8 weeks

Pumpkin has been on this earth for 8 weeks.  I am not sure if the time is moving fast or slow.

Tonight she got to go to the zoo for what Carolyn calls "the best night at the zoo ever" .... it is a special night for members only when the zoo is open late and where there is face painting, performers, crafts, zookeeper talks, etc.  This year, there was a photo booth.

 

Other random news in our house.... I chopped off 6 inches of my hair.  It was just too hot.   Leo has regained a lot of his strength.  He is still slow and does not have much control of his hind legs, but the pain seems to have subsided (he is going to make it!).  And, we are getting all new floors.  Downstairs is getting done next week, and the upstairs wood will be refinished in August when we are traveling back to Ohio.



Thank you Kate ...

The other night our neighbor, Kate, stopped over with an adorable outfit for Elizabeth and a birthday present for Carolyn.  Carolyn immediately opened the box and began playing with the magnetic 'paper' dolls.  She had a friend over this weekend and made sure that her friend could play with them too.

Thank you, Kate.

Thank you Ella

Last weekend at her birthday party, Carolyn loved all of the presents she received.  This weekend, steve took her to the park to try out the new kite that Ella gave to her.

When they got back from the park, Carolyn wanted to show me the pictures so I could see just how high she flew the kite.  She said it touched the clouds.  Though, it does not look like there were any clouds out that day.  Just hot!

Thank you Kurt, Petrina, and Ella. Great gift!

Thank you Uncle Scott, Aunt Char, Ashley, Hayley, Travis

As I mentioned, Carolyn was not all that impressed with the birthday gift from the Uncle Scott and Aunt Char at first.  It was a gift certificate to go to the Build-a-Bear Workshop.  Howewver, when we went today and she got to redeem her gift certificate for her new friend "Sparkle Star," she decided it was a great gift afterall.  Cute place.

First, you choose your animal.  Carolyn chose a dog.  She also chose to put a sound in it.  She really liked the monkey sound and thought it would be funny if her dog sounded like a monkey, but the "girl talk" soundtrack really got her attention because she liked dancing to it.  So, her dog has some sort of pop music coming from it when you press the paw.

Then, you take your floppy dog to the stuffing machine.  She stepped on the pedal, while the worker helped bring the puppy to life. 

After you give it the Hug Test to make sure it is not too soft or too hard, but just right .... you have to give it a heart.  You pick out which heart you want, then rub it on your head, so the puppy can be smart.  You rub it on your ear, so it will always listen to you.  You hold it close to your heart, so it will always love you.  And, then you hold it tight in your hands and make a special wish.  After that, you stuff the heart deep inside your bear and sew him up. 

Next, you take your bear to the spa so you can give it a bath and brush its hair. 

She even had enough money on her gift certificate to pick out an outfit.  Oh my.  This was a difficult decision.  She ended up with a pink and green mermaid costume. 



Before you leave, you take your bear to the computer and answer some questions about him, such as his name, so they can print out a birth certificate.  The bear is stuffed inside a cardboard dog house to take home.  Welcome home "Sparkle Star" -- the great mermaid dog.

Thank you Uncle Jason, Aunt Heather, Addie, Emerson

Carolyn loves her new tutu and rapunzel dishware.  THANKS.

Addie and Emerson, she put your homemade cards on her bulletin board wall. 

7 weeks old

Sisters.  Carolyn is a pretty thoughtful and kind big sister to elizabeth. 

Though, Carolyn's wish for her birthday was that her sister grow up fast, so she can play with her.

Pedaling

Today, we put on the training wheels and learned how to pedal.  The coaster brakes were throwing her off.  She has a hard time getting started, but is learning a few tricks like pushing off with one foot. 



OOPS - I blogged from my phone, which is really convenient.  I just have to figure out how to flip the photos when I am doing it directly from my phone.

New Rooms

I had meant to post these photos earlier this winter/spring ... but somehow forgot to do so.

Each girl got a new room this winter.  It was a fun project for me because I have not done much work in the house since having kids. 

In preparation of her baby sister's arrival, Carolyn moved into the guest room which was transformed into her big girl room.  I loved doing it and enjoy hearing how much she likes her room.  At least once a week, she tells us that she has the "prettiest room ever."  Whenever someone comes to the house (seriously, anyone, even the flooring guy who came to measure the square footage of the house), she grabs his or her hand and asks if they want to see her room.

By the way, guests, she is willing to give up her bed for you, as long as you agree to take care of her stuffed animals while you are there.

Elizabeth will always be wearing hand-me-downs and reusing toys and gear from Carolyn.  While her room still has all of the same furniture as Carolyn's did, and is still blue, I wanted to update it just for her.  My inspiration was raggedy ann.  I wanted to bring in the stripes and patterns that you see on old rag dolls, so decided to make the focal point of the room a striped wall.    It took some time to plan and tape off the wall, but I love how it turned out.  Her room makes me happy. Good thing, since I am sitting in there a lot feeding and rocking a sweet little girl.

