Dress- Up

So, my Daphne is the official Dress-Up Diva. Although she has gotten a little more moderate about things, she still loves her some frilly dress-up time. So, this post really isn't all that surprising if you are thinking about her.

And in all truthfulness, Isaac spent much of his life as a three year old with his batman blanket tied around his neck for a cape, my big knee-length brown boots on up to his thighs, holding the lid to his hamper for a shield, all while wielding a sword and calling himseld Captain Meeroni. So, although it's been a few years, we knew he had it in him!

They watched "Shark Boy and Lava Girl" last month. It was deeply inspiring, to say the least.

Isaac concocted this Fiery Wizard costume (pretty clever, we thought): Tori joined in on the fun:

And Daphne was Lava Girl:

Messy Girl, Clean Girl

So, remember how I said I had the hang of parenting with my third child? Okay, well maybe I overstated that a tad bit. The truth is, I had kind of forgotten what it is like to have a two year old. This realization hits me at least once a day, and I find myself saying, "Is it really necessary for you to be two all day long?" Anyway, I'm trying to enjoy the moment more this go-round, so I am stopping to take pictures of messes that used to make me scream like a banchee.
This is just Tori making funny faces after dinner- she's really not that messy here. This is pretty much your average mealtime. One of the most significant ways I have forgotten how to deal with a 2 year old is the reach factor. I forget (multiple times a week) that her reach increases every. single. day. I have to push things further and further back on the counter. And even if I remember this fact, there is no guarantee that the older children remember. So during the course of 36 hours, Tori dumped a bottle of mouthwash on the floor, Daphne dumped about 3 lbs. of sugar on the floor, Isaac dumped 1/2 a gallon of milk down the side of the kitchen cabinets and onto the floor and then, Tori dumped an entire bottle of Miralax on the floor.

And then proceeded to skate around on it.

Since two years old is such a messy time, every single day ends with:

A Bath!

Daddy is typically in charge of bath time, so he makes it a lot more fun and less business-like than Mommy. He wasn't cleaning the floor all day, so he usually has a little more patience for funny hairstyles and silly faces.

Good thing she's so cute!

Sisters

My sweet girls have become such good friends over the past year. I swear my heart grows in my chest just thinking about how close they have become over the past few months. Daphne has learned how to be kind and gentle in teaching Victoria (most of the time) and Tori has learned that Daphne is her buddy! I love, love, love watching them together!

They spent a lot of June just running-- (that's how Tori got that yucky scrape on her face that you noticed in my last post)

Okay, so it's not always smiles and laughter, but even this part can be enjoyable some days. It's amazing how much patience you gain from your first two children- I feel like I am really starting to get the hang of this! (Or maybe Tori's just a little easier- I don't know!) Maybe we should have more- or maybe we should quit while we're ahead!

Either way, I am so blessed to be their mom!

Work Party!

Matt's office has a party every summer... even though he's been with the DOD for three years now, we always missed the party. The first summer, I think they had the party the day after my C- section when Victoria was born, so I wasn't exactly in any condition to be at a party. The next year, we were in Europe and went to his work party there at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart!
This party involved lots of contests for the employees... so Matt got to get all competitive... He did great for his part of the relays:

While Dad was off strategizing and competing, we were having fun at the splash pad:

The playground:

And the bouncer:

Tori and Daphne were running on the sidewalk earlier that week and she fell and scraped her lip... bummer!

Familia

Even though we had a blast filling our bellies with Texas food, the real treat was getting to see our family! We miss being near them and loved seeing all of their faces again!
Daphne warmed right up to Mema Martin, jumping right in her lap and telling her all about life! I loved seeing all the cousins together- I so wish it were easier to have outings like this one!

We also got to visit with Heidi-Bob, who was my second mom during much of my crazy teenage years... sorry abotu all the drama, Heidi! Anyway, Heidi will always be like family to us- she is such a wonderful woman and I wish we could have seen her more than once. Thanks for having us, Heidi!

We were able to spend some time with Grandpa Sisco, too:

Here we are just before services at Grace Bible Church:

One with GiGi!- we had so much fun seeing my mom every day. She was so gracious to our crazy family. Thanks Mom! We miss you so much and can't wait to see you again!

Tori's Birthday Part 2...

Unfortunately, in addition to all the fun presents, Victoria got a cold for her birthday. So, by the time we got back home to celebrate her birthday with our Utah family, she was feeling pretty miserable. You'll notice a distinct lack of smiling in the following pics. :(

Matt's parents bought Victoria a tricycle, with an adorable helmet:

Marsha got a delicious cake from Mrs. Backer's:

Licking the candles off was always one of my favorite parts of the birthday event:

Matt's brother, Jude, and my niece, Sydney, helped me get a few smiles of our birthday girl!

It was rainy in Utah that day, but we got to come out of the house and see this beautiful rainbow,

in honor of Tori's birthday! Gorgeous!

Victoria Turns Two!!!

We were blessed to be able to celebrate Victoria's 2nd Birthday while we were in Texas with our family in June!
My gracious sister was so great and allowed us to have a pool party at her house for the special day!
Here's Tori in her new swim suit: Although my other kids couldn't get enough of the pool... Victoria wasn't a big fan. We were lucky to get a few pics of her actually in the water:

My cousin, Kaitlyn let us borrow her baby float for a few minutes:

And my amazing Mom made a delicious cake for Tori... that Texas heat was a little much though, it started melting!

I guess Victoria takes after her Mommy... she seemed to prefer the Blue Bell to the cake!

Everyone was so sweet to bring her perfect travel-appropriate gifts. Here she is opening a present from Carole's son, Hunter.

(Poor Jillian (left) had a hard time not being able to open presents, too. You would think that it would occur to the Preschool teacher to give Jillian her goody bag at this point, but I wasn't that clever.) Perfect gift for a girl!

And a purse- which is appropriate since Tori is all about the accessories. When she plays dress up, she usually shuns the dresses and opts for only the purses, necklaces and shoes!

Here's my sweet niece, Samantha, enjoying the party!

Tori and me with Jillian

One of my favorite parts of this day was watching Tori run around playing with the balloons and her cousins. After the presents and cake, she would just walk up to me periodically with a big grin and say, "Happy!"

Happy Birthday, sweet Victoria! We are so blessed to have you in our family. I don't know what we would be without you. We have loved every minute God has given us with you and are anxious to see the rest of His plan unfold for you!