Child Proof!

After the third child has fully reached the toddler stage, I am ready to child proof EVERYTHING in the house!  I feel like I say
   "No!"
   "Close that cabinet!"
   "Get out of that drawer!"
   "Get out of the pantry!"
a million times a day!  One day, when I had reached my limit, I called Danny, close to tears (ok...I was in tears) and said, "I don't care how late you are getting home or how much it cost, go by Babies R Us on your way home and get every time if child proof device that they have."

So he came home with all kinds of gadgets to make my days better!  We child proofed many cabinets in the kitchen (and before you start thinking I'm a horrible mom for not child proofing before, the cabinets with the cleaning supplies under the sink was already child proofed), many drawers in the kitchen, drawers and cabinet on our desk and all the drawers in my bathroom!  Some have worked, some have not, but overall, I have been able to keep my sanity because I'm not constantly running behind them straightening up a million messes a day!

Once Anna realized what was going on and that she couldn't help herself into the pantry, she started crying and announced, "I don't like it! Take it off!"  On the other hand, Miss Aubrey came in, looked over the new contraption on the door knob, then opened the pantry door.  Like I said, some worked, some didn't.  At least the younger girls can't help themselves to the pantry!

 

Alexandra's First Bad BooBoo!

Alexandra has had many boo-boos, including a black eye.  She is a Britt girl and it's just going to happen and it's going to happen often.  However, I am so fortunate and blessed that we have not had a hospital visit, stitches, broken limbs, etc.  I really am not sure how I will react if something major does happen to one of the girls, but we will save that worrying for another day.  

I seriously thought we were headed for stitches when this last boo-boo happened.  Danny was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner (I'm not sure if once again I'm very blessed to have a husband that helps me clean up or if I've just trained him very well in the last 8 years!  Ha!  I'm just kidding!  I'm definitely very blessed...I just couldn't help but insert a little humor!)  

Anyway...back to my story...Danny was cleaning in the kitchen, I was at the computer and all the girls were playing happily with each other!  Aubrey and Alexandra started running around after each other and before I knew it they were running around the dining room table.  The next thing I heard was a bump and Danny said, "There went somebody's head."  Sure enough, about 10 seconds later, (after the breath holding) the screaming started.  I scooped Alexandra up and all I saw on her face (and in her hair) was blood!  She had fallen and hit her head on the bottom corner of the china cabinet.

I flipped out!  I ran her into the kitchen, moved the hair away from her face and blood was just pouring out of the whole in her forehead!  I grabbed a kitchen towel and put pressure on it.  It took a good 3-4 minutes to get the bleeding to even slow down, but once it slowed down, I could see that it was not as bad as I thought it was.  It was a deep cut, but it was small.  She let me put a cold pack bag of frozen peas on her head and then she was good!  

She wouldn't really cooperate for a picture, so this is all I got!  It's been almost a month since this happened and she still has a little scar.  I'm hoping that it will go away!

 

A Fancy New Year

I did not plan anything for our New Year's Eve,
so at the last minute we decided to just call in a pizza.  

As Danny was gone to pick it up,
he called me and suggested we have a "fancy" dinner tonight.  

I loved the idea, but I'm a planner.
I don't like doing things on the fly!  

I want adequate preparation time!  

With this being said, I pulled off what I could
in the 20 minutes that he was gone!  

We didn't tell the girls what we were doing, 

but Aubrey knew something was up when she walked in
and saw the candles on the table.  

Then she saw me dressed up and asked where I was going.  

Once she realized we were having a "fancy" dinner at home,
she was beyond excited.  

She took off to her room to get dressed herself!

We're ready to celebrate the New Year!

It's a place card with my name on it!  

No, wait, it's a marshmallow that I can eat!!

Aubrey's place setting with fine china,
a marshmallow place card, a fancy plastic cup, 

utensils wrapped with ribbon and a butterfly place mat!

 Princesses can wear hippo bibs!

Who said it was a "fancy" menu?  Pizza and Kool-aid for this bunch!

My sweet Alexandra!  

She knows how to make a mommy feel special!

Parfaits for everyone!

Alexandra really wanted Daddy's noise maker!

Aubrey was our after dinner entertainment!  

