We have a 3 year old!

 Brielle turned 3 on the 11th, so we made the trip back to Michigan to celebrate the big day with family.  Brielle had been talking about her birthday party ever since Christmas and we would have on going conversations of what she wanted her party to have and all that.  At one point, I was thinking I was going to have to come up with a theme that incorporated Dora in pink tutus alongside princesses with a few Sesame Street characters thrown in the mix.  But alas, the princess theme emerged and Brielle had a wonderful day celebrating with great grandpa's and grandma's, grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. 

As you can see by her gifts...alot of them were princess inspired as well.

She finally got the Cinderella dress that she wanted so badly.  Whenever we stepped foot in Target, we always had to walk by it at least 3 times so she could just gaze at it.

 She got her very own princess castle

 And a doll (which Brielle calls "her daughter Annie"...which she also proceeded to say "she needs milk and thought she better try out breastfeeding while at the party. haha!)

And of course how could you be a princess without your very own castle house?!

 In continuing with the princess theme, I put my creative juices to work...or I might have just used pinterest to help with my creative juices...and made a castle for Brielle's birthday cake.  Its only fitting that Brielle was in her Cinderella garb when it came to blowing out the candles.  

And here's a few pics of the cousins who were around to help celebrate the big day!

Here's just a few things Brielle is into right now:
- She loves dressing up as ballerinas and princesses and doing some dancing
- She loves singing to her Child Prep CD...jelly on a plate, the alligator song, ABC Rock...you name it...she loves it!
- She loves Dora, Bubble Guppies, and Curious George
- She does not like any animal that makes any gesture in her direction.  She likes to look at them from a distance, but prefers they keep their distance
- She still loves to swing.  If she could choose anything to do outside I think it would be to swing.  She can't get enough of it!
- She is into changing her clothes at least 4 times a day.  I am not exaggerating with this number...she puts on some play clothes and then decides she needs a different set of play clothes...or just feels like a fresh new look is necessary so will go and change her outfit entirely.  The same with shoes...I sometimes go on walks with her carrying an extra pair of shoes because I know part way through she's going to be sick of the ones shes wearing and request a change. 
- She loves shopping - we went to the mall the other day and it was great watching her peruse through the clothes racks and pull outfits out and make cute little comments.  She hasn't pitched a fit (yet) if she doesn't get something she sees in the store...I am waiting for that day...I know it'll be coming! 
- She is very in touch with her emotions.  She is very very sensitive from everything to scraping her knee (as I'm sure most of you have read about) to needing one of us to blow on her food because its too hot (even though I had put it in the fridge to cool off)
- She's amazing with her brother.  She loves to play with him...and sometimes lay right smack on top of him (all in the name of love, of course!) and just loves it when he giggles at her.  He adores her.  He follows her wherever she goes and tries to do whatever she does.  It is really the sweetest thing to see.
- She is very shy when you are in large groups, but if people get to you know her...they better watch out...she is a non stop talking machine!   Why just in church yesterday, she was telling the nursery attendants about the bunny poop in our back yard!
- She is so lovable.  I just love it whenever she asks to rock with me in the chair.  I will take whatever cuddle time I can get with my kids! 
We love you Brielle and can't wait to see what 3 years old holds!
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Outdoor Fun

The weather has been so nice lately...and we have been taking full advantage of being able to be outside!

 This is Bryce's new style...bear crawling wherever he goes!

 Bryce is already eyeing the basketball hoop! :)

Playing baggos is just slightly different when kids are around!

It only took 3 years, but we finally got some pigtails on this little girl!

 And oh my...this is a picture of Brielle with her legs propped up on pillows...due to a little accident...which resulted in 2 scraped up knees...ai yai yai.  It is as if the world has ended!  It appears that scraped up knees has gotten worse over the years and causes temporary paralysis and inability to do anything but sit on the couch and watch Beauty and the Beast (although it has not inhibited her ability to drink orange juice...whew!)   Chad and I just scratch our heads sometime wondering where this sensitive little thing has come from...being that her dad once suffered with a finger facing 90 degrees for much of his elementary afternoon after getting it caught in a folding cafeteria table...and her mother grew up with the theme "if you can move it, its not broken...tough it out"  So needless to say, sympathy is definitely not one of our strong suits.  But we are gritting our teeth and just trying to help get her this "tough" time. :)

Wherever Brielle is...

...Bryce must be also...and I mean right beside her

This is Just One

of the things we're going to miss about Altoona

Bath time

 Here are just a few pics of bath time last night...

 Don't know if you can tell or not...but Brielle really didn't want to have anything to do with listening to a word we were saying last night...

 ...and here we have Bryce...he is ALWAYS on the go...doesn't even stop to have a diaper put on. 

