Today was my little Princess Kate's 3rd birthday. I can not believe it's been three years! She loved waking up (unfortunately her excitement woke her at 5:30am) to our living room all decorated in with princess stuff and pink and purple balloons/streamers. I had hoped to do a Tangled theme but that stuff was too expensive. She got a Tangled birthday banner, a few rings and some paper plates. She didn't care, she just loved waking up to the decorations.

After I put her to bed last night, she kept getting out asking, "Am I three yet, mom?" She was so excited for her birthday, and she LOVED having a day all about her.

I'm not going to lie, she didn't care too much about the gifts. She unwrapped them and played with the balloons. She was very appreciative of anything she got though. In fact, I got her tempura paint and a large, heavy roll of butcher paper. When she opened it she excitedly yelled, "Toilet Paper!!! Thanks Mom!!" It made me laugh to think she would have even been happy to receive toilet paper for her birthday.

Word for the wise: DON'T buy the dollar store Barbie knockoffs. We opened the box and the doll fell apart (literally). It was the end of the day, Katie was tired anyway. She opened the box and her eyes welled with tears when, as soon as she held the doll, the arm fell to the ground. We put the arm back on and both legs popped off. That made her cry. DANGIT!!! We did so well, fortunately it did not ruin the day. We were able to distract her, and I think for Christmas we'll try to find a real Barbie, that won't fall apart when she plays with it. I didn't realize this but... Barbie clothes are EXPENSIVE... the cheapest clothes I could find were like 5-10 bucks, for ONE outfit. If anyone knows someone who is trying to get rid of Barbie stuff please, let us know I can get the Barbies at the DI for 1-2 bucks no problem, but I have yet to find clothing for Barbie at the DI.

Yes the Balloons were a favortie of the day. I asked Kate what she wanted for her birthday and all she said was: 1. Cake 2. Balloons.

Kylee wanted the camera... her mean momma

This is just as Katie is collecting her 12 balloons together. She tied them around her waist and asked, "Why am I not floating." Ha ha ha, oops! To the makers of "Up": You have deceived my daughter ;) Ha ha ha, it was CUTE!

What she wanted for breakfast: A cookie. What she got: A banana and toast.. and if she ate that a half of a cookie. Please note: they were super cookies, a half was probably like one normal cookie (does that make me a mean mom? I know it's her birthday but..I can't just let her eat only crap for breakfast)

Tempura paint + Butcher paper = LOT of fun for Katie. My little artistic girl.

We let Kylee try too... but she tried to eat the paint so that didn't last very long

Katie Blowing out her candles

The Cake, my husband made it. He's creative! Katie LOVED it, and that was really what was important. But... she likes sprinkles, she'll lick the frosting but the cake itself she doesn't care for. Why she asks for it, I do not know.

While Jeff worked on this Katie and I played at Seven Peaks. Katie LOVES WATER! So Seven Peaks for her birthday was a great idea (sadly no pictures though, I forgot the camera and my phone went dead :(

Kylee butchering the cake

I know, I should've saved her first cake for her first birthday but... it's in two weeks and she REALLY wanted what everyone else was eating.

Overall the day was a huge success !

Spontaneous mud day!! (Thank goodness I didn't give them a bath before, because I certainly didn't plan it)

I think all kids need some good mud time :)

Yes she is "washing" her tummy with mud.  She loves to rub soap or lotion on to her tummy... she just assumed you do the same thing with mud :)

The cleanup :)

We took a trip to Cal Ranch (my mom told me there were baby chicks and ducklings the girls could look at).  Katie LOVED it... and Kylee was angry I wouldn't let her jump in the enclosure.  Someone must have let their kids touch because... sadly Katie noticed one of the baby ducklings laying motionless.  Yep he was dead :(

  

 Kylee playing with her new favorite toy- a birthday present from Aunt Sheralyn

 I called downstairs for Katie to come up for lunch.  Her response, "I can't I'm very busy wrenching" So... in case you were wondering THIS is "wrenching."

