Kalianna's Third Birthday

Kalianna had an awesome third birthday! At least she seemed to enjoy it. Because her birthday was on a Sunday, we went and got her present the day before. First we went to McDonalds for some lunch. Magdalyn got her very first Happy Meal. When Kalianna turned one and we got her a happy meal, I worried she wouldn't eat much. She ended up eating the entire thing. So I'm not sure why, but I was nervous Magdalyn wouldn't eat much of it. Silly Mommy! I should have learned my lesson the first time. She loved it and ate the entire thing! (On a side note, can I just say how much I love that McDonalds does fries AND apple slices in happy meals now?)

After some yummy lunch and some fun slides, we took the girls to Build-A-Bear for the first time and let them each pick out an animal. They both chose dogs (no surprise there) and we got in line to have them stuffed. We thought going in between conference sessions would be a good idea, not so much. It was packed! I think the girls had fun, but it might have gone over better if we had gone there first instead of last. They were both a little tired and by the time we were done, they were Done.

Maggie loved her little dog so much while we waited in line, he was covered in drool. After having him stuffed, she was a little less interested. Next time we'll know to make him a floppy dog.

Kalianna picked out a dachshund that had a little matching baby with her 

The end results

Ready to bring her doggies home

The girls were both much happier when we got to Grandma's house and they could play with their new dogs. While we finished the second half of Conference, my mom, Ricci, Julie, and I all worked on some Easter crafts. Then after the girls were in bed, we finished them up. Well Kalianna had a hard time getting to sleep. She was so excited for her birthday on Sunday! At one point, Julie was using matches to burn the end of some ribbon so it wouldn't fray. Kalianna came out of her room thinking we were lighting her birthday candles! Talk about excited, she could smell it all the way upstairs and in the back of the house, with her door shut!

On Sunday, I got up and made a yummy french toast breakfast, complete with a candle in Kalianna's for her to blow out.

We decided to do a family party for Kalianna this year. I think we'll start friend parties when she's four. She has been SO EXCITED for her birthday party! We've had enough family parties the last few months, complete with cake and birthday candles, that Kalianna could not wait until it was her turn! We decided on a  Pinkalicious party, since that is one of her favorite books and she is obsessed with the color pink right now (my daughter?!) She picked out some awesome pink sparkle paper for her birthday invitations. I was quite proud of how cute they turned out:

My awesome family helped decorate, while others helped get dinner ready. 

All the food for dinner was pink, with the exception of a couple things that turned out red =( I was disappointed, but most of it worked.

pink hummus for an appetizer

pink spaghetti noodles

This sauce was supposed to be pink, but it turned out to be more of a light red

pink jello, with pink whipped cream

her Pinkalicious cake

Dinner: Salmon, pink spaghetti, salad w/ pink dressing, and pink jello. Yum!

After dinner, we opened presents. She was thrilled! And wanted to open everything! (pull it out of the packaging and play with it right then). We've been having fun with her new toys, books, and games everyday since.

Can you tell she's happy? After getting Lady in Disneyworld (which she is inseparable from), she has been asking for Tramp ever since. Magdalyn got this for her and we had her open it last. She immediately ran from the room to find Lady

Together at last!

Her super cute Pinkalicious cake, completely surrounded by pink cupcakes.

We also had pink ice cream to go with her pink cupcakes, pink cake, and pink frosting. The party turned out awesome! I forgot to take pictures of everyone who attended, but most of them were wearing pink to join in on the theme for the evening. The guests included: Daddy, Mommy, Magdalyn, Grandpa Howell, Grandma Howell, Theresa, CJ, Kristine, Logan, Joshua, Ian, Hayden, Julie, Seth, Bryan, Ricci, Brent, Alyssa, Grandma Carroll (Grandpa was sick), Miranda, and Brad.

Sneaky Kids

So, like I said, the biggest reason I decided to go private was because of my book. With the ever-increasing traffic to my blog because of book-related things, I decided to make it private to protect my girls. Not that my book is super popular or anything, but it has attracted enough attention that my blog's views more than doubled since it came out. This is great as a writer! Not so great as a Mommy. So all my book information, book reviews, and author interviews will be separate and posted on my website from now on. This Blog will strictly be about my girls and my family.

The other reason that pushed me to finally go private, was not being able to share certain information, because I was unsure of who might see it. Now that I know and trust all of you, that's no longer a concern. So to initiate this new private setting, I am going to share a funny story that I couldn't before.

All the backyards in our condo complex are connected. This is used as an emergency exit in case of fire or something. Basically the person on the opposite end from us can lift every latch on every gate separating the yards and can come through our yard to escape into the parking lot. We, on the other hand, can not get into any of the other yards. The latch is located on one side of the gate. Since our gate opens into the parking lot, we apparently don't need access to anyone else's yards. You need to understand this to help with the story.

