Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I attempted to avoid the cheesy St. Patty’s day shirts and find cute little coordinating green outfits for the girls. Not so lucky. I did find these little “yoga outfits” from Childrens Place which although they are not my favorites they look comfy and are perfect for daycare. I am just pleased they were not covered in shamrocks and glitter this year. (I’m not a big St. Patty’s day fan, in case you can’t tell, but didn’t want the girls getting pinched all day).

The girls took green sprinkle munchkins (donut holes) in to share with their friends at school today. They each carried their donuts in very proudly and Annabelle told anyone who would listen she was taking donuts in to share with her friends. They each had St. Patty’s day parties in their classes and when I picked them up I couldn’t help but notice and cringe at the shmorgishborg of sweets that they had consumed during their celebration. Aaaah, tis the season, I suppose.

Looking good in green

It ain’t easy being green…

We went the non-traditional route this evening and took Curtis and Erica for mountain pie at Beau Jo’s. They are such foodies, we wanted to show them some of the tastier cuisine that Colorado has to offer. Luckily they were not interested in corned beef and cabbage or green beer so we could avoid the Irish hot-spots.

Miss Gwyneth was in rare form while we were waiting for our dinner to arrive and was screaming for the red pepper flakes. Although half-tempted to give them to her and teach a simple lesson of cause and effect, that seemed far too mean even for this momma. Can you even imagine??? I tried to reason with her (I know, with a 1 1/2 year old, paleeeease!), but she wasn’t interested. She just wanted those pepper flakes. We decided to play outside until the pizza arrived and she was a much happier girl once she started eating. She ate an entire piece of pizza while Annabelle polished off almost an entire order of spaghetti and meatballs. Growing girls gotta eat!

The girls have made new BFF’s with Curtis and Erica. They love playing with them! Curtis hid behind the couch cushions and cracked them up while Miss Erica could do no wrong in Annabelle’s eyes. She even told Gwyneth as they were getting ready for school “shhhh, Erica is sleeping!”. We’re wondering what we have to do to get this kind of special treatment so we can sleep in on Saturday…..

Gwyneth visited Dr. Brucker today for her well check. She was in great spirits, even though the appointment fell right over her naptime. She impressed her doctor with all her words and big smiles. She’s right on track and growing perfectly. It’s hard to believe my little baby is 19 months old!

She entertained herself during the wait by diapering her monkey. She’s such a funny and clever little girl. We just adore her.

Miss GG is weighing in at 25 lbs, 9 oz (50% -75%) and is 32 1/4 inches tall (50%). Just perfect!

She had to get one little shot but she did great and only cried for a little bit. (I still make her daddy hold her and swoop in for hugs and kisses after. I hate, hate, hate the shots and the crying. My poor babies!)

B’s sister, Christi graciously offered to watch the girls for us so we could go see Chelsea Handler. We grabbed dinner – a nice, quiet dinner at Maggiano’s before the show. We hadn’t been in ages and since Denver has a bit of a shortage of decent Italian food it was surprisingly better than we remembered.

We were very excited for Chelsea Handler’s stand-up but I have to admit it was a bit disappointing. I’ve read her books and a lot of show I had already heard before. The show just didn’t seem to work – it didn’t flow. When it was over B and I both looked at each other and said, “Is that it?”. We both agreed that we would have liked about half of our money back. We got some laughs, but it wasn’t worth the full price of the ticket. We are grateful for the date night though and it was so nice to have the time out together.

We are ready for spring around here!

Sweet sisters

such a little momma

Annabelle decided her baby doll needed a nap.

the girls were all about their baby dolls today

We attended the silent auction at our church tonight. For $10 we had endless plates of spaghetti and meatballs, salad, bread, and cookies. The Meyer girls love spaghetti and meatballs so I almost feel guilty that we only paid $10 to eat at the fundraiser. The meal was catered by a local Italian deli. It was delicious and we’ll definitely be keeping them in mind for our next catered gathering.

The silent auction benefited the preschool and we were eager to participate. We may have gotten a little carried away. I signed us up for a few things, B signed up for a few things, we signed up for a few things together. I started getting a little nervous we may win a few too many! Luckily we only ended up winning one – the master BBQ basket. It came with sauces, marinades, BBQ tools, and a BBQ cookbook.

After the auction the girls made fruit loop necklaces, had snacks with the other little kiddos, and played for a bit in the preschool classes. Great night!

