Emma's 3rd Birthday

I feel like I've been behind since the day Emma was born, so it is only fitting that her 3rd birthday post happens 2 1/2 weeks after the actual event, right? 

 

Em's birthday was on a Monday this year. When Lexi turned three, Paul and I took her to Build a Bear and it was such a fun, sweet experience that we wanted to do the same for Em. Nana and Papa took Lexi for the afternoon and we took Emma. She picked out this sparkly kitty and named her Lily. Notice the Sofia the First dress she chose for the stuffed animal - so Emma!

Lexi had "planned the decorations" for Em's special day and I could only describe it as a color explosion. Part Luau, part rainbow, part pink and purple - it was random but somehow deliberately captured the spirit of our newly minted 3 year old! 

Nana and Papa came over for dinner, cake, and presents Sunday evening and Emma loved opening her tutus and new outfits from them! Grandma also sent new toys for Emma's dollhouse. 

 

 

Lexi was either starting to not feel well or was not enjoying Emma being the center of attention.
 

And it just wouldn't be a birthday around here, if we weren't giving the gift of germs! Emma had some "tummy issues" Sunday evening, but Lexi started throwing up in the early hours of Monday morning. So even though I had thought I would have to spend Emma's birthday at work, I wound up staying home with two sick little girls that day.  I also landed my very own sick day Tuesday after I caught whatever little bug the girls had the previous days.

Emma was mostly unaffected by Monday evening and thoroughly enjoyed wearing her new roller skates and Pirate Fairy dress around the house! 

 3 year old checkup stats: 

HEIGHT: 38 inches (75th percentile)

WEIGHT: 34 pounds (75th percentile)

Dance Recital 2014

 Lexi's dance recital was the first weekend in May this year. She had two numbers - tap and ballet. While she got a little stage fright and had trouble remembering her dances in a new environment, she looked DARLING in her costumes!

Her new studio has all the girls in full makeup (so the stage lights don't wash them out). Lexi's reaction to having to pile on this much makeup for the first time was priceless: "Mom, why are you putting all this makeup on me? I'm already beautiful!"  #humble

 Tap costume: the song title was perfect. They truly were "Little Bitty Pretty Ones" 

While she liked the costume for her Tap dance, the Ballet costume made her tiny dancer heart soar. She loved this white sparkly piece of perfection so much I think I am going to put wings on her back and have her wear it for Halloween this year as an angel! 

Ballet: "Me and My Shadow" - the black and white costumes were beautiful and the girls were darling. 

Don't you just love Kindergarten ballerinas?

Great job at recital, Lulu! 

Run Fast . . . .

 Oh the Prairie Fire Half Marathon. I had been alternately dreading and anxiously awaiting this day for the past 6 months. Last Fall, I had been training for a half marathon but got seriously sidelined with an IT band injury (if you haven't had one, it feels like everything from your hip to your knee cap is going to snap from tightness and it makes your knee caps pop pretty painfully). I worked my way back over the winter and thanks to some amazing running divas/mentors/friends, I was race day ready.

No one expected the high to be 100 degrees on May 4th. I was hydrating like CRAZY in the days prior and driving my husband insane with my constant babble about how nervous I was.  

What if I quit again like I did during a training run at 11.7 miles? 

What if it's windy? 

What if I fall?

Is it ok to start crying at mile 8? I will definitely be crying by mile 12. 

What if my knee injury comes back? 

What should I wear? 

 The morning of:

 I know I am smiling, but inside I wanted to throw up from nerves.

The race went pretty well, all things considered; certainly not the fastest I could have gone, but I wasn't about to push it with the heat/humidity/wind combo Kansas delivered me that day. I laced my shoes too tightly and had to stop at mile 4 because my foot went numb, but after that was fixed I had full feeling in my feet. I stopped at EVERY SINGLE WATER STATION because it was crazy hot. I tried to to smile for the cameras, but mostly it looked like a grimace. My knee held out (PRAISE ALL THINGS HOLY!) and I was able to cross that big, beautiful finish line in under 2 hours (1:58:42 to be exact), which had been my only goal going in to this race.

 My incentive package from my running girls was also helping me keep up my 9 minute mile pace. You can put one foot in front of the other when you know double stuff golden oreos (my personal fave) are on the line.

Easter 2014

Wow . . . 41 days off the blog! That's got to be some kind of terrible record for me. So let's just play a little catch up, shall we? 

Easter weekend was PACKED with activity this year! 

Saturday morning, Paul and I ran the Easter Sun Run 10k. Mom and Dad (Nana and Papa) brought the girls down to cheer us on from the finish line. Emma thought it was SO COOL when her daddy gave her a high five when he ran past her. I would have, but I was ready to die after letting Paul (aka Long Legs McSpeedy) pace us. I can now say that I am the proud owner of a 51 minute 10K personal record (that's an 8:13/mile) and that I never, ever want to run with him again. I love him with my whole heart, but my legs wanted to fall off after that race. 

Easter Sunday we made plans to meet my sister at Magdalen for Mass at 8 a.m. - she was coming from Augusta and I insist on an early Mass on holidays, so it worked out well. We got the girls up early and they found their Easter baskets (stuffed with new books, a new shirt each, matching nightgowns, and Barbie each, and one chocolate bunny . . . the Easter Bunny kind of rocked it out this year). 

 A few precious PEACHY pictures later  . . . .

 and we were off to Easter Sunday Mass. 

After church, everyone headed back to my parents house and the kiddos had a few (dozen) Easter egg hunts in the yard. As you can tell from the photos, my hiding technique is somewhat lacking. I prefer to just scatter the eggs. No one under the age of 6 was complaining.

The cousins had a great time playing and being silly, too! 

And to end our fab weekend - Miss Emma FINALLY was deemed fully potty trained! The deal was that when she was a big girl and no longer going in her diapers, she would get to have her new doll house that Grandma Kay had given her for Christmas! We are so proud of Emma!