butterfly ballerina

this butterfly had her 2nd dance recital this past week.
they danced for the parents/grandparents.
C did great! so so proud of her. she is coming a little more out of her shell each time she goes to ballet class or school! love this little dancer so so much:)

Picnic

at the end of september we got to go the the nordam family picnic with my mom.
it was such a great time.
food, music, the zoo, and most importantly some quality time with my mom, sisters, nieces and nephew!
here are a few pics from our fun evening;)

 

picnic and park with our buddies

is how we had our friday fun last week.
caraline loves loves loves to play with her buddies mason and kayley.
(plus their momma is my bestie, so this works out perfectly for some gal time too!)
we met them at an awesome park near our house to have lunch and play.
here are some pics from our fun afternoon:)

 

love these people!

well checks.

yesterday morning before Caraline went to school we all loaded up and headed to Dr. Daley's for the girls well check appts.
it was Caraline's 3 year and Elleanor's 15 month (well really just 14 1/2 months but no way was i making a separate trip so she went early:)

the girls did absolutely wonderful.
i was worried, both of them getting shots the same day, and Caraline heading to school after.
but they were champs.
Caraline does really well as long as you tell her whats going to be happening before hand.
we talked about how she was getting a shot and that she needed to go first because she was a big girl and i know that she was going to be ok.  i told her that Ellie would need to go second because she would scream and would need her big sis to give her hugs.

so C sat on my lap and got her 1 shot in her arm.  no tears for this big girl!
then it was E's turn.  first shot, no crying, what?? this kid usually holds her breath, turns a little purple and then screams bloody murder.  second shot she barely let out a cry, lasted for about 3 seconds and then was fine!  so proud of these girls.  and so far no problems after shots.  no fever, no fussiness.  so glad for this.

now for their stats:

Caraline is 3 ft. 1 1/2 in. tall, 50th% and weighs 29 lbs, 40th%.  yes she is still small but this girl had moved on up some!

Elleanor is 30 in tall, 15th%, and weighs 21 lbs 6oz, 10th%.  and yes following in her big sister's size trends (although you wouldn't ever think it by the way this girl eats!)

i worried and worried every time we went for C's checkups when she was a baby and would see how low on the scale she was, every time our ped reassured she was fine and healthy.  so this time i haven't even questioned the ped on this, if he thought things were ok with Ellie, guess we just make em small over here:)

a minnie birthday...

is what this little gal had!

 

Sister love.

 

Our little ham.

 

Mantle decoration.

 

The coloring table.

 

Mickey Mouse Clubs and Hot Diggity Dogs (failed to get pic) were what we had to eat. (plus chips)

 

A few of the presents: barbies (new love), camera (used so much the batteries are already dead), and Candyland (which we have played almost every night)!

 

Cake table decor.

 

Minnie Mouse cake.

 

Treats, treats, and more treats! (bow cookies from Merrit's, strawberries, cake balls, and twizzlers, and Minni cake pops made special by Nana).

 

C, papa, and papa's Minnie cake he made!/Daddy helping blow out the candles!

 

Cousins.

 

Family.

 

 

Mommy, daddy, and the big 3 year old!

 

now you are 3!

Our Sweet Caraline,

You are now a big 3 year old!  Mommy and daddy can't believe how fast time has flown by and how fast you are growing.  We have cherished every minute of the past 3 years with you and can't wait to see what the next 3 bring!

You make me smile and belly laugh at least 2 times every.single.day.  With others, outside of your close family that you are around all the time, you are a pretty shy gal.  It takes you a while to warm up but I love love love your sweet little shyness;)  Others wouldn't guess that when you are inside of your own home that you are one of the funniest little people that I have every encountered!  You dance, sing, play make believe, and talk up a storm when you get comfortable.  You are a very silly little girl sometimes:)

Today I picked you up from your first full week preschool.  I can't even begin to tell you how proud your mommy and daddy are of you!  There have been tears almost everyday and you are pretty unsure of mommy leaving when I drop you off, but you stay there and you do great.  I love to hear about how you play with your friends, learn their names from you, know what songs you sang in music, and how you got to see Mason on the playground. 

Mommy and daddy also love that you look so forward to Sundays and seeing your church friends, this past Sunday evening without asking you, you started to tell us about the bible story that you learned that day.  I could not hold back my tears, even as I type they are flowing, my heart is so happy that you already have a love for Jesus and that you are learning that he loves you too, as you told me this just last night (this is what you were learning at preschool this week too). 

A few things sweetie that you are doing these days:  you can spell your name (although sometimes you leave out the second A, but we are working on that), know all your colors, count to about 18, loving to play with Barbies (new thing now that you are 3), love to color, paint, craft, still doing ballet class one day a week, singing, singing, singing, you know so many songs and you jam out in the car with your arms up in the air, always giving hugs and kisses goodbye and night, night, you love clothes, shoes and all things girly.

We love you so so much baby girl and can't wait to see the new things that you will be doing/learning in the year to come. 



Your Mommy and Daddy;)



birthday lunch date

caraline's best buddy mason (and the rest of the Iott fam) couldn't make it to her party last Sat bc they were going to be welcoming a new baby cousin into the world that day.
so c had her very first lunch 'date' at Freddies.
followed by some splashpad and park fun!