Our BIG girl turns THREE!

I'm a month late in posting this, but our baby girl is 3!  She has more sass in that 3 year old body than most 13 year olds and I sadly have to admit that karma is rearing it's ugly head at me (Sorry Mom!  Sorry Dad!)  At the same time, she is the sweetest little girl on the planet and so incredibly full of love.  The sibling rivalry is also at an all time high, something I never expected given that my brothers were so much older than me (I wasn't around them enough when I was younger to fight with them like this -- or, I just don't remember it) but as I type, Jacob is downstairs cuddled with Maddie in her bed reading her books before her nap time.  Their love for each other is undeniable, but when they get into a shouting match, you don't want to be anywhere near it (and for the record, Maddie usually wins).

THREE.  Our BABY is THREE.  I really can't imagine where the time is gone and I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record when I say that.  My heart hurts sometimes to think about how big (and how fast) they are both growing.

I took Maddie in for her 3 year check up and was shocked by her stats.  I love comparing her and Jacob's growth charts since their growth has been so similar.  I wasn't expecting that given that Jacob was always so big (and a boy). Maddie was 37.2 lbs which was 90th percentile in weight (Jacob was 39 lbs at his 3 year check up).  Maddie was 39 inches which was 99% in height (Jacob was 38.5 inches at his 3 year check up).  At this rate, this "little" girl is going to grow up to be 6 feet tall (and likely taller than her big brother!)  Where did we get these tall genes?!

A little bit about Maddie at 3:

• She HATES dresses.  Hates them.  Refuses to wear them unless a serious bribe is involved.  Her outfit of choice everyday is jeans or shorts with a t-shirt and tennis shoes -- she will wear skirts as long as they have the little shorts underneath (aka, skorts)
• She refuses to wear anything in her hair but one little small clip that pulls her hair off to the side.  No braids, no pony tails, etc.
• If we are in the company of boys and girls, she always chooses to play with the boys (the OLDER boys).
• She loves all kinds of sports -- soccer, baseball, volleyball.  She'd much rather be outside playing with a ball then inside playing with a doll.
• When she gets nervous or anxious or is just unsure about something, she sticks her fingers in her mouth.  I always know when she's uncomfortable, because in the mouth they go.
• She LOVES school.  She asks me everyday if she's going to school and when it's not a school day, she's deeply disappointed.  The Director, Miss Lauri, pulled me aside shortly after she started preschool and said to me "Angela, I don't know why I was ever worried about her age.  She is a model student."  Consequently, I almost started shedding my tears of pride right then and there (The back story being that because she didn't technically meet the cut off for preschool, I still fought to get them to accept her this year -- I'm so glad I did!)
• She is still very much Daddy's girl.  She goes in phases where her obsession with Daddy ebbs and flows (it's always there, mind you, but at times it's stronger than others).  Right now, we are in an over-the-top-obsession-with-Daddy phase and Mommy is feeling a little slighted.  Just a little :)
• She has to know what we are doing every second of the day.  From the moment we wake up, she's asking me "Mommy, what are we doing today?" and when I tell her the first thing, she says "and what do we do after that?  and "what do we do after that?"  It doesn't matter how many things I mutter off to her, there is always a "what's after that"? I eventually end it with "then we go to bed and start all over again tomorrow". 

We celebrated Maddie's birthday at Safari Run.  I really want to be one of those Moms that can throw a super cute, creative, themed party at the house but I get a headache every time I think about doing it so we always opt for the ease of a birthday party hosted at a play space where they manage 20 kids, feed them and then deal with the clean up!  That alone is worth all the money in the world!  Rest assured, one of these days I WILL plan that super fun, creative party at home but I just haven't had it in me yet.  She LOVES Safari Run and so do the other kids so they had a blast!

Happy Birthday sweet girl.  You are one of the most beautiful, kind, loving, smart and strong little girls I know -- I couldn't be more proud of the person you are becoming.  We love you so much Maddie!

Her BFF, Nathan!

Her friend, Annie, and her attacking Daddy

The big boys, Jaxxon, Owen and Jacob

Her friend Emily getting her groove on to play freeze dance.

There they are -- the fingers in the mouth.  She wasn't so sure about playing freeze dance!

Coming out of the fast slide with Benjamin's Daddy, Jeremy (Benjamin was the little boy of the family we shared a nanny with.  Now that Benj and Maddie are both in preschool, they don't see each other as much anymore but they still LOVE each other!)

