Summer of Celebrations (Part VI); July 3rd

What a busy day this last July 3rd was! McKlayne turned two, Charlie and I celebrated our 5th anniversary and Charlie's sister, Ashley, and Kevin got married!  (It was also Kevin's birthday!)

Sweetest Two Year Old,

In these last two years, you have completely captured our hearts, Princess.  You are the epitome of girliness and I could not be more pleased. You adore dresses and all things accessories-shoes, purses, jewelry and bows.  When the color pink is mentioned, you say, "That's my favorite!" (As if we've never heard it before.)

You love taking care of your "baby dear" and playing with your dollhouse and Princess Figures.  Currently, you favorite Disney Princess is Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty and you have already requested to be her for Halloween.  You often put your hands on my cheeks and tell me, "Mommy, dance with me!  Sing me my song, my I Know You song!" And you make me sing it several times as we twirl around in circles in my arms.  The truth is you have many songs that you like to sing and all of them are "your song(s)"...so we often have to decipher which one you're referring to.  You love to jam out in the car to Barlow Girl's Hello Sunshine.  And we often hear you singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to yourself as you play.



If a nightgown is not clean for you to wear to bed, you will often throw a fit.  You have told me that you, "just like to wear dresses-even to bed," when I've asked you why you get so sad about wearing "regular" jammies. Before bed each night, Daddy or I will sing your hymn to you, which you call, "Come Thou Founta" and you know every word. Sometimes, if I accidentally skip a verse, you will tell me, "you forgot the fetter part" and I must go back and sing it.

You love getting your hair fixed, especially braided, and always want to look at yourself in the mirror when I'm done.  Sometimes, you spend a long time inspecting yourself.  You compliment others, grownups and children alike, when they are dressed up and tell them that they look "pretty" or "cute". You definitely notice when I have actually fixed my hair and put on makeup and are pleased with the results.

There aren't many foods that you don't like.  At the top of your lists are pepperoni pizza and spaghetti.  You love almost any kind of meat and really are not too big of a carb/sweets-girl.  (You did not get that from me.) You aren't too big a fan of tortillas, bread, biscuits, and you eat your hotdogs and hamburgers bunless most of the time.  You are initially excited about dessert, but, if it's not Blue Bell, you only take a few bites and Asher is always eager to finish off your portion.

You adore your Asherboy and your feelings are terribly upset if, for some reason, he doesn't want to play with you. You have pretty much charmed him into getting your way 90% of the time.  He often tells you that, "You look beautiful!" and is totally smitten with you.  You two spend most of your day playing together in one of your rooms or outside.  He is always eager to help you when you ask him for help.  You are truly his best friend and neither of you would be the same without the other.

Bathtime with Daddy is one of your favorite parts of the day.  It's the sweetest sound to listen to as I'm cleaning the kitchen. I love your girly screams and giggles as Daddy gives you and Asher a bath...splashing, tickling, singing to you...you love when he wraps you up like a baby in your ladybug towel and calls you his "Little Lady".  You also love when Daddy picks you up to help you tee-tee on the tree.You are very proud of that accomplishment.

You love helping me cook in the kitchen and often ask to perched upon the counter to watch.  Otherwise, you'll push up a chair and tell me that you're going to help.  You love doing laundry.  Laundry day may truly be your favorite day of the week.  You will shake out the warm clothes from the basket and help me lay them on the couch in piles, accordingly.  When those are finished, you move onto the already neatly folded clothes.  You are always eager to run the laundry back to the designated bedroom.  You truly are such a sweet blessing as my little helper. I often have to ask the Lord to change my heart to serve this family as purely and joyfully as you desire to.  I pray that your heart is filled with this much joy as you lovingly run your own household someday.

You are quite the sass and often stubborn about wanting things done your way. (I guess that's generational stuff that we have to work out.  And I'm sorry for that.)  I love you, my precious princess.  You have captivated us with your beauty, sweetness, and charm...and you are the only other girl that I would gladly surrender my title of "Princess" to.

We love you with all that we know how,

Mommy

We started out the morning with Pioneer Woman's coffee cake.  We have tested MANY breakfast cakes in this last year in search of the perfect one for our birthday/celebrations breakfast cake and this one was unanimous. It's even better than the boxed crumb cake, if you can believe that!

We quickly started getting ready for the big day.  Forget our 5th anniversary, there was no time to celebrate that.

And this was not only Aunt Ashley's wedding day, it was also the day that McKlayne and Asher were getting "married"!!  They walked down the aisle together as ringbearer and flower girl, so McKlayne thought they were getting married, too.  In fact, I think she thought this whole day was just for her and Asher. I mean, she was wearing a white dress!  She was in heaven....wearing her favorite "Cinderella" dress and getting to marry her best friend.

Both of the kids did great throughout the entire ceremony and reception.  (No running out of the chapel, this time!)  They each had their bag of gummy bears to keep them quiet.  McKlayne did lay down at one point out on her tummy, watching the whole show with her chin in her hands.  But, I didn't really care. She was behind all the bridesmaids and was quiet during the sermon.

We had a fun little photo shoot of the "newlyweds." They were both so ready to poise for their big day. 

And the rest...is history.