recap: 3rd birthday & miss cutie

T's birthday was splendid :]

We kept it low-key and it worked out perfectly (aside from 1st birthday, I'm not huge on planning parties). We were able to skype with both grandparents during the present-opening and cupcake-eating parts. So even though it was just us it felt like most of our family was there!

Talmage is much more into unwrapping gifts at this age. He really goes at it! It's fun to watch his face light up with every little thing he opens.

His dad got him a fishing pole that is just his size. If anyone knows my husband they know that fishing is his FAVORITE thing in the whole world- so needless to say he is pretty stoked about the idea of taking his son fishing!

The big present from us was a new bike (and first one ever!) But since it wouldn't come for a few more days we wrapped his helmet and explained to him that a bike was to follow. I don't think he fully grasped what we were saying but he was excited about the helmet, ha... oh, and also the markers from his Mimi ;]

We ended with some yummy cupcakes and singing "happy birthday" with all of the family over skype. I realized that minute that I didn't have any birthday candles so he blew out a normal jarred one. oops!

When his bike finally arrived, he kept saying "can I ride it now?". Even though he's still learning how to peddle he was very happy to be on that thing and never wanted to get off.

Another "gift" that was more necessity than anything was a new car seat. Charlotte outgrew her infant one a long time ago and we were never able to upgrade her to a bigger seat. So finally we decided to use his birthday as an excuse to get him a booster car seat. C now sits in his old convertible car seat and she loves her comfy & roomy throne..haha. And now that they both face forward, long drives are much easier (plus now she can see the dvd player so she's entertained). I kind of wish we would have done this sooner....it was much needed.

Meanwhile, Charlotte has been fighting teething and a cold. But she's still happy and cute. Here's some of my favorites from the last few weeks...

"Bunny"- her new lovey

I get the best pictures of her in the swing- probably because she's happiest and sits still long enough...so you may see many more "swing pictures" in the future.

My birthday is in two days and I refuse to make it a big deal, but Jonathan keeps hinting at some kind of surprise. I can't wait to see! And my mom and mom-in-law must be on the same track of mind because they both sent Joanns gift cards (craft posts to come very soon!)--but really I was thrilled to have some extra crafting money because it seems like I haven't made anything in a while. And it is my therapy...so you can imagine :]

The biggest surprise of all came yesterday. My dad called to let me know that two "little" packages were coming. A few hours later they came, except one of them was the size of our tv! We opened it and Jonathan said "No way...you're not gonna believe this, Linz." It was the newest iMac desktop--the smaller package was a cd drive. I was in shock. 1) I am not used to having nice things. pretty much everything I've owned electronic-wise has been a hand-me down (no complaints there- I've always loved them!) and 2) I have desperately been needing a new computer as my laptop is almost near its end and won't hardly charge. So this was the perfect thing for me...when I called my dad back to thank him profusely, he said "Now you have a nice big screen to edit your pictures on!" ah. he shares my love of photography and totally gets me. :] I can also finally use Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom now that I have a fast enough processor. woohoo!

I hope yall have a wonderful, sunshine-y week! As for me, I will try not to use all my spare time confined in the the bedroom & playing on my new computer. no promises, though.