Princess Party

April 16 - You may remember Rylee's picture in the paper awhile ago.... Here is the rest of that day's pictures.

Awhile back, we went to Angie's for breakfast with some friends and I saw a flyer for a local organization that was doing a Princess Party for a fundraiser! As soon as I saw the words "tea party with Cinderella", I knew I needed to take Rylee and that she would LOVE it! We found a friend to come along and Rylee was SO excited to get all dressed up and see some Princesses and get pampered! It was such a fun day!
Rylee and her cute little friend Savanna all dressed in their Princess stuff and ready for a fun day! When we got there, the line was out the door! I had tried to pre-register, but they said I couldn't, but just to come and pay at the door and it wasn't a big deal. When we got to the front, they said registration was full and we couldn't do it. I got pretty mad, and explained I had called and they didn't tell me it could sell out and they let us in. It is a good thing...we would have had 2 very upset little girls!
My little Princess! When we went in, she got a special Princess sash and a rose from Prince Charming!
Rylee with Cinderella and Prince Charming
First item of business, painting nails! Rylee loves having her nails done. They don't last long though because she bites off all the polish!
Showing off her pretty Princess nails
They did a little Princess cakewalk next and somehow they both won a prize after the first 2 rounds! That was great because no one was sad and we didn't have to stay at that game too long. Then, we moved onto storytime by the fairy godmother. This was Rylee's favorite for sure! She LOVED it!
Rylee and Savanna listening to the Fairy Godmother's story. She was so cute with them! They didn't move for a long time. They stayed there most of the time we were there.
This is where they got their picture taken for the newspaper.
Cute Princesses
The tea party wasn't quite what I imagined.... It was really just eating and Cinderella kind of walked around and she stopped and talked to the girls about saying Please and Thank You for a second. Rylee enjoyed her chocolate dipped goodies!
Rylee showing off her giant strawberry
Rylee walked by the Mad Hatter and he started talking to her about her huge strawberry. At first, she was really scared of him, but after a little bit, she was just chatting away. It was really cute! It is a good thing they became friends because he was her escort for the fashion show later. Next, we made tiaras. Rylee loved all the "diamonds"! Rylee HAD to meet Belle!
And Ariel did her makeup! How cute is that? She was loving it and Ariel was so cute with her.
Rylee and Ariel
We played a few other little carnival type games and Rylee won a couple little prizes. Then, we had some time to kill before the fashion show. Rylee insisted that we stay for that part, so we went back over to the Fairy Godmother. Rylee enjoyed listening so much! There was a little girl who elbowed Rylee and yelled at her to get out of the way and she was crushed! But, she finally left and Rylee went back over.
Here are a few other friends - Cinderella...
The fairy Godmother
The Fairy Godmother with Rylee and Savanna. I think they were her favorites, or at least I think they spent the most time with her. She was so sweet with them and they loved that she wanted to see their painted nails and everything.
Mrs Potts
At the end of the party, they had a special fashion show where each little girl got to walk the runway and they called out her name. This was Rylee's favorite part! She LOVED it! I think she was a little bummed that she ended up with the Mad Hatter and not a Princess, but they had become friends earlier, so it worked out OK and he was spinning her the whole way. Sadly, my pictures were awful of this, but since it was her favorite, I had to post it.

What a fun day! I love having the chance to do one-on-one activities with the kids when I can. It lets me see them in a different way and really enjoy them and makes them feel so special. I love my Rylee and how excited she gets and how girly she is...even if I am not! We had a great time together and with our friends! It is so fun to have a little girls day now and then!

Mommy, Wow! I'm a BIG girl Now!

Our Rylee is FINALLY potty trained! Well...it has been a few months, but I am just now getting around to posting it. I can't believe it took me so long to post this when this event has been SO anticipated!

I took Rylee to her 4 year well-check one week after her birthday on April 4 and I told the Dr we were having trouble getting her to use the potty. He told me it needed to be her decision and gave me a few things to try. Then, he talked to Rylee and said, "You are 4 now. You need to go potty in the toilet." That was ALL she needed. I guess she needed someone besides Mom to tell her that. I have been trying for a year! The next morning, she wanted to wear panties and she did great about telling me when she needed to go and everything. Rylee is our VERY independent child and she does things on her own terms. Something clicked when the Dr told her that and she did great! I wish he would have told her that when she was THREE! It would have saved a year of frustration for all of us!
Rylee with her Color Wonder Princess book and markers that she got for staying dry ALL day long for the first time on April 5th - the day after the Dr told her she should be potty trained! How quick was that? She was SO proud of herself!
April 10 - Right after Rylee started potty training, we went away for my birthday and Ry had a couple of accidents, but once I got back she got right back on track. She earned her Prince Eric doll that I ordered for her almost a whole year ago when we started potty training for first time. To earn him, she stayed dry for 3 whole days!!!

The problem with potty training for SO long was that during that time, we promised Rylee a LOT of things and at the end of it all, she seemed to call us on all of it! By that point, I didn't even care if she was going to the potty. She got a BIG girl bed in her room, which I still need to add a picture of, and cute new bedding. (which she would have gotten anyway, but it seemed like a good bribe...) She loved that! A week or so after she was in panties, she told me she needed a potty party like Logan had. I wasn't really planning on doing that, but we were going to my family's for Easter dinner anyway, so we kind of combined the celebrations and I made her the special "potty" cake just like Logan's. Our BIG girl, Rylee - She was SO proud of herself!!!
Rylee and Daddy and the potty cake
Mommy and Rylee and the potty cake

The good part about taking so LONG to be potty trained is that once Rylee got it, she GOT it and she has done great! She hasn't had very many accidents, although now that it is summer and we are playing outside a lot, there have been a few more. And, she is sleeping through the night without a pull-up!

