Jane's 3rd Birthday Party!

We started off with coloring time as everyone was arriving.

More arriving and mingling

Color Walk with Gold Metals for prizes

Marshmallow Drop

Opening Presents

Lucy was in good hands.

Cake!

Finally blew them out. She is so proud!


The pretty insides. 
Want to know how to make the cake? Click here.

Last Minute Party Fun

Party Carnage



Thanks everyone for helping to make this a really fun and special day for Jane!

One Happy Little 3 Year Old!

Applejack Festival 2010

Scott kept saying he wasn't going to come (he's smack in the middle of taking his comprehensive exams), but he did anyway since, and I quote, "The Applejack Festival is the closest thing we have to a family tradition here in Nebraska". It sure is! We've gone every year since we moved out here and have enjoyed it every time. It is a fun way to welcome Fall and get ready for all the fun upcoming holidays.

Here are some highlights.

Jane's first pony ride, ever! And Lucy, the ever happy and patient baby.
(Notice the mustachioed man. Sweet stash.)


It was a bit blustery out. Can you see the well protected baby inside our best friend, BOB?


The whole reason for going...Apples Galore!









And Jane's favorite activity, The Train.

What a sweetie!

For more cuteness about our fun day, click here...

I Just Couldn't Help Myself

Always getting squished with love.

To see more about Jane's new dress, click here.

P.S. Jane's staples are looking good and will come out next Wednesday. 

She hasn't complained about them and is feeling good!

This is Not Lipstick

Jane was jumping on our bed, even though I'd just asked her to stop, and this happened...

She hit her head on the corner of my nightstand and made a 1/2" cut on the back of her head. She screamed and I ran to help her and she just cried so hard so I knew something was really wrong. I held her and told her to point where it was hurting and then I dug around in her hair and found a big gash. It was bleeding a bit, but not as much as I thought head wounds bled. I told her to lay down and hold a rag on it while I tried to figure out where to go for help. I told her that we had to go to the doctor to help her feel better and she stopped crying and said she was feeling better and didn't need to go to the doctor. Poor baby.

She didn't cry again until they were working on her cut in the ER. 

I cried over the phone trying to find someone to come watch Lucy (she was sleeping) while we ran to the ER. Our sweet friend/ neighbor Kuei came over to watch Lucy and I ran off to the ER. Scott had just finished one of his final exams, so he took the bus from school and made it to us just as the scary stuff began. They numbed her head with a shot and then irrigated it and put 2 staples in it. She only cried, I think, because as they held her head down it was kind of smushing her face. Otherwise, she was fine as soon as they were done and wanted to play. From minutes after her injury until bed time tonight, I seriously had to make her take it easy. She was running around, jumping and playing like nothing had happened. She never really complained about any pain (except for immediately after the injury). She is one tough little lady. I am so impressed by her courage and positive attitude. (She kept asking me if I was okay, since I was the one crying the most!)

Jane is a little sweet heart. My baby has staples in her head! Eeesh.

This is after it all. She is so tough. 

The Lipstick Massacre of 2010

It sounds scary because it was. 

I think I actually yelped.

Jane got a hold of a new dumb lipstick I'd just bought. It is one of those crazy colorfast types that DO NOT COME OFF, especially when caked and layered upon itself.

I was mad. 

At her for doing it,

At myself for not paying better attention to her quiet ways,

For buying that dumb lipstick. 

I don't even wear lipstick.

Never again...

Okay, now prepare for a scare.

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I was mad when I was taking this picture, so when she smiled I said, "Don't smile!". 

I'm a mean mommy. I think she has since forgiven me though...

An innocent victim.

I spent over an hour cleaning them off, trying everything, then finally settling on using Vaseline and scrubbing with a wet rag. There were a few tears shed, and I gave up, letting Scott take over on Jane for another hour and a 1/2.

STEP 2

Cleaning that darn Vaseline out of her hair.

Had I known that it DOES NOT COME OUT, I would have used it a little more sparingly on her hair.

Sigh.

This morning (the lipstick massacre was last night) I washed Jane's hair 3 times. I used cornstarch as a binder to help chunk up the Vaseline, then washed it. 

Repeated those 2 steps. Then had her lay down so I could pour lemon juice on her head (this cause the most fear, but ONLY because it was cold, luckily). Then I shampooed her hair again. It's still wet, but I think it feels a little slimy still...

Any ideas on how to remove Vaseline from hair?

And how to get lipstick out of clothes?

Almost Crawling

So close! 

I'm really excited but also leery...I have to majorly baby-proof again!

Puzzle Fun and a Nasty Beast

These girls are so sweet. 

It was impossible to get a cute picture of both of them at the same time, but that didn't matter. 

They were just adorable playing together.

This big dude (or dudette?) would not get off our balcony all day long! 

Look at the size of it! As big as a can of soup! EW!

Me Amo Super Target

I had the best Target trip ever today.

I was taking a risk by going so near to nap time, especially since Lucy Goose would not take her morning nap. Also, I haven't been able to find my wallet for a couple of days, with extensive searching going on. I said a little prayer, and, TA-DA!, there it was! We began with 2 negatives, and left for the store with a score of Mommy 1, Bad Luck 1 (near nap time).

Then we got there and I ran into my friend Cheryl. We chatted for a while and then Jane announced, "Mommy, I'm not wearing a diaper." Gasp! We are not fully potty trained yet (or as Jane says, "On the Potty Train") and grocery carts are not the best places for potty accidents. So, since my friend in so nice, she watched Lucy and our cart full of stuff while I ran to the potty with Jane, who, BTW, did a smashing job of using the potty!

My favorite frozen herbs were on clearance, I found EVERYTHING I needed (even though they recently remodeled and I don't know where anything is anymore), no one cried (not even me!) or did a doody. Lucy even dropped her stuffed pig and I didn't notice and some random girl walked up to me while I was in line and asked if it was ours saying she'd been asking every one in the store (she was a shopper even, not a worker!).

The lines were crazy long and I was feeling nervous because the nap ticking time bomb clock was running out of time...Then walked up my night in shining armor. A Zack Efron look-a-like (not that I'm into teen boys or anything, but I get it) and he offered to help me in another line. Now, I've had this boy help me before and he did a smashing good job. Scott is a student, we are poor, so we get WIC, which I love, but many tellers hate to ring me up. This kid helped me with 12, yes 12! checks, even turning his line light off so no one would get mad at me in line for taking so long. He was amazing. So I was really excited that he was helping me again. He remembered me (crazy WIC lady, how could he forget?!) and was really nice about all my WIC checks again (only 3 this time).

Then we got home without anyone crying and now I have 2 little angels sleeping the afternoon away. Sigh.

Anyway, wasn't that the best Super Target trip ever?!

The End.