Golly Gee! Goober's Three!

                                         

I can’t believe I have a three year old!  Everyone always tells you that children grow up way to quickly, but I never really believed it until I had my own kids.  My little Goober, the wonderful girl who made me a mother, had her third birthday this past weekend.  And my chunky monkey many turned four months old!  The days are going by in a blur and while part of me wants to slow down the clock, another part of me is excited to see the people they will become.  What are their talents?  What will be their hobbies?  Can I raise them to be well-rounded, responsible adults?  And most importantly, can I raise them to love and have a relationship with the Lord?  So much responsibility!

There are many times I ask myself “what in the world am I doing raising two kids?  Two little people?  I sure hope I don’t screw them up!”.   Then I look at their smiling faces, the way they love me and their dad and each other, the way Goober interacts with other kids, and I think I must not be doing too bad. 

So on Saturday (her actual birthday) we had her very first friends-invited birthday party.  In previous years we have just done a family party.  However, putting together a party on a budget was definitely a challenge!  I managed to get a wonderful deal on a party package at the local YMCA family pool.  So we had a swim party!  We had already decided we were getting her a fish so that fit with the pool party theme well.  Aside from some other small things, the big present that she liked the most was a battery powered four-wheel car.  I got it off a local trading Facebook page for only $10.  It had bad sun damage but it ran well so I bought a can of spray paint and painted it blue (her favorite color).  Let me just say it was the best $15 we have spent in AGES!  She loves that car and has been riding it around the house ever since the party.  However, the car will soon be relocating outside as an outdoor-only vehicle.  I am really impressed with how long the battery lasted since the car has obviously been well used in the past! Other ways I cut the party budget include: making the cake instead of buying it, comparison shopping for decorations, and scheduling the party at a time between meals so cake and ice cream would be sufficient and no extra food (aside from some chex mix) was necessary.  All in all, I only went over our party budget by about $10.  Go me!

The party itself was a lot of fun, even if she did end up being 10 minutes late to her own birthday party.  The Weatherman did feel pretty bad about that.  She had several friends from church and several friends from daycare.  The only issue was her friends wanted to play with her and she wanted mommy and daddy. 

I am personally just glad the whole ordeal is over!  Frog Face of course picked last week as a time to have sleep problems so as I was trying to get things ready for the party after both kids went to bed, they both kept waking up and making it difficult.  Also, we had the in-laws visiting, and while it was wonderful to have them here to help play with the kids, it also threw their schedule off and left us with some grumpy children. 

All in all, it was a good birthday (I think) and more importantly Goober had fun.  Frog Face was fantastic and despite being hungry and tired, he didn’t make a peep the entire party and just kind of went with the flow of things.  I am so grateful for my mellow baby!

Goober tests my patience and drives me crazy sometimes, but the love I feel for her (and her brother) is so overpowering it can’t be put into words.  Every night the Weatherman and I sneak into her room and just take a moment to gaze at her as she peacefully sleeps.  Her angelic face and beautiful blonde curls.  That child and her brother mean more to me than anything.  At 9:34pm, the time of her birth, I thought back to when I first met my screaming, squalling child and how that one moment changed my life forever and started me on the greatest challenge and adventure I have ever had: being a mother.

So here is some information about Goober on her 3^rd birthday: 

• ·         Height: 37 inches
• ·         Weight: 28.5lbs
• ·         Likes: being held by mommy, reading, coloring, playing with her “baby” (both the real baby and her baby doll), anything having to do with puppies, dancing in princess dresses, Dora, Thomas the train, Elmo, “baby puppy” (shaytards), riding her new car, playing with play-doh,
• ·         Dislikes: trying new foods, waking up in the morning, going to bed,
• ·         Favorite Food: cheese, anything with sugar (which mommy closely monitors), waffles, French fries, strawberries, any other kind of fruit,
• ·         Favorite Color: Blue
• ·         Accomplishments: fully potty trained, speaking well, can count to 10, can say the alphabet, knows most of her colors, learning shapes (knows heart, star, and circle already), can sing many songs, including: twinkle twinkle, ABC’s, happy birthday, and monkey’s jumping on the bed, can dress self with little assistance,

And here are some stats about Frog Face too at 4 months:

• ·         Height: 25 inches (50%)
• ·         Weight: 16lb 1oz (75%)
• ·         Head:
• ·         Likes: snuggling with mommy, playing with sister, grabbing anything within reach, eating anything within reach, annoying the cats, creating diaper blow-outs for daddy, silly faces, dancing with mommy, playing with feet and pulling off his socks, gnawing on mommy or daddy’s knuckles,
• ·         Dislikes: being put down, sleeping in his crib, when mommy eats dairy,
• ·         Favorite Food: mommy’s milk
• ·         Favorite Color: yet to be determined
• ·         Accomplishments: great neck/head control, can sit moderately well with support, can roll from tummy to back and can roll from back to side well, laughing and smiling easily, reaching and grabbing objects well, 

Her refurbished car

Frog Face liked the water too

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