Week Sixteen

This week, we celebrated Easter. Oh happy day!

Nora was absolutely adamant that she wanted nothing to do with the "bunny who shall not be named" (BWSNBN). No pictures and she told me she didn't want him to bring treats to her house, either. Well, seeing as how the Easter Bunny had already gathered her treats and planned on stopping by, I figured we'd just go for it and see what happened.

When Nora woke up in the morning, I told her I thought the BWSNBN had stopped by and that we should go to the living room to check it out. She was absolutely NOT going to go to the living room in case he was still there. I had to convince her that he was gone, and then she slowly tip-toed out with me.

Her play-doh, bubble wand, and water squirt toys were all a big hit. We attempted the color-by-numbers Dora book, but her creativity simply can not be dictated by a color-by-numbers chart at this point ha! She asked if she could eat some chocolate, so we let her have one small chocolate egg, and then thankfully she was happy to get dressed for church.

We headed out to church a little earlier than usual because it was the annual "Fastest Egg Hunt in the World".

The cutest group of egg hunters around.

Nora with her "dance partner", Maddy.

Waiting patiently for the hunt to begin.

Still waiting with Sophie!

Let the hunt begin!

"No cheese!"

The kids did so great while they were collecting eggs. There were more than enough to go around. The big kids helped the little kids. There was no egg drama at all, which was nice because I heard some interesting stories this weekend from friends who went to more "competitive" egg hunts.

Unfortunately, after church, on our way to lunch, Nora got sick in the car. I thought she wasn't feeling well because Ms. Melanie from the church nursery told us that she curled up on the floor with a pillow. Then, she didn't want to dance at the end of the service. Most telling was that she didn't want to eat her sucker that she always gets after the service. Poor baby said to me in the car, "I'm so sick. It's so yucky." It broke my heart! We got her home and cleaned up, and she stayed in bed for most of the rest of the day. The only other thing she consumed was a little bit of juice, and unfortunately, she didn't keep that down either. Her fever seems to be gone, so I'm hoping her tummy will be better by morning.

Week Fifteen

The past week was a beautiful one, and most afternoons meant a trip to the playground or just a lot of time playing in the back yard. I'm glad we took advantage because tomorrow, we're under a "freeze warning". We really can't complain about our weather because our family in Nova Scotia is still digging out from under ten tons of snow, but seriously Knoxville? Freeze warning?

Here are some pictures of Nora and the pups enjoying a beautiful spring afternoon.

Brandy wasn't much up for posing with Nora.

Also, the dogwoods are in bloom (and so are our azalea bushes). I really hope they don't die under our freezing conditions tomorrow.

Week Fourteen

This week, we celebrated Nora's birthday with a party at the Little Gym. Her birthday guests were Amelia, Ella, Sophie, Levi, Jon Loran, Beckham, Culver, Liam, Fisher, and Faith. We also had her 3 year well-visit with Dr. Joe where we learned that she has grown perfectly on that same curve she's been on her whole little life. She weighs 35 lbs and is 39" tall. That puts her in between the 75th and 90th percentile for both her weight and height.

I also did Nora's first ever birthday interview this week. Her answers were sweet, thoughtful, and funny. The English teacher in me loves that she answered most questions in complete sentences.

This is Nora's first ever birthday interview:
What is your name? Nora Lyle (sounds more like Nowa)
How old are you? 3 candles on my birthday cake!
What is your favorite color? My favorite color is pink.
What is your favorite letter? My favorite letter is W.
What is your favorite number? 2!
What is your favorite animal? A cow says mooo and a pig in the mud.
What is your favorite food? My favorite food is chicken nuggets and apple sauce and yogurt.
What is your favorite book? I like the Hippo book (Hippos Go Berserk) and my Colors Book.
What is your favorite song? My favorite song is Chicken Baby (a Lyle original!)
What is your favorite tv show? I like to watch Peppa Pig.
What is your favorite movie? My favorite movie is Anna and Elsa.
What is your favorite toy? I love my princess magic wand.
Who is your favorite princess? My favorite princess is Elsa.
What makes you happy? My favorite happy is mommy and daddy.
What makes you sad? I sad when I'm crying.
What is something you do well? (I had to ask this several times, several ways) Well, I don't know. (I suggest that she is good at dancing.) Yes, that is awesome! It's the Wild West! (What??? lol)

We were in her bed when I asked her these questions, so when I stopped asking Qs, she said, "I'm ready to sleep. Good night. Sweet dreams." My sweet girl.

I love my big girl so much. She is silly and sweet and sassy. She's kind and compassionate and loving. She's everything and more than I ever could have hoped for in a daughter. I'm so proud of all that she has become and all that she has learned in the past year.

This week is obviously picture heavy. Enjoy!

Discovering some of her birthday presents early in the morning:

Her regularly scheduled gymnastics class:

Back to the gym that evening for her party:

Upon arriving home after the party, she was happy but tired. Perhaps reflecting on her day?

Here are her birthday pictures we had taken at Portrait Innovations:

And finally, her traditional "orange chair" pictures:

Two wasn't that terrible after all, and while our 3 year old is definitely living in the land of the "threenager" (She says, "I do it myself!" "This is booooring." "That's the most awesome thing in the whole world!"), she's also one of the sweetest sweethearts I've ever met. I'm pretty sure we'll all come out the other side more or less unscathed.