Molly assisted in pouring the water.

Leah did great! No tears, and she even gave some good smiles and clapped for everyone.

Grampa and G'Mom finished the baptism with some bell playing.

We were grateful that so much of our family could be with us for this special day.

Mom and baby.

A close up of the pretty girl!

Leah with Grams, the dress maker. The dress was made for Aunt Caroline's baptism.

And if you missed it, you can watch the video of Leah's baptism here.

Before heading over, we posed for a picture. Molly made sure that Leah was smiling.

Leah's doing a wonderful job modeling her new pillowcase dress. She's already learning to look just a little taller by standing on her tip-toes!

Some of Aunt Caroline's friends came to the party and played flashlight dance with Molly. Molly thought it was lots of fun, and didn't want to stop. This picture doesn't do it justice, though, so if you haven't already, make sure you check out the video.

I made red, white and blue chocolate dipped strawberries for the celebration. Molly liked them so much she even ate the stem! Guess we're doing a good job of convincing her that leafy vegetables are good.

The girls spent most of the party jumping at the side of the pool.

Run away! Don't let the water get you, nevermind that you are in a pool!

Sometimes peer pressure can be a wonderful thing. After one friend jumped into the pool, Molly decided to try. This was the one and only time she jumped in!

And this was the best shot of Molly with the birthday girl (who does not like pose for pictures!).

Leah was enamored with Will (and Stephen Colbert) throughout the trip. I'm not sure which one she's interested in here.

We had a bunch of family over to the house Saturday to celebrate. At times, Leah was of course the center of attention.

There were so many people there, Caroline and I decided to make more room by squishing Molly.

Molly was responsible for the card on our gift to Grammy.

And Grammy thought the bag I made for her was a great surprise.

The house was pretty cool much of the time, which meant blankets were in frequent use. Unfortunately, though, we had a blanket thief occasionally stealing them.

It was so nice out we decided to have dinner on the back porch one night. Yes, that's the dining room table and chairs.

Monday, we went out to lunch at Wild Thyme to celebrate Grammy's birthday again on her actual birthday. They brought Grammy a big piece of caramel cake for her birthday, but she didn't want dessert. So, Molly ate almost the entire piece for her.

Leah didn't get any cake, so she seemed a bit bored.

Though she perked up when we pulled out a toy phone for her.

The drive down and back both went really well. We only had to stop 5 times each way and managed to make the trip in 11.5 hours both times. To maximize efficiency, we packed a lunch and ate at a rest area in both directions. Here's Leah hanging out at the rest area.

Molly preferred to run around during her brief break from the car.

Molly was skeptical at first, but quickly realized that sliding was a lot of fun too!

Is it possible to get a group picture of twelve toddlers in a bounce castle? Not really, but here's our best try.

Happy birthday Sadie!

We then made adorable yarn apples.

And topped off our celebrating by eating mini apple pies.

Leah was actually awake to play with the other younger siblings. This picture had to be captured very quickly since they didn't stay put very long!

Molly painted cards for her grandmothers. She was so excited to give one to Grams and was again reminded, "Sssh, it's a surprise."

I made mint chocolate soufflés for our Mother's Day lunch. I was surprised at how well they turn out for my first attempt, and they were even on the healthier side since it was a Cooking Light recipe!

The kids marched around the room in thier own music parade,

drummed some more,

and played with a parachute.

Happy 3rd birthday, Keira!

Molly clearly enjoyed the cake. This was after eating the top half of a cupcake too!

We, of course, had to count the eggs.

Leah got a new book in her Easter basket, and was obviously very excited.

Leah's eggs were filled with different things and sealed, so they became shakers. When she became bored with chewing on them, Leah decided she'd try to get in shape for when she can crawl. Here she is doing push-ups. :)

After church, we headed over to Grams and Pop's house, where more Easter baskets and good food awaited. Leah enjoyed hanging out with her Aunt Caroline.

Molly knew fun was in store when hanging out with her aunts. Aunt EA obliged with some high-flying jumping.

We had strawberry shortcake for dessert, which Molly liked a lot. Of course, the stawberries were completely unnecessary to her, as she was fine eating straight Cool Whip.

Here's the family, plus our cousin Jacob who joined us for Easter lunch.

This weekend we had her Dora the Explorer birthday party with family and her friends.

Come on! Vámonos!
Everybody let's go!
Where are we going?
Molly's party!

All the food followed the theme with fruit salsa, monkey bread, apple and cream cheese quesadillas, and monkey mix.

The kids created their own personal piñatas to take home as party favors.

One of the hits of the party was this Dora guitar. Molly spent much of the time she was supposed to be opening presents distracted by her new toy.

Molly was really excited have "Happy Birthday" sung to her. In fact, she got to hear it twice, as a couple of the kids missed the first time while they were in the bathroom.

We of course also celebrated today on Molly's actual birthday. Chad and I tried to sing Happy Birthday to her first thing this morning and she started crying saying, "No, you can't sing without my cake!" Molly was very excited to do the cake thing again.

There are a lot more pictures of her party here.]]> Today our little girl is 3! We've had a fun year. She's still the little dancer and now really gets her hips and arms into it! She also loves to sing and enjoys making up her own songs. It makes me happy to hear her singing the songs that I learned as a child. The best part of the year though has been watching her become the best big sister to Leah!

This weekend we had her Dora the Explorer birthday party with family and her friends.

Come on! Vámonos!
Everybody let's go!
Where are we going?
Molly's party!

All the food followed the theme with fruit salsa, monkey bread, apple and cream cheese quesadillas, and monkey mix.

The kids created their own personal piñatas to take home as party favors.

One of the hits of the party was this Dora guitar. Molly spent much of the time she was supposed to be opening presents distracted by her new toy.

Molly was really excited have "Happy Birthday" sung to her. In fact, she got to hear it twice, as a couple of the kids missed the first time while they were in the bathroom.

We of course also celebrated today on Molly's actual birthday. Chad and I tried to sing Happy Birthday to her first thing this morning and she started crying saying, "No, you can't sing without my cake!" Molly was very excited to do the cake thing again.

There are a lot more pictures of her party here.]]> http://www.thesellers.net/2010/03/happy-3rd-birthday-molly/feed/ 4