~~A time to celebrate~~

Aubrey didn't ask for much to celebrate her 3rd birthday. 1st of all, she wanted a caterpillar cake. This is the gold standard in her book when it comes to birthdays. Each party we attend, she asks if they will have a caterpillar cake! Now, this isn't an extremely special cake by any means. Its a Costco white sheet cake with massive colored frosting circles formed to make a caterpillar! But she had one for her birthday last year, and has been patiently waiting for her birthday to roll around again so that she could have another caterpillar cake. 

Next Aubrey wanted her friends to sing her "Happy Birthday." That's it. Her birthday wish list was complete! It took a little more prompting and suggestions from sister to work out the rest of the details. The plan was a family evening at Chuck E. Cheese on her actual birthday with cupcakes at home, then a party with her friends at Papa's Pizza (I don't have any pictures from this because I forgot my camera! Thankfully Amah came to the rescue and took some pictures, I just haven't got a copy yet.)

Cupcakes always make a girl smile!

Yay for new dresses!

Aubrey is always looking to Ella for ideas on what to do next ;-)

Happy Happy Birthday Aubrey Grace!!

We love you so much!

What did you say?

There have been more than one occasion in my few mommy years where the girls have done something that appears to be the exact opposite of what just told them NOT to do!! I ask myself, did you not hear me?!?! Recently we joined into the minivan family world. One of the features on our new van is the compass on the rearview mirror. In addition, we also now have a external temperature display. Ella loves to give us a moment by moment commentary on the ever-changing temperature and direction of travel. One day, after dropping Ella off at school, Aubrey started commenting on the direction we were going. However, her comments left me puzzled. "Mommy, are we going West or leading?" Huh??? "We are going East, Aubrey." Throughout the rest of the day and even week, Aubrey would continue to ask the same question, "Are we going West or leading?" I have to admit, I didn't know what in the world she was talking about. Then one day she starting singing a song to herself...."Star of wonder, star of light, start of broyal beauty bright. West or leading, still proceeding, guide us to the perfect light!" Christmas may have been 4 months ago, but Aubrey still has this song playing in her little head! And of course, the actual words and Aubrey's interpretation of the words seem to be just a little off but make sense if you don't know that those words are wrong ;-) So now I know, she hears me...its just a matter of what she hears that is the true question!!

Ella, on the other hand, listens very closely and intently. "Why did you say that next Tuesday we are going to go ___?" I may have been talking on the phone in the other room while she is dancing around, but she hears EVERY word. Her new favorite thing to do is ask a million and one questions about everything, including things that she knows the answer to! Case in point, this morning we were having some "pop'ems" (mini donuts).
Ella is eating a pop'em, looks at the box and asks "What is a pop'em?"
"Ella, do you know what a pop'em is?"
"Yes, a donut."
"Then why did you ask me if you know the answer?"
"I just wanted to see if you knew the right answer."
She is very quick to correct you if you answer incorrectly also! Oh I pray this is a stage that doesn't last too long. I don't mind answering questions, its just the ones we already know the answer to and that go on for extended periods of time start to wear on this momma ;-)

Onto other random happenings in the Kerner household. I'll let the pictures tell the stories.

Ella's puppy Sparkles ended up getting a bit of an owie. Her back where the stuffing got put in split open. At first Ella was devastated!! But soon she grabbed her animal doctor kit (coolest $4 IKEA toy!). She hooked 2 of the band-aids together to hold the hole closed, put the little cone around Sparkles neck and made sure she didn't scratch or rip off her band-aid. When we took Sparkles back to Build-a-bear, the workers thought it was the cutest thing they had ever seen!! A few stitches later and now Sparkles is back to her normal life =)

 A trip to the park

Aubrey brought her chick to the park and soon realized why stuffed animals and bark dust create a big mess!

Ella is getting pretty good at the monkey bars! Its amazing how strong she is =)

Ella is our fashionista in her own right! She insists on picking out her own outfits. It started out where she was good at wearing the outfits that were bought together and put in her drawer. But she has since started branching out. During the winter, mom has certain rules, like arms and legs must be covered when it is 30 degrees outside! Well those requirements led to some more interesting outfit ensembles.... like pink sweatpants, purple summer dress and red preschool sweatshirt ;-)
 

Ella has an imagination that never stops. She is almost always the one leading the play, going on a treasure hunt, being princesses at the ball, creating a fairy house like the one she read about in a book.... That girl is always using her head!! One evening before dinner, she came down with her purse and headed out to the garage. She found the 2 disks that had been cut off the end of the Christmas tree that both girls insisted on keeping. Next she headed to the playroom for her magna-doodle. She created a sketch and now needed help. "I can't use my saw that Grandma Rick bought me by myself, so can you help me." She was on a mission to make a trophy for her friend Nathan.

