MY LITTLE PONY STYLE

Rose's birthday was a BLAST!  It will probably rank as one of her all-time favorites!  I mean, how many times in life do you get to paint a pony???  The kids really did think that was incredible.  Props to Ann for getting her miniature horse there just in time for the party.  I do feel a little bad for the pony though....  I mean that poor pony didn't stand a chance with all those kiddos around!  Glitter, Paint, Hair extensions, and Paint Pens (oh my) ...  That is definitely everything a kid needs to make their very own Rainbow Dash!  She has already requested another "Pony Party" for next year...  I guess I have 12 months to try to convince her of something else.  This party was a little more work than I bargained for.  I must also note, that the twins were angels through the entire party.  They got passed around and loved on for two solid hours and to be honest, I totally forgot they were even there because I never heard a peep from either one of them.  Mills even took a little siesta on Granddaddy's shoulder.  As much fun as the party was, I am already contemplating just having Family for the Twins One Year.....???  Its a lot of trouble to throw birthday parties these days!!!

THE AFTER-PARTY....  

CELEBRATING ALI (4) AND ROSE'S (3) "MAY BIRTHDAYS" AT BON-BON'S HOUSE

ROSE 3 YEAR OLD STATS

AND THE QUESTIONNAIRE

HEIGHT:  3 ft 3 inches (89%)

WEIGHT:  30 lbs even (43%)

HEAD CIR:  18.898 inches 

HEART RATE:   112

BMI:  13.87 (4%)

Shoe size:  7

Clothing size:  2T

Naps:  1 1/2 hour afternoon if I am lucky

Hair:  blond and stringy

Eyes:  Blue

Teeth:  still missing our 2 year molars

What is your favorite food? - "pizza"
What is your favorite color? - "purple"
What is your favorite toy? - "far-farkle, wainbow dash, pway doh, and baby dolls" 
(twilight sparkle and rainbow dash (my little ponies), play doh and baby dolls)
What is your favorite thing to do? - "the park and pway doh"
What is your favorite thing to watch on TV? - "pwah doh pwincess" 
(play doh princesses on you-tube on the Ipad)
What do you want to be when you grow up? "A mommy"
Where do you want to live when you grow up? "In mommy and daddys bed?" (not sure she understood the question
Who is your best friend? "Massey"
What is your favorite animal? "Zwebras and cats" (we dont have either one???)
What is your favorite flavor? "purple"
What is your favorite game? "squirrels and ponies" (the squirrel board-game where you put the acorns in the tree and then a My Little Pony memory card game Phyl gave her for her birthday)
What is your favorite flower? "WALL of them"
Where is your favorite place to go?  "to Phyls house, to Poppys house, and Ju-Jus house, and Swunde School"
Where is your least favorite place to go? "my house"
What is your baby-dolls name?  "just baby-doll"
Who do you play with the most? "my fwiend who wides my cwar" (the neighbors little boy Bryan who comes over and they drive Rose's car)

A Little Birthday Humor That is Too Funny Not to Share:

Rose:  "Where does Wainbow-dash live mom?"
Me:  "In a barn"
Rose:  "Where is da barn?"
Me:  "I dunno but ponies have to live in a barn and eat hay"
Rose:  "But wainbow dash wives in the cwouds and the sky"
Me:  "Oh, well yea I guess he is a special pony"
Rose:  "Dad where does Wainbow dash live?
Mark:  "I'm not sure honey, where do you think he lives?"
Rose:  "Well I know" (and she starts doing this "ascending into heaven" motion with her hands)
Mark:  "Where?"
Rose:  "In da heavens with Jesus and Frogs"
Mark:  "What?"
Rose:  "Wainbow dash wives in heaven wif Jesus and Frogs"
Me:  "Jesus lives in your heart Rose"
Rose: "Well get him out of der and send him back to be wif da Frogs" .... "Wainbow dash is Jesus's pony"

(after a moment of silence in wonder....)
Mark:  I told her the dead frog outside went to be with Jesus in Heaven ..................

I really do stand in amazement at how much I can actually Love someone else.  I look at her and my heart melts.  She is everything I could have asked for in a daughter and more.  The twins have some seriously high standards to live up to.  I honestly cant imagine myself as anything else than a "mother of three beautiful girls".  I look back and totally understand why the Lord gave them to us.  Rose is growing up so fast.  I feel like she was just born yesterday (yes I remember that delivery quite well...) and now she is about to start school.  I am getting applications for tumbling, dancing, and she recently started violin lessons....  WHAT????  My baby girls is not a "toddler" anymore... she is really like a Little Girl.  I am so proud to call her mine and I cant wait to see what the next year holds.

