Watch Kinsley Grow! Age 3!

Our big girl towering over Trout!

Lovin on our old man.

Showing off her personality... Trout looks thrilled.

And her sweetness.

Super sweet with a cherry on top. :)

Miss Kinsley turned 3 today! We've been celebrating her birthday for a little over a month because we had a joint bday party with our friend, Witten, in Rochester before we made the move to Charlotte. The theme was originally rainbows and trains, but Witten decided last minute that he wanted a shark party. So his, oh so talented mother, Sari whipped up a shark cake instead. If only I could be so creative! I've posted the pics on the Nov 1st post. It was a great afternoon filled with lots of love and laughs. We're really missing our Rochester friends these days.
This past weekend we continued the celebrating when Nena, Papa and Uncle Andrew came to visit. They were our first visitors and they were a good sport about our accommodations. Being that we live in a 3 bedroom home, my parents slept on a queen mattress in the middle of our formal living area and Andrew slept on a blow-up mattress in the playroom. We had so much fun with them, but it came and went WAYYY too quickly. I also included pictures of their trip in the Nov 1st post.
Kinsley and I continued celebrating this morning with a candle in her pancakes, play time at the YMCA, froyo after lunch and a special piece of birthday cake for dessert. Not the healthiest of days but fun, nonetheless.

At 3 years old, Kinsley:

• is nearly 39 inches tall (90%!!) and close to 32lbs (60%). 
• was completely potty trained but has completely regressed since our move. :(
• LOVES to play outside and play with other kids.
• is pretty fearless - was quick to jump up at the science museum to touch the iguana. The lady had to remind her to touch the reptile's side and not its head. 
• may be fearless about most things, but is terrified of flies and bees and was very scared of her new room when we first arrived in Charlotte (she's doing much better now).
• really likes to play with (torment) the dogs. Hope is totally her dog and lets her sit on her, pull her tail, chase her, etc. We are still working on these behaviors...
• still responds fairly well to our Love and Logic discipline we've been using. She starts to have issues when we are not being consistent. I've discovered that consistency is hard sometimes. 
• still sleeps with her paci at night and at naps but most have had the tips cut off because they've developed a hole in them. We still have two purple pacis left. Louie keeps saying "when they're gone, they're gone." 
• has a new favorite song. Victoria sang her "Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music while she was helping with the girls during the move. I'm still working on learning the lyrics. Thank goodness for google on iPhone.
• is still taking an afternoon nap. Generally she goes down around 2 and sleeps until 4. Her bedtime is still 8pm and lately she's been getting up at 6:30am! Ugh!
• is not quite as easy to put to bed as she used to be. She had become the master manipulator... I need water, I need to go tee-tee, sing me one more song, can you move that toy out of here? We have finally (knock on wood) nipped that in the bud.
• LOVES sweets and will do just about anything if you use it as a reward. "Lollipop? Sure, I can poop in the potty. M&Ms? Okay, I'll go right to bed, Mom. KitKat? I'll stay in bed ALL night." I NEVER thought that I would be bribing my children with candy but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. We're finally done bribing her to stay in bed. This just ended yesterday. 
• loves to be the center of attention and make people laugh. If she does or says something funny she will then repeat it over and over in all types of silly sounding voices trying to elicit the same response. 
• loves to cuddle on your shoulder. She puts her blanket on your shoulder and asks if she can "sleep on your arm." It's about the sweetest thing ever. :)
• is starting preschool 3 days a week this fall. I have mixed emotions. She is sooo ready for school though!
• is really sweet with Aubrey. She likes to make her smile and giggle and Aubrey just loves every minute, although she has to be reminded to be gentle.
• can light up any room with her vibrant, spunky, loving personality. I know that both Louie and I feel very, very lucky to be Kinsley parents. :) Love you Sweet Pea!!