Happy Birthday Maia!

Today Mo turns the big 3! You've all heard me wax poetic about time flying with my post on Sophia's birthday, so instead I'll share a story about why I love Maia (besides the fact that she is my daughter!). Yesterday we went to the doctor for her birthday checkup. It was just the two of us, thanks to my dear friend Inna who took the other two and stuck it out with a screaming Celia for the whole time. Thanks Inna! Maia was talking the whole way to the doctors about how she is a rainbow fairy and can shoot rainbows out of her hands. She continues to do this while I am getting her out of the car, keeping her hands in fists and together so the rainbows won't escape. It looked like I was leading her into the office in handcuffs. As I am checking in, she stands on a bench talking to a woman and her teenage daughter about the rainbow talent she posses, how she is on a stage and can dance up there if she wants, what kind of birthday cake she was going to make, her sister Sophia not being there, and how Celia had a fever (fee-fwa) the night before. Those ladies were laughing so hard. I sat down with her to wait, and the girl announces at the top of her voice "You know, I'm going to have to be going to the bathroom now so I won't poop and pee my pants!" This is Maia at her best. She has no filter, and everything she says is hilarious. She keeps me, and everyone else, on their toes at all times. I'm so grateful to have her in my life. She doesn't know it, but she really is a rainbow fairy, just one of the heart kind.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is a special message from Sophia to everyone for Valentine's day. I've been working on getting a video of Celia walking, but she has thus eluded me every time I grab the camera! I am hoping this weekend she will be distracted by her daddy and let me catch her. As soon as I have it, I'll post it. Enjoy your Valentine's day!

Party!

Here are some cute shots from the girls party today. Most of the girls came dressed as fairies. They got play makeup, and immediantly did each other's makeup, and as you can tell, they were unsure of where the eyeshadow went. It was funny to see how they all had painted eyebrows! I still can't get the makeup all the way off. There seems to be a pink hue that won't quite wash off. Thanks to everyone who came, both for your fabulous company, for being a wonderful part of our and our children's lives, and the cool gifts you gave! As a sidenote, I didn't think this party was actually going to happen as of last night. You see, in all my enthusiasm to make our house cute and party-rific, I was hanging crepe streamers while standing on a rickity, old kids table, which broke and I fell flat and hit my head, saw stars, and blacked out for a few seconds. I'm pretty sure I had a mild concussion, given that I was nausous, couldn't look at the light for hours, was dizzy, and taking longer than normal to register what anyone was saying. We kept debating if I should go to the hospital, but we had the party to get ready for, and I didn't think the doctors were going to be able to do anything anyway. Today I am much better, but I have a HUGE black bruise on my butt, and it feels like someone kicked me inbetween my shoulders. All in all, we're hugely grateful Maia was standing a bit off to the side when this happened, because she would have been really hurt, either by myself falling or the table breaking. She was freaked out, and has been telling me today to "rember to be careful!" That was scary enough, but add to that the fact the Celia has now mastered climbing about 4 steps up, and falling backwards. She's fallen twice on her head since yesterday, so we are in head injury mode. I'm buying a gate tonight or tomorrow. I'm sure she got her danger-prone tendicies from her father....

Messy Food Pictures

Maia helped bake cupcakes for Sophia, and Celia was eating her absolute favorite, pasta. Messy messy messy....

Happy Birthday!

Today is Sophia's fifth birthday. Every year I marvel at what it took to get her here, how wonderful and horribly hard it is to be a parent, and amazement at what an amazing person she is becoming. I now have a few more short months before I lose her forever to the world, first through school, and then on from there. I am so appreciative that I have had the opportunity to stay at home with her and the other girls, to see every step, every first. There are so many more firsts to come, and I will be there for all of those as well. It's so hard to imagine that 5 year ago I endured a brutal 24 hour labor, and a horrible amount of damage down there (keeping it clean since my grandparents read this too!). It seems so quick, yet incomprehensible to imagine life without her, and the lovely girls that followed. So in celebration, here is a quick snapshot of her then, and now.

First Steps

In addition to all the snow-related chaos, we have some wonderful new chaos emerging inside as well! Celia is starting to take her first steps. She'll do it if she thinks no one is watching, which is hilarious. I really think sometimes that she is like Stewie from The Family Guy, and secretly doing all these crazy things behind my back, and this baby thing is just a front. Either way, she is starting to walk if you trick her into believing that she is being helped, and she is also just standing up from the floor in the middle of the room. Soon enough she is going to be running just like the other girls. Crazy how fast is comes!

We did it!

Today we had our first successful sled! My dear friend went out and tested it, and discovered that the snow was perfect, so we loaded everyone up and went out. It was the most perfect day to sled. Instead of 15 degrees and powdery snow, it's 42 degrees, and the snow is hard packed and super slick. The girls went shooting down the hill pretty fast. Sophia loved it, and Maia was eh about the whole thing. I think the fact that she kept flipping over onto her face was part of the problem! Anyway, we had a great time, and now the trauma of the last attempt has been made void. Yeah for sledding!