Scarlett is FOUR!

How is she not this small anymore?!

 Katie Scarlett turned FOUR-years-old last Sunday.  I'm not sure how so many years flew by already, but I do know that I'm excited for a million and four more!  Scarjo is me and I love it!  She calls me her bestie.  She is left-handed.  And grumpy!  When she's angry or frustrated she cannot control her body as she freaks out.  Me to a T.  I've learned self-control as I've aged and I'm sure she'll get there...  She cannot tell a lie and even if I'm in the other room when she does something that I've asked her not to do, she'll come find me, tell me what it is she did, and say, "Mummy, I'm so sorry I picked up Winnie!"  How can I get angry at that?!

Scarlett is sleeping in her own room always and wakes us up every once in a while if her blankets get un-tucked.  She sleeps with no less than 5 stuffed animals, no matter how many times I sneak some out.  Of course, Brandy, her monkey, is closest.  When she's hurt or in trouble, it's a toss-up between who she'll cry for; me or Brandy.  I have no idea where she came up with the name Brandy.  I'm guessing she stole it from the local flower store owner's dog's name???

Her favorite color is purple, animals are cats, favorite princess is Belle...or Repunzel, or Sofia the first, or Tiana...depending on the day/hour/mood she is in!  She can play with babies all day, but she really loves to watch Thomas.  She is SMART.  I know I have to say that because she is mine, but even her teacher agrees!  :-)  I hope that she continues to love reading and is nice to her sister more often than not!

She weighs 32ish lbs. and I have no idea how tall she is...we'll find out specifics in February when we go for her four year wellness visit.  Her teeth are still wonky, but less noticeable.  Thank goodness!  Scarlie Jojo goes to nursery school, and while I hate to let her go, I love the new routine and hearing her stories.

Scarlett is getting older and even funnier!  After a discussion about babies being born (I liiiieeeee!), she asked how they come out of the belly button and don't leave a hole.  When "magic" didn't stop the questions, I said they use needles that don't hurt.  She made a concerned face and said, "I don't want to be a mummy, I'll just be a ballerina!"  Ha!  Stuff like that, all the time.

And she sings songs.  Always.  To everything.  Her latest to Winston, "I don't love your kisses, but I do love your love!"  Yesss!  Maybe the next Beyonce?!  Maybe!

I wish I could remember more of the funny things she says.  She makes me belly laugh all the time!

I get so sad when I think about Scarlett getting older and leaving me, so I tell her, "COLBY!"  Then I feel guilty because I'm already laying the guilt for that conversation in the future.  But then I think about her leaving and it reinforces my wanting to make her stay.  Bad, bad, bad!  Or genius?!

For her 4th birthday celebration, I wanted to have lots of friends come to the playground and have a free-for-all with running around fun, pizza, cake, and presents...but then I remembered that it's January in cold, iced-over Maine.  Indoor gymnastics party was almost the same!

Awesome educational game:

From the Clunies with a personalized necklace, "hanitizer," and a Sofia the First poster!  

After a morning filled with yummy doughnut breakfast (tradition!) and opening Auntie Mimi and Lulu's gift early, we were off to Decal Gymnastic for some birthday fun!

The kids all played and did gymnastics for the first hour, then it was time for pizza!  After lunch, more playing, cupcakes & gifts, a few more minutes of gymnastics, then everyone headed home!  Easy for me and fuuunnnn for Scarlett!  Even Poppy got to do some gymnastics...

Love her little strut!

Lulu on the trampoline always makes me smile!  Scarlett was on that trampoline LOTS!  Perks of being the birthday girl!  And Poppy on the bars...you go, girlfriend!

Group shots: without Poppy and with her!

After the party, we were all exhausted, but we rallied and had more festive fun.  Now it was time for the birthday girl to open her gifts from Tyler and me (ME!).  All last week, I thought about and put back and bought and didn't buy a last gift for Scarlett.  It was almost going to be a Water Baby, then it was almost Baby Alive Real Surprises doll.  In the end, I thought the BA doll would take away from her imaginative play (And $55 for a doll that was not an American Girl seemed crazy after she just got Saige!) and the Water Baby was missing her bottle.  Womp, womp.  So when I spotted this $19 real life generic brand baby, I knew she had to have it.  It was a baby who cried and sounded just like a real newborn baby!  Once the decision was made, the hardest part was hiding it from Poppy and her sticky fingers!  I'd say it was a hit:

She named her Poppy Ballerina.  Shocking, I know.

