Last year...

Remember how I mentioned Maisie getting filthy at her  last birthday? My friend Leia sent me some pictures fully documenting just how dirty she got and how much fun we had. 

How in the world has it been a year already?!

2 year old cuddles

It's now after midnight and Maisie is officially 3 years old. Today and well into tonight I was busy making party favors (oh and making a run to the store for more rubber cement) so Austin put Maisie to bed. After the initial stress of my all-day-long crafting wore off I realized I had missed her last bedtime routine as a two year old. Maisie had already been silent on the monitor for over 25 minutes so I knew she was sleeping, but I had to go in to see her. As I opened the door and made my way closer to the crib I could see Maisie's face- her eyes open wide and she was grinning from ear to ear. "My mommy!" she said in an excited whisper. I held out my arms and she crawled into them and said "Mommy just hold me for a little bit please." I told her that I needed some more two year old cuddles and it made her smile. I sat in the rocking chair as she told me stories about how "Daddy is much to big for her crib" and that her birthday is in May, that she will be 3 and her party will be at the carousel. I listened to her chat away until she became more and more tired. I started singing our nighttime song and within seconds she laid her head down on my shoulder and slowly surrendered to sleep. Maisie has not fallen asleep in our arms in well over a year. She has dozed off a few times, but this time she was a flour sack in my arms- heavy and limp, complete with little sleep twitches. I sat there rocking and humming to her, rubbing her back and playing with her hair for as long as I could-taking the moment in and loving her so much.

It was a perfect way to say goodnight to my two year old.

Happy Birthday my little Maisie.

Baskett Slough

For my Father-in-law's birthday we went walking on a trail we have been wanting to see for a while now. The Baskett Slough is a wildlife refuge that has trails that look over the whole valley. It was beautiful out and despite the wind, we all had a wonderful time being together as a family.

Oregon Ag Fest

The last weekend in April the whole family (minus Austin because he had to work, boo!) went to the Oregon Ag Fest. It was the first really hot day of spring, so waiting in the hour long line for the pony rides was a little on the warm side, but it was so worth it. Maisie had so much fun riding on Gracie the pony and was able to hold herself on the whole time even without being tied to the saddle. Natural horseback rider maybe? She still talks about Gracie every day. Other highlights getting planting kits to grow at home, learning about how bees make honey, watching hatching chicks and even holding a few too.

Enchanted Forest

We have been having an unusually warm (dare I say hot?) spring. It's been more like summer and it has been awesome to say the least. I don't think in my 20 years of living in Oregon has it ever been this warm this early. Needless to say, we have been taking advantage of this rare and unseasonably dry season to have lots of outdoor fun. So we planned a day to take Maisie to Enchanted Forest where Maisie went on her first and long awaited roller coaster ride.

iPhone roller coaster picture:

Charlotte's Web

Last month we started reading a chapter of Charlotte's Web every night before bed. We finished the book and as a reward we purchased the 1970's version of the movie. Maisie loves seeing the characters that she got to know so well through the book  actually come to life on the tv and she proudly exclaims all of their names as she sees them (There's Wilber! There's Fern. Avery. Lurvy. Uncle etc). Plus, it's a musical, which means Maisie will have a new repertoire of songs soon.

Anyway, all was good and dandy until today during her nap, from the audio monitor I hear this...

(I texted Austin the fiasco)

Oh E.B White, thank you for teaching Maisie about dying. Better that, than a pet goldfish going belly up or something.