Dancer Girl

My darling Laura started dance class yesterday. She has been looking forward to it for weeks and woke up just squealing with excitement about dance class. It was a wonderful morning of preparation. I fixed her tap shoes with elastic so she could pull them on by herself. Then we practiced the important things of putting on her ballet and tap shoes as well as learning how to go to the bathroom while wearing a leotard. We did her hair and packed her bag and Laura just jumped in excitement. All the shopping (pink bag, tap and ballet shoes, leotard and tights) for dance class was done more than a week ago and that was also very exciting.

Seeing her this way got me totally nostalgic and emotional. First of all, I can't believe I have a child old enough to be taking classes like this; it seems like it was just the other day that I was the one in the leotard heading off to dance. Second, she was so stinking cute it about killed me. Third, it reminds me how much I love dance and something in my soul misses that (though, you couldn't pay me enough to get me in a leotard right now). Finally, to drop her off and see her independence (exactly what I want for her, but difficult nonetheless) as she ran into class, chatted with her teacher--"Hi, my name is Laura, L-A-U-R-A, and my favorite color is pink"--and then said "See ya, Mom" and waved me off, just made me think of her as a little tiny thing in my arms and how short that time really is.

I think she really enjoyed the class and will be bummed when fall starts and it changes from camp format (2.5 hours with tap, ballet, creative, crafts and snacks) to just a short class. Well, we'll both enjoy the long time while it lasts for these three weeks.

Stretch

Darling Sara still loves to stretch. I think that is part of the reason she has gotten so long. Yes, she has definitely gotten fatter (don't you just love those chipmunk cheeks?!), but the most growth has occurred in her length. Look how much bigger she is in this picture with her sister. (Laura picked out the outfits for both girls that day and did a great job.)
She still fits in her 0-3 month onesies. Alas, she has grown out of all her sleepers and pant sets in that size because her legs are too long. Therefore, she must wear separates, capris or shorts. Sound like anyone else you know?
Check out this video of her stretching. (It's a little long, but video editing software is currently in storage.)

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Super Shopper

So, I realized how much of a mom I am when my major shopping excitements did not come from a great pair of jeans or shoes. It came from a twin stroller and kitchen info.

Now that we have two little ones and a penchant for amusement parks, we decided that a double stroller was in order. We tried them all out at Babies R Us and ranked our three favorites (from most to least) as 1-Peg-Perego, 2-Maclaren and 3-Combi. Unfortunately, that also ranked them in order from the most expensive to the least. Then we went to the internet to price them out. And guess what we got?? We got our favorite for the same price that we found the #3 on our list and less than the #2 choice. Laura was thrilled when it came and had to pose with the big box.
It arrived on Monday and we have been on a walk with it every night since. We are thrilled with how light it is, how safe it is, the comfort height handles (they are tall enough even for Jason to push comfortably), and how easy it is to maneuver. It really seems to calm Sara during her fussy hour, so I think it will get even more use than we anticipated. Now that I am feeling so much better after the C-Section, I'll have to give it a true trial and check out the new IKEA in our area.
The other shopping excitement comes courtesy of Andrea. (Thank you oodles, sugar!) She let me know that the current issue of Consumer Reports is all about kitchens. And this comes right at the time that we are selecting all the kitchen things for our new home. Needless to say, it will be our shopping guide for the next few weeks.

Today's Post Brought to You By...

the letter "F". Can you tell we watch Sesame Street every day? However, many of this week's activities begin with the letter "F".

Fireworks
We started a new tradition with my parents to go see the fireworks put on by our local city. We found a great place to watch them. The spot was so good that we could even hear the concert (very clearly, I might add) that preceeded the fireworks. This was great because it included some of our favorite local bands: Peter Breinholt and Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband. Laura and Jason danced to the music as Jason and I sang along.
Laura loved being able to stay up late to watch the fireworks. We had to awaken her from Daddy's lap to watch the fireworks. Then she was really awake. She loved the discussion about which fireworks were her favorites: the pink ones and the waterfall ones. She fell asleep 3 minutes after we were in the car, but has played "fireworks" now for days. The display was remarkably good and lasted a full half hour. It was grand fun!
We are excited to get to do this tradition again next year. Though, the next time we will bring lighter chairs and Sara probably won't sleep through the whole thing in her car seat.

Friends
Laura made a new friend in our new ward: Dade. He is just her age and is the son of an old college acquaintance of mine, Brittany who I am looking forward to becoming better friends with now. She loved riding in his car when we were over looking at the progress on the house. She even drove and was a totally scary driver.

Full Fat Face
One of my favorite looks that Sara has these days is her Triple F: the Full Fat Face. This is the face of "stuffed" that she gets after eating. It is so darling.

Female Friends
I got to spend some good time with my female friends this week as well. Alas, I did not take any pictures of these events. We had the semi-monthly girls night with the ladies from the old neighborhood. It was wonderful to catch up with some that I don't talk with as regularly.

I also attended Book Group for my new Relief Society. I met some neat women there (including Brittany) and hope to get to know them better as time goes on.

Finally, I am going to dinner tonight with some of my favorite female friends: the Andrea's. I love these ladies! Here is a picture of us going to dinner with Karyn (who unfortunately is out of town tonight) last month.

Flowers
Laura presented me with the most amazing drawing that she did all by herself. Isn't this picture of the flower to Mom from Laura just adorable?!
Also, Laura was VERY excited for the darling flower hair clips sent to her and Sara as a baby gift by my talented friends, Steph. She made sure that both she and Sara wore them yesterday and talked to Sara all about them. Aren't they darling?!

