Two and a half no longer......

If you asked Samantha how old she was, the answer was always 2 in a half. Now she can finally round up to 3!  We celebrated by going to California (remember how Madilynn got a car seat for her birthday.....we are equal gifters around here).  We met my parents and sister in Anaheim.  Chris just happened upon this awesome restaurant called 50/50 near Huntington Beach.  They serve hamburgers that are 50% ground beef and 50% ground bacon.  mmmm. Yes please.

They had bacon salt, baconaise, and bacon brownies.  

Dig in birthday girl.  

Sam is my sun lover.  She doesn't care how hot it is outside she will go and lay on the grass and just absorb the warmth.  

She has a few "things" over which she is very possessive.  This shopping cart is one of them.  It is always full of her stuff, most of which she never touches, but if madi even looks at it she gets told, "no, no Madi." 

Sam loves her dad.  She especially loves it when she gets time alone to play with him.  Here they are playing house.  It melted my heart.  She gets 100% more excited to do something if I tell her Chris will be involved.  

At bedtime we have created a Stella character that does many of the things that Samantha does.  If Chris is gone too much, I start to see a pattern of Sam telling me that I can't include Stella's Daddy in the stories.  Chris does whatever he can to bring the Daddy back in when he gets to be the story-teller.

She loves to draw and paint, although most of the time it is her telling me what to paint while she watches.
Her favorite color is green.

(this was her first attempt at a person.  Mine is the orange, hers is the blue)

(she often requests sesame characters.  I am the worst artist ever)

She has mastered the tricycle but doesn't like to go on bike rides, probably because she has to peddle 100 times to even get down the street!  She is kind enough to bring her baby everywhere she goes.

She loves the pool.  Give her some floaties and she is golden.

One of our favorite weekly activities is going to Mr. Eddie story time at the library.  This was the day they were singing to the kids with April birthdays.  She is on the far right.

She has the best bedhead around and she is always willing to help me scrub the toilets.

Here is Dr. Telly, the best vet to all the Little Pet shop pets

Her 3 year old stats:

31 lbs (5th0 percentile)

38 inches (75th percentile)

Her favorite things to do:

-dance to "her" station on Pandora.  She has some serious signature moves

-watch Daniel Tiger

-puzzles

-sticker books

-swing at the park

-play don't eat pete (with m&ms)

-play with her little people

-read books (she loves to memorize them and read to us)

Her favorite snacks/treats:
-chocolate chip granola bars
-yogurt
-pirate booty
-hummus and pretzels
-anything chocolate

She hates:
-getting wet. If even one drop of milk gets on her shirt at lunch, its over.  She must change.
--having anything on her fingers like food or finger paint
-being told what to do/being told no
-a ripped sticker.  Once it isn't whole, she wants nothing to do with it
-getting her hair washed/brushed/styled

Some funny things she says:

-"did you never" instead of have you ever

-"sinster" instead of sister

-"oh hi sweetie" to Madi each morning

-Today at the park she asked me how tall she was.  I told her about 3 1/2 ft to which she replied, "What? no mom.  I only have 2 feet."
-She is very complementary. "I like your shoes, your hair is cute, you are so handsome daddy...."
-she is very thoughtful.  She is always remember to bless people in her prayers who need help.
-When she gets hurt she says, "will it heal?"

-"Mom, I have a great idea" then "Is that a great idea mom?"
-Anything from Daniel Tiger including: "Thank you for everything you do, If you have to go potty, stop and go right away, saying I'm sorry is the first step then how can I help." She can bust into a Daniel Tiger song at anytime and think of one that applies to almost any situation!
-"if you say no mommy than I can't, but if you say yes, than I can.  So, can i mommy?"
-She has a way of talking where she puts both of her hands about neck high and tilts her head and bobs back and forth while she is excited to tell you something.  I love it.

Happy third birthday to our stubborn, independent, impatient,fun-loving, exuberant, happy, sweet, thoughtful girl.

Easter Festivities

We headed to AJ's Fine Foods for their annual egg hunt that they have inside the store.

 The kiddos all ready to hunt for eggs hidden in produce section! 

After the hunt was over they had sugar cookies that the kids could frost and put huge sprinkles on.  

Sam ate every single bite.

 These babes were good sports and cute as can be.

  On Easter Morning Madi ate her cereal in style, wearing Samantha's new swimming goggles.

 After church I bribed the girls with some cheese so that I could take a picture of them in the cute dresses their Grandma Hatty made for them.  (As if Sam needs any more cheese in her life)

We also got to introduce the girls (well Sam anyway, Madi needed a nap!) to coloring hard boiled eggs.  I don't know who had more fun Chris or Samantha.  We ate some dinner and then had a egg hunt in the back yard.  Samantha loved every minute of it and was very excited to break into the chocolate.  Madi kept bringing me candy wanting me to open it.  With her sly little grin it was really hard to say no after her third one.