Girls' Night Out

With one of the nine thousand Groupons/Living Social deals Laura has bought, we enjoyed a wine tasting on Thursday night.  We got to taste 20 wines, and then choose one to have a full glass of, as part of the deal.  It was a private party, so it was just the four of us at the chateau de piqu tasting room by Castleton.  It was a great GNO with lots of laughter.  We brokered a deal with him so we'll be going again soon!  His only mistake was guessing that all four of us (one in her twenties, two of us 35, and one 37) are in our "late 30s"!

Joey's First Haircut

Before....

After.....

Joey got his first haircut on March 8.  He did an amazing job, and was in a good mood the whole time.  His game was throwing combs on the floor.  Despite what it looks like above, he did not sit in a chair all by himself for the cut - he sat on my lap.  Because Jeff is his daddy, we used a coupon for a free cut at Sport Clips.  The lady did a great job working with him.  I think his hair is crazy-short now, but he definitely needed a cut!

Grandma & Pappaw

Melanie had a great time with her Grandma & Poppaw Worzala over her birthday weekend!  She got to show them all of her toys, tell them lots of stories, and show them her new trick of saying "I can't dooooo it!" about everything.  That is a habit we are (so far) successfully breaking her of; but it was very prevalent over the weekend!

Melanie asked where Charlie was pretty frequently (Cory and Charlie stayed behind for a previous engagement) - but she had a great time with Sammie and Uncle Randy.  The girls decided to swap pajamas, which was a big hit.  They did a pretty good job sharing with each other, and Mel introduced Sam to her favorite show, "Strawberry Shortcake."  

Pappaw is getting his girl fill, after two sons and a grandson!  The girls love him!

Let's Party!!

We celebrated Melanie's third birthday with a party at Traders Point Christian Church on Saturday, March 5.  Melanie had about 10 of her friends & cousins to help her celebrate.  She had four friends from the neighborhood, one from daycare (with his sister), and four cousins - Molly, Sammie, Wyatt, and Bella. Her Grandma & Poppaw Worzala also came to town to help her celebrate her birthday!

We had a great time; we started the festivities in the large playground at the church.  Then we rounded the kids up and came back to the room for some cake and presents.  When it was time to return to the room, Melanie insisted on everyone lining up behind her so she could be the "line leader."  This is a very important job at her daycare.  As she opened presents, she would not tell her friends "thank you." She would say "no you say it!" when I reminded her.  She got a lot of great gifts, and has been very busy with them all ever since.  My plan, to keep a few of them back and introduce them at later dates, did not work, she had them all out of their boxes by Saturday night.  

My friend Ali Cotton did the cake - I think she did an AMAZING job!  It tasted great too!

 

Birthday Girl

We spent Melanie's birthday evening at Chick-Fil-A, so she could enjoy the playground.  Ironically, we met another little girl there, celebrating her third birthday with her family as well.  She was also born at Clarian North on 3/3/08!  

Melanie's daycare class celebrated her birthday with lots of treats.  They do a once-a-month celebration for all birthdays that month.  Since Mel is the only one who has a March birthday, they did the party on her big day.  She took cupcakes, and was pretty excited about it.

After we returned from Chick-Fil-A, Melanie opened a few gifts. Several days after her birthday, I gave her a present we had forgotten about - a pair of Dora pajamas from Joey.  She could not have been more thrilled to receive a gift from Joey.  Questions like "Who took Joey to get this?" were interspersed with "Thank you baby brother," "I love you, JoeJoe," "Thank you for buying me pajamas, Joey!"  

This is her new favorite puzzle.  It has 24 pieces, and she can do it by herself.   

 

Joey wants in on the action....

Happy 3rd Birthday Melanie Grace!

This was Melanie's "golden birthday" - turning 3 on the 3rd!  And, in the third month of the year.  Gotta love those threes!  Mel and I had a girls' night the evening before her big day, and she got her nails painted for the very first time.  In the morning, I found her left thumb's polish in the back of her mouth.  I guess I can take note and skip that finger in future nail-polishing excursions.

I wanted to get a picture of Melanie as she was first waking up on her third birthday.  This is what I came up with.  Her mood improved as we opened the door and she saw pink streamers hanging from her door.  She sleeps in front of the door (as pictured) every night.  We put her in her bed, but after we leave, she moves to this location.  She doesn't cry, or protest about anything; she just prefers to sleep on the floor.  At least she's sleeping....

Children's Museum

The day after our return from Florida, Melanie and I met Suzi  Wyatt (and "Market" (Mel's interpretation of "Morgan" and Aileen)) at the Museum.  Melanie was feeling way less than fantastic, but she inSISted on going to the museum.  To the point of waking herself up coughing as we turned onto the road for the museum, saying "Mommy, I don't feel good..." with my response being "we need to go home..." and her throwing a crying fit because she needed to go to the museum so badly.

She was a mess during the trip, but as she ate more, she got some energy, and we hung out for more than two hours.  It was PACKED - we had to park a few blocks away from the parking garage.  Several times throughout the visit, I asked Melanie if she was ready to go home, since she was such a disaster.  She would cry and insist on staying.

She went on the "up and down" horsey on the carousel, and saw trains, dinosaurs, Dora & Diego, among other things.  The thing that cracks me up about the train picture above is that when I took it, I had no idea that Wyatt was in the background.  He's such a poser :)