Two-Months-Old Today

Its hard to believe its been two months. Little Daphne is a joy! She is becoming a little more predictable with her feeding schedule and her sleeping habits at night have improved so much. Her precious newborn smiles make it all worth it!

Eve just made my day...

Here's what she said, word for word:

"You're the beautifulest and nicest mommy in the whole university!"

Treasures

I so often find things around the house that remind me how much I adore my kids. Here are a few of the treasures I have found around the house recently that evidence just how sweet, thoughtful, clever, and imaginative they are:

Eve's baby doll rocking happily in Daphne's swing.

A pile of kid-wrapped presents.

The girls woke up earlier than us this morning (as they do most Saturdays) and as I walked into their room when I got up I saw this pile of wrapped presents. I started to get upset when I saw they had gotten out wrapping paper, tape and scissors without asking, but then I noticed the little hand written cards saying "To Mommy and Daddy." My heart melted as I realized they had wrapped up some of their own possessions as Christmas gifts for us!

The beginning of a six-year-old's autobiography
I found this laying on Daphne's bedroom floor this afternoon. Its a book Grace started to write titled, "Wen I was a Little Girl by Grace Harriet Lewis."

The pine cone and rocks I pulled out of Grace's jeans pocket as I did a load of laundry this evening.

Happy Faces
I just love these smiles!

I cooked my very first Thanksgiving feast...

It actually wasn't as much work as I thought it would be...but I did keep it pretty simple. The best part: I won't have to cook dinner for days!

update: Grace now knows that the turkey we eat comes from the cute gobbley bird. She took it well.

The Truth About Turkeys

The other day Grace informed me that there are two kinds of turkey: the animal, and the kind that you eat at Thanksgiving. Apparently she has no idea we are actually eating an animal when we partake in the delicious meat. I definately didn't have the the heart to break the news to her, so I replied, "Did you know there is also a country named Turkey?" She was fascinated. Someday I'll tell her, but not today.

Halloween

I always get a kick out of what kids choose to be for Halloween. I remember putting so much thought into what I wanted to dress up like as a kid. One night to transform into another character...what a thrill!
Grace wanted to dress up as Pippi Longstocking. She's been a big Pippi fan since we read the book together this summer. She thinks Pippi Longstocking and Junie B. Jones (another book character) are the "silliest girls!" They really make her laugh. Eve's choice was a little surprising...she wanted to be a chicken. I was almost certain she would choose to dress up as a princess, but she stayed consistent with her desire to wear the chicken suit from our dress-up box (Grace wore it on Halloween when she was two, so it was a bit snug on four-year-old Eve!) Daphne had no choice, nor was she even really aware that she dressed up as anything! She wore a red chili pepper costume for these pictures and then I spared her the rest of the night!

Happy Birthday Eve

I'm crazy about this girl! She and I have really bonded these past few months as we've had a lot of one-on-one time together. She has such a dynamic personality. Most know her as a shy little girl of few words who sucks her thumb when she gets nervous, but I know a completely different Eve...full of energy, always singing (oh, with such passion!), completely expressive, opinionated, hilarious (she can make me laugh when I don't feel like laughing!) I am grateful that I get to be one of the few that she trusts enough to be completely herself with. Eve is truly a gift and I am grateful to be her mom! When I look at her and I just feel happier!

I love this...

Daphne

We are so thrilled our little Daphne is here! We weren't expecting her until earlier this week, but about two weeks ago, while lying in bed, my water broke and I knew she was on her way! She actually came three weeks before her due date...I'm sure she was just anxious to meet us, as we all were to meet her!

Even though I didn't think I was ready at the time, now I am so happy she came when she did! I am recovering well, baby is healthy, and we all seem to be making the adjustment (although we have a long way to go!) My mom has been here helping us, and we are so grateful to her and so many others who have helped in various ways. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

Our new family!

The girls are so fascinated by her.

I think she looks like Aaron!

Grace would hold her all day if she could.

Eve is constantly kissing her new baby sister (seriously...constantly!)

Grace, reading a book to Daphne.

Hanging out with Dad.

Grandparents' Weekend

Earlier this month we had the fun opportunity to have my parents come visit. They stopped to see us on their way to Fresno for two special events for my nephews: Chandler's Baptism and Hayes' Blessing. My mom and Dad stayed with us two nights before we all headed down to Fresno on Saturday to see Jason and Becky's family for the baptism and baby blessing. It worked out perfect because that Friday just so happened to be "Grandparents' Day" at Grace's school. Grace was thrilled to have her out-of-town Grandma and Grandpa at school with her for the occasion. I'm sure she felt like that's precisely what they came to town for! We all had a wonderful visit with them while they were here...we only wish they could have stayed longer!

