Happy 4th Birthday, Reagan / Goodbye Mabel - 42/365

Today our baby girl turned FOUR! FOUR!

Time sure does fly! She is just an amazing little girl! She's sweet, funny, smart, loveable, and so easy going. She is just a blessing in our lives. She brings us so much joy!

Last year I wanted to start a tradition I read about on Pinterest where you ask your child (starting at age three) the same questions every year and see how their answers change.

 

Here are her answers from LAST year. Age THREE:

1. How old are you? "Free" - Three

2. Where do you live?  Ah-hi-oh - Ohio

3. What is your favorite food? Eggs & Cheerios with Milk 

4. What makes you happy? When I poop. That makes big people happy. Toys 

5. What makes you sad? When I can't get the bread off the table. (She wanted bread before her pasta one night and stole a whole loaf of bread off the table. She ran around the house not giving up the bread, resulting in a time out.) 

6. Who is your best friend? Mr. Fuzzy 

7. What is something mommy always says to you? Make a poop 

 8. What is something daddy always says to you? Pee pee 

9. What is your favorite book? Jasmine 

10. What do you like to do with daddy? Go to the bouncy place 

11. What do you like to do with mommy? Play 

12. What is your favorite color? Blue 

13. What is your favorite candy? Chocolate 

14. What is your favorite drink? Milk 

15. What is your favorite TV Show? Sing-a-long (her princess sing-a-long DVD) 

16. What is your favorite movie? Frozen 

7. What is your favorite song? Aurora, Sleeping Beauty. (Eventually I got, "Let it Go") 

18. What is your favorite Toy? Sofia Castle 

19. What is your favorite animal? Pig 

20. Where is your favorite place to go? Giant Eagle. That's where the food is. 

21. Where do you want to live when you grow up? No, I live here. I want to live here. 

22. What do you want to be when you grow up? A pumpkin 

 

Here are her CURRENT answers. AGE FOUR

1. How old are you? Four

2. Where do you live?  Here. Me: Where's that? Her: Right here

3. What is your favorite food? Chicken nuggets

4. What makes you happy? You and daddy giving me hugs and kisses.

5. What makes you sad? When you guys are mad at me.

6. Who is your best friend? Alivia

7. What is something mommy always says to you? Please do, something.

 8. What is something daddy always says to you?  Sit with me to watch TV

9. What is your favorite book? Slumber Party Sofia

10. What do you like to do with daddy? Play Candyland

11. What do you like to do with mommy? Play games with you, too.

12. What is your favorite color? Pink, Purple and Blue

13. What is your favorite candy?  Cake

14. What is your favorite drink? Apple Juice and Milk

15. What is your favorite TV Show?  Strawberry Shortcake

16. What is your favorite movie? Cinderella

7. What is your favorite song? Aurora's song.

18. What is your favorite Toy? My princess toys

19. What is your favorite animal? Flamingos

20. Where is your favorite place to go?  Magic Kingdom

21. Where do you want to live when you grow up? Mommy, I want to still live here.

22. What do you want to be when you grow up? Ballerina

 

This evening to celebrate, we decided to take Reagan bowling. She had never been, and Jim and I hadn't been for ages either. She was pretty excited and she did pretty good. She loved holding her ball with two hands and winging it down the lane. It took nearly a full minute for the ball to actually hit the pins, but she got it there! She ended up with a 39! That's not too shabby!

Jim and I did, OK and were pretty thankful for the bumpers! LOL! They helped us out A LOT! Both Jim and I would have been in been trouble if it wasn't for them! LOL! I ended up winning! Woo hoo!

All in all, she loved bowling and wants to go again, soon!

When we got home, we had pizza and ice cream cake. That has been our tradition for Reagan to have ice cream cake on her actual birthday and then regular cake for her party. I had Dairy Queen put a Frozen edible image on it and she was stoked!

After that, she opened her presents. I think her favorite thing was her panda FurReal friend. She loved it! She was also pretty pumped about her Littlest Pet Shop house.

We hope she had a good birthday!

Here she is ready to bowl!



Rolling the ball...

Present time!

Cake time!

Nana and I took her to lunch this afternoon and she wrote Happ y Birthday, Reagan to herself. It was so cute! We kept it for her!

 

Today has been a bittersweet day. We were celebrating the birthday of our sweet little Reagan. But, we are also mourning the loss of Jim's, sweet, grandma Mabel. She was one of the kindest people you'd ever want to meet. She always had a smile and a treasure she'd want to give you. If you got the chance to know Mabel, you know you barely got to see her sweet little face since it was always covered with a camera. Not many can rival me in the picture taking category, but she sure gave me a run for my money! We are going to miss her so much. Rest in Peace, sweet Mabel! We love you!

