Do you remember my birthday?

Today my sweet Chloe Starr turns 3-years old. 

I have never met anyone who loves a birthday more than Chloe. Seriously. It's your birthday? She will be whole-heartedly excited for you. And then she'll ask you for a cupcake. I don't know what she loves more birthdays or cupcakes. But it's probably an even race because for her, the two go hand in hand.

She has known all week that her birthday was today and I have been asked about 72,365 times...

"Mommy. Do you remember my birthday?"

And I would say, "Of course I remember your birthday! It's on Friday."

 Well, the day is here. And while today she hasn't asked me if I still remember that it's her birthday, I keep answering it anyway.

My answer is this-

Sweet Chloe, of course I remember your birthday. Giving birth to you was one of the best experiences of my life. Meeting you. Holding you. Kissing you. I'll never forget it. It feels just like yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I'll feel that way for the rest of my life. In the three years you have been with us, you have blessed our lives more than you will ever know. We love you so much and we thank God for you every day.

You are sweet. You are kind. And you are an original. We're so glad that you're our daughter.

We love you Chloe Starr.

Happy 3rd Birthday! 

2nd Birthday.


1st Birthday.


Birth.

My two year olds.

This past month has been the month of the two-year old. And today is the last day that I can say I have two of them.

 In all honesty, having two, two-year olds hasn't been so terrible. Trust me, we have had our terrible moments, but we have also had some of the greatest times. 

It has been so much fun watching the girls grow together as sisters, playmates and friends.

 And occasionally, enemies.

 But I have loved watching Chloe be the big sister. She really watches out for Stella (when she's not hitting her) and just wants her to do the right thing...all the time. 

This is Chloe's face when she's telling on Stella. We see that one a lot.

And it's funny (I know I shouldn't say this as a parent) watching Stella scheme a plan for how she will torture Chloe next. You see, Stella's on to this whole Chloe-wants-me-to-do-the-right-thing-all-the-time thing, and so she does her I'm-not-going-to-do-the-right-thing-and-I'm-definitely-not-going-to-do-what-Chloe-wants-because-I-know-it-drives-her-crazy thing which usually ends up in disaster.

This is Stella's scheming face. We see that one all the time. 

But somehow we work it out. And they have learned to be sweet and loving (for the most part) to each other.

This is what they look like when they share (momentarily). And yes, they are sharing halves of a wooden cat. It's weird. I don't know how to explain it. So I won't.

But mainly I have learned that two-year olds are fun and they really keep you on your toes. Here's the difference between a young (Stella) 2-year old and an older (Chloe) 2-year old.And this is a real life example that happened yesterday. 

The girls wanted strawberries. I said that we didn't have any. Stella starting screaming and karate-chopped me in the head. Chloe said, "Okay. We'll get some at the store."

I don't know how else to sum it up.

No understanding vs. Complete understanding.

I do have to tell you though, in spite of all the karate chops, temper tantrums, roller-coaster emotions, and pure exhaustion (on my part), it's all worth for this...

Two girls. Playing in the hall cabinet with a laundry basket.

I have no idea what they're doing, but they're in it together. I guess that's what sisters are for.

And that pretty much sums it up.

I love my two, two-year olds.

One year ago.

This Might Be the Saddest Post Ever. But it Ends Well. I Promise.

Since the girls have gotten a little older, we have decided to dedicate a couple nights a month for special "date nights" with them. I get one. And the lucky one gets to go out on a date with their daddy.

Since Chloe is the oldest, she was up first for a date with Jason. I have never seen her more excited about anything. Except for cupcakes and birthdays. But who can blame a girl?

When they were ready to go, I grabbed my camera and headed to the front porch for pictures of the two of them. I totally thought that Stella wouldn't care; honestly, I didn't think she knew what was taking place. I was slightly wrong. What happened next was unexpected and completely broke my heart. 

In the words of Stella.

"Hey, guys. I guess I didn't hear mom say that it was time for pictures before date night. That's okay. I can open the door by myself." 

"I'm not wearing pants, but who likes wearing pants on date night? Not me, that's for sure. And who cares anyway. I get to go on a date with my daddy!" 

"Let me squeeze myself in here." 

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not supposed to be in this picture?" 

Me: Because you're not supposed to be in the picture. *This is where I started crying.* 

"Why am I not in the car? I'm not going!! This is why I don't have pants on!!!!" 

"I. Want. to. Go." 

That was actually what she was saying when the picture was taken. Jason's expression sums up exactly how the both of us felt. And by this point I could barely pull myself together.  

