Look at me me me, I'm three three three!

Although Dani turns 3 on August 2nd, we decided to have a birthday party for her about a week ago because my parents were in town.  She told us she wanted a pirate themed party... so that's what we did. Tyler and I had a lot of fun making decorations, food, and creating this party for her.

I made the vest, shirt, and tutu, and the rest of the outfit was bought from haloheaven.com

Shortly after this picture, Dani didn't want to wear the vest or the tutu anymore... and didn't the rest of the party

Here are the decorations in the front room:

Decor on the wall (above Dani in the top pic)

Tyler made an awesome and huge treasure map

 

 

 

 

(you couldn't actually see the thermostat as well as you can in this pic... ha!)

Decoration/food in the kitchen:

 

(this was above the food table)   

Squids

Every time I read "Shark Bait" I couldn't help but say, "Shark Bait, ooh ha ha"

(Cyber high-five if you can tell me what movie that's from)

 

 

 

It was a lot of making little pirate outfits for the kids

 

 

 

My wonderful parents!!  It was so great to have them here for a week

 All the nieces and nephews that are here in Utah (there are 4 more in CA)

Dani Girl

I like to keep record of the funny things Danica says nowadays.  She seriously cracks us up!  (I shared some of these on Facebook)

*I was wiping off Dani's face after dinner and told her to stand really still... like a statue.  So she held still and told us, "I'm a statue and statues don't talk.  See, like this: (and she yells,) 'NO TALKING!!!'"

*Dani started randomly singing, "I'm a library. I'm a library. I'm a library." Then she told me I was a library. I asked her, "Am I a library or a librarian?" She replied, "You're a library out."

*Danica puts on one of Talmage's bibs...
Dani- I need to wear this when I eat.
Me- Sorry, that's one of Talmage's bibs for when he drools, so he wont get his shirt wet and get cold.
D- Maybe I can spit up on it?
M- (haha) Um, no I don't want you to spit up on it.
D- Maybe I can drool on it?
M- No thank you.
D- Yeah! You wanna watch? You can laugh at me.

*This morning Dani wanted to help me do the dishes. So I had her put the clean ones in the drying rack. As she was doing it, making sure the water wouldn't pool up in the cups, she said, "You're giving me a headache!" Surprised, I asked, "I'm giving you a headache? Why?" Dani's response: "Because you have me put the dishes in upside down."

*Danica asked to help make Talmage's bottle. She put a scoop of formula in and, in the process, spilled a little on the counter. She put the top on and, without me knowing, stuck her finger in the spilled formula and licked it. She gave me this look then described the taste, "It's... sparkly... and yucky!" :) haha... sparkly? silly girl.

*We had 5 large onions chopped and in the fridge.  This is mine and Dani's conversation when I opened the fridge door.
D- What's that smell?!
M- It's onions.
D- Yucky!
M- They're not yucky. They just smell strong.
D- ...and yucky!
(Haha. Then in her sassy voice she says,)
I don't like onions. You should take them out and give them to someone else!

*I was holding Talmage on the couch while he was sleeping and Dani was at the table coloring and making puppets. She kept asking me to make puppets with her, but I told her I couldn't. Then (in kind of an alien/evil voice ) she said, "Come draw puppets with me you silly, busy duck... You're a duck, mommy. You're a duck"

I have to share...

I bought a bunch of hair clips/accessories for Danica for way cheap and just got them in the mail yesterday.
I got all of this for just $27 including shipping. (pics below) 
I recommend checking out this site if you have any girls, nieces, or enjoy things like this for yourself.
(Perfect for Christmas presents too)
The website is

http://www.haloheaven.com/closeouts.html

That's a link to their closeout section, but they have tons of other categories on the left

This worked when I checked out... not sure if it's still going on, but if you buy more than $20, shipping is free and use the code SPOOKY at checkout for an additional 15% off.

A dozen assorted dragonfly hair clips                                A dozen assorted carnations

tutus

brimmed infant beanies

A dozen assorted lilies

Crocheted toddler beanies

Large peonies

2 dozen assorted mini roses

 

A dozen assorted butterfly clips

I plan on taking off the backs of the flowers and making a back out of felt with a couple slits in it (like a pig nose) so that I can make it into a hair clip, broach, or slip it onto a headband or necklace... making it more versatile so I can use them too.
I'll probably take the peonies apart too and make each of them into 1 large flower and 1 smaller flower.

