Helping

The girls are really good helpers! At times, their "helping" makes more messes, but it is fun to see their innocent, serving attitudes. Last week, they helped me cook dinner.





And then they helped clean up the mess after dinner!

They are very sweet!

Erika went in for her three-year-old checkup on Tuesday. She now weighs 34 pounds and is 38.5 inches tall. She is in the 80th percentile for both height and weight. Quite a bit different than our little 10th - 40th percentile Laurel. Erika is doing great and checked out well. She enjoyed the doctor's visit.....especially since she didn't need any shots.......although she was a little stubborn in responding to what the doctor wanted her to do. She seems a little flat-footed so her doctor was having her do some exercises to determine if perhaps some of her muscles were not as developed. Well, she wanted nothing to do with the squatting that he wanted her to do. He showed me what to watch for at home with her. After a couple days of observations, I can't see any warning signs that he told me about, so I think she's perfectly fine. He did say that most kids are slightly flat-footed and it is something they will grow out of. The only concern with this issue is that it may lead to higher probabilities of ACL damage when she gets older and involved in sports. We have a ways to go before we need to think of that!

And now, for the riddle of the day:

How many Hammars does it take to complete our family?

One.

Two.

Three.

Three. My friend, Jen, was right in guessing that the blog post title, "Three" suggested we are having a third child. This little one is set to arrive on December 6.

So, our new big addition is a trampoline! And, the best part is, we got it for free! Some friends of ours had a couple trampolines and asked if we would like one. It took me about half a second to say yes. I have wanted a trampoline my entire life. And now I finally own one! I might not enjoy it as much as the girls will, but you better believe I will get my fair share of jumping in!

We love our trampoline!

Laurel doesn't quite understand jumping, but she stays on her feet pretty well.

Erika can get pretty high on the trampoline.

Gardening

A couple of weeks ago, we started our major landscaping project. Matt completely ripped up our backyard, leveled it off, and planted grass seed. We are really looking forward to having a nice backyard instead of a bumpy field of weeds that we used to have. Since we started from scratch, we decided to put in a little garden. The girls loved gardening (read: playing in the dirt) and are excited about the idea of harvesting the veggies and strawberries we planted!

Digging holes for the strawberry plants.

Laurel loved the dirt!

Erika asks every day if we can go pick the strawberries from the garden. She has a few more weeks to wait!

Helping Daddy water.

Planting some zucchini seeds.

Every time Erika pushed the seed into the mound of dirt, she made this little "whoop" sound.....it was too cute!

So, I have a backlog of pictures that I haven't had the time to post. So, for the next couple of days, you get to enjoy my pictures of the cutest little girls!

Erika got to open presents from her Grandpa and Grandma Hammar when they came to visit. She was quite impressed with her blue princess rock!


Laurel got to wear Erika's new crown.



A new blue princess dress and crown.


We have been able to play outside most evenings lately. I'm super excited that the sun decided to make an appearance! Laurel walks around the yard and finds all the sticks to give to her puppy.

Erika loves to walk balance-beam-style along the flower bed.

Laurel collects the rocks to give to Daddy.

Erika thought Laurel needed to wear her helmet.....which probably wasn't a bad idea.

Erika walking her scooter. She's pretty good about riding it, but only for a few steps.

Some Days

Some days are easier than others to be a mom. Some days, I wake up and am so full of energy that I plan 25 things to do with the girls before naptime. Other days, however, I just want to rest on the couch and let them fend for themselves. It takes an awful lot of prayer to help me through those kind of days. But, I always feel better at the end of the day when I do spend my time with my precious girls rather than being selfish and resting and having a "me" day. Plus, I know these wonderful days of Erika and Laurel constantly wanting my attention will not always be here. I love when Erika says, "Mommy, can you help me write my letters?" "Mommy, can you hold my hand?" "Mommy, can I be in your arms?" "Mommy, will you dance with me?" And when Laurel brings a book to me and says, "Pleeeeease." Or just runs into my legs for a big huge hug. Although I'm praying that these requests will never end, I have a feeling that one day Erika won't want me to read what she's written. Or won't want to hold my hand. Or won't have time to dance with me. Or Laurel will want to read by herself. Or be too busy/cool/old to hug me. So, I will continue to pray for all the energy I need to make it through the day and to be the best mom I can be for today. And, I'll pray that the girls will always want me around. And, as always, I will thank God for blessing my life with these two amazing little people.

