B is Three!

Hard to believe that three years has flown by. But it's true.

This post is more for Bella and me to remember than for you to care about. But here it is:

Dear Bella,

Today we had fun filled day full of princesses and sugar. I hope it was a beautiful one.

Whenever we asked you what you wanted for your birthday you just said,"Pink Licorice." That request was simple enough. But we knew how much you love "Cinderelly-night-and-day" as you put it, so we thought a Princess Party was in order.

When you got up I had a little package of Tinkerbell socks waiting for you next to your favorite cereal "Trix" on a princess table cloth. You squealed in delight. It was priceless. S got to have a few morsels too.

You also opened an envelope from Grandma and Grandpa Freeman to find some money and carried it around in a cardboard photo tube all day.

Then we had playgroup come and had a little princess (and one prince) party complete with candy necklaces and playdough and pink cupcakes that were self-sprinkled by each child. Bella wore this huge Tinkerbell pin that said "Pixie Power" and her new Tutu (thanks Andrea) under her princess dress which she had on over a pink turtleneck and black cords. She ate about three candy necklaces and I nixed the 4th.
You reminded us to sing happy birthday to you when we had "snack" and ate apples we had picked at the orchard yesterday as well as the pink chocolate cupcakes you requested. Unfortunately we had no candles so we had to call dad to pick some up on the way home from work to use later that night.
When everyone left you told me you wanted another birthday party. They are so fun.

After your nap Eric was home (yay for an early day!) and you opened your presents from us an Oma and Tressa I had wrapped the night before. She was super excited to open each one. Although of course clothes aren't the favorite thing of a 3 year old. But she lit up when she saw the Christmas dress from Oma and the "chocolate" from Aunt Tressa. She just kept saying: "more presents for me?!"

You has been requesting Cinderella and Barbie dolls for a while. So when you opened the $5 polly-pocket type Cinderella and Sleeping beauty you were in love. It was so cute. You carried those around with you everywhere and constantly wanted to change their clothes. You couldn't even eat the pink dinner we made her (eggs, sausage, strawberry milk, and pancakes) because you were so distracted playing with Cinderella and her "mom" as you called Aurora. And of course you had eaten a candy necklace only 5 minutes before.

We splurged a bit this time and got her one big gift--a dollhouse. I have been wanting to get her one for some time and so have checked them out for a year or so. Finally we felt she was old enough to appreciate it and the timing was right. I found a great deal on Fisher Price and got a quality one that we can add sets to. I have been really excited about this and could hardly wait til her birthday. I love giving gifts. She was as excited as I thought she'd be and exclaimed, "A dollhouse!?" I love it. And Sierra of course "helped" dad put it together as well as taste each person and piece of furniture etc.

Bella played for quite a while with everything (as did her sister) until we announced we would watch Nemo with her. We wanted to get a princess movie but personally I think some of the villains are pretty scary for a 3 year old. So we settled on Nemo. B was pretty enraptured by that too and it was fun to have family movie time and be able to enjoy a movie together.

I think her new little Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are her new favorites as they are down in her room right now as she sleeps. But I will rest easy tonight that after putting lots of thoughts and energy into making her feel like a Princess today--I was successful.

Thanks for all the cards and phone calls and gifts! Dave and Rashelle got the perfect Princess card. And "Gi-Gi" with her "Princess" necklace. B also loved the phone message from Grandpa. And requests more. :)

Bella, you are a joy to have in our home. Of course sometimes you are so independent and "I do it" is one of your most common sayings. But you also love to cuddle with your "Mom" and are a great big sister to Sierra. You LOVE animals and will pick up or pet anything that comes your way. You have started saying, "go away" or "I don't want to" as well as "I did it!" and "I love you, Mom" and "I missed you." You are a true three year old. You like to pat Sierra on her head and say in a baby voice with your teeth in a clenched smile,"It's ok Ci-ci. It's ok." If she cries you go to see what's wrong. If she laughs, you want to join in the fun.

You sleep like a champ now in your "big girl bed" and tell mom "I'm a big girl, now." You love princesses and layering your clothes and can be seen wearing many multi-colored outfits that you put together yourself.

You learn a lot from example and Love singing songs. You love music and dancing in general.

You are very tall and gorgeous and are pretty obedient to mom, although sometimes I have to pull out the stern voice or threatenings. Everything is PINK to you. And you love "cute" and "sparkly" things. It's fun to hear you say,"that's cute!" or "Ooooh, I like that" to me when I'm wearing something you haven't seen before. You love my earrings and everything jewelry and are already accumulating quite the stash.

