This little cutie patootie turned 3 on Monday 2/15 and was insistent on having a CARS party this past Saturday to celebrate. I tried and tried to talk her into something less character specific and a little more girly, but she was not having it. This is a child who knows what she wants... it is really one of the things I love most about her (except when it goes against what I want. ha ha!). So, I had to work with what I was given. I refused to buy all the mass produced CARS party supplies and chose to instead use the vintage maps and posters in the movie as inspiration to cute it up a bit. We had a few stations set up to play off of the set up in Radiator Springs (Flo's V8 cafe- food buffet, Ramone's House of Body Art- temporary tattoos, and Luigi's Casa de la Tires- bean bag tire toss). The kids were just having fun playing in the backyard in the beautiful sunshine that we didn't get to any of the activities, but they were set up and ready to go in case. The cake was a Cold Stone ice cream cake picked out by the birthday girl, on top of which I slapped on a happy birthday sign and a few cars for good measure. In the end, Finley was thrilled with it all... and that is all that really matters.

The youth of the San Luis wards were planning a snow trip, so we went a day early to "scout things out" and have our own snow play day. Friday was perfect... warm, blue skies (at times), easy, no chains required, good friends, sledding, tubing, snow angels galore= good times.

Saturday was also fun, but it was snowing buckets. We had to put chains on a 1/4 mile from the entrance to the snow park, which the guys were not happy about, but it turned out to be a good thing because they were VERY MUCH needed on the way down the mountain. Finley was NOT a fan of falling snow- it got in her eyes. Also she was so well dressed that I don't think she could move very easily (and had a hard time getting to her "bb"). She played for a bit- tried to make a snow man and then spent the rest of the day in the car with the heat on full blast. Emerson was loving the whole experience until she took a tumble with Paul- he had her in the backpack, slipped on the way up a snow bank, and her face hit his head. She was done after that and joined Finley in the car. Avery was not deterred- she LOVED every minute of the white stuff. The bigger the hill, the more air she got, the harder the crash, the better! She was going strong until she stopped for lunch. Then, she realized she was cold and that was the end of the fun. I think that was the case for most everyone. We packed up camp and went home... back to our much warmer climate.

20.2 lbs -(75th percentile... down from 95th percentile at last check)

26.75 inches long (holding steady at 50th percentile)

1. As her stats show, she is still our little chunky monkey. She has got some legs (or rolls in place of legs?!). She is starting to stretch out a little. She actually has ankles now :) Love, love, LOVE my chubby baby!

2. She started sleeping better- 6 hour stretches at night, 2/2-3 hour naps, then she got 4 teeth in a (miserable) 2 week period, which threw everything off again. Boo. I have really never come across a baby that sleeps LESS than this child. It is UNBELIEVABLE. Seriously.

3. She is eating solid foods, but will not be "fed." She must feed herself or else she gets spittin' mad. (To feed her, I have to have 2 spoons to rotate. I give her a bite on one, which she voraciously grabs out of my hand and shoves into her mouth. She won't let go of that one for anything, so the 2nd spoon must be filled with a new bite before she will release spoon #1.)

3. She is scooting everywhere on her bum, or sliding backwards on her tummy. No actual crawling yet. (With Avery I was so worried if she didn't hit milestones "on time." With Emerson, I would just assume she stay stationery as long as possible- her sisters have so many little toys on the ground for her to get into. For now, it is just one less thing for me to worry about.)

4. Emerson does not give up smiles easily. She melts your heart when she does though. Her sisters are the only ones who can get her to break into the giggles. It is the best thing in the world to hear them all laughing together. (Her sisters can also get her screaming in seconds flat- pushing her over, "riding" on her back, taking toys away, walking away from her, getting too close... it is a love hate thing they have going on.)

5. Her eyes are NOT blue. I have no idea what color they are, or what they will end up to be (they are getting more and more brown by the day), but my blue eyed baby dream is officially dashed again. Yes, I have heard "I told you so" about a thousand times already from my gloating husband. They WERE blue for a long time... it was the closest we have gotten so far. Oh well, I love my brown eyed girls... all three of them. smile.

We tried to start Finley in dance when she turned 2, but she got kindly kicked out of the class because she could not stay focused and was a distraction to the rest of the girls... I watched- it was true. Fast forward 11 months... Finley does dance class TAKE 2. She is doing amazingly well. She is paying attention, following direction (most of the time), and is having a great time (and looks so darn cute to boot). What a difference a year makes!