3rd Birthday Party

Because of the "Snowpocalypse" that hit Memphis, the girls and I high tailed it to Grandma & Grandpa's house on Friday (their actual birthday - January 29th) to wait out the blizzard. Of course they both had fevers all day so that was awesome! The next day we had Nana & Popa, Aunt Karen and Luv join Grandma & Grandpa and GiGi for a more formal family birthday party.

Here is Grace waiting patiently for the loot that was to come:

The girls got all sorts of great gifts from everyone, some of which included:

Some adorable pullovers from Luv:



Cute jacket/pants outfits and savings bonds from GiGi:

A tea set, Girafalaff Limbo, and some cool Wubbzy stackers from Aunt Teresa, Uncle Al, and "Baby Nathan":

Their very own computers from Nana & Popa:

Vera Bradley travel bags (mom was SUPER jealous!), ballerina slippers, leotards, and handmade tutus from Grandma & Grandpa:

The girls big gifts from Mom and Dad were princess scooters:

On the menu - pizza of course! Their favorite food...

Mom threw in some grapes for nutritional value.


The cake and party hats the girls requested (no joke):

The Girafalaff game in action!

Peyton, showing Girafalaff is sometimes no laughing matter.

We had a great time at the birthday party!

A BIG thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for hosting it!!!

Learning

The title makes me feel better as a parent. The pictures do not.

Watching one of their favorite shows I was able to catch them both memorized.

I love this look from Peyton.


However, I knew immediately we were done with the impromptu photo shoot at this very moment.

Attention: Pigs Have Flown!

Most of you reading this will NEVER believe what I am about to post. Luckily I have pictures.

For their 3rd birthday Grandma made the girls some ballet tutus, got them leotards and real ballet shoes. They put them on a couple weeks ago and this is what you have. Adorableness time a MILLION! (Yes, this is still Emily typing...)

Look at that form!

This is definitely a keeper!

And they're off!

I just love this picture and Grace's face!
They LOVE their daddy!

You better believe we practiced our soccer passing skills in the playroom that night as well - I wasn't about to let them enjoy being ballerinas for too long...

Zhu Zhu Pets

So let me start off by saying I'm the coolest Mom out there. Why you ask? Because I was able to secure the ever elusive Zhu Zhu Pets as a present for the girls 3rd birthday via Amazon.com! I was so excited and proud of my find - after all there are actually websites out there that can tell you in real time which stores have these things in stock!

What is a Zhu Zhu Pet?

They are rats, I mean, hamsters that seem to have a mind of their own and scoot around independently in their "habitats" (sold separately of course!). They make annoying, I mean, cute sounds and only cost $8 at Wal-Mart. I know right, 8 bucks! On Ebay, before Christmas, they were going for upwards of $35-40 and that's just what I saw. I'm sure it got much worse - things have seemed to simmer down now though.

Of course the girls are oblivious to how cool they (and their parents) are now since receiving said rat/hamster but luckily they do enjoy them.

Here is Peyton watching Patches zoom around!

"Patches" has her own bedroom (pink pod) and bathroom (blue pod) and zips between the two lickity split!


Daddy was at Wal-Mart earlier this week during his lunch break and picked up the exercise wheel for Patches. No one wants a fat electronic pet hamster, including the Fuller Family!


Work it Patches! Go, Go! 1 more mile, you can do it!

He also bought 3 MORE rats/hamsters!!! I tell you, once you catch the Zhu Zhu pet fever, you've got it! I mean honestly did you think we would just stop at one? Patches at least needs a friend to play with - - a la Peyton & Grace. So we welcomed Jilly to our "family" two nights ago and the girls love her. We're not sure when we're going to give them the other two - maybe for Valentine's Day.

Or if they pitch a fit and it's the only way to make them stop crying...

Just kidding! We would NEVER bribe them...

THE Question

I have many blog posts in the queue, but only have time for a short one. We get asked all the time if we have a name for the baby yet. Considering we only have a maximum of 42 days left at this point (I'm 33 weeks and my c-section date should be March 17) it's a pretty valid question.

The answer to this question (as many of my friends and co-workers already know) is a disappointing, no. We are not "in utero" namers to begin with so that doesn't help either. Basically, you'll all find out the day she is born just like her parents probably will!

However, I did want to provide a short list of names we have garnered from the girls which, based on this list, are very imaginative at times:

Snow White

Ariel

Restaurant

Ponk Honk
(some made up word they like to use - they claim it means "hello" in Chinese but they actually know better since there is a show on TV called Ni Hao - Kai Lan. "ni hao" meaning "hello" in Chinese - those tricksters!)

Susie

Baby Sister

Peyton

Grace

I'll have to add more later, I know there's more! Way back in the 4th or 5th month we did actually run some of our real contender names by them and we got resounding no's for each... so of course we've never gone down that path again. The girls will find out what their baby sister's name is just like the rest of you. There, doesn't that make you feel a little better?

Who needs a helper?

This Sunday Daddy and some really nice friends painted the baby's room a nice florescent green color that I'm sure she will come to adore once we get her some baby sunglasses (more on that in a later post).

They boys also used the afternoon to perfect their rib recipes and cooking techniques. Obviously cooking six slabs of ribs is more than just a one-man job!

Enter Grace, who ended up being some much needed relief and served as the timekeeper for the entire cooking process. Just kidding! However, she wanted in on the action and before we knew it she had on her glove and was ready to baste!

Here she is doing the secret "The Pork University" Memphis In May team handshake...

Daddy teaching her the basics of basting.
A lesson every (almost) three year cherishes.

I'm not sure why Peyton wasn't gloved up either. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since Sunday morning...

Wait, never mind - here she is!