Bragging Rights

This post is all about Danica...


Danica has been saying the funniest things lately and doing things to make us very proud!  She does the funniest things everyday and we're realizing we need to record these things more.


Lately...


☼  Today in Dani's bath she was playing with a plastic twisty straw and waved it at me.  This was our conversation:
D- Transform!  Transform!  Transform!
M- What did you transform me into?
D- A pumpkin!  This is my new wand.
M- Oh yeah?
D- (no response to that, but talking about the straw still) These are my scissors. I cut (she proceeds to "cut" the side of the tub).  Oh no!!  Need new ones... these ones are toooo sharp!


☼We got a jigsaw puzzle for Dani this weekend... one that has the numbers 1-20.  It was a little tough because the pieces are cut going through the numbers... not around each number, but today she did the 20 piece puzzle all by herself!


☼A conversation between Tyler and Danica:
T- Hey, Dani, what should I have to eat?
D- A HOTDOG!
T- No, I don't want a hotdog.  I'm going to have Rice-a-Roni.
D- Ooooh yes!  I LOVE Rice Ponies!


☼The other day Dani and I woke up and the first thing she wanted to do was fold some crocheted potholders.  She just kept saying, "That so pretty!!"
I have yet to show her how fun it is to fold the all the laundry!

☼A request from Dani -
"I need marshmallows!  Please, please, please?  I need marshmallows in my hand in the family room... pleeeeaaase?"
How could I resist?
When we sat on the couch Dani sat as close as she possibly could to me and said, "I like you, mommy"


☼Today I took Dani trick-or-treating around our house.  She had a little bucket and would knock on every door... our front door, back door, bathroom door, pantry door, and refrigerator door.  I would open the door and Dani would say, "Trick or treat!"  I'd hand her a treat (a small toy of hers), she'd say, "Thank you!" and then walk to the next door.


☼We've been working on good manners for a while now, or as Dani tells me she has "good madders."  She's really good at saying please and thank you and covering her mouth when she sneezes or coughs, but I love it and it makes for a very proud mommy when I see her using good manners with someone other than Tyler and me... without us asking.


☼  Dani is a huge cuddle bug.  My mom used to call me her "hug-a-bunch" and Dani's the same way.  When ever someone is coming over to visit she asks if she can give them a big hug and a big kiss.  Everyday she tells me she's going to do this to Tyler when he gets home from work, but for some reason she says she wants to give him a big hug and kiss on his legs... and she does.


☼  Dani is such a happy and easygoing girl.  She's very caring and is always telling us we're so beautiful and asking if we're happy.

☼  Last week Dani had a babysitter, my friend Nancy, whom she calls Fancy (as in Fancy Nancy).  When Nancy was saying goodbye she picked up Dani for a hug.  Dani put her hands on Nancy's cheeks, squeezed them and said, "You're so cute!  You're so cute!"


☼  Danica gets so excited to sing Happy Birthday to us.  She wraps up one of her toys in a blanket and has me open it.  On my birthday I had Dani sing Happy Birthday to me on my phone.  Ever since then she's been singing Happy Birthday like this, "Happy Birthday, to you.  Happy Birthday, to you. Happy Birthday, Mommy.  Happy Birthday, Mommy's phone!  Hahahaha"

Dani, Dani, Dani the Explorer!

Dani's been on a Dora the Explorer kick lately.

I thought that maybe she had been watching it too much when Dani started quoting the show and pretending she's going to places like the Big, Tall Mountain.

image

Then, I was pretty sure after she started holding out her hand (like Dora and Boots above) and saying "Dani, no swiping, Dani no swiping, Dani no swiping!..... ahh man!"

Tyler and I even have a song from Dora stuck in our head all the time. 
♪ ♫"...arriba, up.  abajo, down..."♪ ♫
(It's from an episode Danica calls, "Just Boots")

And now I'm convinced after calling Dani "Dora" today!!  Granted, they had just been calling Dora's name on the tv a moment before.  But yikes. 

Umm, I think it's time to say adios to Dora.

I've figured out what we're getting Dani for Christmas!....

A big, nice, expensive present for US!

One that will come in a big box with lots of packing inside.
...cause that's what makes her happy.

A Pinkalicious 2nd Bday Party

It was Dani's 2nd birthday on August 2nd 

and we celebrated with a Pinkalicious party on the 6th.

