My new favorite picture

This was taken at the park yesterday. Brenna was talking to Nate as they walked to the playground.

Brenna's first loose tooth

I can't believe she's got her first loose tooth! It makes me want to cry! She's very excited and feeling very grown-up.

A doggone good party

For her 6th birthday, Brenna chose a dog theme, which was a lot of fun. We played "Drop the Bone in the Dish", which was similar to Pin the Tail on the Donkey, "Puppy, Puppy, Dog" (aka, Duck Duck Goose), "Doggie Doggie Where's Your Bone?" and my personal favorite, the Fetch relay.

For future reference, should you ever be of a mind to hold one, relay races don't work well with 5 and 6 year olds. Taking turns when there is a race on is too much to put up with. We had to start over once due to mass chaos, but they eventually figured it out and had fun with it.

Lunch was PB&J sandwiches, strawberries, grapes, cheese cubes, and Scooby Doo dog bone grahams served in dog dishes, which the kids loved.

The cake was a "chocolate" labrador and was delicious. I love the glow about a child when they feel special, and what child doesn't feel special when they are sung "Happy Birthday" to? Brenna glowed for a good 20 minutes afterward.

The presents were fab-o, with the favorite being the Transformers given Brenna by her friend Emma Fox. All the kids in attendance went home with a gift box filled with dog-themed items; stickers, stuffed dog, bouncy ball, whistle (I'm regretting that one!), and various goodies and treats. And, of course, each child took home their dog dish.

And lest I forget, Nate happily served as mascot for the big event. This is his new favorite face to make any time the camera is turned in his direction.

The dog party was a resounding success and the perfect celebration for our little animal lover. I cannot believe that my precious newborn is 6 years old. How is that possible?

So I'm old. So what?

29, 30, and 31 were pretty brutal to deal with. But 32? Fuggedaboutit! I'm solidly into my 30's and hardly care anymore! I have 3 gorgeous, sweet, intelligent children, a wonderful husband, a lovely home, good friends, a fabulous family, a college degree, health insurance, boundless intelligence (see, now I'm being a bit facetious)...what is there not to be happy with?

Nate has pink eye

He seems to be feeling just fine, but it's in both eyes now and looks pretty pitiful. We're administering antibiotic drops 4x a day and can already tell a difference from yesterday. We've never dealt with this particular malady before...hopefully it doesn't spread!

The Princess Tea Party

"When you're a girl, you're a girl all the way....."

For her 4th birthday party Ava selected a very feminine tea party theme. She invited friends from preschool, church, and dance and asked them all to dress in fancy clothes and shoes. Ava and Brenna were very excited as we prepared the heart shaped sandwiches, fruit skewers, and cheese cubes for lunch. (Nate would have been excited as well, but he was mercifully asleep upstairs for the majority of preparations and until the last 15 minutes of the party.) The girls were tickled as the teapots were filled with pink lemonade. I decorated the dining room with a beautiful tablecloth and real cloth napkins, a floral centerpiece, balloons, streamers, and of course, teapots and teacups.

Ava dressed for the party in her Sleeping Beauty dress and pink princess shoes. As we completed preparations for the party Brenna declared that she was going upstairs to get dressed up too. I was surprised that she would want to put on a dress, given that she is not much for the girly-girl scene.

A couple of minutes later she reappeared, dressed up in her dinosaur costume! Sometimes you've got to go to extreme measures to counteract all the girlishness.

As Ava's friends arrived they each embellished a crown with foam stickers. Then I put makeup on them and they played with Ava's dress up things. Next we had an etiquette class, where they learned to place their napkins on their laps, hold their teacups properly, and curtsy like ladies.

The tea party was precious. All the girls enjoyed the fruit skewers, which were strawberries, tangerines and grapes skewered on popsicle sticks. Everyone ate seconds and thirds of the fancy sandwiches (ham and cheese and PB&J cut in heart and triangle shapes) and sipped lots of "tea".
Later the girls played "Princess, princess, frog", which is suspiciously like "Duck, duck, goose", followed by present-opening. Ava received a Dora Playdoh set, a craft kit, Cinderella dolls, a High School Musical Barbie, and a Barbie car.

The highlight of the afternoon was the teapot cake, which I made by cooking 2 chocolate cakes in Pyrex bowls and placing one on top of the other to make a ball. The cake was decorated with buttercream icing, M&M flowers, and green fruit roll ups cut in the shape of leaves. I made the handle and spout from cardstock and stuck them right into the frosting.

Ava told me later that when she blew out the candles on her cake she wished for another High School Musical Barbie.

One of the best things about Ava is that she is very thoughtful. Any mom who has ever put together a birthday party knows how much work it can be, and sometimes you wonder if all the work is appreciated. Maybe they'd be just as happy with a sheet cake from Sam's club and a simple party with just the family. Probably. But Ava makes all the extra work worth it, because she always says "thank you" and yesterday was no exception. She put her sweet little arms around me as were looking at the finished cake just before the party began and said "Thank you for my teapot cake, Mom!" I just melted. And later after the party was over she told Scott and I thank you for her party. She's an angel (okay, she's also a little spitfire, but an angelic one!) and whatever she wants for her next birthday, she can have it!

Ava beams from ear to ear when she feels special, and yesterday she lit up the whole house. It was so fun watching her have a party her way, loaded with all things pink and girly. We're so glad she was born to our family 4 years ago.

Throw me a football and call me Uncle Rico....

I think I broke my coccyx! And all I can say is ouch!

I plopped down on the floor in front of Nate's high chair so I could put his shoes on, not realizing that a kitchen chair was so close. I hit the corner of the chair with my tailbone and it hurt so bad I thought I might throw up. I feel fine if I'm standing, but sitting is painful and I even had trouble sleeping last night.

Don't you just wish you could go back in time and change it all? I'd go back and move the chair out of the way. Then I'd win state.

He's just a little guy

Nate had his 15 month checkup on Monday. He weighs a whopping 22 lbs, which puts him in the 20th percentile for his age. There's a little boy at church the same age who weighs 28 lbs. Nate looks pretty normal until you see him next to that kid!

So despite all the practicing (see photo), it looks like Nate may not have a future in Sumo wrestling.