Birthday photo shoot after church
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| we took the kiddos to Pam's Playground after naps (Annika didn't nap) on her birthday |
Happy 3rd birthday to our sweet Annika girl! Annika is a wonderful big sister and daughter. We love her to pieces. We love all of the fun things she comes up with. Our favorite is when she talks about and to her imaginary friends, Peco and Shurdy. She has added a few other friends to her posse. She calls her additional friends, collectively, her "girls." She talks to them all day long- on the phone mostly, but also as if they're standing next to her. One of my favorite lines as she talks on the phone is, "you have my number?" Then she pauses for a few seconds and says "ok," or "your mom have my number?" She is a smarty pants. She also uses her girls to get out of things. For example, when she doesn't want to use the bathroom she tells me "Peco using bathroom, mom." And the other day she didn't want to help me clean up. So she said, "think Peco coming over. Yep, I hear Peco." She often knocks on the mudroom door when she is playing outside and she asks "Peco, you in there." She recently started singing the Alphabet all the time. She recognizes the letters A, M, D, B, O, and X. Tonight, she finally climbed up the rope ladder and went down the big slide at Beusy's house. (that's what you call grandma Beus:) She was very proud of herself and so were we! When Benson gets hurt or is upset about something, you usually run to get him a toy or a book, or try to make him laugh with your funny faces. You are a tender little girl. You love egg salad sandwiches, toast (you like to spread the jam), spaghetti, cheese, fruit snacks, fruit roll ups (you call them fruit sticks. When I say fruit roll up, you say "that hard me say"), pudding, cucumbers, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, watermelon, cooked mushrooms, cooked carrots, corn, goldfish crackers, MILK (you still drink a ton of milk every day. You and Benson each drink about a gallon/week), quesadillas (mostly the cheese inside), eggs with ketchup and ranch to dip in, pasta, tomatoes, olives, grated cheese, chicken pot pie, creamy chicken noodle soup, rice, beans, butter (by itself). So, you eat a pretty good variety. Benson eats more than you, easily. But he is much pickier. We have yet to find a vegetable he will eat. You are also very good at drinking water. You have always been a very hydrated child. You are "potty trained," meaning you wear underwear all day. But, you still have several accidents a day. You are not bothered by a little pee in your underwear. You rarely pee all the way through your clothes anymore. So, that is an improvement. You have been wearing underwear all day since the middle of July. You love going to nursery. I'm glad you will be there for a month with Benson before you are in Primary. You can ride a tricycle, run super fast:), jump (you love the trampoline), swing on a big kid swing, climb (Benson has gotten you into this), and ride a scooter. You say really sweet prayers. You always pray that "Papi be safe." And sometimes you pray that "Gram Pam be safe on her trip." You are very sweet, but also strong willed. You do best when you get a nap, of course. I know you will turn out to be a wonderful person. You're just living it up in your toddlerhood.
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| party prep |
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| party prep |
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| we had fun balloons that came with LED lights inside them. They didn't last long before they popped. But, it was fun for pictures outside. |
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| A week before her birthday, I let Annika scroll through a bunch of cakes I had pinned on Pinterest. I had just pinned several flowery and swirly frosting cakes. She went right past those and chose this one that I had pinned for Benson's birthday. That's my girl! :) I was happy to make this one and it was much easier to make a messy looking cake than a pretty one. She loved the outcome! It even had candy rocks on top. |
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Excerpt from my email to the missionary kids:
We had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Not my best batch. I made it from our garden tomatoes so I added a rue of flour and oil to thicken it up. The flour made it taste so bland though. In retrospect, i should've just added more seasoning. Maybe it still wouldn't have fixed it. Anyways, enough about me:) Annika wanted strawberry pancakes for breakfast, which we had after she opened a few presents. We got her an outfit and a little tool set and a toy vacuum. The last two were from yard sales. You probably aren't surprised. :) she loves the new toys. We had fun telling everyone at church it was her bday. She told lots of people that zack was coming to her birthday. It was fun to have him and Dustin and cass in town. After church, benson and I took a nap. Annika decided not to. Bad idea. She wasn't her happiest self on a day when it really counts. But she was pretty good. We went to Pam's playground when benson woke up. Dad and the sibs came for dinner. Then we took some cute bday pictures. Benson was really the star of that show. I'm not sure if we got many good ones of Annika as she ran around the backyard and wouldn't cooperate. But we got some darling ones of benson. Glenn and kathy came for dessert and a few more presents to open. The cake was yummy and really fun! I just used a cake mix but i added in a pudding mix and plain Greek yogurt. Very moist and dense. I will send some pictures. Annika loved her tractor cake. I found some paper tractor plates in our mud room. She was spoiled with gifts. Zack got her a Dora car. Dustin and cass got her a Costco box of fruit by the foot. Glenn and kathy got her one of those balls that starts at about a foot diameter and expands to like 4 feet when you pull on it. Dad got her some dr Seuss books and a leap pad. The leap pad is pretty much a mini iPad for kids. It has wifi access, apps to download, and takes pictures and movies. Yikes. We're going to have to limit time on that. She has played with the tool set the most so far. I'm happy about that. Better than staring at a screen. But it is a great educational tool too. |