ALL ABOUT MILLS AT 6 MONTHS

TOP FIVE REASONS WHY THIS LITTLE GIRL WILL STEAL YOUR HEART

1. SOCIAL BUTTERFLY:  Everyone loves the life-of-the-party, and that my friends is Millie! She is her momma-made-over most days.  I am not even kidding - I can see it myself.  She likes to be busy, working, playing, outside, up, in the action, and on the go!  She coos all the time.  She is going to my talker I fear.  She will get a serious little look and just babble and blow bubbles and most people wonder what she is thinking. Sometimes I really think we have E.S.P. because I swear I know what she wants.  She also scopes me out in a crowd.  Little girl knows when her momma is around and I feel like she is more attached to me than either of my other two ever were/are.  I can already picture Mill's as a mamma's girl. 
2. HUGS:  Mills does this thing with her hands when you hug her.  She cups her fingers and squeezes your shirt (like the come-here motion).  It actually really feels like she knows how to hug you back.  It is the best feeling and makes you just want to hug her all day long.
3. SHE'S IS THE BEST SLEEPER:  Nothing is better than a nap with this kid. All you have to say is "Night Time" and she starts yawning I swear it.  We call her our little Cave-Man because I think her biological clock is in perfect harmony with the tide and the moon.  Time change did not effect her one bit - she did not even skip a beat.  She maintains her schedule and heaven forbid she lose an extra hour of sleep!
4. INDEPENDENT and ATTENTIVE:  She and Rose are two peas in a pod on this one.  Mills is already showing signs (way earlier than Rose did).  She does not like help rolling over, she gets infuriated.  She wants to do it ALL BY HERSELF.  She would rather have a bottle propped up where she can hold it and move it around than to be fed a bottle by a person.  Please don't squeak a rattle 45 times in her face, she would rather you just put the rattle in her hand and let her squeak it!  As long as Mills has a toy, she completely entertains herself and is so easy to manage!  She is also totally a "people-watcher."  Those eyes can follow an ant across a table 100 yards away!
5. HEART-BREAKER:  Mills has two looks! One is the "You are an Idiot" look and the other is the "I'm sexy and I know it" look.  If you have been around Mills for longer than 15 minutes then you know exactly what I am talking about here....? The first one she gets from her big sister Rose, and we call that the "Hardin Glare".  (Sorry Ramey, but Anne Lowry totally has this too!! Its a dominant family trait :/ )  If you only knew what she was thinking about you, you probably would just want to crawl in a hole and never come out.  She can hold her own - even at 5 months.  The other look is one you see of models in swimsuit magazines.  That solemn gorgeous look.  She can pierce your heart with those perfectly round Big Blue Eyes!  Mark says she will be a heart-breaker!  This girl has some pretty eyes!!!! She usually tips it off with a little grin from only one cheek, as if to tease you to want more.  

ALL ABOUT MARYN AT 6 MONTHS

TOP FIVE REASONS WHY THIS LITTLE GIRL IS SO EASY TO FALL IN LOVE WITH

1. SHE'S THE BLACK SHEEP BEAUTY OF THE FAMILY:  Maryn definitely has some striking little features.  Have you seen her complexion???  Um... most models would kill for her olive brown silky smooth skin.  She gets that from my mother.  I am so anxious to see how much she tans this summer. Her hair is as soft as rabbit's fur.  I could seriously just rub my nose in her hair all day long.  Her eyelashes are longer than mine are as an adult.  I honestly have no idea where Maryn gets her looks.  I hear my mom a lot and I also hear Papa Rose.  I think its the complexion and hair from my mom because her face doesn't look like my mom to me.  I think its the smile and jaw line from Papa Rose, and sometimes I can see that myself as well.  She does have Hardin in her blood I fear (That hint of RED showing through in her hair is 100% compliant with the "ginger temper" baby girl reveals every now and then).  She is definitely our little wild card and how much fun is that???
2. HAPPIEST BABY YOU WILL EVER MEET:  Maryn is 100% smiles, 95% of the time.  She is content to smile at the TV and watch Mills.  The other night I tried to smile back at her as much as she smiled at me and my cheeks literally got tired from grinning that much.  She can always put a smile on anybody's face!
3. POLAR OPPOSITE OF THE OTHER FOUR OF US:  I don't just mean in her looks or personality.  I mean in like human characteristics.  For example, the other 4 of us are cold natured.  We keep our house at like 71/72.  Maryn is as hot natured as they come.  The kid will be ringing wet with sweat when she wakes up in the morning.  She is also a night owl. Her favorite time of day is like 8pm when the lights go out and she watches TV in the dark(all by herself).  The rest of us are already making ZZZZZ's....  In every respect, Maryn is just a little different (another reason she is our little wild-card) and it is so fascinating to me that Mark and I could have a child that is so much different than either one of us???
4. SNUGGLER:  There is nothing better than a Saturday morning with this chick.  I am telling you - a cup of coffee, a blanket, and a little Maryn makes the morning worth waking up for.  The kid can put off an insane amount of body heat and there is nothing better than her snuggles.  And lucky for us, she actually really likes to snuggle.
5. SHE'S THE UNDER-DOG:  And who doesn't cheer for the under-dog???  I will always see her as my "weaker child" even though now she is growing faster than Mills and seems to be stronger.  It's a mental thing for me I guess.  But she has come so far in just 5 short months, she is a champion in my opinion!

Stay Tuned - ALL ABOUT MILLS coming soon....

COUSIN FUN

AT PHYL AND GRANDDADDY'S HOUSE

It really is bittersweet that these kiddos LOVE going to Phyl and Granddaddy's house so much.  (more sweet than bitter).  I think Rose envisions heaven to slightly resemble Phyl's house???  I love that she wants to go ALL. THE. TIME.....  however, I will admit, It is kinda aggravating that I think she likes it more than home (seriously... and that's the bitter part... kinda?)  Some days I get sick of answering her repeated questions....

"Can I go to Phyl's house?" ................ "NO"

"Can I go to Phyl's house?" ................ "NO"

"Can I go to Phyl's house?" ................ "NO"

"Can I go to Phyl's house?" ................ "NO"

"Can I go to Phyl's house?" ................ "NO"

"Can I go to Grand-daddy's house then?" .................. you get the picture.....

Sorry Brent and Ramey....  I must vocalize it.... YOUR KIDS DID NOT MISS YOU.  I mean why would they???  Fishing, riding golf carts, going to a petting zoo, monkeys, horses, camels, mexican food, playing in the water in their underwear, ice cream for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch, chips for dinner, stay up till midnight, sleep with rabbits...  I mean come on.... I think I may even wanta go to Phyl and Granddaddy's house ........ !!!!!!