Grace in her classroom, working on a project with Grandma and Grandpa.

Grace and Eve jumping on the trampoline with Grandma. She was actually on there a while with them ( I kept hearing them all laughing as they would all fall down together!)

Our family with Jason and Becky's family on the boys' special day

Projects

I've been working on some projects for the baby's room lately:

I actually painted this tree on the wall about a year ago when the room was still Eve's. I copied the idea from a "Land of Nod" catalog.

This is a more recent paint job on a different wall. I got this idea from Family Fun magazine a couple of years ago (I ripped out the page and I've been saving it for a while!) The four knobs on the clothesline are for hanging things on.

This bird mobile is my favorite...I love how it turned out! I got the idea here.

As you can see I have a bird thing going on right now! And you can also tell that I like to copy ideas from the wonderful sources that I find! My next project is the baby's quilt and then I should be done "nesting" (no pun intended!) Here's what the fabric for the quilt looks like:

Grace's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Grace's birthday today with a fun-filled party. She got to splash in the pool with a few of her friends, play in our newly completed backyard, and blow out six candles on her tropical themed cake! It was her first real "friend party" (we have let her invite one or two in the past, but this time she got to invite six of her closest buddies.) It was also special to have part of Aaron's family there to join in...they are always such a big help! Happy birthday my sweet Grace...I can't believe how big you are getting!

I spent a lot of time on this cake, but seeing the final result...it was all worth it! click on this picture for a full appreciation!

A few fun details!

This little guy ripped the hula dancer's leg off on his first swing!

Trampoline fun (We are so excited to finally have our yard completed!)

Grace's surprise present was a tether-ball court (Aaron arranged this one after observing Grace's recent fascination with the "sport.") She was thrilled to have her very own (She can't play with the one at recess, because "it always has big boys playing it!")

First Day of Preschool

This one was hard for me. My little Eve started preschool today. Yes, it is only until noon, and yes, it is only two days a week...but I just wasn't quite ready for this step. Doesn't she just look so little?

She wasn't overly excited this morning and was rather quiet about the whole thing, but at least there were no tears and she even had a little smile on her face as I waved good-bye. It helped that I situated her right in front of the class's bookshelf before I left. Books are her comfort and I could she that they were helping her cope in this new situation...she had already started flipping through a story as I left. It also comforted me to see that another little girl had come over to the pillow Eve was on and sat right next to her. It was very sweet!

My life is changing...my oldest daughter turns six today, my baby started "school," and I'll have a brand new child in just two months. It's all very exciting, but I can't help but think that a chapter is ending and a new phase is beginning.

Celebrating Thirty Years

So I mentioned in an earlier post that I would report on my "girls weekend" ...it was so much fun! Five of my fabulous friends from high school (and/or childhood) met in beautiful San Diego to celebrate the fact that we all turned 30 this year! We came from a total of three states, and stayed with Charlotte (the hostess with the mostess) and her husband Brady in their new home.

We did so many fun things, got very little sleep, and ate really well! I am so grateful for these ladies, and that I have had such amazing friends throughout my life! It makes me so happy that we have evolved from little girls, to high-schoolers, to mothers, doctors, and furniture designers! And through it all we can still call each other friends and have a blast together!

While Charlotte went to work on Thursday, Chelsea, Julyssa, and I spent our first day at the Maritime Museum where we got to explore several really cool historic ships right there in the Bay. We also had fun eating lunch and looking at shops in Seaport Village. Judy met us later that afternoon, and Nikki came in that night.

Dinner that night at Phil's BBQ (apparently it's famous in S.D. and so popular that they have a line outside with wait times posted on signs like at Disneyland!)

Breakfast the next morning at another San Diego hot-spot (Did I mention we ate really well?!)

On our hike at Torrey Pines (a trail overlooking the ocean...beautiful!)

Judy, Charlotte, Nikki, Julyssa, Maren, Chelsea
Since both Julyssa and Judy are fabulous photographers we had a fun photo shoot by the firehouse museum downtown in our matching t-shirts!

Another table shot...this time at a splendid find in Little Italy (downtown.)

We ended the evening with some karaoke back at Char's place. It got late and we all got a little loopy!

Thank you to Charlotte and Brady for letting us all stay in your home; thank you Judy for shuttling us all around in your classy van; thank you Chelsea and Julyssa for flying in from out of state; thank you Nikki for sleeping on the floor so my pregnant body could have the couch; thank you to my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law for helping watch the girls while I was gone; and thank you to my dear husband Aaron for taking care of the kids' needs and driving all the way to Southern California with them to meet me. I love you all! Wow...I feel like I just gave my acceptance speech for an Oscar!