Summer fun in the pool!

Baylee was not posing this way, I just took the picture as she was climbing in. She is so cute.

Sydney took a nap in her float. How relaxing huh?

We decided to buy a family swim pass for our local pool. We have been going a couple times a week after Baylee's swim lessons. Baylee is worn out from swimming. It sure makes her tired.

Swim Lessons!

Baylee's teacher had her jump in to her and go under water. She didn't love it.

Baylee has really liked going to swim lessons everyday. She is doing a good job.
She is learning to blow bubbles with her mouth underwater, floating on her back, kicking her feet, and using her arms to move through the water. We are very proud of her. She is also getting really tan.

More Birthday!

I love our little family!

Linsey and Gisele

I can't believe that Baylee is already 3 years old. Time flies by so fast. She is so adorable. We love her so much and are so grateful to have her in our family. She is so special. She is so sweet. She tells us she loves us and compliments us so much. Hopefully so stays this way forever. She is very loving too. She gives Sydney kisses all day long.

I feel so bad. I am not good at the whole birthday thing. I am not creative. I forgot to do a cake for Baylee. She doesn't love cake so I made homemade ice cream sandwiches. I didn't do birthday favors for her cousins either. Birthdays can get so expensive so I tried staying within the budget. We are going to buy her a cake today and sing to her tonight. Hopefully that is ok with her.

Baylee's 3rd Birthday!

Baylee got a tricycle for her birthday. She was so excited. She also got a cash register, and some books.

In the morning we went to the park and played. My parents sent her some money and so we went shopping at Target. She wanted a helmet, a game, and lip gloss. For dinner she wanted to go to Chick fil A. We invited Dan and Linsey and their family to celebrate with us. She got a barbie mermaid from Adi, Seth, and Luke, and a fairy costume dress, high heel dress up shoes and a halo from Andy's parents. She had such a fun time. After dinner we went and saw Toy Story 3. It was so funny. I liked it better than the others. I laughed throughout the whole movie. Baylee ate the whole bag of popcorn. We got a large one. She is going to be sick today. We ate so much candy too. Baylee loved going to the movies.

Sydney demolishing her cake!

More Birthday!

Sydney loved her toys and books and she loved her cake. She demolished it. It was fun to see. She is so stinkin cute. Andy loved the cake too. He even told me it was better than Cold Stone. I feel happy. It was a good compliment.

The Ultimate Chocolate Layered Reese's PB Cup Birthday Cake!

So I am not the best cake decorator, but I found this awesome cake on pickypalate.blogspot.com. Her picture online looks declicous. Mine is not so pretty, but it tastes good. Andy loves reese's peanut butter cups so I thought this would be perfect for him. I hope he likes it. Here is the recipe!

1 box pillsbury Devils food cake mix

4 large eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup water

8 oz sour cream

1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix

1 bag mini or regular chocolate chips

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frosting

4 8 oz packages softened cream cheese

2 sticks softened butter

16 oz powdered sugar

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1 cup melted creamy peanut butter

1 bag of reese's peanut butter cup minis, halved( put in freezer an hour before cutting, it's much easier)

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a mixer add the cake mix, eggs, oil, water, sour cream, pudding mix, and chocolate chips. Beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Will be thick. Pour evenly into 2 well greased 9 inch cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cool completely.

2. To prepare cream cheese frosting place softened cream cheese and butter into a mixing bowl, beat on med-high speed until creamy smooth. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until a good spreading consistency forms. I used almost the entire bag of powdered sugar. Refridgerate for a good hour before frosting.

3. Turn cakes onto wax paper and with a large serrated knife cut each cake in half width wise to form 4 layers. Place one layer onto a cake stand and drizzle with melted peanut butter over top. Next spread a generous amount of cream cheese frosting over that. Place another layer on top and repeat peanut butter and frosting until top layer is placed. Spread remaining frosting over entire cake then top with halved reese's peanut butter cup minis. I froze the cake until ready for serving. It stays nice and cold which makes it much easier to cut into slices. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Sydney and Andy!

It is Sydney's 1st birthday and Andy's 30th. Yeah!

Sydney we are so grateful to have you in our family. We love you so much. You are so adorable, I can hardly stand it. We love watching you learn new things. It is fun to see you crawl all over the house. We hope that you grow up to be best friends with Baylee. Have a great day.

Andy, I love you so much. I am so grateful that I am the one that gets to celebrate your birthday with you. You are the sweetest husband and father. I couldn't ask for anyone better. Hope you birthday is grand.

Don't I have a beautiful family?