HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAGE!!!!

I have a two year old. I cannot believe it. My little Sage is the sweetest girl ever born. She has the most gentle temperament and personality. She is shy and reserved until she gets around grandma or papa, then she can put on quite the show. She is very polite and considerate. She is her mother's daughter--very neat and orderly. She is learning new things every day and amazes us with how much she understands. Her favorite color is PURPLE, her favorite food is PIZZA, her favorite movie is ELMO GOES POTTY, her favorite book is SOMEDAY, and her favorite song is BOOK OF MORMON STORIES and JESUS WANTS ME FOR A SUNBEAM.
Tidbits about her that I love right now:

every morning when I go get her out of bed, she immediately starts jumping on her bed and saying "boucy boucy boucy" (bouncy) over and over again. I know I should teach her not to jump on her bed but it's so cute I can't help but let her do it.

she sits so still every morning while I do her hair. she loves getting her hair done and waits so patiently while I play around with it every day. she stares at herself in the mirror and takes her job of handing me her comb and bows very seriously. if I say "sit still", she says "ok mommy"-and then does. it's crazy.

she is TERRIFIED of bugs. it's not fake either. she screams and runs away while shouting "go way bug go way bug!" until I come save her. I am very patient with her about this certain fear because I understand it all too well. when I lived in Arlington, the moths and roaches were out of control. everywhere. I would often escape to my room and shut the door so no bugs could get in. my sweet brothers, bj and kris, would knock on my door saying they had my laundry for me. I would open the door a crack to see if they were lying. they would have a stack of folded laundry for me so I'd let them in. they would innocently leave it on my bed and walk out of the room. I'd immediately start putting the laundry away...only to find millions of moths and roaches hidden in my clothes. so I will forever be patient with sage's bug phobia. it's legit.

she enjoys the time out corner and often puts herself in it if she's being whiny.

she loves to sing songs, especially when clint and I are singing with her. she also loves to dance. I recently moved my stereo from my bedroom to the family room. I've never been able to use it because sage is scared of it. when you turn it on it lights up bright blue and for some reason it freaks her out. I've finally said enough is enough and am teaching her to toughen up and not be scared of the radio. so now we turn it on every day and have a dance party. she LOVES the radio now. she inherited my moves, too. poor baby.

her feet still haven't grown. I'm thinking she's got my moms tiny little feet. lucky.

she is still obsessed with the park and kisses the stairs that lead to the slide bye bye when it's time to leave. she'll then say "bye bye park" all the way home.

she is obsessed with lotion and chap stick. her nightly routine involves brushing her teeth, washing her face and hands, and then getting a squirt of lotion on each hand. she then immediately hops off the counter and says "show daddy". she runs to him with her arms outstretched to show off her lotion. she then holds her arms out everywhere she goes till she's in bed. once she's in bed she realizes she can't hold her blanket and suck on her fingers when the lotion is in the way, so she rubs her hands together and says "bye bye lotion". either that, or she takes her pointer finger and delicately dabs it in the lotion and puts it on her neck, nose, forehead and cheeks. just like mommy does it every night.

if charly is crying, she runs to her and says "you ok". if charly drops a toy, she is fast at coming to the rescue and picking it up for her.

she still loves to run in the stroller and go for long bike rides.

she is such a sissy. I'm actually glad about this most of the time. she's too scared to run away from me or do anything dangerous. but....she's scared of charly sometimes. charly is a grabber and likes to beat on things. so when charly scoots over to sage and starts smacking at her, sage cries and cringes away like she's so scared. little stinker.



I think her birthday today was a success. We sang Happy Birthday to her a million times and she just smiled away each time. Here she is sitting at her new table -- we are going to paint it still. She isn't as thrilled about the easel as I thought she would be. But it was 15 bucks so you really can't go wrong. I got a new toy organizer too, so she seemed to think all the toys were brand new. I ordered a play kitchen for her from Costco and can't wait for it to get here. She's going to LOVE it.

We went to the park and played with grandpa for a while, and she got her very first happy meal from McDonald's. Then we came home to get ready for her big date with daddy. Ever since I was a little girl, my dad took me on a daddy daughter date every year for my birthday. He did it with all of us kids. When Clint and I got married I told him I wanted him to carry on this tradition. At the time, he laughed and thought it was the silliest thing he'd ever heard of. So imagine my surprise when he came down the stairs today wearing his Sunday best. He got all spiffed up for her and was more excited than I was.


They went and saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks" together. It was her first movie since she was a baby and he says she LOVED it. She sat on his lap the whole time with her own tub of popcorn and grinned from ear to ear. She loves getting one on one time with him. She was pooped from her day when she got home but has been an angel all day. Tomorrow we are taking her to Chuck E Cheese for a little birthday fun with the cousins. She's never been so and I'm excited to see how she reacts to everything.

I've got a collection of letters that I write to my girls. I keep them in their baby books and have started copying them into their blog books so they'll always have them. So pardon the sap, but I want her to always know how much she is loved.

Dear Sage,

Happy Birthday baby!!! You've made the last two years go by so fast, and they have been the absolute best years of my life. You are the happiest, sweetest, most beautiful toddler. You bring sunshine with you everywhere you go. I could spend hours and hours snuggling with you and kissing your soft cheeks. Mommy complains a lot and looses her patience with you sometimes, but you should always know that I wouldn't trade our time together for anything. You and your sister are the most important little people in my life. I love you more than you know and would do absolutely anything for you. My favorite part of each day is morning and night. You snuggle up so close to me and let me kiss all over you and breathe in your smell. You love reading stories together every morning and sometimes I think we could sit there all day together. You have started growing up so much the past few months. You love to go to "chuch" and every time we pass a church building, you say "yea chuch!", because you think we are going. You are so sweet and innocent. We say prayers together every morning, evening, and meal time and each time you are so reverent. You wrap your arms around yourself and squeeze your eyes shut so tight and then quietly say "amen" and reach your little head around for a kiss. Daddy and I are always peeking out at you because it is just the sweetest thing to watch. You make me tear up pretty much every day sweetie. When I watch you playing with your sister, talking to your little baby dolls, singing to yourself--I cannot help but well up. You are so innocent and pure and I can't stand the thought of how the tainted things in the world will one day reach you. Trust me toots, I'll be keeping you in a bubble as long as I can! Mommy and Daddy love you so so much sweet baby. Happy birthday.

Love,
Mommy