A Crazy Fun 3rd Birthday Party

This past Saturday we had a crazy fun party for Norah's 3rd birthday. There were games with fabulous prizes, water fun in the pool and on the slip 'n slide, a dramatic downpour of rain in the midst of our delicious picnic, the best Dora cake ever made (in my opinion), and more presents than Norah could ask for! What really made it fun were all the friends and family that came to celebrate with us. We love you all!!! 

Once again, this is all thanks to our family... On Friday, Grandma Renee & Nona insisted on coming over to scrub our house to a shimmering sparkle while I made the cake. I think they wanted us to be proud to show off our new house to everyone, but knew we were short on time :) If that wasn't enough, Grandma Renee potted some flowers for us and brought over every last table and chair she had. Colin's sister Tegan put together some really fun games that the kids absolutely LOVED! She had picked out the best prizes too: fairy wings, sequined purses, tool sets, Dora markers, and on and on and on. She even found a Dora pinata where you pull ribbons to break it open instead of swinging a bat (because a 3 year old + a bat = ouch!). Tegan - You rock! Oh, and let's not forget the food. my in-laws made almost all of the food. 

They all worked so very hard so that Norah could have the Dora party of her little dreams. I know what you're thinking - how can we make our family work so hard!? We actually tried to calm them down and tell them to relax, but they are stubborn and insisted on doing all of this for us. Aren't we lucky!? They allowed this working mom to be able to take a day off and spend the whole thing going overboard on her daughter's cake :)

To our wonderful family: Thank you from the bottom of our hearts ~ xoxo



My little man taking part in some water fun















A Dora Cake Walk! So much fun!!










The kids got to fish for some pretty cool prizes :)






The ribbon pinata - I didn't even know that kind of pinata existed!






The dads stealing all the candy!! 




Finally, the coolest Dora cake ever!!!  It only took me all day to make this cake :)

Love ~ Renee

My Baby Can't be Three!

This morning Norah ran into school proudly declaring "It's my birthday today! I am FOUR!!". The entire week I have been correcting her in that no, you are in fact only 3. This is the only context in which I would say the word "only" in front of the word "three". She had told so many people that she was turning 4 this week that I started to believe it myself!

Robin, the owner of our daycare, hit the nail on the head... she said "The first birthday is totally cool, and then when the second birthday rolls around you can maybe see how that happened, but the third birthday really gets you!" She is so right. One was exciting and we counted down the days till her birthday. Two was a little out of the blue, but it was understandable how that came as quick as it did. Three is more like whoa.... hold on a minute! You just turned two, you cannot be three already! Then I start to realize that she will be five in the blink of an eye, and then comes the pre-teen years! I better buckle myself in for the ride.

She started her day off by dressing herself in her most favorite outfit and eating a mini cupcake for breakfast :) She brought the rest of the cupcakes to school for a birthday treat where her teachers made her a birthday crown and all the kids sang happy birthday to her! I wish I could have been there to see it... she must have been in heaven.

We picked her up early, right after nap time, and asked her what she wanted to do. We told her "Norah, we can go anywhere and do anything you want to do right now... what's it going to be?" her immediate response was "The Library!". We laughed and asked her if she is sure that is what she wanted to do, and she changed her mind to the pool at the neighborhood park. So we went home to change and open the presents from Mom & Dad. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool and had a blast!

We picked up Clark from school after the pool and went to the Malt Shop for a dinner of Mac & Cheese, complete with a hot fudge birthday sundae. Clark was surprisingly happy the entire time, but this was only because of the baby girl sitting at the table next to us that he was flirting with! They were smiling, waving and giggling at each other the whole time. It was one of the cutest things we've ever seen. Watch out girls!!!

Love ~ Renee

Here comes trouble... and some of This & That

My sweet baby boy has turned to mischief much too early...

Wishing I would have had my other lens on so these wouldn't be so dark & grainy :(


I had 10 "set me down and I will stay put" months with Norah, but this little guy was only willing to put up with that for 8 short months.   





Just in the past few weeks he's begun crawling, pulling up on everything he shouldn't be, attempting to cruise, clapping, semi-waving and he even sprouted a tiny tooth!








In other happenings, his big sister Norah has got mom & dad busting a gut lately. The other night Nona had brought over a delicious Greek dinner of spanakopita (spinach pies) and a barley salad. Norah sat down and looked over her plate, searching for something she likes...


Norah (with a slanted brow and a look of disgust): "This is poop!"
Me: "It is spinach honey, it's not poop. It's delicious! Try it and you might like it."
Norah (waving her hand over the entire plate): "This is alllll poop." 
Colin: "Norah, do you really think we would serve you poop? We would never do that."
Norah: "Yes. Yes you would."


We couldn't help it, we both broke out into laughter as Norah continued to sit there seriously disappointed in her dinner and Clark stuffed his face with Mum-mums. 


This girl is growing up way too fast. We went on her very first field trip to the Zoo last week! It is so fun to hang out with her in her own setting. I usually only get to daydream about what she is like at preschool. Is she shy? Is she happy? Is she a trouble maker or a teacher's pet? Turns out she is a fun little cuddle-bug, with a touch of bossy :) Isaac was Norah's partner at the Zoo and at times he would have to fend off her forceful hand-holding, head-patting and belly nuzzles. As if she was talking to a puppy - head tilted with a tiny sweet voice - she would say "Come on Isaac. Hold my hand and come with my Mom now. Come on!"   