 Here she is tackling the rest of her gifts!  A purple stuffed horse purse, a matching outfit with Saige, a wheelchair kit for Saige, playdoh, a mini barbie, and a birthday barbie; not too much and she was ecstatic!  Mission accomplished.  We spent the next day opening up and playing with her new things, so that she would use and appreciate everything!  Next up...thank you notes!  

Oooor another party!  Two days after the 19th, Scarlett was still celebrating!  Her teacher celebrates her student's birthdays by inviting the family in to bring a special snack and sing "happy birthday!"  That was this morning; we brought mini muffins and fruit and we got to see Scarlett playing with her classmates!  

January 21, 2014

Well, the brunette 'do lasted a few months...

But I just feel more like myself as a blonde!  YAY!

Hello, eyebrows!

I am so happy to be blonde!  (I haven't blogged in so long that I'm about to go back and get my roots touched up!)

The eyebrow picture is as dark as I was with my eyebrows filled in, but no make up...must find a better representation of myself next time...but you get the idea!

BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER.

We had a fantastic Christmas!!!  The gifts were toned down from past years and that just made it more fun!  Less stress, but more thoughtfulness!  Yes, please!

This was the first year that Scarlett got it.  It was magical for her and that added so much fun for me!  We made reindeer food, drove around looking at lights, talked about how Santa goes into the houses through the chimneys, left out the cookies and milk for Santa, and all that good stuff!

Here is our Christmas Day 2013 in pictures...

Happy birthday, Jesus CAKE!

Tracking Santa with Lulu...

Wrapping gifts:

Santa came!!!

And he brought "Staige" with him!  Scarlett was psyched!

Then we headed to GRAMMUM'S!

Happy birthday to my Poppy Ballerina!!!

She's ONE!  What a fast year it has been, but so full of happiness!  We are so lucky to have little Miss Poppy in our lives!  She is always happy and looking for fun!  She is the lovey-ist baby in the world -- always ready to give us love and slobbery, baby kisses.  Delicious!

Bananas were not a hit with Poppy early on, but now, along with eggs, sweets (shhh!), and strawberries, they are her top pick for food! (I do hope that she is a vegetable-lover like her sister one day!)

She is not quite walking, but she can stand up by herself for a few seconds and she is the fastest power-crawler I've seen!  Babies, balls, Little People, cars, and her little front door are her favorite favorite toys, but really she loves everything!  She even takes swim lessons!

Poppy may be the sweetest, little thing, but she can throw some sass when Scarlett tries to steal her toys!  Her facial expressions are the best!  See?!

No thank you, fancy birthday outfit!

I cannot wait to see what the next year brings...!  Maybe she'll start gymnastics?!

Poppin' Tags!

Listening to this song on repeat while I cook dinner and dessert!  I'm almost as obsessed with it as Scarlett Tyler!  When they say the f bomb, I just sing "really" even louder!  Works like a charm!  ;)

Thrift Shop!

(Not even gonna lie -- I follow Macklemore on instagram, too!)

My kind of night!

Now that I'm not pregnant, this is so allowed...finally!

I had my first alcoholic beverage since February and it was divine!  Scarlett had fallen asleep while I was reading (girlfriend was exhausted!) and Poppy had nursed during the stories and was sleeping too!  Two babies sleeping at the same time = MAGIC.  It was time to bust out the Pumpkinhead!!! (I had made Tyler keep it in our fridge for just this occasion!)  The Pumpkinhead did not disappoint!  Add in a little Pinterest and I was in heaven...also maybe a little toasty!  ;)

Sunshine & Exercise!

At the middle end of my pregnancy, I was always sore, so walking the loop was really out of the question.  Now that Poppy's here, it's time to get back to exercising, but we're starting slow here, friends!!!