Kalianna's best friend lives next door. His name is Kaleo. You've probably heard me mention him in the past. They just absolutely love each other! They would play all day long if we let them. Well, Kaleo is about to turn four. Meaning he has gotten tall enough to reach the latch connecting our backyards. This was discovered for the first time last week. Kaleo and Kalianna were ecstatic! They could now play together anytime they wanted, and did not need to wait for Mommy's permission (or so they thought). Their initial discovery resulted in Kalianna racing outside before even finishing breakfast to play with Kaleo, who waited for her there. She then invited him into our house, while Mommy was still in pajamas. Not too big a deal, he's four. Still not how I expected to start my day.

The next day in the late afternoon, I was getting the girl's shoes on so we could run a few errands. My ears perked up when I heard a noise downstairs. I thought perhaps it was one of the dogs. Then I heard, "Kalianna!" followed by little footsteps on my stairs. This was quickly followed by screaming from downstairs in our family room. I scooped up Maggie and found Kaleo heading up toward Kalianna's room to find his friend. I quickly told him he needed to call before coming over to our house, then went to the source of the screaming. Kaleo's two-year-old little sister was standing in our front room screaming, because she is terrified of the dogs and they were trying to say Hi. The best part? She was completely naked. Kaleo had opened the back gate, come into our yard, then crawled through the doggie door into our house. (Now you know our secret, if you are small enough, our house is really easy to break into) Lauren, his sister, loves Kalianna as much as her brother and followed right along behind him. I shooed the dogs away from Lauren, took her by the hand and walked both her and Kaleo next door. Their mom had just discovered them missing. She promised to have a talk with them. Then I walked back into our house, shut the door, and laughed so hard I immediately had to call Matt and share the story.

They have not come into our yard without permission since. I seriously thought it was hysterical! And I've got to give those kids props for being so inventive! They wanted to play with their friend and, gosh darnit they were going to find a way!

Going Private *sigh*

I never thought I'd do this. Private blogs can be a pain to follow, and I like the freedom an open blog has to offer. However, for all you closet-readers of my blog, as well as those of you who follow vocally, please let me know if you'd like an invite, otherwise you will no longer be able to view my brilliance and my cutie girls after next week. After April 4th my private blog (aka this one) will be devoted to the girls and our family. My writings, book information, book reviews, author interviews, etc. will be available on my website: http://www.stacylynncarroll.com/
With the ever-increasing traffic to my blog from outside sources, due to book reviews and such, I decided it was time to separate my family life from my author life. I've been contemplating this for quite some time. Then I was finally pushed to make a decision when 1. someone stole pictures off my blog and 2. I wanted to share a funny story, but was unable to because of the sensitivity of the subject. If I knew and trusted all the people reading my blog, I know I could post just about anything without fear. Hence, I am making my blog private. Sorry to all! Leave a comment with your e-mail if you'd like an invite, or e-mail me directly at pinkstacy@gmail.com

Magdalyn 11 months

I can't believe my little Maggie Moo will be one next month! Yet it feels like forever ago that she was born. (strange how that happens) Magdalyn is such a mover! She has lots of bruises on her poor little head and face from constantly trying to walk, crawl, etc. She is starting to get more frustrated that she can't walk yet. It's sad, but kinda funny. You can tell she wants nothing more than to play with her big sis, but her body just won't cooperate. She walks great holding onto things, and her balance is getting much better. We're getting close! She has also recently taught herself how to climb up the stairs.

Magdalyn is such an observer. She likes to move, but does so more when it's just us at home. Whenever we are in a larger group, or a public place, she is happiest sitting on my lap and watching everything around her. Whenever we go anywhere people always comment on what a quiet, good baby she is. She is a great baby! But it's funny to me how she acts more reserved in public.

She is very much a Momma's girl right now! She gets upset if I walk away, or am not paying enough attention to her. She's happiest when I'm sitting on the floor and playing with her. Or snuggling. This girl is such a snuggler! She always has been.

We are down to our last five jars of baby food, and then she is done! I only give it to her for one meal a day, while we try and finish off the last few jars, but she prefers "real" food. She eats whatever we are eating for dinner, and loves to try new things. Our latest discovery is tilapia. We had some last night, and she loved it! She now has six teeth, four on top and two on bottom.

Magdalyn remains my super sensitive little girl. Sometimes even saying the word no gets her crying. She doesn't like anything negative. And she gives the most pitiful little cry if she ever "gets in trouble" for anything.

Here is my sweet baby doll over the last eleven months:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 months

Park Day

Last Thursday, Matt did get a break from all his hard work and we went to the park. Spring Break is a joke these days. I think we actually see him even less during his "breaks" from school than we do during the regular classes. But we enjoyed a couple hours together in the middle of the day, which is super rare! We all had a blast! When a nice breeze started, Matt and Maggie ran to the store and got a kite. Then we moved our party to the church field and played with that for awhile. Kalianna didn't like it flying though, the kite was too far away. She preferred holding it in her hands. Funny girl! No pics from kite flying though, our battery died.

I know it looks like we just sat down for the picture, but we really did go down the slide