December

I thought I better sit down and do this before December is too far gone. We had an awesome busy December. Among a myriad of other things we had my birthday. Zach spoiled me all day and threw me a surprise party with our family. What a sweetheart.

We also celebrated our 5th anniversary. I remember when we were married for like 3 months and 5 years seemed so far away- it has hardly been any time at all! We celebrated by leaving the girls with my mom and dad and spending the night at the Grand America. We had breakfast at The Little America- so yummy. Zach met Santa there. It was a nice little get away.

We also went to the Winter Princess Festival at the Provo Towne Centre. May acted terrified the entire time but afterwards talked about it like it was the best thing ever. She was most excited to see the princesses she had seen in the summer so that was cute that she remembered them and wanted to say hi.

We haven't had a ton of snow. The first snow we had we shoveled it all into a pile and built a snowman and a snow dog. Maylie was SO concerned about them it was so cute. She made him a scarf out of leaves so he wouldn't get cold and she had to make him snow food so he wouldn't get hungry. Every morning she would run and peak out the window and see if he was still there. I was a little worried about what would happen when it melted but she just said, "Oh the snowman melted." And started singing "Once there was a snowman" and that was it. She did have a melt down (ha melt down) when a snow storm hit after Christmas and she thought we could put our Christmas stuff back up. She was absolutely devastated when we told her snow didn't necessarily mean Christmas.

We had a wonderfully relaxing Christmas. We told all of our family that we weren't going anywhere this Christmas so we could just enjoy it. We definitely did. We opened presents, went to a nice sacrament meeting then we came home and chilled and the best present ever- Mama got a nap. Then my family came over to our house and we had a nice Christmas dinner.

Maylie had to change into her soccer shirt before she would open presents because Zach was wearing his. Too funny.

This is Camille surrounded by presents and she is playing with a little shred of wrapping paper instead. She did eventually move onto the bows.

My mom got the girls these matching outfits and I just had to share...aren't they adorable?

Probably the best part of the month was Camille got her helmet off on the 29th! Hurray! Any mom on top of things would have tons of pictures of her without it but for some reason all I have is one of her with a hat on. Anyway we are loving having it off. I'm not really sure what to do with it now though, we'll have to get a glass case or something to display it in.

Camille also hit her 9 month mark in December. She is our feel good girl. She has a smile that can just melt any problem away. She gives lots of snuggles and hugs. She loves music. She already has this little rocking dance move. It's too funny. If she is being fussy about going to sleep she will calm right down if you start singing to her. She LOVES her food. She out eats Maylie at just about every meal. And I'm not talking like a pound to ounce ratio she seriously will eat more than Maylie.

Halloween

So, I started Halloween costumes back in July. The girls were going to be the good fairies from Sleeping Beauty and their cousin was going to be Aurora. Well I picked terrible material for Maylie's. It looked terrible it was a little small and after hearing me curse at it for 2 months May didn't want to wear it. So we came up with plan B 2 days before Halloween. I had some Strawberry Shortcake material with no real plan for it so we made a costume. The awesome hat is courtesy of my mom finding one for her. Maylie was super excited to be Strawberry so it all worked out. Then came the problem with Camilles. She would be in the stroller so she couldn't wear her wings and she had her helmet so she couldn't wear her hat which left her in a blue dress that would be covered with a blanket. So on Halloween I put this together. She's a Berrykin which you won't know unless you've seen the new version of Strawberry Shortcake. It worked out pretty perfect with her helmet and put her in nice warm Jammies.

Maylie had a blast trick or treating. The best was when we ran into another Strawberry and Maylie says, "Hey, you're like me! You better get some candy too. You look sooo wonderful." Camille was a trooper put up with riding in the stroller for a while but was done by the time Zach picked her up and took her back to her cousins.

Maylie is 3!

My baby is suddenly a little girl! Ahh! I just hate it and love it all at the same time. We had a fun birthday. She pretty much eat and sleeps My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake so she had a pony birthday. We decided instead of throwing a huge party like last year we would put the funds to use for balloons and streamers. We took pictures but seriously did not do it justice. So you will just have to take my word that the house was awesomely decorated and May loved it.

In the morning she opened her presents most of it My Little Pony stuff. In this picture she is sporting a new dress that Zach's mom sent her. She had a hard time blowing out her candles in the morning but the practice did her good because she got them later that night.

In the afternoon we picked Zach up at work and went to lunch and Nicklemannia. Her and Zach just love that place. I seriously just don't get it.
Anyway we had a little party Including Pin the cutie mark on the pony (it came with our decor).
I attempted to make a pull string pinata. It was a bust. The kids still had fun though and I think I figured out what I did wrong so next time I can make it work. The hands in the picture are Uncle Nates. He stepped in when the wire that was supposed to hold it up broke...I guess he was just lucky it was a pull string and not a hit with a bat pinata.After games we did presents. May was SO tired I felt kind of bad she didn't show much enthusiasm for what she was opening. Funny story though. Her Aunt Katherine (it was from the whole family but come on now we all knew who was the brains behind the operation) gave her a Strawberry Shortcake movie. I was trying to explain to Maylie who it was from and I think she thought I was saying she needed to give it to her. She was so worried. She started inching behind our TV stand and she hid it and just kept pushing it back farther and farther so it was hidden. And then after cake was over my mom said she had gotten out and kept saying, "Is this mine?" "Can I keep this?" So funny. She also got an easel from my mom and dad which she loves. I think trees everywhere are legging out a sigh of relief since we don't go through a ton of paper everyday for all her drawings. Now she has a white board she can draw then erase.

My favorite part was the cake. Which if it weren't for the super talented Caytee Wankier's help would have been a muddled up mess with a pony on top. It was such a good learning experience. I loved it and Maylie was so excited.
She LOVES singing happy birthday. She has some play cakes that she will always set up for a party and then sing happy birthday to whoever she decides to sing to. So I think when everyone was singing it to her she was ecstatic. She was even singing along. Overall I think she had a fun birthday but hated the party. She is definitely a kiddo that likes the calm and small groups. Next year we may have to find some other fun way to celebrate.
She had her check up she has jumped from the 10th percentile in weight to the 40th. She is getting cut off from her whole milk though both in quantity and in fat so it'll be interesting to see if she stays in the 40th. She screamed the entire time at the doctor's it was so sad.

Anyway I'm so lucky to have her and I am thankful for everyday I get to spend with her. She is such a sweetheart (with a side of stubbornness and she wouldn't be her father's daughter if it weren't so). She is so smart and hilarious I get such a kick out of her. Love you May May!