Harlie, you are 3!

Dearest Harlie,

As I write this, we are supposed to be headed over to Nana's to celebrate your birthday and a Thanksgiving feast.  Instead, you are curled up in your newly converted toddler bed and brand new birthday Disney Princess bedding. I'm hoping when you awake, the Motrin will have kicked in and your spirits will be up. I've been really looking forward to spending the day at Nana's house.

Man, were you a grumpy monkey this morning. I had a feeling you were getting sick again. The chills you got after your shower and how you whined when I brushed through your hair, just a further indication that this grumpy monkey has a fever. What's new?

You've been sick a whole lot this past year.  And it's been a BIG year for you little snuggles.  Mama and Daddy are both back to work now and after spending a few months with Auntie Keri full time, you mostly spend your weekdays in daycare (oops, I mean preschool, sorry).  You've been learning so much at Jessica's...always coming home with new things to share. You have a best friend (aside from Horsey) named Emelia. Her favorite color is purple. I know this because every time you see something that color, you say it's for Emelia. :-)  But your favorite color in pink. You love pink EVERYTHING!  I wonder if once the princess and ballerina obsession has passed, it will still be your favorite color. 

Princess mania is in full force.  You love to dress up and demand that Daddy be your prince, dancing with him and twirling around.  When you say the word princess you spit the "p" and it makes me smile every time.  You also love to pretend that you are a ballerina and cannot wait for Nana to take you to see the Nutcracker. We tell you that once you turn 5, you can go.  I think Nana may give in and take you next year. We'll see.

Another passion of yours is matching - finding pairs.  You get so excited and have to show daddy or I every time you find a match.  You'll see a duck in one of your books and then run to get your beloved rubber ducky from the bath and put them together. "Match!" you say, as your eyes gleam with pride.  You love to group colors and sort things that are the same.  You also have an eagle eye out for any H's you might see. You know your name starts with one and whenever you see one you shout "H is for Harlie!", which also happens to be the first letter you've written.

Safety comes first with you when we're in the car.  Everyone needs to be buckled up and have "two hands!" on the wheel at all times. Red is for stop, green is for go and Orange is for "sloooowwwwww down!"  Another thing you are hung up on is water towers. Every time we pass one you ask "Does Santa live in there?"  I don't know where in the world you got that idea.  You are very talkative in the car now, always asking questions or making observations.  It reminds me of Austin at your age.  So much to know and so little time!

You still go to Auntie Keri's house one day a week and you are always so excited to go. I love it because it's easy getting you up and dressed in the morning.  You and Max are still thick as thieves and the friendship you have built with your cousin Mazzy this year is super sweet.  I'm so lucky that you have them.  You have become much more outgoing, making friends at the park and not hiding behind my leg as much as you used to. You will even look Dr Wang in the eye now. That is progress my dear.

There is so much that I look forward to as you get older.  You have a personality full of sparkle and sass, a smile that lights up my heart and a contagious zest for life. I laugh because you are clumsy just like your mama, but it doesn't stop you from trying. Although you may be cautious, you still climb that mountain, and if you trip and fall you just untangle yourself, stand up and go again. You teach me so much every day.

I love you with my whole heart and soul.  Happy Birthday, sweet girl.

Love, Mama

Harlie's 3rd Year

Brighter Than the Sun by Colbie Caillat

I need a hug

In the past 24 hours:

• Scott and I decide to make Harlie a doctors appt for her mysterious rash, which seems to be getting worse.
• Scott comes down with a fever and bad cough after recently getting over a pretty gnarly cold. I'm convinced he's come down with Pneumonia and beg him to call the advice nurse. He schedules an appt. for himself for 3:30 today but will later decide to cancel the appt. because his fever is gone.  As I hear him hacking in the bedroom this very instant I still think he needs antibiotics.
• Scott and I both had promotional exams early this morning, and since the testing was being done at headquarters we had to take two cars.
• Mom comes over to stay with Harlie and take her to the doc. After rushing to get out of the house on time and as I try to start the car, I can't get it out of park. Neither can Mom, so I chuck the carseat that was in the Civic into moms car, hoping she can get it installed and rush off to work in the Civic. I'm 3 minutes late getting logged on to the phones (which is a bigger deal than it sounds).
• After my exam which I think went pretty well, I call BounceU to finalize plans for Harlie's 3rd birthday party on Saturday.
• When I call my mom on my lunch hour she informs me that Dr. Wang has diagnosed her with Hand Foot Mouth disease.
• I then call Jessica to inform her that the two days Harlie was in her care with what I thought was eczema, was really a contagious virus that can cause mouth sores.
• 3:00 break - Call the doc to get more info, 4:15 break - call Jessica to pass on info from the doc and to tell her I'll be staying home with Harlie tomorrow.
• 6:00pm -  I meet up with Sara and Ariel for wine and cheese and some much needed chatter and comic relief, the absolute highlight of this craptacular day.
• Tomorrow I call BounceU and cancel Harlie's birthday party.

