Brooklynn Turns 3!

It's official. My Baby B isn't really a baby anymore. She's all grown up. 

Well, 3 years old is pretty grown up to me, when she was just my baby!!

Sunday was Brooklynn's birthday.  Before the sun was even up, she was dressed and ready to shout to the world, "It's my Birthday Time!!"

Crafting with her big sister... look at that concentration!

 Lunch at one of her favorite places.

Then we headed to the beach! Because us Ross girls always go to the beach on our birthdays, even in December!  Caroline was enjoying it too.

Such a beautiful day!

Just so you know, the beach is empty because I have a secret beach I go to. All of the regular beach spots were actually so packed, you couldn't find a parking spot.

The weirdest thing happened while we were there. The girls were playing in the water and I was sitting down with Caroline, and I look up and I see this "shadow" walking by.  It was my mom! I just love that we have the possibility to run into my parents now.  So we took a walk down the beach (to the crowded beach) to go find my dad - where he was surfing.

We found him!

Brooklynn got her wish... she became a mermaid for her birthday!

And then they buried her alive.

After the beach we headed to Daddy's station. He had to work that day, but I didn't want him to NOT celebrate Brooklynn's birthday. So we brought cupcakes and the guys at the station all sang to her. What a lucky girl!

The next day, we had our family over to help celebrate her birthday.  Baby Jack was sportin' the 80s headband look..lol.

And it was cake time! I made her the 3 cake, it was super simple! I found this You Tube video. It was so easy, it came out the first try. 

And of course we had to add a new line on the growth chart!

I also added in Caroline's birth length, so now all three girls are on the ruler!

I made this ruler. If you want to see how I did it, check out my post {HERE}.

January Calendar Printable!

I made the calendar for the year 2015. Seriously. Where does the time go!?

I also made my calendar frame for it. Just something "cute" to put it on. I have the perfect place for it when our kitchen is redone, but for now, it's just on the wall, in the middle of nowhere. 

I just used a white frame, some scrapbooking paper and some foam board that I had on hand. I actually don't recommend using foam board because you won't be able to put the thumb tacks back into the same holes if you take them out. But when you have a newborn at home (I did this when she was just a week or two old) and you don't feel like leaving the house, you just use what you have at home already. So, use corkboard instead.

This is how it turned out. Bad picture because of where it's hanging. And don't mind the fold. It went in my purse for a day to write down some important dates coming up.

If you want a 2014 calendar to put up on your fridge, or on your wall, or at work, or folded up and in your purse, click the picture to download it!

Christmas with the Family in 2014

Christmas morning! 

We actually had to wake Autumn up because Brooklynn woke up before her and we didn't want Brooklynn to see the tree and presents without her.

Right to playing with them. I love how one of their presents is such an old-school one and they kept busy on that one for so long!

Then it was crazy-sand time! Hey...when you can't make it to the beach, you bring the beach home, right?

When it was finally light outside, we headed outside to play with our new skateboard and roller skates.  My little girls love to be outside. They would be outside all day if I would let them.

What? Doesn't every girl ride a skateboard with a tiara on? 

Then Caroline finally woke up and I did a little photoshoot with her. Melt. My. Heart. Her first Christmas and she's the cutest little present - hands down!

Then Daddy had to leave to go to work.

Hey..why not cool off and have some ice pops? 

Then I got in a quick workout. It may be Christmas, but when you have a few hours of downtime, why not workout? 

Then the girls and I headed to my parents' house.

My brother and all my grandparents were there this time. Autumn loves her Uncle Hans.  In this picture we have all the Wagner men (who live in FL). It was supposed to be just the boys (Hans' baby boy is in the middle. His name is Jack, after my dad and his dad), but then my girls wanted to get in on the action. They love their picture taken too...of course. 

Then we had to take a family photo.  This is a great picture. It has my parents, Woody's parents (Nana and Hoss), my mom's parents (Grandma and Grandpa), Hans and Demi, Demi's mom, Baby Jack, and my girls. The only person missing from this picture is my husband, but he had to work - bummer! Oh, and it would have been awesome if my cousin Lisha and her family could have been there. 

Me and my girls.

This picture we try to do all every time we get together.... 4 generations of women. My girls, me, my mom, and my grandma. All the pictures we took this time didn't really turn out. This was the best one of them. But it NOT a good one...of any of us! haha! Oh well. My B has a birthday in a few days. We'll try again then. 

This picture just makes me laugh. Hoss put Brooklynn in the box and carried her out to the car in it! ha! She thought it was the funniest thing ever. I mean seriously. What kid wouldn't love Hoss!?

One of my favorite Christmases in a long time. I love having my parents back. It makes life so much happier. That's what it's all about. Family.  Whether it's your blood family, your adopted family, or the family you have adopted because you just love them so much they became your family. 

Christmas Eve in Florida with the Family!

Ron works tomorrow. So we did our annual Christmas on the beach day on Christmas Eve.  We always go to build our "Snowmen"... well, actually, they are Sandmen. That's what you do in Florida for Christmas.

Caroline's first feel of the water! It was pretty cold, so I'm not so sure she liked it. No worries, she will.  She'll have to. She's part mermaid, afterall!

Merry Christmas from the Ross Family Party of 5!

And tonight was the start of a new Christmas Eve tradition. 

Why, you ask?

Because my parents live here now. That's why!

The kids got to do a scavenger hunt. My dad helped them by reading the clues for them. Autumn was really good finding all the clues! The girl really pays attention to things more than I think she does.

I just love this picture. I was getting the girls looking for their last clue, but I got everyone in the picture... on the left are my grandparents (my mom's parents) and then my other set of grandparents (my dad's parents). Then my parents on the right, with my mom holding Caroline.

At the end of their scavenger hunt, there were presents! Art stuff, of course!

Then my grandpa played with the girls for a bit. This just warms my heart.

Then it was chow time! A new tradition - a seafood boil! Autumn LOVED the crawfish. So much so that we were fighting over them. lol. Yes, I was fighting my 5 year old over who was going to eat the crawfish. I won. But there was more for her.  No worries.

My Nana is showing her how to open them. 

Then it was "Pass around the baby" time.  First up was her Daddy. 

Now these are the pictures I will treasure. Caroline's Great-Grandparents holding her.

My Nana...

 And Hoss...he's the baby whisperer - and every kid loves this man. 

My dad. She's just taking him in.

My Grandpa... she's mesmerized by all her grandpas!

Then we came home and put cookies and milk out for Santa. And we have to put our key out for him too, because we don't have a fireplace. My friend got me this last year, and I think it's genius. Now we have a real answer for our girls when they ask about how Santa gets in our house since we don't have a fireplace for him to come down the chimney.