Father's Day and 3 year check-up

We spent Father's Day weekend at the lake and had a great time.  Handley was excited to give Robby his gift and the picture she made for him.  She even sang "Happy Father's Day" to the tune of Happy Birthday.  Harper got to have her first ride on the tube and loved it!  

Today was Handley's 3 year check-up.  She gained 5 lbs and grew 3 inches in 1 year!  She did great and was so excited about going to the doctor.  She also was happy when she found out she was getting a shot.  That is how much she loves band-aides.  

Here are her stats: 

height- 38.5 inches (75th percentile)  

weight- 31 pounds (75th percentile) 

When we left she got to get a token to use in the prize machine and chose a bouncy ball as her treat.  She carried it around with her for the rest of the afternoon and was so proud of her band-aide too.  She's having a sleep over with Gigi and Papa tonight. When we got there to drop her off Harper and I stayed around to play and visit for a little bit.  Handley came up to me after about 30 mins. and asked me why I wasn't going home.  She told me she liked it best when it was just she and Gigi.  I guess that was my cue to leave. Ha!  

Happy Birthday Handley!

Today is Handley's 3rd birthday!  She was so excited about her real birthday that this morning I was awoken to sounds of her singing "Happy Birthday" to herself through her monitor.  When I offered her a cupcake at breakfast, she turned it down and said she wanted to save it for her party.  Too bad her party was a week and 1/2 ago!  

We had a fun filled day.  This morning we went up to Alpharetta to meet Gigi at Northpoint Mall.  We rode the train, checked out the indoor play area, and rode on the carousel.  Out of all of those fun things Handley's favorite activity of the day was going up and down the glass elevator and getting to see everyone down below.  

After lunch, including ice-cream with sprinkles, we headed home and both girls took naps on the ride to our side of town.

This evening we had a girls dinner (plus Dylan) with our friends Tiara, Avery, Dylan, and Jen.  All of our husbands were out of town or busy with other stuff so we headed to a local Mexican place for some fun.  The older girls had fun throwing pennies in the fountain. I thought it was a great distraction for them until I looked over and saw Handley's entire face in the fountain.  Ha! Harper hoped to join in their fun and Dylan stayed busy trying all sorts of new Mexican food.  After dinner a few of the waiters sang "Happy Birthday" to her, gave us a delicious birthday dessert and even had a big sombrero for her to wear.  It was the perfect way to end her birthday celebration.   

A few interesting facts about Handley.  At 3 years old she: 

• loves playing with her baby dolls and is very attentive to them.
• has an amazing imagination.  She is constantly packing her bags to go to someone's house, a party, the airport, park, or store.
• likes to boss Harper around (in a sweet way) and make her a part of the elaborate scenes she creates. 
• makes up all kinds of words and names for her imaginary friends and thinks it's hilarious."Shoo-sha, Amberger, and Gojuwa" were a few I heard today.
  
• enjoys playing with dress-up clothes and has a strong preference about what she wears each day, including shoes and accessories. 
• asks me each night before she goes to bed, "what are we going to do tomorrow?" and if I say something about being at home she'll ask, "but where are we going in our car?"  She loves to be on the go!
• loves her baby sister and is a little mommy to her
• can recognize all letters and can write the first 3 letters in her name.
• needs to be read at least 2 books, be told a story, sung a song and have her back rubbed (in that order) when we put her to bed.
• still loves her Be-Be(blankie) and Lambies, but will agree to leave them at home when we go places or just bring along 1 Lambie to stay in the car. 
• is very particular and loves routine. 
• is my little assistant and helps with chores around the house, likes to help me clean, and thinks it's fun when I give her "jobs" to do. 
• has an obsession with band-aides.
• loves her friends and generally plays very well with each of them. 
• has the kindest heart, genuinely cares for other people, and is eager to please.

Happy 3rd Birthday Handley!!!  We love you!!!

Little Stinker

We've enjoyed the past two days at the pool and despite my best efforts to plaster the girls in sunscreen, their tan legs and arms against their white little hineys are proof that we have been spending lots of time there.  I'm seriously amazed by the difference in Handley.  Yesterday during her last swim lesson she was getting toys off the bottom of the pool and today was begging me to help her swim with her floaties off so she could get dive toys, touch the bottom of the pool and do "froggie jumps" and swim to the wall by herself.  What a difference a few weeks makes.  

