Grant turned 3!!

We can hardly believe our cute little boy is 3.  His birthday was June 18th and all we wanted was for him to get his own special day, without little brother coming... well, he got it!  We even stretched it out over a few days and kept celebrating.  The night before, he helped us make his rainbow cake and then he licked all the bowls clean.

The morning of his birthday, he came into our room and we said, "Grant, do you remember what today is?  It's your birthday!  It's June 18th!!"  He was so excited!  "Oh, yes!  It's my birthday!  It's my birthday!"

We took him to Liberty Market (where you can eat free on your birthday) for breakfast and he chose the giant blueberry pancakes.  He actually ate most of them. 

Right there in downtown Gilbert, there's a fun splash pad that we stopped by.  No swimsuit, but who needs one when you look so cute in undies?

He thought this was pretty funny.

For dinner, we took Grant to Joe's Farm Grill.  This is a fun, family friendly diner that uses ingredients straight from their farm out back.  The best part is, they also give a free meal on your birthday.  Guess what Grant chose to eat??

Before we headed for the drive-in movies, we had cake and ice cream, just the 3 of us.

And he opened a few presents.  He is really into art stuff, so he loved his 89 cent water color set and pad of paper.  He also loved his Kinex from Grandma, giant coloring book and water gun from Mom and Dad.

On Monday, Will stayed home from work to help with a party for seven 3-year-olds.  They had a blast playing on the slip and slide, especially with Will throwing them across it (I wish I tool pictures of that).

They did the waterballoon splat and blanket toss.  Mostly, they just wanted to throw balloons at each other.

Grant opened more presents and we ate more (of the same) cake. 

A very fun day.  It's a big deal to be 3!!

Just waiting....

Do you ever feel like you just might burst?  Maybe burst with joy or laughter?  Maybe burst after a great Thanksgiving meal?  Perhaps you have felt like you wanted to burst someone's bubble or burst because you have such a great secret to share....

At 33 weeks (pictured above), I did not have that feeling.

At 39 weeks (pictured here with a few different zoom angles), I kinda started getting that feeling.  Now that I am 40 weeks, I AM GOING TO BURST.  I NEED TO GET THIS BABY OUT BEFORE I LITERALLY BURST THROUGH MY OWN SKIN.  Any tips are greatly appreciated.  So far, I have had massages, reflexology, evening primrose, vitam B-12, spicy food, lots of walking, hypnotherapy, relaxation, gym time, some old fashion things I won't mention and a visit to the mid-wife to get things stirred up.  So, any tips besides those things are welcomed.  Oh, and I didn't post the 40 week picture because it was too big to fit on the screen.

Another year of marriage

On June 1st, Will and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.  The typical gift for this year is flowers.  So, Will bought me a beautiful bouquet of my favorite kind: gerber daisies!  He's so sweet.

But it just so happened that on our way to dinner, we stopped by the car dealership just to browse a little more.  Honestly, we had been looking for a second vehicle for a few months.  After much research and several spread sheets, fact comparisons, consumer reports and just plain logical thinking, we decided on....

A very practical car... who wouldn't want a minivan when you have (almost) 2 kids??

We WOULDN'!  And we NEVER will.  We settled on a mini... a Mini Cooper!!

Of course Grant is just as happy about this purchase as we are.  He thinks it's a toy.  Ok, it kind of is.  But we love it!  I love that we can drive 500 miles without filling up!  Will loves that it's so comfortable and incredibly unlike him to drive such a car.  I had nothing to do with this "little" anniversary gift.

But I'm not complaining at all.

Camping with friends

 Over Memorial Day weekend, we went camping with our friends, including Grant's best bud, Bryce.  These 2 have loved playing together ever since I started having Bryce's mom watch Grant one day a week, while I worked.  Too bad we didn't take pictures of them in the water... they were hilarious.  We had a stream right by our camp site that was irresistible for those 2.

   

 

 Grant played really hard, got a few bumps and had lots of fun.  No wonder he crashed 30 seconds after we started driving away.

Grant's behavior

 I've read about it in child development books.  I've heard it from helath care providers.  I've received many warnings from friends and family about the "behavior problems" that creep up right before the birth of baby #2.  Well... I'm still waiting.  Grant has actually become more loving, more helpful and more grown up lately.  He even started saying "I love you, Mom," which he has NEVER done before.  I think he hears his little friend say it to his mom.  Whatever the reason, both Will and I are continually grateful that we have this guy in our lives.

Did I mention he still takes 3 hour naps every day??  We are spoiled parents...

Easter

Yes... I am still catching up.  I know Easter happened in April and I know this is now mid-June.  Anyway, because the Magelby reunion was right before Easter Sunday, we had the treat of Will's parents, Mike, Bri, Celia and Linda sticking around to celebrate with us.  Grant and Celia woke up to an Easter egg hunt around the house.  Most candy did not have to be "hunted" for, so Grant was a little confused as to why we threw candy all over the house. 

Still gathering...  in fact, 3 weeks later, he found a candy egg on top of a picture frame.

Celia and Grant in their Easter outfits.  Totally cute, right?

We had a good time and Grant can't wait for the next time he gets to visit cousin Celia (and Uncle Mike).