No longer "terrible" -- right?

Kennedy seems to REALLY like the flames on the candles...should we be worried?

SHE'S THREE...we made it past the terrible twos! Kennedy had her birthday on Monday and we had a really fun day (although somewhat hectic!) It's funny how when it's someone's birthday you try to be really nice to them, even when it's your children! It was pretty eye-opening to us how often Kennedy gets in trouble (for climbing, hitting, making messes, and outright disobedience), and since it was her birthday we tried VERY hard to be happily firm with our discipline. Think "tough love with a smile"...that was us!

But Kennedy still had a great day. She really loved eating her "happy birthday" (aka: cake) and opening presents. And McKinley managed to make it through the day without getting presents HERSELF and being the star of the show. Poor Kennedy...I guess the world doesn't revolve around her nearly as much as her big sister, because the whole day seemed just "wrong" to McKinley!

Thanks to all the grandparents for the great presents! Kennedy really loved everything! And we are the COOLEST parents in the world because instead of spending money on toys for her presents we decided to spend our time and money on finishing her room! We spent her birthday money on really fun things like paint, beadboard, and a stepstool for her bathroom (she is our climber, so it really is kind of a cool gift...it was MEANT to be climbed!)

So Milt and I spent the few days before her birthday giving her bedroom a surprise makeover. We moved Kennedy's bed into McKinley's room so we could paint and work on her room at night. We then hung pictures and rearranged the furniture a bit and got it all done pretty cute! Her room doubles as our guest room, so we also wanted to make sure it looked ready for company because my Nana is coming for a visit soon! (We'll add pictures of her room tomorrow).

Besides painting, I also spent every spare second the week before her birthday making Kennedy a family ABC scrapbook. McKinley got one from her Aunt Ashley a few years ago that is the cutest thing ever, and since Ashley is now the busiest lady in the world, I figured I actually had to get creative and make Kennedy's myself. And it took a ton of time and late nights on the laptop, but it turned out pretty cute! Hopefully Kennedy will enjoy it for a long time, and if Maddox eats any pages, I can always just print more! Yea for digital scrapbooking!

Here are some pictures of Kennedy eating her cake and opening her presents. The princess underwear and shoes were a big hit from Nana and Papa Ken (Kennedy is a little too into clothes), and of course she loved the ponies and dress-up shoes from Big Daddy and Nana Jacki and the cool Hawaiian dancing doll and flip-flops from Papa Kirby and Nana Betty and Ashley's family. It's always nice to know that we don't really have to buy toys for her because she always gets plenty from her wonderful grandparents! Thank you all!