Mabel 2 year stats

She is 34 inches tall (75%) and weighed in at 29 lbs even (75%)!  I am proud to say that she is well out of the 90% category and the doctor said she is "perfectly proportional"!!  She is ahead of the game in verbal and physical milestones and wore underwear today for almost 2 hours.  She's on her way to driving and rebelling!  Way to go Mabes!

Happy Birthday Sweet Mabel!!!!!

Wow, we can't believe she's 2!  

As usual, I took a picture of her 1st thing (I do it every birthday because I like to remember what they looked like in their beds) 

and after a hug from her big brother 

and a crackly morning voice rendition of Happy Birthday, she made her way out to her presents! She would have had no idea except her brother and sister guided her to the loot.

Her new, bigger than life, puppy!

She heard barking from this bag so it peaked her curiosity!

And it was one of her favorite presents!  A dog she can walk because it's on wheels with a leash!

Mabel loves donuts so she got them for her birthday breakfast!

We spent the morning hanging out with Jack and Annie (who came over to sing and eat with us) playing with new toys!

After a LONG nap we hung out in the front yard!  The ice cream truck came before dinner and because it was her birthday the kids got to eat it before dinner.

 "I'd like a push pop please"

And yes, she's still in her PJ's!  That's how mellow and great our day was!

Eating on the front lawn!

Our new Xmas trees make the outdoor decor complete!  Thanks Oma!

 

On a side note, Miss Mabel went #2 on the potty and not just by chance, told me she had to go and went.  If you're keeping tabs, that's about 4 months before Amelia and maybe 2 years before J :)  She has her 2 year check up tomorrow so I'm curious to see where she is in the % categories!  

Mabel's Puppy Party

Mabel LOVEd her puppy party!!!!!  As soon as she figured out there were puppies in the crates, she was all over it.  Here she is waiting for them to come out.

Pupcakes!

I bought and turned a cardboard house into Mabel's doghouse for the kids to color while they waited to get their puppy time.

I had puppy snacks for the kids and each party goer had their personalized cup so they wouldn't lose them.

Maybe the treats looked a little too "puppy" like because I was asked many times if the food was for the kids :)

Mabel waited patiently for the green light to get in with the pups. 

Once in, she was never out more than a few minutes.  The dog breeder was very nice and let the birthday girl in and out the whole time.

HEAVEN!

Mabel was lucky to have lots of friends and family there!

Hope you wished for another wonderful year!  We love you sweet girl!

She watched every last puppy get put away and cried when they left :(  

But, she has this to look forward to in the morning!  We didn't get to open a single present because the kids played outside until bath and bed time.  

Getting ready for Christmas

It's been a little while since I've updated because I've been running around with my head cut off.  Family, Christmas shopping, school, girls weekend, getting ready for Mabel's birthday party, etc.  Yikes.  December is ALWAYS a busy month!!!!  

We wrote our letters to Santa!  Well, tried anyway!  Jeremy got "Dear Santa, I would like a remote control fighter jet" and then he lost motivation.  I dotted "Dear Santa" for Amelia to trace and then she was done but she looked cute writing it!

I couldn't get much more done because Mabel was up to no good!  She scooted the kitchen table chair to the front door and tried to open it.

She unloaded the books onto the floor!  

Miss Trouble

"Pillow World" was invented last week.  The kids take ALL the pillows off the couch and play in them.  That itself takes a long time to clean up!

We decorated the house, put up our tree and went to Home Depot to pick out the kids "Charlie Brown" tree for their ornaments!  

Finished!

Jeremy asked last year if he could go on the roof with daddy but we told him he was too little!  Well this year, he got to help!

Done!

ps...runway for Santa is the random stuff in the middle.  Well done Daddy!

Oh yeah, Polar Express is back!!!!!  The kids favorite movie!  Cuddle time with dad!

Auntie Jacqui and kids got here and we've had LOTS of cousin time.  We've also had LOTS of "Mabel, no pushing! Benny, stop hitting" time!  Amelia and Jett are AMAZING together and Jeremy loves having a boy around.

Elf is back and he had a friend while The Rimandos were here.  Elf meet Juan and Juan meet Elf!  The kids loved to find them and they liked that the elves were always together.  

Juan is a darker skinned elf with brown eyes instead of blue eyes!

We had a play date with Kimmy and her newest daughter Elle.  Her other daughter, Shea, had fun on the trampoline with all the other kids.

Based on these pictures, you would think that my family wanted another baby.  Not the case.  Jacqui even asked and the kids said NO.  

We went on walks, beach, parks, Oma and Opa's house, the gym and played a lot at home!!!!
We also made gingerbread trains!

Kids started great, Mabel ate more candy then she put on the train and the moms had to do minimal help.

Mabel and Amelia faded first, then Jett, Jeremy held strong but the other kids playing seemed more fun so I was left to finish.

Meinhardt train

Rimando train

The Rimando cousins left today :( but we've got a busy week with Mabel's birthday party and her birthday on Sunday to keep us happy!  To end on a funny note.....here is how one of our walks turned out.  Pictures from phone so not the greatest but you get the idea.

All was good!  Happy kids = happy moms!

Not so happy kids = a thousand bike and seat changes.  Notice that Amelia is now pulling the wagon, Mabel is no longer in it, Benny is on her way out and Auntie Jacqui is riding a kid's bike.

Benny made it out of the wagon and then ALL the kids wanted turns on the handlebars!  Can you tell it's getting dark?  This walk took WAY TOO long!

The walk ended with me pulling the boys and a bike in the wagon, Amelia riding the big boy bike because no one else wanted to so I had to bribe her with candy and Jacqui pushing Benny on a little bike with Mabel on her back.  

I mean, if that doesn't sum up mother hood, I don't know what to tell you.

Sorry for the long post but man, life is busy and full of really fun times and some not so fun times ;)