Excellent Entrepreneur

I have to take a moment and brag about my big brother, Dave. He recently received the huge honor of being named as one of Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists for the Pacific Northwest division. He not only was nominated for this honor, but after an involved interview process, a board selected him from among hundreds of other nominees as a finalist. Way to go, Dave! It is not often that we adults get honored, so I had to share this great news. (Thanks for letting me embarass you, big brother!) Here is a picture of him at the awards gala with his wife Melody.
The following two pictures are write ups on him from the gala program and a newspaper article respectively. Click on them to read about Dave's accomplishments.

Raisin' the Roof

The house is really starting to come up...literally. This week we got all of the trusses on and have a roof. It turned out remarkably high due to our steep pitch.

Having the roof on really helps us feel the true space. Here are the girls in the "small" kitchen (ok...it's wonderfully huge!).

Laura's favorite addition seems to be the stairs to the basement and her room. Check out all of those trusses.

And here's a picture of Sara in her room.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

We got to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday afternoon at a "sneak preview" thanks to our friend Andrea. We didn't have to wait in any lines or show up early. We had reserved seats and it was fabulous! Thanks again.

This is, by far, the best Harry Potter movie to date. They stayed as true to the book as they could (they had to cut a lot out to fit it into a 2 hr. 20 min. run time) and told the story very well. The special effects were amazing and the best to date. The "wizarding duels" are truly quite amazing. It is intense at points, so I'm really glad we left Laura with Grandma Linda (thanks again, mom!).

All the usual characters play their parts exceptionally well as always, but they did a great job casting new characters as well. I thought Helena Bonham Carter did an amazing job playing Bellatrix Lestrange and Evanna Lynch portrays Luna Lovegood exactly as I had imagined her.

I can't wait to see it again!

Current Sara Pictures

Okay, so this post is a lame one content-wise. It's basically a scrapbook page for my non-crafty self because Sara changes so quickly. (Since this blog is my journal and scrapbook, I suppose it's entitled to a lame post now and then.) Her changes are most evident in these first pictures. My darling friend Steph gave me the idea to take a picture of Sara with the same toy each month to show how much she's grown. Here is Sara at one week and then just a few days ago at one month.

Jason and I are each enjoying Sara so much right now. It's nice when these little ones get a bit stouter. Here is Jason multi-tasking while preparing for the next Harry Potter movie and book, while getting in some yummy snuggles. And here I am playing with my girl who is awake and alert (much more fun than asleep because she is such a content kiddo) so much more now.

Finally, here are two cute pictures of Sara. In the first she is wearing her "cosmonaut" sleeper, which she has almost grown out of. I am quite impressed that as a preemie, she is already growing out of some 0-3 month clothes. Nice work, Sara! And the second caught a very rare moment of her being awake and content in her car seat. She still really hates to be confined in any manner, so the car seat is always a traumatic experience...you can see a bit of that worry on her face, but remarkably, she is not screaming.

Summertime Fun

This past week has included lots of fun summer activities. It continues to reach 100 degrees here, so Laura has spent a lot of time playing in the sprinkler. She tells me it is a lot more fun playing in them with a friend. Here she is with one of her favorite friends, her cousin Kiki.
Our Independence Day celebrations were pretty meager this year due to Sara's and my extreme sensitivity to heat. However, we did do a couple of fun things that day. We got Sara's 1-month pictures taken in her blessing dress. We made a brief appearance at Jason's family picnic. Though, I think Laura's favorite part was the fireworks we lit that night...or maybe it was just getting to stay up late. Being that she is a typical kid, the sparklers and snaps were her very favorite.

Laura has also been a wonderful helper to Mamaw and Papa as they have been making their yard into a beautiful "Secret Garden". She loves to help Papa haul things in the red wagon and she helped put the rock garden to sleep. Here are some pictures of my darling girl in their new yard.

Due Date

Sara is due today and I am so glad she has spent the last 4 weeks out of my body rather than inside. She is super healthy and growing beautifully. We know she is at least an inch longer than when she was born and from our guesses with the home scale, we think she weighs about a pound more than her birth weight. Her cheeks are getting big and she has grown adorable rolls on her thighs. She is also getting a lot stronger. Here is a picture I took of her today thinking about how much she has grown.

I am also glad at how much better I am feeling having her out. It is wonderful to be hydrated again. I love being able to eat pretty much anything I want (except chocolate which bothers Sara) at any time. I also love being back to a normal weight and starting to wear normal clothes. Ahh, I am so glad to have had my darling baby in my arms for the last 4 weeks instead of in my belly...I think the rest of the family is glad of this too.

If Walls Could Talk

Yay! We have walls going up at the new house. It feels like we are going to really have a house someday now that we can see rooms, walls, stairs, etc.

We should have trusses next Monday. Once those come, the framing should be completed in just a few more days. But, even now, it is super exciting to see the house coming up.

Weekend Out

After spending tons of time in the house, we actually got out quite a bit this weekend. I am feeling much better (I think due to a round of antibiotics) and so we decided to capitalize on that fact.

Andrea and Mike invited us over for a BBQ on Friday. The bigger kids had a great time playing together, we adults had a marvelous time chatting and catching up, and Mike sure enjoyed holding Sara.

Saturday I think we were overly ambitious. We went to the cabin. I didn't fare so well in the heat. Laura sure had a great time though. Here are some pics of the fun she had while there.