Blue White Weekend

Penn State held their annual Blue White scrimmage this past weekend and, seeing that it would be the last time we would be in Beaver Stadium for the foreseeable future, come rain or shine we weren't going to miss out! 

 Bryce got a picture with the lion (although he's a little unsure of that thing!)  Meanwhile Brielle stayed nice and cozy with grandpa.

Our little Penn State fans! 

Happenings

So once again, its been a while since we've blogged about life over here....so in no particular order here we go!


First, we sold our house! It took less than 2 weeks but we are so glad its over. Not only to have relief and peace of mind knowing we won't have a double mortgage but also knowing that I can leave the dinner plates on the table over night if I want to because I just don't feel like cleaning up! ;)

A funny little story...on the day we accepted the offer, Chad took Bryce in the stroller to pick up the For Sale signs that we had posted out on one of the busier streets of Altoona. Thinking nothing of it, Chad simply put the "For Sale" signs at the top of the stroller and started walking back. As he's walking he heard comments such as "How much for the kid?!" and "Will you accept a trade?" Not really knowing who these people were talking to, it wasn't until Chad got back to the house that he realized this is what he looked like walking back with Bryce. Who wouldnt want to buy that sweet little face?!


My sister and her family also made one last trip out to Altoona to visit us on their Spring Break. We SO appreciated them being willing to pack up 3 kids under the age of 5 and brave a 3 night stay on our third floor. We had such a great time and Brielle still talks about "seeing Grant and Brookey after her nap" (She still hasn't realized Grant and Brookey aren't around after she wakes up but it gets her to take a nap!)

Now...look at this picture...don't these two just look like the best of friends...so sweet and cute...holding hands and swinging together? Well...that was maybe 5% of the time. The rest of the time was spent trying to decide how they could do the opposite of whatever the other one wanted to do or wanting the exact thing the other was playing with. They were seriously either the best of friends...or the worst of enemies...such a girl thing to do!

While they were here, altoona held an Easter Egg hunt at one of the local baseball fields where there were over 11,000 eggs strewn around the field. Now, one would think that 11,000 eggs filled with candy would be enough to entice any 2 1/2 year old to want to collect as many as she possibly could...however there was also the obstacle of the Easter Bunny who was looming around the field.

Now she was able to collect more than enough for her liking, but

but all egg hunting stopped whenever the Easter Bunny might be making any attempt to walk in her direction (whether he was at home plate and Brielle was in center field)...off Brielle took in the opposite direction. (Notice not even 1 of the 11,000 eggs are in her vicinity as she's trying to put distance between her and the Easter Bunny)

Well, whew that Easter Hunt was over but then my parents had sent some Easter eggs along with the Petros to hide in our backyard and in our house for the kids to hunt for. This hunt was much more up Brielle's ally...no Easter bunny...just some ants she had to contend with. She was much improved this time around in looking for the eggs and getting a little help from her pal Grant

and of course opening them all up is the best part of all! Fruit snacks...grandparents know they're way to Brielle's heart!

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma! The kids had a great time!

Oh wait....a third Easter Egg Hunt! The child prep class Brielle goes to had an egg hunt for her. Well, Brielle certainly had the egg collecting experience since this was her third time and she was on a mission. Despite keeping the bunny in her sights she wouldn't let him hinder her from performing her best in collecting those eggs now knowing what those eggs might hold!

Showing off her eggs...but always with her eye on the bunny!

At least I could get one child to sit on the bunny's lap this year!

Ah...and in other action...we went to the mall to get Bryce's 9 month pictures taken. Despite all efforts, the kid just couldn't handle sitting and smiling for a stranger and took off every time he was sat down. So we attempted some pics at our house and these were the best we could get.

Not only were our attempts at getting Bryce's picture taken a bomb, but Brielle also decided to have a little "water bomb" of her own on the escalator which prompted a very quick and speeedy exit for the Carlsons (which totally disappointed this mom who hasn't stepped foot in a mall in ages!) And of course after all this it is the one time she wants to be in a picture with her brother! What do you think...framer?!

And as if three easter egg hunts weren't enough we thought we would add a fourth since our church put one on Saturday...and there was no easter bunny in sight. I did have a picture of Brielle collecting eggs except I accidently deleted it and don't have the energy to reload and move it to the spot it needs to be in. However...I do have a picture of what she collected...needless to say Chad and I have snuck more than our fair share of her collections!

While Brielle was doing all the collecting this little man was just content to sit and watch everyone.

But when he got his hand on the easter eggs and the basket he had a heyday!

Despite all the egg hunts and fun that went along with it, we also could not forget the true reason we celebrate Easter. For God's ultimate sacrifice of sending His son, Jesus Christ, to take upon himself all our faults, failures, and sins, to suffer on the cross, and to die...for each of us...He loved us that much. But to rise again so we could be forgiven and redeemed. Hoping you all had a blessed Easter full of celebration for the risen Savior!