She's can play a mean "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"
on her Barbie guitar!

More Christmas with Poppy and MeMe

 It felt like Christmas morning all over again once 

Poppy and MeMe arrived Christmas afternoon and unloaded all their presents!

Alexandra gets to open the first present...with MeMe's help!

Alexandra got a block set that builds to a tower.  

As you can see all three are playing with it.  

I almost hated putting any tags on presents this year because all of them will be playing with each toy!  

Tags with names just start fights that start with the word, "MINE" being screamed!

Poppy helping Aubrey with one of her presents.

Anna got an alphabet puzzle.  This girl is crazy over some puzzles!

Anna showing off the new bathtub toy!

There is no telling what is coming out of her mouth....I'm sure it was a LOUD scream!

With as many pictures as I take, I'm always in need of more picture frames!!!

Aubrey and Anna helping MeMe open her present!

Sweet Alexandra hugging her new stuffed animal!

The present in Poppy's lap actually weighs 45 pounds.  Yep, I know how much it weighs because it's weights for his work-out bench.  He was a little afraid to open a present that weighed so much!

Danny's new tool bag!

This is actually Aubrey's helmet, but Alexandra thought she needed to break it in for her....

plus she thought it made a good photo op!

Puzzle Time....All the Time!

Our little Anna loves putting puzzles together.  I got the girls a 48 piece puzzle for Christmas, but it was really intended to be a more difficult puzzle for Aubrey.  What was I thinking.  Anna is all over that puzzle and can put the whole thing together by herself.  It may take her a while (30 minutes or so), but she sticks with it and gets it together. 

Christmas Morning with the Britt Girls!

Christmas morning while all is still quiet....

actually this was taken on Christmas eve because I knew that once the girls woke up and saw all this goodness, it would not be a mess in about 2 seconds! 

I have to do a little bragging about the dollhouse.  It was FREE!  Yay!  

Throughout the year I cashed in my swagbucks 

(if you are interested in swagbucks, there's a button on my blog where you can sign up...for FREE) 

for Amazon gift cards.  By the first of December I had about $115 in Amazon gift cards.  

I patiently waited, the dollhouse went on sale for $90 (plus free shipping and no tax) 

and I snagged it...along with a few other great deals from Amazon!

I love this ABC book we got for the girls.  We have read it a lot since Christmas and learned many of the bible verses associated with each letter.  I also like it because there's an application story for each bible verse!  The girls also love their miniature princesses.

The girls actually woke us up on Christmas morning, 

so the minute I heard them stirring I shot out of the bed and grabbed the camera!  

Aubrey was on her bike before I knew it! 

Anna trying out her new scooter! 

I wasn't sure if she would get the hang of it at first, but she was a pro before we knew it!

Aubrey and Anna both got new dolls!  

I thought they were too young for AG dolls right now and didn't want to spend the money, 

so I got them Madame Alexander dolls from Amazon. 

Anna wanted her new doll to take a ride on her scooter!

Aubrey got her first hand-held game the Leapster Explorer.  

She's always playing with Davis' when the cousins come to visit, so now she has her own!  

She also got a Cinderella/Belle and Dora game to go with it!

Anna and Aubrey playing with the dollhouse.  

Since I'm a month (or a little more) late in posting this, 

I can tell you that the dollhouse has passed the one month test.  

It's been over a month and the girls still love playing with it!

Alexandra got a Baby Belle and high chair.  She thought she would try out Belle's bottle first!

Now, she thought she needed to try out the high chair as well!

Anna checking out her new magnetic number set....let's do some math!

It's Prince Eric!  We finally have a boy doll!

She's so happy to have Prince Eric!

We got a Princess Movie...this is always a cause for celebration in this house full of girls!

Aubrey got a new Fancy Nancy book!  

I love how they stop to enjoy each toy as they unwrap it...if only for a minute or two....most of the time!

Alexandra discovering the goodies in her stocking.  Every little girl needs a new set of forks, right?

Before anyone calls DFACS, the energy shots were left in my stocking, not Aubrey's.  I haven't figured out yet how to bottle her energy for my own consumption so until then...it's Red Bulls for me!  Danny actually got me these to try out.  They gave me a little energy, but not like a Red Bull...and they tasted HORRIBLE!