Sweet dreams, little girls!

 

Carolyn turns 4

Happy Birthday Carolyn!

At school, Carolyn was leader of the day.  She got to pick out the books to read during circle time.  She brought in a special snack to share with her friends (frogs on a log and a fruit pizza), and most importantly, she did the "walk around the sun" ceremony:  All of the friends sit in a circle, where they first recite their months while building a sunshine in the middle of the floor. The birthday child then holds a globe and walks around the sun, once for each year of life, while the kids sing "The earth goes around the sun, the sun.  It takes 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days."  Between each year, a parent shows pictures of the child and tells a story about what the child learned during each year of life (Oops!  Wing it!  Nobody explained that part to me beforehand!).  With each revolution, the child turns a year older.   

We let her choose what she wanted for her birthday dinner.  Her choice:  go to Cowboy Grub, her favorite restaurant.  I also let her choose her outfit.  Isn't she fabulous?  Everything she had on was a gift she had received.  She wore a rapunzel nightgown, a silver sparkly skirt, about 5 necklaces, a new headband, spiderman watch, sunglasses ..... Obviously, when you walk into a restaurant looking as she did, especially when most of the patrons at the restaurant are over the age of 80, you get some attention.  She proudly told everyone that it was her birthday, that she was 4 years old.  Despite these repeated announcements, she was floored when the waiters and waitresses came and sang to her. "How could they have known it was my birthday?", she said.

Finally, she got to open up gifts:

Scott and Char gave her a certificate to Build-a-Bear.  We have never been and I tried to explain to her what it is and how much fun it will be, but she was not overly impressed.  She said, "Well, where is the teddy bear?  I only see a plastic card here."   I am sure I will update the blog after we actually go, and I am sure she will have a different reaction about this gift when she actually gets to make her own teddy bear.  Thanks Altmans!

We gave her a pedal bike.  I will also have to update the blog with videos and pictures as we attempt to learn how to ride it. 

Great Granny asked us to pick out something for her, and we chose a Slip and Slide for the backyard.  I will update the blog showing you how much fun she has in the backyard playing in the sprinklers.  Thanks Granny.

Grandma Carol and Grandpa Harry also asked for some assistance in picking out something that she would love.  This girl is easy to please:  if it has sparkles or unicorns or princesses on it, she is in love.  Here are a few pictures of her opening the baby and mama unicorn and the book of "magic horses" which is like paper dolls, but instead of dressing up little girls, you dress up horses and fairies.  Thanks.  I think you will see by the photos below that she loved the gifts!

Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Mike were responsible for many of the pieces that she wore to her birthday dinner.  When she opened up the clothes, she said, "Oh, it is just clothes," but then when the sequin skirt came out, she was more enthusiastic, "Oh, but it is sparkly!"  I do not know if she was more excited about the spiderman watch or the gardening tools.  She put the watch on immediately and asked if she could go outside to work in the garden.  Thanks mom and dad!

RJ brought over gifts too .... a pretty outfit and the jewelry that she wore to her birthday dinner. Before her birthday party, we explained to her that when she opened up gifts, she should say, "Thank you" immediately and then show some sort of enthusiasm like "I love it!"  or "I really wanted one of these."  She did this so perfectly when she opened the gift from RJ. 

4th Birthday Party

When Carolyn turned 4, she invited four friends to her birthday party.  She decided to take them bowling.


The bowling team included Ella, Zoe, Sevilla, Elise, and Carolyn.  The party invitations were hand-delivered with a note asking each girl to please wear their personalized bowling shirt to the party.

The parents were paired into teams and bowled on one lane over.  We had prizes for the adults too, and they were not for the team with the highest score.  They were for style and for the team who best predicted what their score would be.  We had pizza (and beer for the adults).  We ate cake.  The girls ran around like cooks.  Their favorite part of the day was the video game hallway.  None of us gave them quarters.  They just acted like they were driving the car.

I can put together a pretty cute party -- with the shirts and the favors -- but I am not sure why I try to make the homemade cake to match.  Next party, no matter what the theme, will have a store bought cake.

You cannot totally tell from this video, but she was really overwhelmed when we sang happy birthday to her.  When everyone said, "blow out your cabdles" she almost started crying.  It was like she got stage fright. 

Shortly after this, she pulled me aside and asked if she could open up her presents at home instead of in front of everyone.  She changed her mind on this request, when each little girl asked if she would open up her gift before they left.  Ella gave her a kite, which she has been asking for.  Zoe gave her a Rapunzel doll with two changes of clothes.  Sevilla gave her a barbie that goes in the bathtub; her hair changes colors when it gets wet.  Elise gave her a set of ponies.Oh, how she loved the presents!  And, oh how thankful I was that we only invited four little girls because I am not sure I could handle any more barbie or pony stuff in the house.