Birthdays!

It was birthday extravaganza this week!  Ava, Mia, and I had our birthdays on the 5th.  It was a quiet day with mainly just our family.  We opened presents, David made dinner (and my parents dropped by just in time to eat with us!), and cake!  I kind of like having quiet birthdays, but I know Asher is going to want a big party so I'll have to start preparing myself for that. ;)

Happy birthday to us!  David added 3 candles each for the girls and numbered candles for me.  We may have to do cupcakes from now on so everyone gets their own separate candles to blow out.

After I took a picture of each of the girls Asher said "My turn!"  So here's Asher!

Here is a little bit about my 3 year olds!

Mia Elizabeth:

• Definitely the "Little Mommy" type.  She is the one that will listen to me (most of the time) and get mad at the other two until they listen to me.  If I say it's time to start cleaning up, she will immediately start helping me.  She is also very bossy.  She tattles on the other two the most and also lets me know if anything is dirty. 
• She's has a quiet personality, but every once in awhile she'll be crazy and silly and hilarious and it's just the best!
• LOVES LOVES LOVES everything to do with Frozen.  She loves it when I do "Elsa hair" on her, which is just a braid.  She loves wearing blue shirts and calls them "Elsa dresses".  Anything that is long and she can drag on the ground she will call Elsa and walk around the house with it.  Things like blankets, rope, ribbon, etc.  In the bathtub she'll get two washcloths and drag them in the water and call them Elsa and Anna.
• Very girly.  She loves princesses and dresses and flowers.  David got them My Little Pony figures for their birthday and Mia just loves them.  
• Likes playing on her own.  She's started play-acting with her figurines and it's so fun to watch!  I honestly think the toddler stage is my favorite so far because they start doing stuff like that and it's adorable!  
• She doesn't talk as much as the other two, but she has an excellent vocabulary and is pretty precise with her pronunciation. She is also very good at naming colors, numbers 1-10, and some letters.  I don't really work with her on those kinds of things too much so I am impressed she knows them so well!
• She is a Mama's Girl and loves to do whatever I'm doing and be wherever I am.  She's my little buddy.

In her Elsa shirt! (Elsa shirt because it's blue)

I told her to say cheese and this is how she smiled. ;)  She does better with candid shots!

Playing pretend with Belle, a mermaid, and a dinosaur.

She is still very flexible!  Her feet can still touch her head.  This is also her favorite hiding spot.  She'll just hang out here during the day.  My tupperware is always all over the kitchen because she takes it out so she can hide.

 Ava Jane:

• Extroverted personality.  She loves being around people and talking and laughing and yelling and being tickled and played with!  I took a video of her around her first birthday saying that she brings the decibel level in our house up, and that has not changed!  She is always making some kind of noise, and it's usually a squeal of happy delight!
• When she is tired she has no problem putting herself down for a nap.  She never goes to sleep in her bed during the day, but will go to my bed, Asher's bed, or the living room floor.  She's the only one of my kids that does that.  The other two fight tooth and nail to stay awake!
• Has a little bit of a sassy streak.  When she doesn't want to do something she'll say "Nuh uh, not today!"  She has a great ability to make me frustrated at her but also think she's being hilarious so I can't stay mad!
• Loves clothes.  She never fights me when we need to change clothes and will sometimes request additional clothing changes in the middle of the day.  She loves dresses and wears them most of the time.  She also loves shoes and hats. 
• Loves coloring and doing puzzles.  She picked up on how to do puzzles much faster than I was expecting and I hardly have to help her when I get out their puzzles.  When we have church I bring a small notepad and pens and that keeps her busy for a good while.
• My most athletic child!  She is so good at running, jumping, climbing, etc.  When she falls she immediately picks herself, says "I'm fine" and keeps going.  She has no fear, which is both a good and bad thing because that lack of fear is also why she is covered in bruises all the time.  She is not afraid to get out in the world and explore!
• She is the biggest goofball.  She is always doing things that make the whole family laugh and is usually in a great mood.  When she gets mad, all you have to do is start tickling her or chasing her and she'll switch right back into play mode and forget all about why she was mad.  She helps all of us laugh a little bit more!

In her favorite dress that my mom made for their birthday last year.  It's almost too small, so Grandma had better start making a new one!

She has her own fashion sense and picks out her own clothes most of the time.

Such a messy eater!  Every time she eats something like yogurt or smoothies, some of it always ends up on her forehead.

Always smiling, even after getting 3 stitches!  Also, this is her favorite shirt.  She loves fun clothes!

We love having these girls in our family!  They make life much more interesting and fun, if not a little more crazy.  When they were babies I couldn't help but just think how hard it was to have twins, but now it is so fun to see them grow up together!  They really are best friends and love playing together.  It will be fun to see what the next year brings!