But once we both recouped, we headed back inside and life resumed as normal. Except for that she played with every single toy she wanted to play with, completely uninterrupted. This is a rarity.

By this point I think she was starting to like this one-on-one thing. 

We went to Coolgreens and had an awesome salad and pizza. 

Which really isn't considered fair when Chloe and Jason went to Gatti's Pizza. 

But we had a great time. I love spending time with this girl. She is just the sweetest little thing.

And sneaky. She totally snagged a piece of pizza to-go and I had no idea until we were in the car. Sneaky I tell ya. Sneaky. I'm keeping my eye on this one.

Eventually we all met up at our regular ice cream joint, Braum's.

And I was back together with my silly-smiling little girl.

And Stella was right where she wanted be.

Right next to her daddy, on date night.

I promised it ended well.

Playing Favorites.

Chloe (my little precious, puddle of love) told the cashier at the grocery store today that I'm her sister.

She's now my favorite daughter.

Stella (my precious, second puddle of love) has a lot of work cut out for her.

If you want to work your way to the top, repeat after me, Ms. Stelly Belly:

My mommy is my sister. She looks so young and will forever be mistaken as my sister. I would never want another mommy, even if at one point she said I was her second favorite. She is so young and beautiful, that young and beautiful sister of mine.

When the (male) cashier asked me if I really was their sister I said,

"Will you marry me?"

*Insert crickets chirping.*


Apparently he wasn't such a big fan of my jokes. To set the record straight and to put an end to the massive awkwardness happening between us, I meekly said,

"Yes. Of course I'm their big sister."

He looked at me as one does when they know without a shadow of a doubt that they are being lied to.

*And those crickets kept on chirping.* 

The Forgotten Birthday

When I was pregnant with Chloe and found out that her due date was March 1st, Jason said, "Well there goes my birthday."

And when I was pregnant with Stella and we found out that her due date was February 15th, Jason said, "We'll never celebrate my birthday again." 

It shakes out like this:

Stella's Birthday- February 10

Jason's Birthday- February 21

Chloe's Birthday-March 9

For me, the cluster of birthdays has made my life a lot easier, for one reason alone--

I get to leave up the birthday decorations for one whole month, with a valid (okay, it's really  and totally inexcusable) reason. 

If you know me, I like to procrastinate about taking down decorations. 

You don't even want to know how long I kept up our Christmas tree. 

See, look at this picture. I didn't forget his birthday at all. I would even like to say that I decorated for his special day. Even if it was first intended for Stella. Look at all of her his cards!

I let the girls pick out cards for him this year. Stella picked out Belle. And apparently Jason is her "granddaughter".

And Chloe picked out a Tinkerbell card for her "best girl friend". 

I chose one that talks about peeing your pants. Something. is. wrong. with. me.

All in all, I think he had a great birthday. Even with his girly cards and leftover decorations. 

Eventually we left the fairy princesses behind and celebrated with a proper birthday dinner. We had so much fun... 

 He wouldn't let us sing Happy Birthday so I embarrassed him the best way I know how. 

With photographic proof of my dorkiness.

Jason, your birthday is not forgotten. You are the best husband a girl could ask for and I'm more than happy to celebrate birthday, after birthday, after birthday, after birthday, with you.

Even if I do weird things to embarrass you.

Even if I use leftover decorations and fairy princess cards.

Even if I post your birthday post, one day late.

I love you.

Happy Birthday (yesterday)!

Wherever You Are, my love will find you

Stella's birthday went off without a hitch. We had a blast celebrating her special day. And even though all went as planned, there were several funny (and embarrassing) happenings throughout the day.

And I'll save those for another day.

Until then, I leave you with this picture. When I looked at this, all I could think of was an excerpt from a book I read them often.

In the green of the grass...in the smell of the sea...in the clouds floating by...at the top of the tree...in the sound crickets make at the end of the day...

"You are loved. You are loved. You are loved," they all say.

-Wherever You Are my love will find you, Nancy Tillman.

Happy Birthday, Stella!

My sweet Stella turns two today. I can't believe it. It feels like just yesterday....okay, I had to pause to wipe away my tears. I'm just so proud of this little girl. She has brought more joy and laughter into my life and I'm so thankful for her. 

Stelly Belly, we love you so much. You are so independent, so sweet and so hilarious. Your sister says to me all the time, "she's sooooo funny." And it's true. You have brought more light into all of our lives and everyday with you is a day that is precious. We love you. We are proud of you. And we love watching you grow up. Just stop growing up so fast, okay? 

Happy 2nd Birthday, Stella Elizabeth!

Birth.

First Birthday.