Technique, Technique

Harlie had her first Mini-Kinder gymnastics class at Technique in Rancho on Friday  (every time I hear or see the word "technique" I think of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun--is it just me?).  Jessica will be taking Emelia and Harlie to class on a regular basis (Tuesdays at 9:30) starting in December, but Scott and I wanted to take her for the first time to see how she liked it.  Emelia ended up joining her for the trial class and it was so cute seeing them together.  I wished the lighting was better inside the gym, because it was difficult getting clear photos, but man did Harlie have a good time. I love that she isn't afraid to try new things and climb and jump and swing and be active!  My girl is the clumsiest *almost* three year old you'll ever meet, but she will always pick herself up and keep going, which makes me so happy. My heart hurts a little because I wont be able to see her at gym class every week, but I feel so blessed that she has the opportunity to go.

XC, aka Cross Country

So cross country season has come to an end for Austin this year.  Cordova did pretty well this year and made it to sub-sections in Angels Camp (frog jumping country), but unfortunately they came in 10th place as a team and needed to come in 6th or better to make sections.  This was Austin's first year participating in XC and enjoyed it so much, preferring it over football for a few reasons.  He really felt like his coaches cared about him, he loved the individual performance element of the sport, all the while still being a part of a supportive team and making new friends.  Austin excelled this year individually and it has definitely boosted his self-confidence.  It will be fun to see how he enjoys track which starts later this year.

Incredible. Despicable. Butterfly

Harlie chose her own costume this year.  Browsing Old Navy's online store, Harlie immediately selected their pinkest disguise!

Mama looking on as her super hero runs to save the day!

The Incredibles invited Harlie to the Harvest Festival at their church. Balloons, bounce house and a hay ride? Yes please!

They also had a cake walk. Round and round you go until the music stops, then you must stand on a number and if that number is called, you win a cake of your choosing!

Harlie was a little shy when we first arrived so she wanted me to walk with her.

We walked around and around and around until she finally won!

Later that night was Project Jack-o-Latern.  We all worked together on one pumpkin this year. And it was a lot of fun.  I originally came up with the idea to carve a Minion from the Despicable Me movie, and later fashioned his goggles out of Austin's swim mask

Harlie was given the task to choose which Minion from the DVD cover we'd make, then she carefully picked seeds out of the top of the pumpkin and helped scraped the guts out.

Scott scooped the innards out of the rest of the big guy and drew the Minion face so Aust could carve it.

Austin also came up with the brilliant idea to use a few bristles from our broom for the Minions hair.

Ta Da!

We began our Halloween night trick-or-treating at The Creegs house, but unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera when we left the house that morning. Wah wah....

Once we returned to Mather, I made sure too grab my camera and take a few pics of around the neighborhood.

I love Mather's collective enthusiasm for Halloween.

The loot!

Down, Down, Across

The big news around here is that Harlie came home from daycare last week having written her first letter.  Can you guess which one?  Well, H for Harlie of course!  In the past few weeks, she has been identifying H's everywhere: in the bathtub, in books, you name it.  Always with the declaration, "H is for Harlie!"  Here is a photo of her very first letter H's.

My guess is that Harlie's H's are on the left. :-)

When the weekend came, Scott and I were playing with Harlie and her Magna Doodle in her room. I asked her to draw some H's for me and she thankfully complied. As she was writing she also chanted "Down, down, across!"  It was so cute.

Saturday morning arrived, and when Harlie woke up she was surprised with an early birthday present from Grandma and Papa.  They wanted her to be able to use it outside before the weather turned cold and rainy. They had presented it to her in the box, so she wasn't quite sure what it was exactly until Scott and I put it together for her. Since Mom and Dan couldn't be there to see her reaction after it was put together, I made sure to film it on my camera.




Later that afternoon, after we returned from the pumpkin patch, we broke out the paints and Harlie went to town.

And here's the final product, a Harlie Shavonne original. She signed it with an "H" then Mama dated it and finished the rest of her name.

Roemer's Pumpkin Patch

After stopping by Sidney's carwash in South Sac, we thought we'd check out the pumpkin patch on Hedge since we'd be in the area anyway. We had packed a lunch and luckily they had a big shaded area with picnic tables so we could fuel up before Harlie and all the pumpkin patch fun wore us out! The weather this weekend is so beautiful which made the afternoon that much more delightful! Scott wants to return again next year...he was so impressed with the huge pumpkin patch and liked the idea of getting a photo of Harlie next to the photo op growth chart every year. I admit that it's a pretty cute idea...gosh we must be sucker tourists. :-)

Cap'n Harlie has staked her claim!