We are 3!

My third year making their birthday cake
Cupcakes I made for school

Birthday at Leaps and Bounce

Kaylie at party at school

Taylor at party at school

Kaylie bouncing at party

Kaylie sliding at party

Taylor going down the slide with a friend

Taylor

Thanks to everyone for all the amazing presents!

Blowing out the birthday candles

Kissing Granddad after eating a cupcake and giving him an icing mustache

Taylor and Daddy

Our new beds and new room (not yet decorated)

The girls celebrated their 3rd birthday on January 23rd. I love this age and I just wish they could stay this age for about 10 more years. We had their first real "kid's" birthday party at Leaps and Bounce. There were about 12 kids there and I think the girls had a big time! The grandparents all came into town so it was nice to see everyone. We missed Aunt Cathy who couldn't make it because her flight got cancelled due to snow. For the third year in a row I attempted to make Kaylie and Taylor's birthday cake. I made a princess carriage and put Cinderella and Belle in the carriage windows. Kaylie wanted a "Cinderella birthday" and Taylor wanted a "Belle birthday". So we ended up having a princess theme with all the tiaras, magic wands, earrings, bracelets, and little princess like items I could find. We have more toys than we know what to do with now. Taylor has every version of Belle probably ever made and Kaylie has every version of Cinderella. They love them! Neale says our house now looks like we could be on the tv show "Hoarders"! We are moving the girls into the bonus room so the house is a complete disaster. They got new big girl beds and they love them. They are even sleeping in later which is nice although Taylor is already really hard to get out of bed on school days. She likes to sleep! She puts her blanket over her head and she wants you to just leave her alone until she is ready to get up. Kaylie is up early with a big smile on her face most days. The tough part of the mornings with Kaylie comes when she is getting dressed. Both girls pick out their own clothes and dress themselves. Kaylie always picks out a sleeveless dress. I try to get her to wear a shirt under it or a sweater but she won't. I think I am going to have to hide everything sleeveless until it gets warmer. She is just like me. I hate to wear sleeves too. Taylor is much easier. She is not the fashion diva that Kaylie is.
What we have been up to/saying:

Kaylie says "Yes M Are." instead of "Yes, I am."

I am very proud of all the "Please", "Thank you's" and "Yes Ma'am's" my kids have been saying lately. Kaylie said yesterday, "See mama, I am using my manners."

Kaylie and Taylor are still enjoying gymnastics. Kaylie's favorite food is grapes and Taylor loves candy and crackers. Kaylie is a ball of energy and gets really excited easily. Taylor is more laid back most of the time. Taylor has to do everything by herself. She insists on buckling herself, opening the door at daycare, etc.

The day I had Taylor in the hospital she began sticking out her tongue. The nurses used to say she was like Gene Simmons from Kiss. As a baby she never used a pacifier but she would suck on her tongue. She still does it.

Taylor woke up the other night saying that there were snakes in her bed. Last night she thought there were snakes in the bathtub. When I was little I used to think there were sharks in the bathtub. I remember putting my foot in the bathtub and splashing water on the floor so my parents would think I took a bath. I must have overdone it a little because I got yelled at for making such a mess.

Kaylie always talks about a girl names Addison at school and Taylor always talks about a boy named Jack. I took cupcakes to school for their birthday. Nana and Granddad went with me. Jack pulled on Nana's shirt and told her, "I love Taylor." Oh goodness.....

Kaylie tells me "Mama, I shared to Taylor and Taylor shared to me 'cause her is MY SISTER!"

The girls like to tell on each other and my response is always,"You don't worry about what she is doing. You just worry about what you are doing." So the other night at dinner Neale was telling Kaylie not to do something and Kaylie responded,"Daddy, you don't worry about what I am doing." Oops.

Taylor has started telling me in her baby voice,"Mama I don't want you to go to work. I don't want you to leave me." It breaks my heart.

I always call the girls my "angel", "sugarbear" and "baby". So Kaylie will come up to me and give me a hug and say, "I love you and you are my angel, my sugarbear, and my baby! Forever and ever."

Christmas

It was great to have all of our families here for Christmas. This is the first year the girls really understood Santa so they were really excited. We put food out for the reindeer and left cookies and milk for Santa. The girls woke up went downstairs to see what Santa brought them. Taylor told me that she didn't ask Santa for a car and she did not want it. Apparently Santa is only allowed to bring exactly what is on her list. The girls did have a big time opening their presents. Taylor went back and forth on what she wanted from Santa. At first it was a tiger, then a hippo, then a dinosaur, then back to a hippo, etc. Well the final answer was the hippo and Santa did bring her that. Then she said to me in her little baby voice as she looked around at all of her presents,"Mama, did Santa bring me my tiger and my dinosaur?" (My heart sank) I said,"I don't know, baby. I don't see them."She had the saddest look on her face and she just said,"Oh." and sat in silence for a minute. I shouldn't have felt bad because they got more presents than any child needs but it still broke my heart. Santa will have to pay more attention next year! The girls got a car for Christmas. Taylor is actually a very cautious driver and she is actually really good at it. Kaylie - well she is much more concerned about how she looks in the car. She runs all over the place and flips her hair around. The girls dress themselves these days which is evident if you look at the photos.

I was in charge of the party for the girl's class at school. We read books, danced, anddecorated cupcakes. I think the kids had a great time. Taylor ate half of her cupcake before we even started decorating and Kaylie dumped everything she could on hers so it wasn't even edible.

Taylor has developed a major southern accent. It came out of nowhere and it is hilarious. Here are some bits and pieces of some conversations between me and the girls.

Kaylie (while waving her hands in the air while she talks)- "Mama, Santa ate all of our cookies! Why did he eat all of our cookies all gone?Santa is not nice."

Taylor was talking on her phone she got from Jeff and Kelley for Christmas.

Me - "Who are you talking to?"

Taylor - "Cinderella"

Me - "Oh, what did she say?"

Taylor - "She said her stepsisters BROKED her dress....her pretty pink dress."

Kaylie got mad at Taylor the other day and told her,"You are not my sister!"

The girls have started taking "M-nastics" (gymnastics). They seem to really enjoy it after they get there but getting them dressed and there is another story...I will probably have gray hair before long.

All is great here and we have the girls' 3rd birthday coming up in just a couple weeks! Time is flying by and I am enjoying every mintue with the girls.