2 going on 4

When you ask Camille how old she is, she'll say, "I four!"  When you say, "You're not four."  She'll say, "TWO!"

Indeed, my baby girl just turned two.  She is sure she can do everything her 4 yo sister can do, and honestly, I feel like she's been 2 for at least 6 months.  Her birthday was May 9th.  Her party for family and friends was on Saturday the 7th.

 The theme was BALLOONS!  I was really happy with how my balloon cupcake display turned out.  I got the idea here.

The pink ones were strawberry, the purple were vanilla, the green were chocolate, and the orange were "mystery."

Once again, the Hollingers made the trip from PA.  We love them.

We had the party at Fox Hill Park again this year.  We used the grill for a delicious cookout.  Once again, there was a second party that showed up to use the pavilion.  You can't reserve it.  It's first come, first serve.  Luckily, they found my husband first.  He has so much more grace than I do in these situations.  I was ready to tell them to move some tables together under the trees like we did last year.  We were here first!  Of course, SHARING was a much better example for our kids, and it really was fine.  The pavilion is huge.  Thank you sweetie.

KISS SANDWICH!!!

Her cupcake of choice....unfortunately, I forgot to bring candles.

Gamma Barron with cousin Mikey

Aunt Brooke and Uncle Damien

Uncle Bobby and Aunt Jenny
Bobby took most of the pictures in this post.  I handed him my camera when we got to the cupcakes part, and he did a great job capturing the rest of the party.  Thanks Bob!

GIFTS!!!

My uber talented friend, Missy, MADE this doll for Camille.  Yes, I said "made"....yes, she does have three girls of her own....no, I don't know where she finds the time to be so generous with her creativity.

On Camille's actual birthday, daddy had an errand to run close to our house in the middle of the day.  Afterward, he showed up with flowers and a princess card for his birthday princess.

Yeah, he's cool like that.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!!!  We love you!

Wordless Wednesday...Dress-up

She was especially proud of this last one...

What I've been reading...

This post was deleted by blogger, so I'm reposting it...sorry if you are reading it for the second time.

Why not read a children's classic just to mix things up a bit?  I read Heidi during my last weeks of pregnancy and during my hospital stay.  It is sweet...sometimes nauseatingly sweet.  It's predictable and drags at times, but it was light and perfect for that time in my life.

As one girl in my book club commented, "You could tell me this book was written in 1832, and I would believe you." Sinclair Ferguson writes with the sage wisdom of classic Biblical scholars, yet has a wit and style that makes it readable. The Pundit's Folly is a study of life according to Ecclesiastes. It is convicting, encouraging (if you are a Christian), and engaging. I recommend this one.

I can't say enough about Unbroken.  My friend, Krista, predicted in March that it would be the best book she'd read all year.  She has good taste, so that was enough to convince me to read it.  IT WAS FABULOUS!  Hillenbrand spent 7 years doing research for this book, and she does a superb job of recounting this amazing World War II story.  Krista's review is great, so I'm going to link you to her blog rather than writing a synopsis of my own.  READ THIS ONE!!!

I probably would rate this book higher if I hadn't read Unbroken first. In Night, Elie Wiesel tells his story of life and torture as a young Jew in Auschwitz. Through the atrocities he experienced, he began to question his faith and ultimately rejects God. Unlike memoirs like Unbroken and The Hiding Place, there is no redemption. Night is a concise and well written account of the horrors of genocide that occurred in WWII, but as our book club discussion leader pointed out, remembering is not enough. The problem is sin, and no amount of education, preaching, or law making is going to change that we are all sinners and are capable of horrible things. Certainly an excellent book, but if you are only going to read one WWII story this year, pick Unbroken

Tiny Talk Tuesday

A:  "Bunny likes to have lunch first and then have breakfast."

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A:  "Paw paw, you're old."
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This was a conversation between Rock and his mother, Rachel, last week after Rock and Adeline played together while Rachel and I had Biblestudy.

Rock:  "Two times, mommy."
Rach:  "What do you mean, Rock?"
Rock:  "Two times I kissed Adeline.  One was a regular kiss and one was a love kiss.  I hugged her too."
Rach:  "What is a love kiss?"
Rock:  "You know, a love kiss."
          Rachel, unable to get a better description from her 3yo son, decided to pump Adeline for info when she had her in the church nursery the following Sunday.
Rach:  "So, Adeline, I hear Rock gave you a kiss on Thursday."
Adeline:  Smiles and blushes slightly.
Rach:  "What kind of kiss was it?"
Adeline:  "A sweet kiss."
        

     Patrick already warned Rock that he's keeping an eye on him...

_________________________

After bath time, I told Adeline to put on some clean pant*ies.  After standing in front of her armoire for some time, she says....

A:  "Mommy, I'm going to wear the flowered ones because grandma planted flowers today, and daddy planted flowers today, so I'm going to pick these because they have flowers on them."

     This will be especially funny to a few people who know me well...

Head to Mary's for more Tiny Talkers!

Random Updates...

Patrick built a garden box this year.

He had some help doing the planting...

We are hoping for a lot of peas.  They planted them in intervals to spread out the harvest season.  We were very excited when they sprouted.

Patrick built a pea trellis so the peas would be happy...

I love that he involves the girls in the process.

Our excitement grew as the peas quickly started wrapping their tendrils around the trellis.

Stay tuned for more gardening updates.  We've Patrick also planted peppers, cherry tomatoes, squash, zucchini, lots of herbs, tea, and flowers.   

In other news, a bird family has been building in our bird house.  How cosy.

 This little guy is still stealing our hearts.

 He is more alert these days.

and still gets LOTS of love from his sisters.

Wednesday marked 9 weeks.  He had his 2 month check up on Tuesday.  As we suspected, he's growing.  11 lbs, 5 oz to be exact...

 He has also begun smiling and "talking" which is awesome.  We've yet to capture a smile in full bloom on camera, but this is close...

 He does still does plenty of this though....which makes mommy very happy.

Patrick's cousin, Tina, sent the cutest package from Hawaii.  How sweet are these hula skirts?!?  We are going to have to host a luau this summer just so Nathaniel can wear his adorable Hawaiian duds.

Camille has transitioned to a "big girl bed."  She started taking naps in Adeline's room a few weeks ago, and then we decided we should turn our guest room into a room for Camille.  We just purchased an ADORABLE daybed from Craig's list.  I'll try to post pictures soon.  She loves to do all things "big," so this was an easy transition for her.  If only the ease would carry over to potty training (which we haven't started yet)....sigh.

Two year birthday pictures coming soon...