She told me she needed to keep working on it so the bike didn't fall apart :)

 Random fun at home :)

Yep Katie has got some personality for sure.  Nate asked who her favorite princess was and... of course she said, "I am."  I hope that I can teach her how true it really is. She is a princess, we all are... well... all women ;)

Kylee won't walk alone, but she'll haul this around... sometimes pulling it behind her, but she WILL NOT walk without holding on to it.

Life is good!!!!

There are certain things I would like to document before I forget so here it goes...

Kylee took her first steps on June 30th (one day before she hit her 11 month mark). She has done a it a few times since then, but we are still a few months out from actually walking.

We had a FANTASTIC Independence day with my husband's family. They had a big reunion, and i twas so well planned. Katie had a blast,I hardly saw her because there were so many fun things to do. I'm kicking myself right now because I completely forgot the camera but they had a fun bouncy house, fishing (for prizes), snow cones, face painting (Katie refused that one), a cute javelinthrow with water noodles, and a balloon table where Jeff's cousins made balloon characters for the kids. What did Katie ask for? Not a dog, or a flower, or a giraffe, but a SWORD!! Not kidding! At least she requested it to be pink. She is the perfect mix of girly and tomboyish,I think. She is not prissy or afraid to get dirty and play hard, but she still LOVES the color pink and girly things like make-up, nail polish, princess stuff, and dresses.

We were going to watch the firework show in Pleasant Grove with Jeff's extended family, but Kylee was so tired. We decided to go home, buy a few small fireworks and hope that others in the neighborhood had some my kiddos could watch. SMART IDEA!!! I swear, we had a better show in our front yard than we would have in PG. It sure beat waiting 2 hours in the sun to save seats, forcing Kylee to stay up until at least 10:30... and walking a mile anytime Katie needed to use the bathroom. We made the right choice. Our neighbors across the street even shared their sparklers with my kiddos

There was nothing cuter than seeing the excitement in my girls' eyes as they watched the fireworks. They both were so happy. Kylee got SO excited she even took a few unprompted steps (which is HUGE because usually getting her to take steps has required a lot of coaxing).

I LOVE Independence Day!! Seriously one of my many favorite holidays. Well... I love basically all holidays, especially with kids. They make things so much more fun.

Katie is becoming the best little helper. I left the dishwasher open and got side tracked with other things. That sweet girl emptied everything she could, leaving only the dishes she couldn't reach. LOVE HER!!! She is going to make a wonderful mother and wife someday.

Katie and Kylee playing together in her crib

Playing with hair bows

I would also like to point out that I do try and make Katie's hair nice but... it lasts maybe 30 minutes, and then it's over. She loves to play hard... and I don't necessarily want to discourage that. How irritating is it when girls whine they need to be careful not to mess their hair up.

Not my kid... let them have fun and get dirty I say

With the wildfires (I know at one point Utah had at least 10 wildfires going on), the smoke, the ash, and the heat I haven't really wanted to spend a lot of time outside. Yesterday we had the first rain storm we've had in a long time and... we took advantage. We PLAYED in it!!! I remember doing it as a kid, and loving it. My little ones both had a blast and I'm glad Katie convinced me to let her out to "collect rain drops" and then splash in puddles.

Also I wanted to break out Kylee's rain coat and hat that were given to us by the Meltons in our ward (and I'd say 98% of my girls' clothes have come from them as hand-me-downs, it has been SUCH a blessing to not have to buy the girls clothes or shoes). I haven't had the chance break it out and I want to use it before she grows out of it. She looked pretty darn cute, I gotta say

Rain, rain... WE LOVE YOU!!!!

The rainstorm was concluded by a pretty amazing rainbow (sorry the pictures do not do it justice). I'm actually glad Katie got out of bed, found it and showed it to her momma. I love rainy days, I love the smells and... just everything about the rain, especially in a drought. We're grateful for any moisture we get.