Christmas Continues & January Birthdays - 4/365

We were off to the farm today to have our Christmas celebration. We were going to do it earlier in the month, but everyone had the funk, so we postponed until today. 

Nana and Papa got cavatelli, meatballs, sausage, salad and rolls from LaRocca's in Poland for our meal. It was SO GOOD!

Reagan got a lot of great presents. She was so excited! 

We did our traditional $20 boy/girl gift exchange. Jim got some cool tote bags and I got a Bob Evan's gift card and chocolate! 

We also celebrated all the January birthday's and Nana's from December today, too! We have four January birthdays on that side of the family! I got a bird house, candle and a Target gift card! I was pumped! LOVE Target!

We had a fun afternoon visiting with everyone!

Papa helping Reagan open presents

 Sitting with great grandma Downard

 Posing with the tree Belinda made

 Heading out to shop with Nana's purse!

 The cake!

Spa Day and Happy Birthday, Raymond - 146/365

It was our last day at Great Wolf Lodge. 

This morning, we went outside to take our annual cousin's picture. Every year we get Jillian and Reagan matching dresses, Evan something that blends and take their picture. The photoshoot went really well at first! It was great! We got some great shots. 

Reagan was resisting taking a "running" photo, but eventually she joined in. We ended up just letting them run around and chase grandma and papa.  

After pictures, we hit the pools for a little bit and Reagan went down her favorite slides a few more times.

After we got cleaned up, we headed over to the Scoops Kid's Spa for Reagan's mani/pedi. She just loves having her nails done. She does a great job sitting still, too! 

The place was pretty adorable, the benches looked like huge banana splits. They gave her a little robe and tiara when she first sat down. Once they got started, she was able to pick her colors and flavors. All the bath bombs and scrubs they used were ice cream scented. Reagan chose chocolate and strawberry and she chose purple for her toes and pink for her fingers. Towards the end, they even gave her a spritz of watermelon flavor for her hair and grape lip gloss. She looked and smelled fantastic. They finished her off with an "I'm a princess sash", and a scoop of ice cream! YUM! She had a ball! 

Eventually, it was time to head home. We were going over Ray and Jenn's this evening for Raymond's birthday! We had a great time and they had quite the spread. Jennifer grilled chicken and steak and had a ton of yummy sides. She even made buttered noodles, especially for Reagan, how sweet! 

Reagan helped Uncle Raymond blow out his candles on his awesome ice cream cake and also helped him open all his presents! He loved it! We had a blast! 

This evening, Reagan turned into a "crazy banshee" as we called her. She was so exhausted from her weekend of fun, that she just decided she was going to do the opposite of everything we wanted her to do tonight. In the words of Jim, "we had to hold her down as if she was a wild animal or mental institution patient." We could not get her pajamas off, we both had to hold her down while she was kicking and screaming. We went through the same thing trying to get her dressed again after the bath. She wouldn't use the potty, wouldn't brush her teeth, nothing. It was totally shocking and exhausting all at the same time. She had never behaved that way before. We were both like, "what just happened?" Hopefully, that will be a one and done episode! 

Overall, we had a awesome day! 

First up, the kiddos!

Next, Reagan at the spa! 

Next, Reagan helping Uncle Ray blow out his candles...

Finally, a group pic!

Potty Training Party - 55/365

Today, we were heading over to a fellow MOPS mom's house for a Potty Training Party! 

Paula got selected by Huggies Pull-Ups to host a little potty training party at her house. They sent her some free pull-ups, stickers, potty training charts and coupons to pass out. It was so cute! Even though both main kids are already potty trained, it was still a fun little party to have. 

She originally was going to have the party last Wednesday, but some of the kids were sick, so we postponed it until today. Some kids were still sick, so it was a small crowd, but we still had fun. 

She had everything set up super cute. Fun table cloth, a cookie cake, chocolate milk and goldfish crackers. The kids loved it! Reagan and Isabella had a good time playing together. They especially loved playing dress up and were both pretty good at sharing all the accesories! It was so cute to see them strutting around in their gowns. Us moms had a good time just chit chatting, too.

It was a really nice afternoon. We had a great time and were grateful for the invite. 

This evening, Jim attended the client Stifel seminar out at the Holiday Inn in Boardman. They have some clients out to talk about future growth potential of the stock market. He said it was just your typical seminar, nothing overly exciting and nothing bad either. He got home around 9:00, just in time to tuck Reagan in. She was thrilled. 

