We are trying....

to get our sweet girl to eat fruit. No treats until she has fresh fruit. At Mellow Mushroom the other night, the girls got gumballs, but Abby wasn't allowed to eat hers until we came home and she tried a fruit - she picked strawberry. Here's how the attempt went down - we still have the gumball sitting on the counter.....aie yi yi....

Abby is THREE!

Our baby is THREE - where did the time go?! It's hard to believe Abby is no longer a baby. I look at her and think she is so young still, but then she really isn't - she's growing into a sweet and beautiful little girl - who is as stubborn as they come - smiley face. She still loves (and needs) her naps, sucks those fingers like there's no tomorrow (only time will rid of us of that - or peer pressure - suggested the doctor) and hangs onto her "froggie & blankie" as much as we'll let her....but at the same time, she's a strong willed, sweet & crazy girl who will fight (literally - she will hit her sister if she has something she wants - ohhhhh, how do we deal with this?!), cry (she often tells me "Mommy you aren't my friend" if she doesn't get her way) and love on you so much (she will blow kisses at naptime to you until you leave her room). She's an adorable dancer (she loves to "shake her booty") and sings all the time (she's our third you can tell b/c she already knows the words to the Hannah Montana songs and at three I would never have dared even let Lexy know Hannah Montana existed) - she's going to be a star - smiley face.

Since Hannah & Lexy are now in school - our family birthday celebrations have changed a bit....we still went to Dunkin Donuts (I still think this is more for Daddy than the girls), but w/out Lexy - we walked her to school and then headed out to DD in the car (it was monsoon season in Atlanta - smiley face). Afterwards, we dropped Hannah off at preschool - then headed to the indoor playground at the mall with Abby's good friend Ani. Then we picked Hannah up for school and enjoyed lunch at one of her favorite's - Moe's (again - this was more for daddy - ha ha - the girls & I were fine with homemade quesedillas). Once Lexy came home from school - we headed out to Abby's first movie theater experience - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. A cute movie, but the 1 hour 20 mins was much to long for our busy body girls (smiley face), luckily a tub of popcorn the size of Abby kept everyone happy. The torrential downpours kept most of our family from coming over to celebrate dinner with us, but we did enjoy Chick fil A with Grandpa, Granny, Aunt Meredith & Charlie...and of course a cookie cake made everything fantastic - smiley face.

On Wednesday, we went to the doctor. I'm amazed to report - Abby is off the charts for the first time in her life (she's catching up to her sisters in height), but still at 75% for weight. As little as she eats, she's still growing and that's a good thing (dried apples are a fruit, right? smiley face)

Sunday came & it was time to PLAY. What a fun party she had celebrating with all of her family & friends....life is good - smiley face!

Abby & I surprised Lexy for lunch last week.....and this week I surprised Hannah in chapel (she wanted her special mommy time too) although I forgot my camera for that....I'm so glad I'm able to do this with them - the days are flying by and it's wonderful to be there & experience these moments with our sweet girls.

Here's a picture from lunch....smiley face

Oh the places they've gone....

Chris & I love to travel - we think you get so much out of experiences away from home - and we try to share that with our girls as well. Last weekend Chris took the girls out to buy a map - he mounted it & let them each pick a color that was theirs - they marked the places they've been in the US on the map & we have hung it in our basement for them to see and update as we go/grow - smiley face. Here's a picture of them working on it after church last week....

Lexy is an IronKid

This spring while we were at Chris' race in St Pete, FL we saw a display for the IronKids events....I grabbed a postcard about it & asked Lexy if she wanted to do it - she didn't really seem into it at the time, so we didn't think much about it again. After we watch Chris compete in his race in Michigan this summer, she asked us if she could do a race too.....it's amazing the memory she has. Chris, of course, was elated and immediately signed her up & put together a training plan. She did the race with our great family friends, Ashley Crosby. They were wonderful....they competed in the junior age group (6-8 years old) and were the absolute last to start (6 year old girls went last & Lexy & Ashley were more excited about the event than being first, so they were at the back of the line for their age group too - but we got some cute pictures though) out of 900 kids (300 in their age group). Our entire family came out to support her - she LOVED it (she had a grin on her face from the moment she started until we got home this afternoon - she's so proud and we are too). Hannah said she can't wait until she's six so she can do one too.....smiley face!

Soccer Season is Here....

The girls had a great start to their soccer season. Lexy is playing U8 for the first time (they have a goalie, ref and BIG field....they even had an away game this week against a co-ed team) - they did great & held their own ending with a 3-3 tie - we were so IMPRESSED - woo hoo Red Dragons. Hannah is playing U6 for the first time - and the Blue Butterflies dominated their sweet opponents - Hannah had four goals - she is just like her dad, when she's interested in the game, she is up & down the field all over the ball, but when she's ready for a break, she checks out regardless of where she is on the field with the ball - too funny - but they were sooooo sweet! With Chris coaching both girls teams, we decided to wait to start Abby in kick a roos until the spring....Lexy & Hannah both started when they were three - Abby isn't quite there yet - smiely face.