And Just Like That She's Already 3

I'm sad because my kids are big. Last week Macie turned 3 and Ty 6 months. I keep telling Macie to stop growing up so fast, but she tells me that she has to be big. Sometimes it seems like time has flown by, and others it seems like it's practically stopped. For example, it feels like forever ago that Ty was born. I had a really rough time adjusting to 2 kids and days felt endless for a while. However, I can look back at pictures as proof of how fast he is growing and it does make me sad. I love this time in my life where I get to stay home with my kids, they are completely dependent on me, and they want to be with me every second. On the other hand, we all have those days where all of those things make you insane and you find yourself wishing the clock would tick by a little faster. I try to remind myself to cherish the moments and make them memorable. When I'm laughing and hugging my little kids I never want them to get any older. In fact, when Macie hits the blessed teenage years I'm going to remind her how she used to tell me we were best friends all the time, and constantly begged me to go to the ball and dance with her.

Speaking of memorable, let's move on to Macie's birthday:

Every morning Macie comes into our room and climbs into bed to watch tv and drink her juice. Josh snapped this just after I told her it finally was her birthday.

She immediately asked about presents, just like we thought she would. We were ready.

She was so excited opening her card and legos. Then she said, "What else did you det me?"

Well, my mom happened to be in town for the weekend so Macie went to her room to find more presents. Let's just say she is one lucky girl. She now owns the Princess Aurora costume dress, crown, wand and shoes, exactly as requested.

Macie is very particular and loves birthday celebrations. I knew she had a vision in her head, so we collaborated for the party planning effort. I basically took her to a party store and followed her around while she picked out about 10 different themes that she loved and had to have. We ended up combining her favorite things: princesses, horsies, strawberry shortcake, and pink and purple. We invited our families over and Macie had a great time.

I was loving the party hats.

Bella was Macie's little shadow, helping her open all the presents.

I don't like cake very much, but my homemade strawberry shortcake is rather delicious I must say.

No party is complete without a pinata...

...and crying. Cousins Sadie and Vance (in the background) only lasted so long.