Pirates & Princesses

We celebrated C&P's birthday with family & a few of their buddies.  C& P chose a Pirate & Princess themed birthday party, even though I had my heart set on Toy Story. 

A cake fit for a princess.

A walk the plank cake.

One day I'm just going to have a Christmas themed birthday party, aaand done!

Where's Ariel?

Swag!

Snow White.

He's ready to swab the deck!

He could not wait for everyone to finish eating so that he could eat cake!

Three year-old twins, Holy Cow!

We sing twice, 1st to Paige....

& then to Cam!

All the kids in their pirate & princess gear! (or at least as close as a photo with 7 three year-olds gets!)

 

PARTY SUCCESS!

Happy 3rd Birthday

I just blinked, and now they are THREE!!  

1st, let's reminisce...

9 Days Old.

Peace out, NICU!

Fist pumping.

Personalities established before they hit 3 months.

10 Months

And now at 3!

Paige...
likes: orange juice, coloring, cheese, drinking bath water, playing dress up, apples, Beauty & the Beast
dislikes: potatoes, mint anything, Yo Gabba Gabba, closed doors, time out

Cameron...
likes: chocolate milk, Legos, Star Wars Bonus Material, Pirate Booty, bananas, sorting good guys from bad guys

dislikes: potatoes, Mickey Mouse, Santa Claus, mint anything, hot food/drink, time out

 

Happy Birthday Cam & Paige!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...but not feel like it with 60 degree days in December!  Global warming isn't that bad ;)  These almost 3 year-olds are loving all things Christmas!  So far, the car rides after before bed to check out the lights in the neighborhoods are their favorite!

Time to put up the tree!

Helping with the plastic ornaments.

The only shot of the whole tree, and Dad's awesome pj's!

Clark, hanging the lights!

Seeing Santa!  He asked for Star Wars Legos! (Don't worry his pants aren't really that short.)

She whispered to Santa the whole time, and asked for Sofia the Princess

 (That dang doll isn't even in stores, Santa has his work cut out for him!)

On a sleigh ride with Piper.

Look who arrived...It's Pat!

Stay tuned for Pat's crazy shenanigans!

Thankful

We are thankful for health. (Can you believe they were once 4 lbs?)

We are thankful for a full house!  (19 total!)

We are thankful for Pinterest.

We are thankful for perfectionists.

We are thankful for cousins that share their laser guns.

We are thankful for Grandpa's that push us on the swing...and the 60 degree weather!

We are thankful for cousins.

We are thankful for the new baby arriving this winter!

We are thankful for family!

Go Huskies!!

Cam & Paige were so excited to wake yesterday to find out if their NIU Huskies won the Mac Championship, again...and they did!!!!  

Courtesy of niu.edu

Courtesy of The Jayne's

Go Huskies!

It was fate that we saw a pack of huskies at the DP Winterfest!

Project 231?

      I only made it to week 33 in Project 365, but that's 30 weeks longer than I thought I would last!  What happened?  LIFE!  Maybe next year?   We had so much Fall Fun outdoors, that I have made it my mission to have the same amount of fun indoors, since that evil winter is creeping up on us. 

      With the help of Pinterest,  I have been putting together what is sure to be an epic holiday! Aside from already having our Elf on the Shelf calendar typed (OCD?), I have been putting together ideas for an "activity" advent calendar.  It includes things like craft projects, baking projects, driving around looking at Christmas lights, and visiting the Big Guy (who is already at the mall, what?).  After consuming 3 cups of coffee yesterday (it just happened, oops), I also wrapped Christmas books we already owned as a separate book-like advent calendar.  Did you know that we own 19 holiday/Christmas books (hoarder!)  I'll have to make a trip to the library to pick up 6 more, but after that we will have a special story to read each night in December, fun!   C&P have caught the Christmas spirit, and holiday shopping will begin this weekend (I already mentioned I'm OCD...)! 

How about a holiday photo tease?

Day Four...

     I am happy to report that after 3 days of potty training, and 1 day to tie up loose ends, we have 0 diapers in our house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

H-A-L-L-E-L-U-J-A-H!!

 

We used this method, and HIGHLY recommend it!  The 3 Day Method is written by the sister of Jesus Christ, I can only assume she is related.  Honestly, the process sucked.  The method focuses on having the child tell you when they have to go verses dragging them to the bathroom (I tried that before).  Up until the end of the 2nd day, I thought I was going to pull my hair out, and we were delirious...and then something magical happened.  I'll spare you the personal details, but it involves poop.  I'm sure it also has to do with the fact that I decided to train two 2 year-olds during daylight savings...YEAH, an extra hour of training starting at 5 am (slams head against wall)!!! On the 3rd day I was home alone, I had showered, drank more than a cup of coffee before 7 am & was prepared for the battlefield.  There was a point where I was literally running around the house like a maniac, and I'm sure TLC would have picked up my show.  By nap time those darling, little terrors were independently going to the bathroom!!  I am afraid to see my water bill next month, but I'm sure the money I'm not spending on diapers will make up for the 97 flushes a day.  Today we focused on going potty with real clothing on, getting back into our normal routine & we made 1 short trip to cast our vote!  It is truly amazing that we trained them within 4 days!  Wait!  Did I mention that Miss Paige has stayed dry during all naps and at night? and that Cam is 50/50?  Not too shabby!!  Below are a few photos of of weekend, not a ton since we were like chickens with our heads cut off!

We had lots of incentives for the weekend...larger rewards for larger..."deposits."

 

We had a tiny bit of fun, but nothing that I would ever want to do again!

We decided that we should have plastic on the carpet 24/7....

 

 I think they are over liquids...the more liquids, the more opportunities to potty!

Staying dry at night requires 3-5 trip to the potty before bed....do what you need to do kid.  

It was easier to camp out in the hall till everyone was empty!

Who says boy can't play with dollhouses?

 Taking a picture of himself, this is when we were delirious.

Waiting for Nature to Call...

Ahhh, outsiders!  Welcome to our pee palace!

Back in real clothes!  Well, not me...it was my "day off!"

 Next up, the Big T-H-R-E-E!