This evening while the girls were playing after dinner and I was trying to clean up a little.  Handley came running to get me and said, "Mommy, come and see. You won't believe what Harper is doing."  When I followed her I found Harper in their bathroom doing her new favorite thing.  She is obsessed with standing in the step-stool, opening the drawer, and playing with the hair clips and rubber bands that are in there.  She likes to sneak away every chance she gets to do this.  Every time I sneak up on her she'll look at me innocently, hold a clip up to her head and say, "bow" (what she calls bows or hair clips).  

As I was cleaning up the clips off the floor and counter and trying to distract Harper with another activity Handley just smiled and said, "She sure is a little stinker" (Handley's new favorite line anytime Harper does something she probably shouldn't) and she was so right.  She is a little stinker and love her for it. 

A special dinner and the lake

We had a really great weekend.  After Handley's swim lessons (be sure to read the post below too see how GREAT she is doing) I rushed home to get dressed for a special dinner.  About 6 months ago Robby was promoted and is now the Vice President of Real Estate, Engineering, and Construction for Racetrac Petroleum.  Friday they had a dinner party honoring him and 3 other guys that were also recently promoted to Vice Presidents.  The invitation said they would be honoring "The FAB FOUR," but it wasn't until we got there that I knew exactly that that would mean.  

The evening was centered around the four guys and every detail was planned perfectly.  There were posters and t-shirts depicting the guys as the Beatles and it was such a fun evening with a live band, dancing, dinner, and a special performance.  I can't go into details or Robby would shut down the blog all together. :-) I am SO proud of him and all his hard work.  It was a great celebration and a big thanks to Gigi and Papa for keeping the girls.  

After getting in late and sleeping off a bad migraine I got during the party we woke up early Saturday morning to head to the lake.  It was a beautiful weekend and the weather was perfect.  We spent lots of time tubing, surfing, wake-boarding, swimming (Handley loved showing off her new skills) and playing at some beaches.  I didn't take one picture because I was just enjoying a fabulous weekend with our family.  Gigi and Papa were able to be up there with us too so they came over for dinner on Saturday night and got to watch Harper eat her first corn on the cob. 

After a back-of-the-car picnic at Arby's on the way home and a finally making it here way past bedtime, both girls were still in great spirits.  The evening ended with them kissing each other good night over and over.  Harper's favorite phrase at bedtime is "one more" and she is usually referring to books.  However tonight it was "one more" kiss from Handley that she wanted.  They just couldn't get any sweeter. 

Swim Lessons - Update

Handley has done a complete 180 at swim lessons.  It only took the 8th or 9th day of her lessons for it to finally click, but she is finally having fun and showing so much improvement.  The first week and a half of her lessons she spent crying, whimpering, and saying she didn't want to do it.  

A few times I contemplated not continuing on with her lessons, but I'm so happy I did.  On Thursday and Friday she was mostly all smiles and was so excited and proud of herself for putting her face in the water, floating all by herself, and being able to do a few "scoops" to the steps and to the side of the pool.  Tomorrow is her last day, but I'm excited with the progress she has made and know that now she has the confidence we'll be able to continue working with her all summer. 

Below is a video of some of the things she is doing during her swim lessons. 

And she tries to give Harper "swim lessons" every chance she gets.  Harper is actually pretty good and mimicking what she tells her to do and if you listen close enough you can hear her saying "scoop, scoop" and blowing her bubbles.  HA!

Camp

Handley is doing two camps this summer.  One is at the church where her pre-school is and this week she's doing one at the church where Avery goes to pre-school.  Each is a few mornings a week.  She was so excited when she woke up this morning because she knew that she got to go to Avery's school and be in the same class with her.  The car ride there was filled with a ton of questions and lots of squeals.  She walked right in without looking back and when I picked her up a few hours later she was all smiles.  She said they had played, read books, sang a song, and had lots of fun.  Avery rode home with us and we made a quick stop by Chick-fil-a for lunch.  The big girls were happy to see the COW, give him high fives, and get a pictures with him.  Harper wasn't so sure about him, but she's still in the pictures. 

Handley's 3rd Birthday Party

We celebrated Handley's 3rd birthday a few days early yesterday. We had a combined birthday party with her BFF, Avery.  It was a big birthday bash at the pool and everyone had so much fun.  The weather was beautiful and every family seemed to have a blast.  

It was hard to keep Handley out of the pool.  She had so much fun swimming with all of her friends.  Harper was a little overwhelmed by everyone, but warmed up at the end and had fun splashing around too.  

After the party we came home so Handley could open up all of her gifts.  She got some really great stuff and we've been spending lots of time today enjoying all the new things!