Pinkalicious is a book that Dani has me read her like 5 times a day, 

so we thought this would be a perfect theme for her.

Basically, the story is about a girl who loves pink,
eats too many pink cupcakes, and wakes up pink all over.  

She is diagnosed with Pinkititus and the cure is to eat green foods.

It's a really cute story that Dani can basically recite.

The decorations were based from the pictures in the book.
Here's some pictures from the party....

 

 

 

 

 

Catching Up

Not sure when blogger changed their format (since we didn't have internet for so long), but it's tripping me out.  Change is fun though. 
Still no pictures of our house.  I know, I know.... I'll get on that.  It's been a little busy here.

Some going-ons:

-Tyler and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary in June.  It's flown by and has been an AWESOME 5 years.  I wish I took more pictures of the weekend, but this is what we did.
*Tyler took off Friday and we took Danica to the Discovery Museum at the Gateway.  She loved it!  (lots of pics below)  *We then spent about $30 on chocolate at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  So worth it.  (I just finished the last of it yesterday).  *Dani ran around at the splash pad at the Gateway, had a blast, and got soaking wet  *We then met with Tyler's Aunt Ann for lunch.  She's Elder Bruce D. Porter's secretary so we ate at the Nauvoo Cafe and took our food outside.  Showing Dani the Salt Lake Temple and eating lunch in view of it was really neat.  *We finished the day off with a little bit of shopping in American Fork

-Saturday we dropped Dani off at Brent and Marie's place (thanks again guys!!) and headed up to the Hale Center Theater in West Valley.  Tyler bought us tickets to the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.  It was SUUUUPPPPPER good!  We were cracking up.  And it was awesome to see a couple people  I know (Dave Tinney and Debra Weed) performing that night. *We then ate dinner at Olive Garden... and, let me tell you, I am pregnant... If I wasn't really sure before, I am now.  So....We originally went to Chili's because Tyler was hankering for a burger and I was craving pasta.  We thought their menu was diverse enough to have both.  Well they don't have pasta and my pregnant belly was set on pasta.  I started crying right there in the restaurant.  I felt so stupid, but I couldn't stop crying.  Tyler felt bad and suggested we go to Olive Garden.  I felt bad for making him feel bad and cried some more.  Frustrated I was crying over this, I let out a grunt/sigh thing.  It was louder than I meant it to be.  Oops.  We just started laughing.  Well my laugh made my crying worse.  It turned into some weird... sob...thing...  When our waitor came back Tyler told him we were going to go somewhere else.  I just stared at my lap and then the floor as we walked out.  I did see the people in the booth right next to us just staring at us as we walked out.  They had probably been staring at our table since that stuffed-up pig noise came out of me.

-Another fun thing happened on our anniversary.  Most of you probably know there are traditional gifts you can give that correspond to each anniversary year.  Since we didn't have the internet, my sister Eileen found the gift for a 5th anniversary is wood.  Well, I think she actually may have been mistaken on a couple of those letters.  No, the gift is not "wood," in fact, it's "poop."  That's the gift Dani gave me anyway.  I was ready to toss some cookies when someone woke up from their nap and started playing with their poop!  I came in to find her wiping it on her clothes, blankets, crib, legs, and arms!  I got her out, wiped her down, and asked her what she was doing with her poop.  Her response was "beans."  BEANS??  Sick!  I sure hope she wasn't eating it!  She must have noticed the look on my face because she chuckled as she said, "Nooooo.... clothes."  So I asked her if she was wiping it on her clothes and she said yes.  So sick.  It was definitely time for a bath and more laundry.  Oh, and Dani got a bath too. :) Happy Anniversary.

And in more recent news,
*Tyler and I both got callings.  Tyler was called as the Elders Quorum Secretary and I was called as the RS Meetings Coordinator.
*I am 20 weeks pregnant today.  Half way there!  We find out the gender on Monday!  I'll be sure to take a belly pic soon.  I was so good with taking belly pics with Dani... not so much this time.  I'm also a lot bigger this time around than I was with Danica.... I guess that's sort of to be expected... that's what I tell myself.
*Dani will be 2 years old at the beginning of August!  My how quickly time goes by!  She's learning so many new things each day.

Here are a bunch of pictures of our Sweetie Pie when we took her to the Discovery Museum and the splash pad at the Gateway