Annabelle chowed down on her fruit loop necklace and was just left with a string…

Gwyneth hiding her necklace so Annabelle can’t get to her fruit loops

The girls took turns giving each other rides on their shoulders and they thought it was hilarious!

Silly girls…

Another year older and another year wiser? Yep, that’s my old man! Gone are the days of extended happy hours, 3 hour birthday dinners, and never-ending after-dinner drinks. Oh boy, B and I use to know how to celebrate a birthday! We still do, but the celebration has become more relaxed, more loving with our girls, and heck, the day after feels a whole lot better.

We spent our evening just the way B had requested – at home with our family. The girls helped him open his gifts and Grandma and Grandpa Meyer joined us for a delicious dinner of steak, crab legs, and twice baked potatoes. We sang happy birthday and the girls helped him blow out his candles. B even indulged in a little birthday strawberry-rhubarb pie. It was a wonderful night and I’m very grateful for my family. I’m lucky to be married to such a good husband, good father and overall good guy! I hope he enjoyed his birthday celebration and we showed him a good time – I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more!

I really wanted a picture of B and his girls. Instead of saying “Smile”, he said “ok, girls lets show Momma our teeth”. And this is what I get….. (love it!)

As Daddy wastes precious time reading cards, Annabelle sneaks right in to the bag and starts checking out the gifts. Gwyneth sits in awe at her sister’s stealth-like gift-stealing skills. (Annabelle is playing with a marinade brush – the interest in her daddy’s gifts did not last for long).

Annabelle giving her Daddy a round of applauce for opening the rest of his gifts.

Big birthday hugs!

Gwyneth is not one to be left out or to be outdone. She basically tackled her Daddy to give him birthday hugs. She gives the best hugs and pats your back at the same time.

PJ time – although we may have been wise to wait until after cake to change this girls clothes.

Happy Birthday, B!

(I would avoid the ends of the cake where the girls have “spit” out the candles!)

Round 2 of the birthday festivities was shared with the Meyer family. B’s sisters and their families joined us at Grandpa and Grandma Meyer’s house for dinner. The weather was so nice the kids even played outside for a while. Annabelle was full of energy and bossiness and requested that Reagan run all over the house with her. Gwyneth was happy to climb up and down the stairs – up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down. There’s no gate at the bottom of the stairs and I’m much too big of a worrier to just let her go for it, so there I stood at the bottom of the stairs for a good portion of the evening. Good thing too – she wanted to be like the big kids and walk down the stairs rather than go on her bottom so I was able to make a few good GG catches as she started to tumble.

The little girls all took a bath together and then we sang “Happy Birthday” to B and indulged in the cake that I had baked. It wasn’t much but the kids (& Grandpa Bob!) seemed to enjoy it.

Reagan using Nathan as a seat

Nathan is so good with his little cousins. He lets them climb all over him.

Ryan and Jocelyn

The little girls enjoying pizza and jello

Time for Cake!

I’ve taken a bit of abuse from B over the last two days about the girls clothes. I loved their little spring outfits that they wore to the Tyler’s house and love, love, love Annabelle’s new tutu. B disagreed. Funny, because I never thought he even noticed what they were wearing. I suppose that is true when he likes their clothes, but when he doesn’t he lets me know. Its really rather disappointing because I’m a sucker for the tutu’s and just bought them each one for spring. Those tutu’s will be promptly returned for something that doesn’t look like “Halloween or a dance recital”. (B’s words not mine).

Ready for church

I love the little sassy tutu

Taking her monkey for a stroll

No idea what’s going on with this face here. Just life as a 2 1/2 year old….

We headed to the Tyler’s house for a early birthday celebration for B. We had dinner, drinks, birthday cake, and ice cream. What a fun night! Wyatt gave the girls a ride in his jeep and Rhys showed them how to ride the scooters. They had a blast and it was so nice to spend a little time outdoors.

Annabelle & Wyatt going for a spin

Sheila helping Gwyneth balance on the scooter

Wyatt was so careful with Gwyneth and was taking it very slow. Any time he stopped she would ask for “more, more, more”.

Such fun

Rhys can fly on his little scooter. He rocks!

The kiddos all snuggled up on the pull out couch together. How cute are they?

Time for cake!

Sheila gave everyone a turn blowing out the candle even little Gwyneth who blew it right out – ok maybe with a little help from Daddy.