Miles' Birthday Celebration

Just like we did when Brooke turned four, we gave Miles' his first real birthday party this past weekend (a little early due to spring break). He's said that he wanted a "superhero party at My Gym with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake" for several months, so that's what he got.

It was so sweet to see him so excited and unassuming as the center of attention (unlike Brooke, who, let's be honest, expects it).

He had a mix of family and friends from church and family friends.

Superhero training.

The big girls seemed to enjoy themselves, too.

As did the little girls.

Puppet show!

He got to run through his friends as everyone told him "Happy birthday."

And also got to swing high as everyone sang to him. He really seemed so happy.

Cake!

Tim and Krissi and the kids and my mom made the trip all the way up here just for the party, which was so special for Miles. My quarter year resolution is to get better about taking pictures again. Here are the few Krissi got.

Matt made s'mores for the kids that night, since they hadn't had much sugar that day.

All of the gifts from Saturday were bagged up and we finally reminded Miles about them on Monday evening. He was so excited about each of them.

I love this little guy so much.

Happy early birthday, buddy! Can't wait to celebrate the real thing with you in Florida next week!

Our Little Troublemaker

Oh, Paige. She's 23 months now and quite the personality. Her nickname is Troublemaker as she's already gotten into more trouble than Brooke and Miles combined as toddlers. Some things that she's done that they never did: flush things down the toilet, take off her clothes, charge off of playground equipment like she can fly, wander into the neighbor's yard, use a marker on the couch, table and books, rip pages out of books and run away in a parking lot. I realize that these are all very typical (and relatively tame) behaviors for an almost two-year-old, but my other two were so easy that she's been a little more work than I expected. In the best way possible. We love her spunk and spirit.

She's all about being a big kid, and usually wants to do whatever Brooke and Miles are doing. She's still not talking a ton, but is still doing speech therapy and has started imitating words more with our prompting. She actually does a pretty good job of communicating given her limited vocabulary. She LOVES her Tuesdays at My Gym and her Thursdays at BSF. She wakes up singing one of the songs from those two places every morning and will then say, "No?", asking if either are in our plans for the day.

She's loving her time with Bri at My Gym, too.

...until Bri gets the sword she was playing with.

She really does love her cousins, and all her family for that matter. She has some great expressions and her face gets very animated anytime we mention someone from our family - here or in St. Louis.

She also loves her aunts.

And Baby Grace!

Now that she's had a taste of playing outdoors, she makes a break for it anytime we go into the garage to get into the car. I've had to stop putting the door up until she's in her seat.

I've mentioned this before, but she's also a very girly-girl and loves her accessories. Her newest fascination is shoes. Oh, and she was pitching SUCH a fit when I put her into her carseat that we relented and turned her around. It's made a huge difference. Here are just a few of the cute things she was doing on our way to Mattoon.

First time with the TV headphones. She was pulling them off every two minutes, so this didn't last long, but it was cute while it did.

Miles has his sunglasses on, so she had to try some, too.

She's a delight and a joy, troublemaking and all.

March Randoms

I love the way these two play together. Miles is impressively patient with her - most of the time.

Piggies! (The hairstyle, not Paige and Matt.)

Family selfies.

Brooke organizing a "trip" with her brother and sister.

Smoothies.

Me and my girls.

Kids' Sunday at church. The kids said a couple of songs and recited a few verses they've memorized. It was very sweet.

We threw a birthday party for Isabelle, Brooke's doll, complete with a cake and candles.

Matt does his stretches every morning and when the kids are around, they join him. It's pretty cute.

Fun in the basement. Hopefully we can move the party outside soon.

So much personality. No words.

We've been able to get outside a few times the past few weeks.

 

Spiderman!

Playing at the playground of Madison, where Miles has his speech class.

And just like that, March is almost over...