday was Iris' first day of summer church camp. She was so excited about wearing her backpack and carrying her lunchbag. As soon as she got everything together she ran to the door and asked me to take her picture.

Then she insisted that we go and pulled me out the door half an hour before we needed to leave.

Getting Into Trouble

I constantly have to watch these two. Isabella doesn't just love pulling things out of cabinets she likes to climb in them as well. That's not all she climbs either. We now have the gate back up because I found her halfway upstairs the other day. She climbs on chairs and coffee tables as well. I made the mistake of letting them play on the porch unsupervised for a few minutes last Saturday. Iris took the opportunity to dump a pot of soil on the table... and on Isabella's head. These two went straight in the tub!

A Swinging Fourth!

Luckily our weekend picked up some momentum. Sunday we went to a friends house on Folly beach for a visit and dinner. The girls swam in their pool and made friends with their very sweet 135 lb. Newfoundland. I think they thought he was a bear. I really regret that I did not take a picture of them with that dog. And finally it was the Fourth of July! The girls swung in their new swings. Daddy just put these up and they love them!

We went to my parents house in the afternoon to swim. Here are the kids eating Mary's Flag cake. It only lasted a few minutes. We ate the entire thing!

Yum!!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Plan C

Our July 4th weekend got off to a slow start. We planned to take the girls on the boat and go out to Wadmalaw early Saturday morning. However, when we woke up we started weighing the "fun vs. work" ratio of such a long boat ride and decided against the trip. That was plan A. Plan B was to just take the little john boat and ride around in the creek and throw the cast net. We thought the girls would have more fun looking at the little fish we caught than a long boat ride anyway. So we packed a cooler, put on their life vests and went to the dock to load the boat. Unfortunately a colony of wasps had built a nest in the boat engine. I fed the girls popsicles and snacks on the dock while he worked on it but it was no use. Our engine was dead. So what do we do with two little girls in their swim suits and a packed cooler? You got to Plan C....the blow-up pool!

Yes, like true rednecks we popped open two lawn chairs and two beers and let the kids play in the blow up pool...

Isabella had fun but she preferred sitting in the lawn chiar next to her daddy... exploring the yard...

and handing me random things. As always, Iris had a blast....

Things really picked up when the girls started playing with our empty Miller Lite cans. Can you get more redneck than this? The ladder in the background even adds that special something.

Although it did not go as planned, how could it not be a great day with these sweet babies....