The whole gang!  (Warner, Owen, Luke, Cameron, Samantha, Annie, Maddie, Jacob, Griffon, Ellie, Annabel, Emma, Matthew, Jaxxon, Emily, Olivia, and Nathan)

I have not had great luck with Maddie's birthday cakes.  She really wanted an ice cream cake and this one was from Baskin Robbins.  Even though Safari Run assured me it wouldn't melt in their refrigerator, it was melting by the time we served it (not the right hand side collapsing!)  It was still delish.

While singing her happy birthday, she was a little anxious (note the hands in the mouth!)

But she expertly blew out her candles

 At home ready to open her wonderful presents!

Every time we went to Target, Maddie begged me for this Incredible Hulk hands.  Good thing Jaemie, Matt, Owen and Nathan knew she loved them!  It was their gift to her!  She was so excited!

Happy Birthday Maddie!

Boo!

It's funny to me that I was never a huge fan of Halloween until I had kids.  These days, I count down the days until I get to see them dressed up, grinning from ear-to-ear with excitement about this holiday.  And yes, we get excited about dressing up too. :)

This year, we decided to all go as super heroes.  Since Mark was affectionately called Captain America when he was in high school, we knew that would be a fitting costume for him!  Jacob had a few super hero costumes and seemed to rotate equally between his Batman and Superman outfits.  I found a Spidergirl costume at a consignment sale for Maddie and she was in LOVE with it.  It's been worn so many times, I'm not certain I could even donate/sell it in the future!

Happy Halloween everyone -- we hope your night was as fun as ours!

This girl has so much sass it's not even funny.

Our annual tradition is to go to the Carlmont Shopping Center (in Belmont) on Halloween afternoon to do some trick or treating at the store fronts and then we head to our friends Tyler and Sydney's house for some Halloween party fun and group trick-or-treating around San Carlos!

The host, Derrick was stylin!

All the kiddos ready to go trick-or-treating!

We found a gorilla and Mark convinced Maddie to give him a high five.

And then Beetlejuice opened one of the doors and Maddie thought he was HILARIOUS!

Of course we had to take breaks to enjoy some candy along the way

All the kids checking out their loot at Tyler/Sydney's house

Last week, Notre Dame high school hosted a Halloween party filled with trick-or-treating, face painting, musical chairs, crafts, a bouncy house and more!  Jacob and Maddie were in Halloween heaven. 

Practicing for Halloween at home

This was a game at the Halloween party.  I was DYING watching Jacob try to grab the donut with his mouth!

My adorable little man :)

Pete the Cat

I know I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog.  Now that my Fall sale just ended, I hope to be posting all about our Summer adventures including Uncle Eric and Aunt Kelly's wedding, the start of Kindergarten, Maddie's 3rd birthday and more.

For now, though, I have to share with you a story about Pete the Cat, read by Maddie.  This is one of her favorite books and last night, she told me she wanted to read it to ME.  I know we've read this book a hundred times but I had no idea she knew the whole darn thing by heart.  If you don't think this is adorable, then I don't know who you are (ha).

I seriously can't believe she's 3.  My baby is all grown up :(

The Artist

Oh lordy, I have a LOT of updating to do but with my Fall sale just around the corner, it might have to wait!  But, I can't WAIT to post this.  Jacob just came home from school and busted out this picture.  I looked at it and immediately knew what he drew - an exact replica of our vacation spot in Hawaii!  I was seriously impressed!  There were a few things added in (like a tornado and superhero) but really, wouldn't Hawaii be more fun with both of those ANYway?

By the way, I did ASK him what each of these things were, so these were his responses.

Isn't it fabulous?!

Summer in San Francisco

Since our extended vacation ended in June when Mark went back to work, we've been trying to distract ourselves with Summer.  Summer here has meant new adventures, big and small.

Movies in 3D:

Berry picking in Woodside

Bowling for the first time

Farmers Markets

Coyote Point Museum

Taking in the planes landing by the Bay

Dressing up

 Eating oranges straight from our tree

Mommy trying to get the nerve to cut her baby's hair

But I never do

Secret hideouts (that are not so secret)

Lunches (and dinners) at Baja Fresh

And visit's to the fire station

Cheers to Summer!