Ella the tinker fairy hard at work!

Ella's finished product!

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of our random musings!

Happy 3rd Birthday Aubrey Grace!!!

Our sweet Aubrey Grace is 3 years old today! 

Its amazing to think that is has been 3 years since we first saw these chubby little cheeks =)

Aubrey- your personality, cheeks and smile continue to grow! We are constantly amazed by your sweetness, sass and genuine love for everyone around you. You can make us laugh with your logic: "When I grow up, I am going to be a grown up and go to driving school!" "Raisins come from grapes, craisins come from cranberries, blueberries come from cow teeth!" You have an independent streak, you love the many things you can do as a big girl, but are quick to pull out the line "I'm just a little girl!!" whenever it seems beneficial (like getting tucked into bed one extra time at night ;-)). Your love and adoration for your big sister shows of a bond that will only grow more as you and Ella grow.

We love you to pieces sister! Happy happy birthday Aubrey!!

Happy Easter

Easter weekend was a BEAUTIFUL weekend! Oh my, the sun was shining (and actually warm!), we were able to enjoy an Easter egg hunt outdoors and just have lots and lots of fun overall. 

*Small confession* I took my camera to the Easter egg hunt/carnival, carried it around and did not take a SINGLE picture! But trust be, the girls had lots of fun doing sack races, inflatable slides, egg hunt, cotton candy, regular candy and more!

Dying eggs is always a fun way to spend the afternoon. And despite the mess that could have been made, most of the dye ended up on the eggs only!

The girls were as excited to go down and hunt eggs on Easter morning as they were for Christmas morning =)

Aubrey didn't find as many eggs as Ella because she enjoyed just following Ella around the room ;-) But Aubrey enjoy her new bubbles and chapstick that were in her Easter basket.

Ella proudly collected then tossed her eggs into the basket as she went onto the next egg. She quickly dug into her Easter basket of goodies and started reading her new book right away. (By the way, she has turned into a reading MACHINE!)

I'm not sure who has more fun with the bubbles, the girls or Tyson!?! He loves to jump in the air to pop them and occasionally gets carried away and jumps into one of the girls.

Yay for warm mornings and new bubbles!

Grandma Marian once again made the girls their dresses. They turned out cute as ever! Both the girls were told multiple times at church how pretty they looked, to which Ella would reply "I know. See my shoes?!"

Aubrey and her cheesy smile!

Matching sisters

Ella with her pretty dress and sandals! She was obsessed with those sandals ;-)

Such sweet sisters!

Happy Easter!

Spring and other things

Spring arrived with more snow than we've seen all year it seemed! 

The girls had been disappointed with our few dustings of snow throughout the winter, especially the fact that it melted before it could be played in! They made sure we ate a quick breakfast and got dressed before the great melt happened.

Aubrey liked shaking the tree branches to "make it snow"!  

Tyson is terrible at fetching, unless you are throwing snow balls for him! Then he tried to eat Ella's "snow castle".

Cutest snow bunnies I've seen ;-)

Ella and her imagination never rest. One evening when Amah and G-Daddy came over, Ella was pretending that G-Daddy was her prince and Amah was the invisible queen. What does an invisible queen do you might ask? She sits back and watches the prince and princesses dance ;-)

Aubrey dances in a style all of her own, its a cross between monkeying and swinging!

Ella on the other hand takes her dancing very seriously and pulls out her best dance moves.

A little spin at the end for effect!

Spring has proven to offer us very few dry days for jumping on the trampoline. The girls are such good sports about it though. It just takes a small break in the rain clouds and they head out with beach towels in hand to dry off the trampoline long enough to jump until it rains again.

Last week I was feeling like I really needed to spend some one-on-one time with Ella, especially before the baby comes. With Ella in school, I have been able to get that extra time with Aubrey without much effort. So one day at nap time, I laid Aubrey down then Ella and I headed out to Build-a-bear for a special time together. Although these girls have more stuffed animals than one could possibly need, it is something they both love and its always more fun to make your stuffed animal. Ella, being the thoughtful sister she is, wanted to make sure that Aubrey got to go make her own stuffed animal too =)

Aubrey with Minnie and Ella with Sparkles.
Aubrey loves to do exactly what her big sister does! She wanted nothing to do with any of the stuffed animals that weren't exactly like Ella's ;-)

Ella loving her puppy

Puppies love jumping as much as the girls do.

And that is our spring update for now ;-) Again I am trying really hard to get this ol' blog caught up so stay tuned for Easter pictures and before we know it, another baby girl!

