they say NO for a reason

popcorn.

it looks so sweet and innocent. it is not.

i mentioned on my blog the other day about our first movie night with popcorn and how i limit sweet cheek's intake of it because i have always read that it was a choking hazard.

she has had it 5 times in her life. the 5th time she choked.

the husband had to heimlich her last night. it wasn't pretty. it was down right scary.
she tried putting her own hand in her mouth to get it out. poor girl. you could tell it scared her, as it did us.

thanks to her daddy, and his quick and calm actions, she was and is fine.

no more popcorn for her though. at least not until she is 20.

mangia! it's pizza

tuesday is a great day for sweet cheeks. it is ball at school and it is pizza night. we go to the same pizza place every tuesday night. not only do they have great food, they also have a band (i use that term very loosely here) which consists of 1-3 people depending on the song. consistently singing with his guitar is an older guy that had a band in the 70's or something, and he always sings the same repertoire of songs. it really entertains sweet cheeks, so it is our regular tuesday night now.

sweet cheeks is a hit at this place too. they refer to her as "princess ____," and she loves every second of the attention. they even sing many songs to her. it is really a lot of fun.

(plus, it gets us out of doing dishes for the night.)

the husband and sweet cheeks-



putting the parm on her cheese slice-



putting the parm on my gyro & feta slice-


our friends that live close by eat with us occasionally. they have twin boys 5 months younger than sweet cheeks. she enjoys visiting with them.

if you think round is funny

i never get tired of seeing sweet cheeks ready for ballet with her leotard on and her hair in a bun. she is the cutest thing EVER!

love how she always tilts her head for pictures.



we took sweet cheeks to one of the greatest places on earth on saturday morning. krispy kreme. she loves seeing the donuts being made. seriously, there is nothing better than hot off the line krispy kreme donuts. they were delicious. i had to stop myself at 2. sweet cheeks was able to put back a donut and a half. impressive!

ahhh... so good-


sweet cheeks and her daddy gazing at the miracle of donuts. those round, tasty pieces of heaven-



sweet cheeks and her chocolate frosted glazed donut w/ oj. it doesn't get any better than that. she indulged me for a split second wearing the hat, rather than the tiara.


***
sweet cheeks dropped her mint on the floor yesterday. she was so excited to eat it, that i just knew the tears were about to come. she quickly and tear-free said, 'that is ok. i will have grandpa come down and give me another one." you heard it grandpa! you and the candy bag are needed now!

terribly cute

i think i just found sweet cheek's 4th birthday gift!

this thing is adorable and comes with the accessories. princess sweet cheeks would love it.

it is a "beauty salon with stool" from oompa toys. love their toys.

pass the popcorn

so we had our first ever movie night at home on saturday night with sweet cheeks. it went over so much better than i had expected.

we had two kinds of popcorn: kettle & movie theatre.

we dimmed the lights.

we watched "horton hears a who." hilarious movie! i know we all laughed a lot.

sweet cheeks loved every minute of it. i think she was quieter, and more still, than she usually is in an actual movie theatre. plus, we never eat popcorn at home (choking hazard so we limit it) so i know she was enjoying that as well. she preferred the movie theatre style popcorn, while the husband and i devoured the bag of kettle popcorn. we watched the entire movie. it was so much fun. i know we will be making this a routine event in our household. maybe next time we can incorporate some candy too!

**


speaking of watching tv (you must all think sweet cheeks watches way too much tv by the way i blog about it, but honestly, she doesn't. we do lots of playtime, crafts, and games at home with her)- sweet cheeks watched her first ever episode of 'the brady bunch' on sunday. she liked it. i think she liked "the girls" best. that was the way she kept referring to marcia, jan, and cindy. it was the episode that marcia got her braces on. so funny to watch, especially when you pay attention to the clothes, accessories, and home decor!

totes to go

sweet cheeks loves bags. she loves to take some of her favorite toys, books, glosses and art activities with her wherever she goes. since turning the ripe old age of 3 1/2, her interest in bags has matured. most days she can be seen carrying her silver hannah montana bag with chain strap. on the days when she needs something larger, she uses her pretty, pink monogrammed toile backpack.

if i could turn the clock back, i would have gotten these darling totes from busy little hands for sweet cheeks when she was just a toddler. i know she would have loved them.

how adorable! each bag comes with tiny finger puppets that can be stored in their own individual pockets. love it!





maybe sweet cheeks would like this tote from childish thoughts. a little more "grown up" since it is hannah montana, but still in a sweet, organized fashion for her crayons, coloring books, and gloss.

inauguration day

i didn't vote for barack obama. i voted for john mccain.

that being said, i am so excited about today. i am ecstatic to watch the inauguration. i am amazed at the changes our country has made and will continue to make. it does not matter if you did not vote for obama. today is a day that will go down in american history.


i do not believe that obama has the experience needed to run the country. however, i do believe he is an extremely intelligent man that will surround himself with only experienced, intelligent co-workers. together, i hope and pray that they will bring about some amazing and necessary changes to our country. i want things to get better. i will support our new president.

the pressure is on beginning today.

i want him to do such a job that i will want to vote for him in 2012.

tiny dancer in my hand

sweet cheeks had her second ballet class today. she is absolutely loving every minute of it. i love hearing about it as well. she has been practicing her flamingo jump ever since.

here she is with her cousin. adorable in their wine colored leotards.


i know i have mentioned that sweet cheeks is "oc" about her hair. i wish she wasn't because i really think she is so adorable with it up.



