March Madness

No, I am not referring to college basketball.  I am referring to the fact that apparently I am quite fertile in June because we celebrate Macy and Paige's birthdays just five days apart in March.  We start with Miss Paige.  She turned two last Saturday, and she totally did not "get it."  We were actually quite busy on her birthday, so we celebrated on Sunday with family.  Austin was quite concerned about this and really, really wanted her to open presents on her actual birthday.  We ended up going to the Utah basketball game, and she had a great time.  She jumped every time the buzzer went off or the band started playing, but then she danced and clapped along.  And she was completely mesmerized by Swoop (the Ute's mascot).  She kept asking me: "Mommy, where the birdie go?"  

On Sunday, my mom and I made homemade pizza - one of Paige's favorites!  She is constantly asking: "Mommy, I eat pizza?"  It tasted so good!  Then, in the madness, we attempted to have Winnie The Pooh cake and ice cream.  All the kids "helped" her open her presents.  Overall, I think she went to bed with a fully tummy and quite confused, but happy.

   

One of her crowning achievements of "2" (yes, I've officially turned into a Mommy Blogger that has a naked picture of her child on the potty).  She's actually not 100% yet.  We haven't had a #2 accident in a couple of months, but she still has a hard time telling us when she needs to go #1.  Sometimes, she walks up to us with wet pants and says, "I need to go potty."  But, we are making significant progress!  Yea Paige!  

(My absolute favorite part of this picture is the little doggy sitting on the toilet.  She is in love with little, plastic figurines.  She carries them around constantly, and right before she sat down, she held the doggy over the potty so he could have his turn.  In this photo, the doggy is watching her.  Hilarious!)

Last Thursday, we switched gears for Macy's birthday.  She totally "gets it."  She has been counting down for weeks now!  The night before, she informed me that I would need to get up "really early in the morning."  When I asked why, she said, "so you can get my birthday ready."  I decorated her room with balloons while she slept, so she woke up in a forest of latex and her happy day began.  Paige and I went to her school to spotlight her, which she thoroughly enjoyed, and we spent the afternoon making Strawberry Shortcake cupcakes.  

It was my intention to have a low-key little get-together after dinner.  I was sorely mistaken.  Note to self (and any other mother who might think that a pinata might actually be a fun idea): Whenever a pinata is involved, it is NEVER low-key!  It seriously took five adults (all of which had extremely high blood pressure by the end of the festivities) to prevent a child from getting whacked in the head - or worse!  Macy had a meltdown in the middle of it, and I was entirely out of patience for her selfishness and self-pity.  I learned at that moment that it was also NOT a good idea to attempt a party (or get-together) of any sort right before bedtime.  In spite of all my lessons, the kids seemed to have a fun time.  We went through all of the kids twice, and they ended up with a bag full of candy and goodies in the end.  

I know that there are a ton of pictures, but the best part are the reactions of the people in the background (I especially like the ones of Cherise spreading her arms to protect the children).  So funny!

And then, Uncle Matt took over and finished the job (notice Maddie - pink shirt - in the background):

It was a little hectic, but here is an attempt to organize a picture before cake and ice cream.

After all the friends had gone home, I attempted to get my sugar-filled kids ready for bed.  Halfway through the job, I obviously got distracted.  After a few minutes, I got back on task.  With Dora jammies in hand, I found Paige playing with Macy's new toys.  This is what my girls look like all day long (usually, with shirts on):

Happy Birthday my sweet girlies!  I sure do love having you two around!  You provide endless entertainment and bring so much joy to our family!  Love you to pieces!