I bundled us all up and headed out for a walk around the neighborhood with my little sidekick on her tricycle!  The fresh air and sunshine were just what I needed!  (I'm trying to mentally stay on top of my emotions, so the baby blues stay away!  That, along with St. John's Wort {approved by the lactation consultant}, and I'm hoping to stay happy!  Sunshine made a huuuuge difference, too!)

It was amazing just get out of the house!!!

This is her new favorite thing to do!  Turns out, she's really good at it, she just needed a little air in her tires!

Happiness!

Scarlett's Morning of Fun with her Da!

Da is winning brownie points; he gets her frosted doughnuts!

Scarlett was too short, so he did what any responsible parent would do...let her stand on a chair.  By herself.  Because he needed a picture with Gronk!  I'm glad I missed this! 

Tyler said that he told her to stand under his arm, but all she did was POSE!  

So as any pregnant lady/mother knows, you are always tired.  Always.  It's just how it is.  And sleeping in is a thing of the past.  Thankfully, now that Scarlett is boycotting naps, she does fall asleep by eight o'clock, so I go to bed then, too!  But last night, I stayed up to catch up on our favorite shows (wild Saturday night, eh?!).  The Office and Parks and Recreation were worth the loss of sleep, and I'm thinking that my free time is about to disappear around October 27, so it was nice to relax baby-free!

And then something magical happened...Tyler got up with Scarlett and took her to Dunkin Donuts and Walmart for a morning of grocery shopping fun!  He let her walk with him and they looked at the Christmas decorations and visited her favorite babies in the toy aisle.  Such a fun dad, but an even better husband!  Those extra two hours made me feel human!!!

But here's a little side story of the morning...Grr!

(At about 6am, I got up for my 4th bathroom run of the night, and as I climbed back into bed, Tyler shushed me!!!!  MURDER.  He gets up every morning with the goal to wake up the toddler, I swear!  He does his nose drops {ew.}, clinks around his belt, and leaves the water running while brushes his teeth {don't even get me started on that!}.  But because he was getting up with Scarjo, he made sure that all was quiet!  And when I told him I was thinking murderous thoughts, he just chuckled!  The extra sleep made up for the shushing, though...at least mostly!)

Newness!!!

HAPPY JULY!  There are lots of new things going on around here...

1. Tyler surprised me with a new laptop when he returned from his work trip in Colorado!!!  Woohoo!  I'm loving how light and CLEAN it is.  I always swear that I'll keep it all fresh & new, but it never stays that way.  You should see the crude on my old key board!  Ew.  Now I just need to figure out how to transfer all of my photos...I bought my old laptop a few months before Scarlett was born, so every picture of her is on it.
2. I'm about to enter my last year in my 20's!!!  I'm feeling excited for my thirties, but maybe that's because I still have a year buffer!
3. Mary and Louisa are thinking of moving out on their own.  This is happy news and sad news at the same time.  I'm PSYCHED to be able to do my make-up while Scarlett plays in the playroom without having to play interference to two toddlers fighting.  That will be awesome!  Buuuuut, I'm sad that Scarlett and Lulu won't be living like sisters.  Luckily, Mary's not moving more than 10 minutes away, so we'll be doing playdates constantly!  (I keep hitting this ~ instead of ! and it's driving me crazy!!!)  Anyway...so that's a change that is coming soon-ish.
4. The new rule in my house:  SCARLETT IS NOT GOING TO GRAMMUM'S WITHOUT A NAP!  EVER.  That should solve the monsterbaby-ness and maybe Grammum will start to like Scarlett again after her afternoon from hell!  Smart thinking on my part, I think!
5. I'm getting excited for baby 2!  It's less scary now that Mary's moving out because there will be less chaos instantly.  That will help, but really I'm way less worried because now Mary will have a place to bring Scarlett to play where she'll feel comfortable while I nap with baby 2!!!  Score!
6. My hair is BLONDE!!!  Like, blonde blonde!  I am more blonde than I have been in years and I love it!  Though I will admit...I desperately need violet shampoo!  

Now here is the latest from my crazy Scarjo:

She was posing for Auntie Mary...this was her craziest pose, so naturally Mary had to post it on FB!