On the bus!

Picnic lunch with one of our favorite teachers Allie!

All the preschoolers running around and screaming like crazy!

Now on to planning her 3rd birthday party... THREE!! I cannot believe she is three. 

Love ~ Renee

Where we belong...

Our "new" house is 86 years old. The backyard has a lovely garden of weeds and the bushes out front are overgrown. There's not much closet space. The bedroom doors don't quite shut all the way, and the floors creek ever so loudly charmingly. The kitchen windows need to be replaced and counter space is lacking. The chimney is in dire need of repair and the deck is on it's last legs. There is no central air and it's equipped with it's original asbestos wrapped boiler. We are in loooove.

I love that I am surrounded by beautiful windows. I'm in love with the sound of rustling leaves from the old boulevard trees canopying over our street. I adore the gorgeous staircase in the center of everything, and the light that beams into the house at sunset makes my heart go a flutter. The neighbors are so very neighborly, going out of their way to greet us and make us feel at home. There are block parties and bike parades, an ice cream shop, a deli, a bookstore with free-roaming chickens and a friendly cat, and even a trolley! And then there's Norah and Clark's new school... well, I just want to be best friends with everyone there :)

I was afraid that Norah would have a hard time with the move. That she would be scared to sleep in a new room and ask when we would be going home. I thought that she would hate being the new girl at a new school and that we'd have heartbreaking drop-offs every morning for a while. I thought there would be weeks of amplified whining and the need for time-outs. I thought wrong. Instead she has slept in her own room better than she ever has! She never asks about the old house unless it's to make sure we won't be going back there (it wasn't that bad!). She's excited to go to school every morning and we hear from her teachers that she is quite the chatter-bug and loves to check on her little brother. Often. :) 

This house is our miracle on 41st street. We have been wanting to move for long time, but couldn't sell our town home, so we spent that time saving up for a down payment. The house had been on the market for a year, and just when we discovered we probably had enough saved up to start looking, it came down into our price range. We looked at a few other houses before this one (besides the hundreds I had checked out over the last few years!); one was too small, one didn't have the bedrooms all on one floor, and the other was not in the right neighborhood. We went to see this one on a Friday afternoon... and bought it on Sunday! We weren't planning on buying so quickly, but when we were told there were two other offers that were coming in after the open house we knew we couldn't stand to lose it! We were more nervous than we had ever been, but everything was falling into place so perfectly that I choose to think someone up above was just giving us a little push. 

Oh, and to seal the deal that I was indeed correct about this being fate, we were handed a set of blueprints that the previous owner had drawn up for an expansion. You see, this house is small and when we first saw it we talked about what we would eventually want to do with it. How we would want to expand it and what it would look like. Just dreams, like this house had been... a dream. Turns out the previous owner had the exact same thoughts and handed them to us all drawn out and ready to go, as if we were being told our dreams really can come true and that yes, this house really was waiting just for us.

Love ~ Renee
 

Happy 4th of July!

Today we had the most 4th of July fun we've ever had. We went to our very first ever block party and it was a blast! It started off with all the kids decorating their bikes and having a bike race "parade" around the block a few times. Norah did great considering she is the youngest one of the bunch and has never ridden her bike that far before. There were bomb pops and hot dogs, a line to ride on the tree swing and a "who needs to keep their kids up late and risk them being scared when we have this!" fireworks show. Our new neighbors are pretty awesome... I think we picked a good block ; )

Love ~ Renee

The very first "First day of school"

So my sweet little baby girl is no longer a baby, but sometimes I can't help but see her chubby little "just starting to walk" face when I look at her. She looks exactly the same and completely different all at once. She's been growing and changing right before our eyes, but sometimes my eyes refuse to see just how much she's really grown until I see her in a new setting. I realized this the moment she walked into the hospital room to meet her baby brother for the very first time. All of a sudden my baby was gone, and she had been replaced with this little girl whose heart was overflowing with love. I knew there were going to be many more bittersweet moments like this, and her first day of preschool was one of them...





She was so excited to wear her backpack (which was filled with her "Dolly" (a dog), a beach towel, swimsuit and sunscreen) and to bring a lunch in her new lunch box! Of course daddy and I had to add some little notes and a photo along with her favorite chocolate raisins :) Surprisingly there were no tears at drop off as she was sitting at the big girls table waiting to be served breakfast.

After work, Daddy and I went together to pick her and Clarky up, and the smiles on everyone's faces (the teachers included!) told us that they had a fantastic first day. In fact, Norah asked if she could come back tomorrow! Really... who could resist a cheesey toast breakfast followed by a picnic at the neighborhood park, a "game" of soccer, a nice nap with your favorite doggy dolly and more time spent playing outside on all those fun toys. She proudly let us know that she had checked on her little brother many times that day (every time she walked past his room for a bathroom break).




After school we walked to a nearby restaurant to have dinner where Norah showed us just how much she likes her new school :) 





She entertained her brother.  





And ate Mac & Cheese with the minimum amount of broccoli required to stop for ice cream afterwards.  





After dinner Daddy carried them both to the ice cream shop across the street and they got their fill of kisses.  

Delicious... Raspberry chocolate chip; Such a grown up flavor!

Then we walked home in the summer sun... my most favorite thing about our new neighborhood! We can walk anywhere.

When we got home and unpacked their bags we discovered a lunch box filled with lots of leftovers... except the chocolate raisins were missing! :)

Love ~ Renee