Zara's Birthday and Day of Pampering

Zara turned SIX! (Two months ago.) Six brought some exciting new things like her first lost tooth (gross) and her first chance to chew gum. (She kept begging and I finally told her she could chew gum at age six. Yay for arbitary made-up rules.) Here's a rundown of Zara's likes.

FAVORITE FOOD: pizza, tacos, pork katsu, orange chicken and potstickers

FAVORITE ANIMAL: cats and tigers

FAVORITE CANDY: sugary stuff, sour gummi things, lollipops

FAVORITE BOOK:  Mix It Up and Let's Play

FAVORITE COLOR: pink, purple

FAVORITE SHOW: Puffin Rock

FAVORITE MOVIE: Frozen, The Lego Movie
FAVORITE SONG: songs from One Direction and Justin Bieber that I don't even want to admit here

FAVORITE TOY: Legos, kitty piano

FAVORITE THING TO DO: annoy her parents, color, gymnastics

FAVORITE PLACE: friends and cousins' houses

For her birthday, we gave Zara just a few small things like some new clothes. But I also promised her a day of pampering. Zara is, if anything, 100% girl and she loves having her hair done, her nails painted, and wearing make-up. I promised her that we'd go out and have a little girl's day together. So in September, I took her to the mall to get her hair cut and styled at the Toni and Guy salon. 

She was a tad nervous, but I think she loved getting her to look so curly and pretty. 

After her hair, we went to a nail place near our house to get pedicures and manicures. The nail salon even had a little girl's chair and a special teddy bear for Zara to hold while they did her nails. She pinked blue sparkles for her toes and pink for her fingernails. I just got a pedicure. 

This was pretty much her face the entire time. 

She wanted to use the money she'd received from grandparents to pick out her own gift. I took her to Toys 'R Us to browse the aisles and pick something. Children always have such questionable tastes. She was gravitating toward a play cash register or some dolls when I suggested we look at the scooters. We had discussed buying her a new bicycle for her birthday but she's still a little too small to move up to the next size and we decided we'd wait until she was ready for the next size and her current bicycle--albeit a hand-me-down--is still in reasonably good working order and should last a bit longer. 

After showing her the Razors and explaining how they worked, Zara decided that she wanted a pink one. But doing a quick search showed that they were about $7 cheaper on Amazon so I negotiated that we'd order her scooter online and I'd buy her some elbow and knee pads to go along with it and she could keep the rest of her money. So the scooter and protective gear was ordered and two days later we were in business. She seems to really enjoy her scooter and takes it out for frequent rides. If I walk to pick her up from school, I'll bring the scooter with me so she can ride home on it. I think it was an excellent purchase. Much better than another toy she probably wouldn't have played with for very long. 

Benjamin's First Birthday

Hi friends. It's been awhile I'm afraid and now I need to play a little bit of catch-up. Let's do this.

First up, Benjamin's first birthday! I know everyone says the time flies but since this is my baby and probably my last baby I keep thinking of him as small and tiny and he is neither of those things. This is a very big and old baby. In fact, he's been in 18 month clothes for a few months already and wears 24 month clothes in some things. He still refuses to walk (what's up with that?) but we've been forcing him to walk with us more (holding our hands) and he's getting much better at him. I assume he'll be walking by himself with no problem by the end of September. But since both Zara and Adelaide were walking by 10 months, Benjamin just feels needlessly lazy to me since he clearly is sturdy enough. I think he just enjoys being carried everywhere.

Benjamin is typically an incredibly happy child. He loves to laugh and clap and he'll smile at anyone who looks his way. He's a shameless flirt. He loves to screech. Loudly. He LOVES to climb. He loves to sit and spin wheels on anything that has one. He flips over his stroller constantly just so he can spin their wheels.

FAVORITE FOOD: yogurt bites, cheetos, baby food pouches, hot dogs

FAVORITE ANIMAL: cats

FAVORITE CANDY: cookies

FAVORITE BOOK:  Do I read to him? I guess not. 

FAVORITE COLOR: blue, red

FAVORITE SHOW: Chuggington

FAVORITE MOVIE: Zootopia
FAVORITE SONG: Pretty much all the songs

FAVORITE TOY: anything with wheels, school bus

FAVORITE THING TO DO: smile, clap, and climb
FAVORITE PLACE: the park

Adelaide's Third Birthday!

Our Miss Lady had herself a birthday! (Like three weeks ago, but shhh.) This girl is sassy and silly and stubborn and independent and loving and the perfect middle child. I can't get enough of her. 