There was one funny potty story - About a week after she was potty trained, we went to my parent's house for a dinner for my birthday. My parents had some friends over who had a little girl Rylee's age and they were laying under the coffee table playing together while everyone looked at my brother's lizard. They were getting along really well and playing so cute. Then, Rylee yelled out from under the table, "Daddy! I'm Peeing my pants!" And... she was!

The first few months of being potty trained are hard - always making sure we can make the mad dash to the potty wherever we happen to be! The other day, we were 5 minutes in the car on the way to visit my family, and she HAD to go! It was Sunday and there was no where to stop but the 24 hour Mexican restaurant. Gross! Now we just have to deal with all of the screams of "Wipe Me!" when she goes and trying to get Avery NOT to wipe her!

But, we are doing great and we are SO happy Rylee has finally hit this milestone! Way to go Princess!!!

SANTA!!!

I was going to try and combine all our parties into one post, but there were too many pictures! On December 18th we had a party with Darren's family. We alternate every other year between having an adults only party and having a party with all the kids where SANTA comes to visit. This was a year for the Santa party and was SO much fun! It is always a little chaotic when we get together with the Webber's since there are so many of us, but we had a good time. It is great to have Santa give you your own personal visit! Beats standing in line at the mall!
Here are Logan and Rylee when Santa showed up! They lost interest in their food pretty quickly.

They were a little in awe of Santa! It is so fun at this age!Rylee was hilarious! She looked like she might cry from the combination of excitement and a little bit of fear. I don't think she took her eyes off him the whole time.
Logan hung on his every word. I think some of the big kids must have said something though because he kept saying that it was really just "someone in disguise. Not the real Santa." He kept trying to sneak back over to the food or up to the toy room. I don't think he wanted to waste time if it wasn't the REAL Santa, but by the end of the night, I think he was pretty convinced! Santa told them they all on the good list this year, and Logan was pretty relieved to hear that.

Santa always has the kids do little songs with him. Here they are doing the actions. My niece Raegan looks so cute doing them!

Rylee looking up at Santa

I love those big eyes!

Avery got to sit on Santa's lap first! Both my other kids cried when we put them on Santa's lap the first time. I think Logan did Ok for a bit and then cried. Rylee cried as soon as she saw Santa, but then again she cried for everyone! Avery could have sat there all day. She didn't care at all.

Cute Baby Avery and Santa

When the kids went up, they got a candy cane and the girls got some little mittens and the boys got hats. Rylee was so excited for her candy cane!!! She asked Santa for "Princess Stuff". She doesn't have anything specific - just as long as it is Princess associated, I guess.

I wasn't sure if Rylee would go for sitting on Santa's lap. She was excited about him, but still looked kind of nervous. But as soon as he called her name, she popped right up there and posed so cute for her picture. This is her first not crying picture with Santa! Way to go Rylee!!!

Logan knows how the Santa thing works and rattled off his list of 3 items as soon as he got a chance. He wants 1-a boxing set, 2-Hot Wheels BattleForce 5, and 3-a Darth Maul double sided "light saver". He has his list down pat and can list off all the items very quickly. At least they haven't changed!

What a handsome kid! My sister-in-law told him he was handsome over Thanksgiving and he said "Yeah. I have lots of shirts." Apparently he associates being handsome with the shirts he wears. What a funny kid!

At attempt of all 3 kids with Santa. Not such a great picture - I think there was a little too much going on.

One more try - it didn't get any better!

Next, we exchanged cousin presents. Avery got a cute little caterpillar mobile from one of Kim's kids. Here she is pretending to open it. Avery had Raegan and got her a cute doll that Rylee picked out.

Here is Rylee tearing into her present that I think was from Taylor. She gave Liam a football.

Rylee loves her new Fur real puppy!

Here is Logan opening his gift from Madi. He gave Mason some kind of space guy action figure.
Logan LOVED his Star Wars action figures! I think one was an assassin droid and one was Han Solo. Logan knew who they were right away, of course, even though he hadn't seen the movies. I think he played the video game with my brothers a couple times and is now Star Wars obsessed!

Avery and her cute toy!

Avery spent most of the night being passed around, but she didn't mind. She is very easy going and so happy. Darren's cousin, Tom, has 3 girls who are from the ages of around 14-18 and they loved her!

After the party, Darren and some of his brothers decided to make a 10 o'clock run to the new In-N-Out Burger in Draper. I took the kids to his brother's house since we were staying there that night. They were a little crazy from all the excitement. They almost always fall asleep in the car, but instead they were super hyper and Avery and Rylee both cried most of the way. Luckily, it wasn't too far! The next day, we hung out with Brian and Val for awhile and then visited our friend's the Lifferth's at their new house and stopped to see my family and Darren took my brother, Jeff, to lunch at Beto's (GROSS!) for his birthday. We had planned to stop and see the Willard Bay lights on our way home that night, but Rylee was asleep before we hit the freeway, and they were both asleep long before we got to the lights! I tried and tried to wake them up, but no luck! We decided we didn't want to pay to see the lights if they were asleep, so we would try again another day, but we never made it back. I was a little sad about that. Maybe next year.