While he was at his seminar, Reagan and I just hung around the house. She strutted around in her new Anna gown from the "coronation" part of the movie. She absolutely loves it! She twirled all evening! 

The photo of the day is us girls at the potty training party.. 

The girls blowing out the candles on their goodbye diapers cookie cake...

Finally, Reagan in her Anna Coronation gown.

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Reagan Turns THREE! - 42/365

Today is Reagan's 3rd Birthday! 

Where on earth does the time go!? I feel like we just brought her home! She has been such a blessing to us. We just love her! She is growing up to be such a sweet, kind, smart and FUNNY little girl. She keeps us laughing, that's for sure. We're just so proud of her! 

I saw awhile back, that starting at three, you should ask your child the same questions every year on their birthday. Then, take the answers and keep them in a photo album to look at how they change. I decided I'm going to try to keep up that tradition with Reagan. I think it will be great to see how she changes. 

Here are the questions....(I couldn't narrow it down to 20...lol) 

1. How old are you? "Free" Three 

2. Where do you live? "Ah-hi-oh" Ohio 

3. What is your favorite food? Eggs & Cheerios with Milk 

4. What makes you happy? When I poop. That makes big people happy. Toys 

5. What makes you sad? When I can't get the bread off the table. (She wanted bread before her pasta one night and stole a whole loaf of bread off the table. She ran around the house not giving up the bread, resulting in a time out.) 

6. Who is your best friend? Mr. Fuzzy 

7. What is something mommy always says to you? Make a poop 

 8. What is something daddy always says to you? Pee pee 

9. What is your favorite book? Jasmine 

10. What do you like to do with daddy? Go to the bouncy place 

11. What do you like to do with mommy? Play 

12. What is your favorite color? Blue 

13. What is your favorite candy? Chocolate 

14. What is your favorite drink? Milk 

15. What is your favorite TV Show? Sing-a-long (her princess sing-a-long DVD) 

16. What is your favorite movie? Frozen 

7. What is your favorite song? Aurora, Sleeping Beauty. (Eventually I got, "Let it Go") 

18. What is your favorite Toy? Sofia Castle 

19. What is your favorite animal? Pig 

20. Where is your favorite place to go? Giant Eagle. That's where the food is. 

21. Where do you want to live when you grow up? No, I live here. I want to live here. 

22. What do you want to be when you grow up? A pumpkin 

Oh boy, we just howled! I can't wait to see the answers next year! 

This evening to celebrate, we took her to Chuck E. Cheese. Reagan herself, had never been there. We just never think of it. She seemed to have a good time even though some of the games were a little big for her. She really loved this big horse you could sit on and run a race. You had to shake the reins and pull them left or right to avoid hitting walls on the track. She did great! 

After playing there for awhile, we had dinner at Cheddars. Reagan LOVES going to Cheddars to see the huge fish tank they have. We had a great meal! 

When we got home, we had our traditional ice cream cake for her. We do ice cream cake on her actual birthday, since we do regular cake for her party. She loves it! 

After that, we opened presents! We got her a Dora Big Wheel, Lalaloopsy Roller Skates, a couple new train cars for her train table, a Leap Pad game, and a bunch of mini Lalaloopsies! She was thrilled! We had a great day with our little baby. 

Happy Birthday 3rd Birthday, Reagan! We love you! 

Reagan and her presents!

Enjoying the horse at Chuck E. Cheese

Blowing out her candles....

Tiana Birthday!!

This morning, Jim hit Epcot at the crack of dawn to get in line for the Anna and Elsa meet and greet at Norway in Epcot. He waited two hours!! It was cloudy and chilly, but he didn't care! He just wanted Reagan to get to meet them! 

She was THRILLED!! Just absolutely in awe of them!

After the meet and greet we walked around Epcot a bit. My tummy was feeling better, so we decided to go to Via Napoli to eat. Our waitress was the sweetest thing. When she found out we were going to be celebrating Reagan's birthday a bit early tonight, she brought her out a dessert and candle. They even sang to her. It was so sweet and Reagan was thrilled. Disney has the best employees. 

This evening we were having our dinner at Cinderella's Castle to celebrate Reagan's birthday. They do a little "party" where you can get a cake, balloon, crown and wand. We kept asking Reagan for months before we went, what princess cake would she want. She kept saying Tiana over and over. So that's what we did! She was so incredibly happy. It was awesome!

What a fun night!

On the way to meet Anna & Elsa

Daddy waiting in line

Finally got to meet them for the first time in forever!

Impromtu party at Via Napoli!

Tiana party at Cinderella Castle!