For her birthday, Adelaide got My Little Pony wall decals, a new dress, a helicopter and a balance bike. She's still figuring out how to use her bike but I can't wait to see her speeding around on that thing soon. She got a new helmet with the birthday money her grandparents sent as well.

Blowing out the candles on her cupcake.

FAVORITE FOOD: yogurt, cereal

FAVORITE ANIMAL: cat, snake, tigers

FAVORITE CANDY: anything with chocolate

FAVORITE BOOK:  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Pooh books

FAVORITE COLOR: green

FAVORITE SHOW: My Little Pony, Little Einsteins

FAVORITE MOVIE: Frozen
FAVORITE SONG: True, True Friend and the songs from Little Einsteins

FAVORITE TOY: car and plane and helicopter

FAVORITE THING TO DO: go to the park
FAVORITE PLACE: zoo

Benjamin liked the cake too.

Zara's Fifth Birthday

Zara celebrated her fifth birthday on August 31st. She's such a sweet girl who loves to sing, dance, and move. She's got a sweet and innocent heart and wants to please everyone. She's such a good big sister, always trying to help her younger siblings and her beleaguered mother. 

For her birthday dinner, Zara requested one of her favorite meals: pork katsu.

Adelaide's cranky face cracked me up.

After dinner, we moved into the living room to open gifts. I never intend to buy a lot of presents, but I never can seem to control myself.

She got several new clothes, some books, doll clothes (to go with the doll that my mother bought her for her birthday), and a dance bag.

I bought Zara and Adelaide matching dresses which they both wanted to try on right away. 

After presents, we went back to the kitchen to eat birthday cake--lemon cake with vanilla frosting. I bought these small My Little Pony characters to put on the cake. (I had originally planned to make cupcakes and use one pony on each cupcake but Zara didn't want cupcakes.) The girls have loved playing with their ponies since we cleaned them up. We like to figure who would be which pony. I think Zara is Pinkie Pie (although she claims she's Fluttershy), Adelaide is Rainbow Dash (although she could be Applejack too), David is Rarity, and I'm Twilight Sparkle. No word on who Benjamin might be.

Zara had a great birthday and is so excited to finally be five! Now let's check in with Zara and her favorites.

FAVORITE FOOD: won tons

FAVORITE ANIMAL: cat

FAVORITE CANDY: all of them

FAVORITE BOOK: The Pigeon Needs a Bath 

FAVORITE COLOR: Pink 

FAVORITE SHOW: My Little Pony

FAVORITE MOVIE: Frozen and Star Wars
FAVORITE SONG: I am Like a Star Shining Brightly, Let It Go

FAVORITE TOY: Elsa
FAVORITE THING TO DO: play with my while family
FAVORITE PLACE: the beach

Spring Break 2015

Spring Break this year coincided with my nephew's 8th birthday. Since 8 marks the age when most Mormon children get baptized, the majority of my family descended on Virginia to celebrate James' birthday and his baptism. Zara, Adelaide and I drove up to Newport News on Monday, April 6th. (David stayed behind to work. He's saving up his vacation days for the baby's arrival and a hopeful Christmas vacation in California.) My mom flew in from California on Monday to watch the kids since Cassy and James went on a mini-trip to Boston. My brother and his wife and daughter drove down from New Jersey on Thursday and my dad flew in from California the same day. Several of my brother in law's family came for the weekend as well so it was a full party. 

We spent the week playing with cousins and generally having a good time. We visited the Mariner's Museum in Newport News where we learned all about ships. (Sort of.) We played in the backyard in the dirt and at Chick-fil-A. We had a big picnic at a park that overlooks the James River and a big birthday dinner for James. And on Saturday morning, James was baptized. 

I wanted to get home on Saturday so I could have Sunday to recover from the long drive, but we didn't get on the road until 11:30. Luckily, my mom made this half of the drive with me which was a huge help since Adelaide decided she hated the car on this trip (my girls are thankfully good travelers in general) and we had a little throw up to contend with. 

Still, we all made it back alive and enjoyed our trip immensely. Now for a ton of photos. 

At the Mariner's Museum

Zara and her cousin Anna in matching dresses at James' baptism

The picnic at the park

The grandparents

The birthday boy

Star Wars cupcakes made by my brother Jason and his wife Elisa

Adelaide LOVED this balloon

She stole this cupcake from somewhere. I'm still not sure from whom.

Four Years of Zara

Zara had a birthday. We had a party. It had a Frozen theme. There was cake. There was ice cream. There were marshmallow Olafs. Fun was had by all. Here's the proof.

