my little cheeser

Sometime last fall, Olivia decided that she was going to go full-fledged-cheesy-smile on us:  squinty eyes, total teeth, and the sound "eeeeee" while she does it.  It is absolutely hilarious to watch her when I pull out my camera.  She's gotten to the point where she just flashes one quick cheesy smile and then goes back to what she's doing.  Totally cracks me up.  

I decided to flip through my picasa files and pull out a few of them just for this post.  She could not get any cuter!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love her. 

{happy birthday, amelia}

Today, Amelia is five years old.  Five is a pretty big number in my book!

Amelia is so full of life.  She is so full of energy.  She is so full of one-liners.  I have no clue where she comes up with some of the statements that emerge from her little lips.  {Note:  all of these great things about her can also have their downsides!!}

From the moment her feet hit the floor until her little eyes close at night, she is go, go, go.  She keeps us on our toes.  

Amelia Kate,

You are such a beautiful little child.  You continue to not know a stranger.  You have been given such a wonderful gift of making people feel so special.  I know that this will serve you well in this life.  You love to be a helper, and I pray that your servant's heart will only grow.  We love you more than you could possibly know. 

{the big chop}

So, all three of my big girls decided a couple of years ago that they were going to grow out their hair and donate it.  I thought this sound really sweet until I had to start brushing the long stuff.

I'm also not a big "doer" of hair on a daily basis, but I'm not opposed to it if someone asks.  Claire pretty much takes care of her own hair and only occasionally asks if I'll braid it.  She does everything else on her own.  

Meredith happily puts hers in a ponytail each and every day, and I'm okay with that as well.  As with Claire, I only have to braid it every couple of weeks.  

Then, we have Amelia.  I have to wash her hair, brush her hair, and do her hair.  Recently, it had been turning into a bit of a daily battle.  I was due to have my hair cut in February, so I asked her if she was ready to donate hers.  She said yes, so I jumped on the opportunity and scheduled us both for a chop.  

Here she goes...

Meredith got to chop a bit... {and just look at how long her hair is getting!!}

Claire got to chop a bit as well... {she, too, is getting some awfully long locks, although hers appears shorter because she has some body to her hair}

8 1/2 inches...chopped!

The finished product.

Amelia has quite a bit going for her already, but this girl has great hair.  It lays nicely almost always.  It looks cute both short and long.  It has lovely little highlights in it.  It's just thick enough without being overwhelming.  The girl totally has Jennifer Aniston hair.  Lucky duck. 

Meredith insists that she is going to wait until her hair is down to her waist before getting it cut.  We'll see.  It's getting a bit too long for my liking already, but I don't really have to "do" anything with it, so I won't complain too much.  I'm not sure what Claire's goal is.  We'll just have to wait and see.  Be watching for some other chops around here in the {not near} future!

{indoor fun}

What do you do when it's cold outside?  You find a fun place to play inside.  The girls had a blast.

 

 

 

 

{b.i.f. nineteen}

Olivia is such a little cuddle-bug. I love that she happily cuddles up with her sisters. It makes my heart smile.  

{celebrating olivia}

Thankfully, this girl is pretty easy to please.  I asked her what kind of cake she wanted.  She responded with some babbling of sorts.  I'm pretty sure she said something along the lines of "Mom, I know you spend a lot of time around here doing all kinds of things.  How about you not spend a whole lot of time doing anything to my birthday cake.  I'm guessing that I'll ask for something extremely time consuming in the future, so why don't you do a simple cake this year with just my name and the number two?"  

I thought that sounded like an excellent idea. :)

She was completely mesmerized by her candles.  And she actually blew them out, although it took several tries.  

{winter memories}

Totally playing "catch up" with this post!  Even though it's officially spring, we're still in snowish weather.  Therefore, I feel completely justified in posting this snowy pic from January. :)

The girls had such a fun winter.  I'm pretty sure they played outside almost every time it snowed.  And they were so good about taking Olivia out with them.  

After her first trip out, it was borderline disastrous if she didn't get to go out with them each time.  Thankfully, they willingly took her often.  She loved it!!