Jadyn was invited to an older friend's birthday party. This friend, a 6 year old, opted for a roller skating party. With slight trepidation I packed her up and off we went to the rink. Putting on those training skates was an experience, but nothing compared to the experience of watching her take those first few tentative glides on the floor.

She did really well - she remained upright most of the time...

Sometimes she looked like this...

And at one point she got tired and did this...in the middle of the rink.

Eventually she got tired of having wheels on her feet.
She turned in the skates and went to the play area.
Ah, the ball pit.

3rd Birthday Bash

Learning how to aim and shoot.

That tongue cracks me up every time. She always does this when she's focused.

This is one of my favorite "all-natural" shots of her.

This was a joint birthday gift from the family. The first time she put her foot on the pedal, she broke down into a fit of giggles. SO funny! Riding with her is Lillian, a friend who was born just 5 days before Jadyn. They always go to each other's parties.


I LOVE this picture of the two of them.


Her friend Alex decided to take her for a spin. He's concentrating, she's laughing hysterically.


She wants to know where her chauffeur went.

Smiling as we sing "Happy Birthday" - she loves being the center of attention.

Three years ago she came into our lives and changed everything. Time, for the most part, has flown. Every now and then it has crawled. Each moment has been worth each struggle.

What a cutie. I can't stand it.

Three candles on her tiny little cake.

And of course she blew them out!

And now, a comparitive study from the past three years.

Shortly after birth.

Her first birthday.

One year ago.

Tonight. (Yes, she's wearing the same shirt as last year.)

Crazy, isn't it?

Ah, JOY!

So, about 18 months ago, Jadyn used the potty for the first time. She did great for about a week. I thought, rather mistakenly, "Wow, this is going to be easy." Yeah, not so much.

Here we are. Jadyn is going to be 3 years old next month. 4 weeks ago I was convinced she'd still be in diapers for 6 months. We'd try to put her on the potty, KNOWING she had to go. She'd sit there and cry and squirm and BEG to get off the potty. It was as though we were torturing her. Then when she could hold it no longer, she'd finally go. We'd dance and cheer and we even started rewarding with candy. But still she would not go on her own. *SIGH*

Then suddenly, about 2 weeks ago, it seemed that something just clicked. She'd go when we took her. She even started ASKING to go. The same thing was happening at preschool. Last week her teacher said, "Two more weeks of pull-ups, then she wear panties all day."

At church she asked her teachers TWICE to potty. At the restaurant, she went "twosies" on her own. Last night at our favorite Chinese restaurant, she stopped mid-bite and announced, "Mommy, I need to go POO-POO!" Off we went, and sure enough, there she went.

I think we've arrived - Diaper-free Paradise.

Then last night, we knew we hare

The Bunny!

So the Easter Bunny was respectful of our early arrival at church and dropped off Jadyn's basket after lunch. What a considerate bunny.

Ok, so it's more like a bucket...

Hey, a fishing game!

"Hey, I got one!"

"Look what else I got!"


"It's yummy!" she says with her mouth dripping with chocolate.

I think she had a happy Easter!

The Most Wonderful Time

Christmas with a child really is amazing. Here's proof.

We took a few Christmas Eve shots to get into the spirit of things.

We took a few shots of what we accomplished after she went to bed. Sort of the "calm before the storm."

"Santa" was busy.

No chimney, so the stockings were hung on a table.

And now, the fun begins.

See the excitement in that face? Oooh, this is gonna be fun!
(We're only going to show a fraction of the morning's action.)

A table and chair set, decorated by yours truly.

A toy vacuum to help with "cleaning up".

Giving it a test run.


Doesn't every little girl need a pink airplane?

Potato Head Play Set

Exploring her stocking for goodies, like toy boats and washable markers.


This little light of mine...



A pink bubble-blowing lawnmower. Seriously.

Party Girl

Jadyn has gotten the idea of birthday parties. When I tell her we're going to one, she says, "Yay, pawty!" Here are some pics from one such party she attended this morning at the Children's Museum in Tuscaloosa. These photos are courtesy of my friend Martha, aka Marfa.

She was particularly enamored with the car.

One of those giant keyboards that play when you step on them.

Just a really good close-up.

Elmo: The Birthday Party

Yes, today Jadyn turns 2. We had a big party yesterday, so today we're playing with all the new loot. I wax philosophical on my own blog, so here I'll just post the pictures that everyone is really here to see. As you will plainly see, Elmo was the theme.

ELMO: The Birthday Cake

ELMO: The Cupcakes

ELMO: The Pinata

Drinking from Elmo: The Sippy Cup

The shirt says, "This is my birthday shirt."

It's a long way up...

...but she made it!

This is our favorite picture from the whole day.