Tiaras, tutus....and tears

There is no question about the amount of estrogen in our house. I feel like we are the definition of "pinkalious"- pink dresses, pink hair bows, pink babies, pink Barbies...more pink possessions that one could sanely count! Nothing is worth doing in our house unless you are wearing your princess dress, that is unless you are wearing your ballerina outfit ;-)

Last night, however, we were reminded of another beautiful aspect of little girls...their tender little hearts! It came on life a freight train out of nowhere. Neal and I were playing cards on the couch, Ella and Aubrey were playing their abridged version of cards on the floor while watching "Pooh's Grand Adventure- The search for Christopher Robin." (For all of you out there who aren't familiar with this heartwarming tale, Christopher Robin has to grow up and go to school. He tries to tell Pooh about it, but Pooh doesn't understand. Owl misreads the letter from Christopher Robin saying he went to 'school' but Owl says he went to 'skull.' Everyone sets out to rescue Christopher Robin from this dreadful place.) We've seen this movie dozens of times. However, tonight as Pooh is pondering what could have happened to his best friend, Ella's little eyes fill with tears. "This makes me so sad. Pooh has lost his best friend..." I tried to reassure her that, remember in the end, Pooh finds Christopher Robin and is happy. And look, Pooh isn't even sad right now! No dice... the lip still quivers. Then Aubrey looked at Ella, her lip starts quivering as well and the flood of tears down her cheeks begin! "I'm sad too Ella..." Aubrey whimpers. Ella consoles Aubrey, they hug and fortunately the movie moves onto a happier song so that the tears can stop!

Neal and I were trying to be very nurturing and comforting all the while trying to hide a few snickers =) The girls have such a tender heart at times and it comes out when we least expect it, mostly during Disney movies. I'm pretty sure there isn't a Disney movie we own that tears haven't been shed over at least once!

I'm sure that we will have many more unexpected tears over the years, especially as we imagine how this sympathy crying is going to grow once baby girl #3 enters the scene. Its a life we can hardly comprehend but at the same time are so very excited for!

Today I realized that I should probably take at least 1 belly pic of this little one. I have never been one to chronicle my pregnancies and then I look back at other people's pictures thinking "what a cute idea, I should have done that!" So I admit, a friend had done this effect with one of her pregnancy pictures last year and I loved the look...so I decided to replicate it! Ella and Aubrey wanted pictures of their 'bellies' as well =)

Aubrey

Ella

Baby girl at 32 weeks
Oh if we could only decide on a name....
? Kiah Louise ?
? Kaia Rose ?
? Ainsley Rae ?
?????

--->>> Making progress

After the last blog, I had only a few items on the "to-do" list and it seemed like a fairly easy undertaking. I had already consulted with a friend on colors for Ella and Aubrey's rooms, it was just a matter of getting started. So on a Friday afternoon, after lunch and not much other planning besides color choice...I went upstairs and started taping everything off. Things quickly went from that point on. It was off to the paint store, a quick call to Jeanie for some painting assistance, setting up a temporary bed for Ella in the nursery. 2 days and 3 coats of paint later room #1 was complete!

Its hard to tell in the picture, but the color is actually a deep pink shade. (Today we are being graced by this glorious shiny orb that makes you feel all warm inside, but makes taking pictures of bedrooms a little more challenging ;-)) Also, please excuse the lack of staging in the pictures. This is the real reality of a bedroom of a 5-year old who loves to play dress-up! Under that pile of frilly dresses in the corner is a dressup chest that is far too small for all the dresses.

Ella loved her new room, all painted. We rearranged her furniture, finally unpacked most of her books and wall decorations and made it look like her room =)

Aubrey was not going to be left out of the new room experience. She wanted mommy to paint it NOW!! Unfortunately for her, mommy had to do that whole working thing so she had to wait a few days. Also, Aubrey became adamant that her room be yellow. Now I had 2 tasks, find bedding with a shade of yellow that wouldn't overpower the room, and paint room #2. Fortunately the stars aligned, the bedding was found quickly and Aubrey's room was started a few days after Ella's was finished. Unfortunate side of this situation, Ella's room has high ceilings....Aubrey's LOWEST ceiling is Ella's highest!! 1 gallon of paint covered 1 coat of paint in Aubrey's room. 3 gallons later her room was done! Again, we rearranged furniture hung a few things on the walls and made it look a little more personalized.

We still need to get some curtains for both of the girls rooms, but at least they are painted and both girls are very happy with their "new" rooms!

As for the last item on the "to-do" list---a name for the baby....  We still aren't getting very close to decision. There are names we toss around, but none of them seem "right" or we have too many reasons why we are hesitant. The clock is quickly ticking, less than 9 weeks and our 3rd little girl will be here (hopefully with a name!)