We had a pink, princessy, beautiful day in honor of a girl that is so precious to me and her dad and sister. We love you Bella. You are our beautiful girl, our miracle baby, and we are so glad we can be a forever family with you.

Love,
Your Mom

British Doctors Leave Preemie To Die

Check this story out:
http://www.parentdish.com/2009/09/15/british-doctors-leave-preemie-to-die/

And then tell me what YOU think?!

We're Back!

Ahhhh . . . .

It's good to be back.

We are almost recovered from our vacation. ;)

Although it was a good one. To Utah that is. . .

Except for that part where Sierra got 2nd degree burns on her hands. This picture is before that. At the zoo. Fireplaces are evil. Especially when only the pilot light is on. And they're on ground level. And the hotel doesn't tell you the pilot light is on. And and and . . .

I'd say after this experience I don't want to work in a burn unit.

You know the expression "writhing in pain" ? Well. I never want to see my child do that again.

More later.

Flying with Babies

Picture? You ask. Well, I'll tell you more about that after you finish reading this post.



Well--I love to travel. I love seeing new places. I love smelling new smells. I love it. Most of the time.


I guess it's in my jeans - - - I mean genes - - - since my dad immigrated here from the Switz (aka Switzerland) only about 25 years ago.


Anyhow--I have flown with both my girls 7 times since S's birth. Yep. That's right. I'm now on my 4th trip with the kiddos visiting fam. The other side this time.





They are pretty good travelers as well. They seem to have that same excitement for flying and that adrenaline rush that hits every time the plane takes off. Plus free "spicy juice" aka soda helps as well.





BUT this was my WORST travel experience. NOt because of my girls. They in fact were angels and took turns sleeping on the flights. And B even managed to go potty by herself about 3 times in the teeny airplane toilets.





It was because of THE AIRLINE.





And of course I have NEVER been asked to prove S's age until this last time:





SOUTHWEST.





Hello! She was not even 9 months old. Drooling--in her pjs--with that baby look--sparse hair--can't walk--can't even feed herself very well. And they question me that she's under 2?!! And threaten to make me pay for a child seat for her. While I say "If you know babies you can see she is OBVIOUSLY not 2" (even if you don't know babies it's pretty obvious).


And what does the unpleasant checkout guy say: "Well--the CFA doesn't know babies . . . blah blah blah."


I say "I haven't ever been asked to show ID for her before."


He says: "Well did you fly Southwest?!"


Me: "NO."


He: "Well that's why."








Ok OK. I bow to you Southwest. You are awesome.





Except for the fact that you count carseats as luggage pieces. Unlike Northwest or American or US Airways etc. etc.





So much for 2 free bags per person.





But wait. It didn't stop there.





Not only was the checkin man exasperating but NO one stepped an inch out of their way to let me get by with my stroller as I tried to get my position as A25. Yep--I checked in exactly 24 hours before and got the A group. And people were giving me disapproving glares as I tried to actually get my coveted position. Some men even tried to look over my shoulder at my number on that ticket. I imagined myself in Wild West days giving them a good smack.





This scenario was also repeated on my 2nd flight after my quick layover and the same refusal to move an inch type thing. Really?!





And then when I got down to the bottom of the jetway I guess the 30.6 seconds to one-handedly close up my stroller (I tell you I have flown a lot) was too long for the people behind me to wait (Mrs. A26 and A27 you know who you are) and so they rushed on past bumping into me balancing my diaper bag, portable DVD player, and S while Bells and her Scooby Doo backpack also got their onslaught.





Thanks. Ms. A 26 and Mr. 27. You are real winners.





Ahhhh . . . . . . . . . . . . .

thanks for letting me let it all out.





I must say there was one redeeming thing in that a pilot who was along for the flight carried S out (in her carseat) of the last plane for me. And offered any other help I needed.





You, Mr. Southwest pilot, are a gem. I guess because of you I can grin and bear flying SW again on my return flight in a week.





Until then be well.



Who knows when the next post will be.

I'm having too much fun with the fam and watching this super star (aka my sis) play soccer. She's the goalie if you can't tell.

Oh yes--and you were all right on the three guys in the picture. It was Eric and my two nephews who were too busy playing to stop to pose. ;) Just kidding. We love you guys!