Surprise

On Thursday evening, Matt took the girls "secret" shopping. When they came home, Erika ran up to me with beautiful flowers and yelled, "Happy Mother's Day!" She is so stinkin' cute! Later that night, at dinner, Erika asked, "Mommy, when do we get to open your necklace and earrings?" Oops. Apparently a 3-year-old doesn't know how to keep secrets about gift-giving. But, it was pretty sweet.
So, on Sunday morning, Erika and Laurel helped me open the anticipated necklace and earrings. They were very proud to see me wear them to church. Laurel even got to wear them for a while around her little ears!
My Mother's Day was great. I used to get extremely angry if a gift surprise was ruined for me. But now, it was just so sweet that Erika couldn't wait to see me open my gift. What a great way to spend the day.......with the two most precious little girls telling me all day that, "You're the sweetest Mommy!" And, I got to bake cookies. Quite possibly the best thing to do ever.

Birthday Party

When I began to think about Erika's birthday party a couple months back, I asked her what kind of party she wanted. "A girl party," she said. Well, I wasn't sure exactly what that meant, so we had a princess party! I think she was pretty pleased with it. This was the first birthday where she actually was excited about things......she loved watching me decorate the cake, she loved the balloons and decorations we had, and she really loved opening her presents. In fact, last night at dinner we asked her what her favorite part of the party was. "Opening my presents," she said. What a silly girl! Here are a TON of pictures from yesterday's festivities.

Grandma Parnell came to visit the weekend before her birthday and Erika opened presents from her on Sunday. A couple of weeks ago, Sarah asked Erika what she wanted for her birthday. "A blue princess rock," she said without hesitation. What? What is that and where do I find one? Sarah was going to just paint a rock blue for her, but upon further inquiry, I discovered that a blue princess rock is a gem like the dwarfs mine in Snow White. So Grandma bought her her very own blue princess rocks!

A future geologist?

Quite possibly her favorite presents.

We needed an outfit change to finish opening gifts.

And one more outfit change for good measure.

On her birthday, Erika had two of her friends come over for her party. They did a lot of jumping on her bed.

And ate lunch.

Daddy made wooden princess wands and swords for the party guests. They really had fun decorating them!

Laurel loves putting stickers on anything, including her wand.

Fighting princesses.

Erika and her cake. You can't totally tell, but Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip are on the front of her cake, per her request.

It was really yummy!

Opening presents. Doesn't she look a little doe-eyed?

Her "big" present from Mom and Dad...a little Barbie scooter.

Complete with a miniature scooter for her Barbie.

She doesn't quite get the whole scooting yourself action, but loved for Daddy to push her!

Happy Birthday Erika!

Three

Erika turns 3 years old today. Last night, I went into her room and watched her sleep for a while. She has the exact same facial expression when she sleeps as she did the first night I watched her sleep. Matt and I are so blessed and fortunate to be able to watch her grow and get to know her as an amazing little girl! She is so smart and funny and kind and tenderhearted and she is the love of our lives. Erika is great with Laurel and helps me take care of her. Often, Laurel doesn't appreciate Erika making sure she doesn't get into trouble, but I do! Every day is more fun than the next day with Erika. She has such an awesome imagination and comes up with all sorts of games for us to play. We have really fun conversations with her.....her vocabulary is very big. She is stubborn and definitely lets us know what she wants to do and when she wants to do it. Luckily, her mom is stubborn as well and can usually win any strongholds we may have. But, the majority of the time, Erika is very sweet natured and fun and a really wonderful little girl to be around. Happy birthday to my sweet, beautiful little girl!