Easter!!

 We actually decorated eggs this year in February….we got bored….so we didn't have to do it in April! We even went down to the Chevron and got a Cadbury egg:)

 Cupcakes with Audrey…..I was proud of myself for being domestic

 The big egg hunt with the neighborhood, it actually fell on my birthday:)

 Easter dresses….I was just glad that Stella agreed to wear her Easter dress (instead of a princess gown)

cute Billie pics

Her poop prize:)

For months this Elsa dress hung on the wall…. finally she earned it by pooping in the potty.  This very stubborn girl chose to poop in her pull-up for 4 or 5 months.  She wore underwear until she needed to poop and then would ask for a pull-up and the iPad.  (she would watch the iPad while she pooped in her pull-up, usually resorting to the privacy of her room)  Finally one day after becoming very tired of this routine, I put the potty in her room and the iPad next to it.  She threw a huge fit when I told her I had no more diapers or pull-ups.  Well she  decided on her own to go to her room and use the toilet.  She trained herself!!

Potty Training Finally begun....

 Stella took a funny turn with potty training.....Everyone said she would revert when the new baby came....She never seemed ready before Billie arrived so I waited till after her arrival.  Then Stella was insistent that she was a "little kid." She did not want to be a "big kid" because she new what that meant.  In fact we had told her over and over before she turned 3 that "when you are 3 you are going to pee pee in the potty."  So after her birthday if you asked her how old she was, she would either say "two" or "I don't want to talk about it."  She did not want to have anything to do with the potty.

 Finally one day after throwing a sopping wet diaper across the room I think she got a little frightened....I also offered to throw her a "potty party" Well she really like that idea so that is what got it started....We had candy and told everyone it was her potty party, we even took her potty to the park!  She got potty prizes, and she was peeing 3x an hour!  My prizes got out of hand when I started giving her princess dresses because she didn't want the dollar store prizes I was offering.  Brent was appalled when I gave her a princess dress for a prize... looking back I'm not sure what I was thinking.  I couln't possibly to a dress every time she peed.  So slowly the potty prizes came to an end....

She did great with the pee pee, but it took her about 5 more months to go poo poo in the potty.   She had a big fear of pooping on that potty.  A princess "poo poo" prize hung on the wall mocking her for a very long time.....  Just a couple of days ago she actually started doing the #2.

Billies Blessing Day

We celebrated Billie's blessing September 22, 2013 at Kay and Julee's home.  We decided to keep it small and invited a few friends and our immediate family.  It was really special to have it there.  My parents came down for Stella's birthday party and Billie's blessing... thanks to them I was able to pull it off.  We had a potato bar and mom's famous apple crisp.  Mom sewed Billie's blessing dress, I loved it.  It was a very special day for our family.

The Ultimate Princess Party!

 The most beautiful Rapunzel cake, thx to Kavina!!

 Mom bought us all pizza, thx so much!!

It was a windy September afternoon, but we still had a great time... mom, dad and russ were all here to help me get ready.  The next day we did Billie's blessing, so it was a big weekend!

3 year old cuteness

 She is obsessed with a youtube show," Mindy's hairstyles"  Here she is demonstrating:)

 Best friends:)

 Discovery gateway museum

She found her Blessing dress, had to revisit it.....almost fit!

Newborn shoot....

 This picture made the whole shoot worth it.....Billie was awake for most of the session so she wasnt real "moldable." Stella had a great time dressing up of course, her outfit was of her own design....