Lesson #165:
NEVER forget your Elmo slippers when putting on your knee pads and helmet inside.

A big THANK YOU to Jason (aka: "my favorite boy" ~ Peyton), Won (kind of, I think he ducked out of most of the work to "check on" Mallory) & Jessie (aka the Trim Queen). Baby Fuller #3 can't wait to be blinded by the Planet Krypton color we've chosen and you've so lovingly applied.

Finally

It's been so long since I've posted an update I don't even know where to begin. Therefore I won't begin, I'll just continue. The title of the post obviously references the lack of posting happening here but it also references the biggest surprise I got at Christmas... an iPhone!!! I was stunned, shocked, and super excited when Stephen surprised me with it on Christmas morning but apparently I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Exhibit A: Peyton

Exhibit B: Grace


Video Exhibit C: Grace

I've downloaded a bunch of kid friendly, educational (if you can believe it) games for the girls to play. So far they have come in handy at the doctor's office and at restaurants if things get ugly. It's almost scary how well and quickly they've adapted to the technology. Makes me wonder what their "iPhone" will be, a flying car perhaps? A robot that makes dinner for you? (I hope I'm still alive for that one!)

This has made me ponder the following question, which I try to avoid thinking about at all costs:

When will they get cell phones of their own?

I'm shuddering just thinking about the bills! I don't think I got one until I was 16 or 17. It lived in the glove compartment of the car and was only to be used in an emergency. I was in college before I got a phone I could actually use!

Scary stuff!

Update!

Kind of.

So it's been more than a month since the last post and we feel terrible.
Just look at the girls...

They're taking it so hard... we can hardly get them to smile these days.

In our (my) defense, we have been a tad busy lately dealing with a week long case of the swine flu, a kidney stone complete with a Thanksgiving Day surgery and hospital stay (yea!), creating life on a daily basis while waddling to-and-fro, and running a marathon. Okay so one of those things didn't happen but I'll let you guess which one.

The good news is we will be back up in full swing after Christmas with new blog posts and pictures to share! None of which will include my large-and-in-charge self if I can help it. Hello 3rd trimester, goodbye feet!

We hope you all have a great Christmas!

Quick: Hide!

As if battling the swine flu this week hasn't been scary enough, we decided to let the girls watch the old classic "The Exorcist" a few nights ago.

Here is their reaction:

As you can tell it was actually a Wow Wow Wubbzy episode titled, "Escape From Dino Island". The dinosaur chases Wubbzy, Walden, and Widget all the way from Dino Island back to Wuzzleberg to ask for a cup of sugar to make cupcakes. Thus scary dinosaur becomes nice and silly dinosaur who bakes and eats cupcakes.

Why didn't I become a storyboard creator for kids shows? That's the kind of stuff I want to get paid for!

Arrr Matey!

Our Halloween day started getting spooky after nap time. We broke out the candy and decorated our pumpkins! Not with knives though...

From L to R: Daddy's pumpkin, Peyton's Princess Pumpkin, the "Little Baby's" pumpkin, Grace's Pirate Pumpkin, and Mommy's adorable pumpkin.

Dad spotted these super cute Mr. Potato Head pumpkin decorations that we thought would be perfect for the girls and they were a big hit as you can see. Next year we will get bigger pumpkins though... for all you Mr. Potato Head aficionados, I'm sure you've already spotted the missing red nose on Grace's Pirate Pumpkin. It was a toss up between the nose and the mustache and we jointly determined a mustache was a "must" for any pirate.

Mom also broke out her carving skills, a la Martha Stewart, this year on the small pumpkin as I carved everyone's favorite, Wow Wow Wubbzy!





What's your first thought when you think of the perfect Halloween costume for a couple of almost three-year-old girls?

Everyone in unison... a pirate!



Grace on the left, Peyton on the right
or is it
Peyton on the left, Grace on the right


The ceremonial "show-me-your-silly-face" picture.

After we practiced our "Arrr Matey's" and saying "Trick-or-Treat" and MOST importantly - "Thank You" we headed out on the open sea/sidewalk to look for booty.

I believe this picture was taken just after Peyton randomly told an older kid who walked by, "Cool costume". It was possibly the funniest part of the night for Mom and Dad.

I take that back. The funniest part of the night was when Peyton told the not-so-nice older gentlemen in the neighborhood that he needed to put on his shoes.

He had answered the door in his bare feet. That's our girl!

Pirate looting in action...

We had a great time trick-or-treating with the girls and are looking forward to enjoying their candy without their knowledge for days to come!

Hair, Hair, Everywhere

Last weekend Grandma and I took the girls for their first haircut at the salon. Yep, something about scissors near a small child's face has held me back for nearly 2 3/4 years... that and the girl's adorable, precious, and natural blonde curls. Okay so it was definitely the latter as to why it's taken this long.

We finally took the jump though and we are all pleased with the results.

Peyton: pre-cut.
Grace (in the background) had just commented on how sharp the scissors looked... thanks Grace!

She looks like she is a lot older than she is in this picture and I don't like it!
What she doesn't realize is this will be her future when bridesmaid "season" hits in about twenty years.

Peyton is clearly ecstatic with her new look.
I'm sure the hair stylist was glad Mom would be the one tipping...
(FYI: she did love it, I just got this face when I asked her to smile - I do ask an AWFUL lot of her [insert sarcasm here].)

Grace at her pre-cut consultation letting Maribeth know she wanted just a little off the bottom while keeping the layers to a minimum.

What a pro!

Final length.
Still not a drastic cut but I think it worked best for the girls and mom not to do anything crazy the first time around.

Tragic.
Look at all those curls...

Also, Mom was able to keep the crying at bay.
Mom=1, childhood first=0