Shae turned 3

Shae's 3rd birthday was weeks ago.  

I came across some past pics of her and it made me realize how much she has grown up!

The first time I layed eyes on this baby girl, I was overwhelmed with feelings of intense love and protection.  Right after she was born, I held her for a few minutes, then the nurse took her from me to wash her and wrap her up.  I remember watching her being bathed just a few feet from me and feeling like she was too far away from me.  I needed to hold her and soothe her cries.  Even though her face was pretty beat up from the journey into this world, I thought she looked so beautiful and dainty.  She still has that red strawberry on her forehead.  It is very faded now, but if flares up when she is mad!  

Shae's blessing day.  

I think this is the only picture I have of her in her dress not crying; 

she was so grumpy that day!

Spreadin the love, just a few months old

 

Learning to crawl and feeling pretty proud of herself

1 Year Old

 2 Years Old

3 Years Old

for her 3rd bday, we had a swim party and cupcakes at my parents' house

 No better way to end a fun day of swimming and partying than to chill with the cousins on Grandma and Grandpa's bed watching a movie

My little Summer Fairy.  

Shae took a ballet class this summer.  Whenever it was time to go, she would throw a fit and beg me not to take her, but then when we'd get there and she saw all the other little girls, she'd cheer right up and have a blast.  She was so mad at me for putting her hair in a bun for this recital; she thought she looked like a boy!  I never saw a boy look this precious.

I love you my crazy Shae bird!  Don't grow up too fast.

CA part 3; D-land

The big man himself!

Entering the park on our "Magic Morning" day.  We got to go in a whole hour early to beat the crowds.  It was so nice.  The girls were so excited!

This ride averaged a 3 hour wait (what in the world!?), so we booked it over there first thing and only had to wait 30 min.

waiting in line for Pixie Hollow

Silvermist

Tinkerbell and Vidia

The Mad Hatter

Alice In Wonderland

Happiness

The Teacups

The Sword in the Stone.  

We watched this movie on the long drive over, 

so they were super excited to have their try at removing the sword.

Come on Hailey, you can do it!

That thing is really stuck in there!

Maybe with sister's help.... nope.

If Joel can't pull it out, NO ONE can!

Jessie and Woody

Meeting Minnie Mouse.  

Hailey bought one of those autograph books and had a good time getting all the characters to sign it.  JoLynn and Shae got bored of standing in line to meet them, but Hailey was on a mission!

waiting for the bus....  take us home.

CA part 2; Disneyland

 Me and my girls at the happiest place on earth!  

(I think Shae was in the middle of a sneeze. ha,ha,ha!!!  We made her wear a "child leash" due to her ability to dash off and disappear into a crowd faster than the speed of light)

 My native boyfriend on Main street

(his walking stick is getting some action)

 Me and The Bird waiting in line for Peter Pan, one of my favorite rides!

 Hailey and JoLynn on their first ride (Peter Pan).  

Even though they were nervous they wanted to go on all the rides together (not with mom or dad).

I'm so glad they find friendship and comfort in each other.  That's what sisters are for! 

  

Ok, so this was the funniest/saddest part of the whole trip.  

We were watching a parade with all the Incredibles, and they stopped right in front of us and picked kids to come up and join them in "Super hero training".  JoLynn got picked.  She really wanted to do it, but remember those thigh blisters she got at the beach?  She was having a rough time all day and had to gingerly walk a certain way so her thighs didn't rub together (which by the way looked hilarious!) She was in so much pain and was trying so hard to be brave in front of all those strangers watching her, but the Super heros were challenging the kids to run fast, jump high, kick hard, and other feats of strength that were difficult for her to do in her "condition".  I'm sure no one else noticed, but as a mother, you can read discomfort, embarrassment, suffering, and humiliation on your own kid's face like a book.  Poor JoLynn!  She was a good sport about it though and made it through.

JoLynn stretching those muscles with Frozone

Getting ready to do a high kick.... ouch

JoLynn lifting 1,000 pounds.  Whoa!!!!

Showing off the pure muscles ripped from that work out.

CA part 1; The BEACH

We took a family vacation to California last week.  

It was loads of fun!  (And by "fun" I mean exhausting)

  

The first day we were there we went to Huntington beach.  Hailey spent the day collecting over 300 sea shells.  She was in mermaid heaven.  JoLynn spent the day splashing in the ice cold water and developing peach-sized blisters on her inner thighs from her chafing swim shorts (what can I say, she inherited my thighs).  Poor girl - I felt SO bad for her,  knowing we were going to spend the next 3 days walking around Disneyland, and every step would bring her searing pain.

But other than that, the beach really was fun.  The weather was beautiful and it was nice just sitting around soaking up the sun and watching our girls have a blast.

Joel teaching JoLynn the science of a perfect sand castle

The ocean!

Shae didn't love the cold water.  She spent most of the time under the umbrella eating snacks and playing in the sand.  Which was fine with me.  I was having nightmares of her wandering off into the water and being swept away by the waves before we noticed she was gone.  That girl is known for her craft in slipping away when you take your eyes off her for a split second.  So I was relieved to have her safe and happy in the shade.

Hailey has been dreaming of going to the beach for years.  That morning as we were getting ready to go, she kept saying, "I can't believe my dreams are finally going to come true today!" 

She was pretty excited.

Me and my Man

JoLynn being JoLynn

My 3 beach beauties

Shae's favorite part of the trip was talking on the phone in the hotel.  Who knows who she was talking to.  I finally just unplugged the jack to avoid her calling Japan.  But she didn't know the difference, and that was the first thing she ran to each time we got back to the hotel.  Goofy kid!