right after ballet, sweet cheeks and i headed out to my sister's house for my niece's birthday party. it was the longest ride ever getting out there. sweet cheeks was an absolute mess and cried the entire time. the girl was just so overly exhausted! in the heat of the major crying meltdowns, it is hard to remind yourself that she is just tired and to cut her some slack because it isn't her fault that she didn't get the opportunity to nap. in the moment, i do much better if i just listen to some music, sing along, and pretend that there isn't a 3 year old crying a river just behind me.

thankfully once she got to the party, she was much better. she just jumped right in to playing with the seven 7-year olds there.(guess those threats do work sometimes that i can easily turn the car around and go home if she doesn't stop crying once we get inside)

the theme of the party was cats, so my creative sister and i painted the girls faces.

sweet cheeks and cailyn-





cat's need snacks too! (can you see that phoebe is there as well?)

he got his wish

make a wish foundation

this amazing foundation has granted my sweet 8 yo nephew his wish.

my brother, sister-in-law, 2 nieces, and 2 nephews leave on saturday for 7 days of pure fun at disney world!

i can not wait to see pictures and hear stories.

it is such a crappy reason to get the opportunity to go to disney, but i am so glad he gets to go.

he deserves this, these amazing memories. they all do.

24

i am so glad he is back!



i thought that sean hillinger looked familiar on "24"-



can't believe it is billy walsh from entourage

the performance of her lifetime

sweet cheeks performs her concerts for the husband and i daily. every concert is different. every concert is filled with sweet cheek's heart & soul. she takes it so seriously. the girl is so entertaining.

saturday her concert took place in her bedroom on her bed. i had to take some shots. her moves keep getting better and better.





**

the husband and sweet cheeks reading at bedtime last night. i love how she is snuggling with him in a ball.



***

where were these cute puke bags 4 years ago when i needed them for my agonizing 16 weeks of morning sickness? morning sickness happened anywhere, any time of the day! it would have been nice to have been a little prepared with these stylish puke-catching bags for the random, spur of the moment hurls! you can find them here.

list of loves

20 things sweet cheeks loves-
(in no particular order)

1. edamame



2. our dogs



3. her tiara

4. phoebe

5. lip gloss

6. hannah montana

7. mommy & daddy

8. icarly

9. her cousins

10. tag

11. anything sparkly

12. chicken bones

13. macaroni & cheese

14. salami

15. school

16. quiet time

17. mixing ingredients

18. craft time

19. orange juice

20. singing

new year & more

this picture is of sweet cheeks and her two cousins at 10:30pm on new year's eve. they didn't make it to midnight but they did a great job of staying up and not being crabby!



last saturday we had a big slumber party at our house. we had my sister and 3 of sweet cheek's cousins spend the night. it was a lot of fun, a bit loud but still fun.

the kids being silly on the couch together-

sweet cheeks and her 3 cousins all smiling so pretty-

one of sweet cheek's cousins read to her that night. it was the sweetest thing to see-



***

it has been a little while since i have shared some "cute." check out these great paintings from galerie anais. they would be perfect for a nursery or toddler's room. the cost is great to boot, anywhere from $18 to $38.

just a trim

sweet cheeks, sadly, has my hair. it isn't quite straight, but it isn't quite curly. i would say it is more of an uneven wave. her wave is even more prominent in the back than it is in the front, which tends to be more straight than anything. all of these factors make for some messy hair. sweet cheeks is quite particular about her hair, and the future of it. no surprise there. she has an opinion about everything, and shares it freely. she always requests we leave it long and down. though if you ask the husband and i, we both prefer she wear it up. it shows off her beautiful face this way.

so i convinced sweet cheeks to let me take her in for a trim, not a hair cut. she hasn't had one since july of '07. i was hopeful even the small change would bring about some positive improvements. i had asked the stylist to even her hair out, the back to the length of the front. in the end, the difference was minimal. i asked the stylist again if the amount she took off would be enough, and she assured me the inch would make a difference.

i do not think it did, but hopefully since the experience was such a good one for sweet cheeks, she will not mind going again soon. real soon! i would love to get it in a little bob but not sure that she would ever allow that to happen.

before shots:





during:





and the finished looked:




the girl is still beautiful as can be!

the stylist put a little braid in sweet cheek's hair, followed up by 2 million sparkles. she has had about 3 showers since and so far, the glitter is still all over her scalp. any suggestions on how to get rid of it?

happy new year

this post contains no photos (too lazy to go grab the camera!)

happy new year!

i can not believe that 2008 has come and gone so quickly. i hate the saying "time flies," but nothing can sum it up better than that. i am sad when i sit and think just how fast it does go by though. every new year is just another reminder that my sweet cheeks is growing up. no longer the baby she once was but now rather an amazingly smart and silly toddler that still lets me snuggle with her. i asked her tonight to go backwards, to be small again, but she refuses. apparently she is enjoying the growing up part of life. she enjoys the independence that comes along with it. in '08, sweet cheeks accomplished so many things. here are a few-
1. spell her name
2. write her name
3. pick out her own clothes
4. count above 30
5. know & write the alphabet
6. feed the dogs
7. play in her room (by herself)
8. hang up her own clothes and put them in her closet
9. balance & jump on one foot
10. color & draw in detail

i can not help but be so proud of her.

i am very interested to see what 2009 has to bring to our family, as well as for us all individually. hopefully one small thing that will happen for me is my finger nails will grow, as that is my new years resolution. i plan on giving up the habit of picking them... hopefully.

the tree is down. sweet cheeks was so sad to see it go. i am glad to have reclaimed our living room again though.