Peters Family Blog: Mackenzie is 3!

Mackenzie is 3! We celebrated her big day with a party at the Bounce Farm in Martinez. I was so glad to find somewhere indoors where we could have something fun. As it turned out, it didn't rain on her birthday, but nevertheless I was glad to have had it there. The kids had so much fun jumping, and they took care of all the food and decorations for me. M was so spent after her party that she took a 3 hour nap - which would have been longer if I hadn't woken her up! I finally woke her at 5pm so she wouldn't ruin her bedtime.

These days M loves to sing! She constantly asks for the "lollipop" song which I play over and over for her (you know, the oldie "lollipop lollipop...") She also loves Adele and I can hear her humming different tunes sometimes. She really listens and tries to mimic songs in the car now too. I think it's also time to get her enrolled in a dance class since she's always making up little routines at home. Mostly she dances naked. When that phase is over, I will be sad. It's so fun seeing my naked toddler racing around the house.

M is getting ready to be a big sister! She is very into mommy role play with her baby dollies. Thanks to her birthday and her friends, we are now even more prepared with a dolly crib, dolly ergo carrier, and other fun stuff. She is very excited to meet her baby brother and often hugs and kisses my tummy and says "I'm so excited for my baby!" I hope the fun lasts even after she realizes the baby is going to steal the show for awhile. I'm really looking forward to our newborn, but am also realizing we only have 10 more weeks as a family of 3 before everything changes, and that makes me a little nostalgic for this time in our lives and having just my baby girl to smother with attention.

Here are some pictures from her birthday party:

Gigi and her daddy, Brian

M claps after coming down

Annie and Ollie

Grandma referees the air hockey game

Henry and Molly

Stefanie, Jer and Rob

My parents help with the arcade games

Sliding fun!

Moxie!

Scott gets baby practice, and Henry gets an arm to teeth on

What's with the tongue?

M poses for her birthday picture

Moxie and Annie

Pizza time!

Rob and his two boys

Fun with Balloons after lunch

Birthday Cupcakes

M carries baby tiger in her new dolly ergo

doing bear "surgery" at Dee Dee's house

Mommy daughter Lunch date

My friend Kim had a baby boy earlier in January. Kristen and I went up to Sacramento to see her and meet baby Jonah. It made things a lot more real for me to be in a hospital and hold a newborn - this is going to be me in a few more weeks!!! I hope I remember what to do...

Jonah, Kristen and Kim

Me, Jonah and Kim

M loves trying on my shoes

Thanks to a tip from my Dad, Jer and I also found out about "Lobster Fest" at WC Yacht club, where you can get a full lobster dinner in January for only $20.16 to celebrate the new year. We had to act fast to get reservations, but it was worth it! I haven't had lobster in a long time and it was SO good!

We also went on a hike at Cascade Falls near Marin with our friends Mike and Emily, and Scott and Roz. It turned out to be a bit wet and rainy that day, but everyone came prepared, and in the end Mackenzie was a very good hiker. She loved playing and jumping in all the puddles with her new rain boots.

Roz, M and Emily at the falls

That's Jer holding my baby up to pee! She did it!

Cousin Jesse and M

M had a "winter wonderland" play at school, but wasn't feeling great that day so her performance was a little underwhelming. She ended up leaving early after she saw me and didn't want to go with her class.

I've been doing a bit of "nesting" before the baby comes which basically has meant driving Jer crazy with new house projects on short notice. He's been great at accommodating my craziness. One of our projects was to have our lawn redone with new drought tolerant seeds. I'm hopeful it comes out looking good!