After a lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs, and sides (I even made blue Jell-o squares to represent Christoff's ice), the kids built their own Olaf snowmen with marshmallows, pretzels, and candy corn. The kids really seemed to get a kick out of it.

We just invited family. These are Zara's cousins Kai, Ashleigh, and Mikayla.

 Adelaide wasn't so sure about those marshmallows.

 I bought a cake from Costco because it was easy (and because I actually think their cakes are pretty good).

Zara had a really difficult time blowing out her candles. It look her a long time to get them all.

Afterward, we played pin the nose on Olaf's nose. Kai and Zara both surprisingly got Olaf's nose almost right on the dot.

Then there were presents.

Zara got an Elsa dress which she immediately had to model.

Her Aunt Fiona also bought her this adorable dress which she wore to church the next day. I love her expression here.

Love this girl.

Adelaide Grace Turns One!

I was supposed to write this blog post a month ago--on her actual birthday--but I totally failed on that end. But Adelaide is a year old! I knew it would happen, but I've failed miserably at recording much about Adelaide's life since she joined our family, which is a real shame because Adelaide might just be the coolest kid in the universe. I'm a tad biased but she's pretty special and it's time others knew it too. This will probably be muddled and unorganized, but here are a few facts and stories from Adelaide's first year.

• Unlike Zara, Adelaide is an easy sleeper. She still sleep through the night most nights yet, but she does take consistent daytime naps (2 right now though I'm thinking of trying to move her to just one long nap) and all I have to do is nurse her, hand her her baby and her blanket, and put her down and she does the rest. 
• Also unlike Zara, Adelaide doesn't want to sleep on you. If you put her in her crib, she'll sleep with little fuss, but try to get her to fall asleep in your arms (which I try to do at church) and you've got one cranky little monster on your hands. 
• She likes to suck her thumb, mostly her right thumb. Lately, it's started to become hardened and callused. I know I'll need to stop this soon but mostly, I don't mind it. 
• She has 4 teeth (two on top, two on bottom) and should be getting two more on top soon. 
• She started walking at 9 months and loves to climb on everything. She particularly loves to climb up slides at the park. 
• She loves to swing. She hated it at first but now it's the first thing she wants to do when we go to the park. 
• She loves to smile and show off her dimples. In fact, Smiley is my father in law's nickname for her. (He has a nickname for each of his children/grandchildren. Zara is Zoomy.)  If you smile at her, she will almost always smile back. 
• She loves to eat applesauce/baby food pouches, Cheetos, cheese, most fruits (though lately she just likes squishing them between her fingers), and pasta. She loves her pasta. And meat. Girl loves her hot dogs and meatballs. 
• She makes the cutest baby noises. She does say what I think she clearly means as "Mama" and "Dada." 
• She loves her sister. If we're riding in the car, and Adelaide starts to get a little cranky, all Zara has to do is start laughing, and Adelaide will laugh and clap along with her. 
• Adelaide loves water. She loves bathtime and splashing outside in our little wading pool. But when she's done, she just stands up, holds her hands up and waits for you to pick her up. 
• For as much as Zara and Adelaide looked identical as newborns, they are very different now, both in looks and temperament. Zara looks more like David but has more of my personality (high strung and over-anxious with a great deal of sensitivity for other people's feelings) whereas Adelaide looks more like me but has a more easy-going, observant personality. 

Adelaide loves things. I went to the store to buy wrapping paper for Adelaide's birthday presents and she grabbed the wrapping paper and a stuffed bear and wandered all throughout the store with the two items.

When I took both away from her, she was just like, whatever, Mom and grabbed two new stuffed bears.

I'll tell you this. When I was pregnant with Zara, I had a very real sense of her. I knew certain things about her and had already formed a connection with her. With Adelaide, I had no idea who she would be or what she would be like before she was born. And then, a few days after her birth, I was just slammed with the enormity of who this little person was and how she would change me. I knew she and I would have a very close bond. I think this means that she will be more like me--very quiet, observant, book smart and introverted--where Zara is far more kinesthetic and active.

I have to work very hard to parent Zara in effective and productive ways, but with Adelaide, it comes naturally and effortlessly. I know this will change as she ages, but for now, I marvel at the ease with which she has fit herself into my life. I don't know how I ever did without her. This is not hyperbole. She feels like an extension of myself in so many ways.

The year since Adelaide's birth has been a difficult one for us--moves and unemployment, existential crises (multiple) and fear--but Adelaide has truly been my saving grace. Her smile and presence and very existence got me through one of the hardest periods of my life. I can't look at her and not smile, knowing she is here with me, where she belongs.