Friend Birthday Party

For a year, Laura has been looking forward to having a princess party with her friends for her birthday. With the new baby and blessing looming on the horizon, the party was not up to my usual over-the-top standards, but we had a great time.
The girls were asked to come dressed like a princess. And, first off while they were arriving, we did princess hairdos - spray glitter and crowns from Zurchers. Then they moved on to making their own princess mirror - mirrors purchased from the dollar store and decorated with crystal stickers and glitter glue.

(Top Row L to R: Kaitlyn, Laura, Saige, Lily, Kelly. Bottom Row: Ashlyn, Emeline, Becca. Not Pictured: Emma and Sara)

Then we did the game "Kiss the Frog" or our princess version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey". My mom drew the awesome frog, the lips were clipart and we awarded each girl who got lips on the posterboard with a chocolate kiss. Then we also played a non-winner version of hot potato with a glass slipper.

Following the games we had our light dinner of star sandwiches (PB&J cut into a star) strawberries, grapes and princess punch. Afterwards we did cake and ice cream. Yay Maceys for doing such an awesome princess cake. Laura just glowed when all her friends sang "Happy Birthday" to her; check out that genuine and huge grin!

Laura opened her presents and then we did princess dancing. That was probably the highlight of the party. The girls had all warmed up by then and the giggling and smiles were immense. Then, a princess story was read by me and my mom while the moms were arriving to pick up the little girls. They were sent home with their mirror, crown and a goody bag of a ring pop, necklace, wand and some more kisses.

Laura thoroughly enjoyed her princess party. It was also extra special for her to bond with some of her classmates and has helped her in school. The party turned out well, and the fun and results for Laura were definitely worth the effort! Thank you to Jason and Mom who enabled everything to run smoothly by holding the baby and jumping in where needed! Love you!

Laura's Birthday - Family

Laura celebrated most of her birthday on Saturday because Conference Sunday does not lend to a fun birthday. After Breakfast With a Witch, we had to do a few errands and then watched the afternoon session of conference. Then my parents came over for Laura's birthday dinner. She requested Salmon, squash, noodles and pumpkin spice cake. She's a cool kid! (And with my parents there, we got some great pictures of the family and girls.)

She then opened my parent's presents (bathrobe, Tinkerbell towel and snow globe - her new collection - and "Now We are Six") and we sang to her and did the cake.

Laura decided she wanted to spread out her birthday, so she opened the presents from us (dressups, books, and Barbie and the Three Musketeers) and her other Grandparents (Webkin and Princess Book) on her actual day between Conference sessions. It was a great time and she felt thoroughly spoiled!

Eliza at Two Months

There's not a ton to write about with Eliza at two months. She continues to be a wonderful baby. She is super easy-going even with all the attention from her sisters. She sleeps beautifully and eats super well. She is getting more and more alert and smiles regularly - even though I can't seem to catch one of them with the camera.

Her stats for this month are:

Length: 22.5 inches - 90th percentile

Weight: 10 lbs 4 oz - 75th percentile

Head: 37 cm - 50th percentile (this must be why her cheeks look SO kissable...smaller head and lots of weight)

Here is her comparison picture. I can tell she is growing because the bunny doesn't look so ridiculously huge anymore.

Breakfast With a Witch

On the day before Laura's birthday our little family and my parents attended Breakfast With a Witch at Gardner Village. There were fun witches strolling about. Laura loved the special attention she got for her birthday and checking out the witches amazing costumes. It definitely was not up to par with the character breakfasts we are used to at Disneyland, but for $10 and without the drive, it was a great time. The food was excellent and the atmosphere was fun. Sara was rather wary of the whole experience, but warmed up to it by the end.

We then stayed to experience Wee Witches Weekend. That was a bust. There wasn't a free activity for the kids anywhere (only coloring) and I could've spent a grundle. Instead, I got to be mean mommy and say "no" to everything except face painting for Laura which she LOVED.

Now She is Six

Beautiful Laura is six-years-old today. She is brilliant, fun, empathetic, beautiful and just plain wonderful. I think that to know Laura, is to love her. And, we sure do here in this family.

Turn up the volume so you can hear Laura reading "Now We are Six" by A.A. Milne

We just conducted an interview with Laura, and here are her answers to where she is in her life right now:

Favorite Color: Still "light-light pink"

Best Friend: Lily

Favorite part of school: Free-time

Favorite game: Link

Favorite place to be: Disneyland or Disney World

Favorite movie: Barbie and the Three Musketeers

Favorite book: There's a Bird on Your Head

Favorite food: Salmon

Favorite treat: Hershey's chocolate

Favorite activity: Hold Eliza

Favorite TV show: Imagination Movers

Silly Sara

One of Miss Sara's favorite books is Silly Sally. But, I tend to read the book "Silly Sara." She hates that. She hates ANY nickname for anyone. Do not call her "pumpkin" "goofy" or even "love" or "beautiful." She will immediately respond that "I'm Sara, not nickname" Oh, and you can't call Eliza by a nickname either...she will get quite indignant that Eliza is only named 'Liza.

Another great thing about Sara is the way she says goodbye to someone leaving our house. "Bye Bye. Drive safely. Don't get any bloods."

Did you know that Jesus has a "super magic cape?" According to Sara he does. I tried to explain that what he has on in every painting is a "robe", but Sara insists that it is a "super magic cape." I can't wait until this one comes out in Sunbeams!

Sara is also very good about taking care of Eliza. Normally she is incredibly gentle and affectionate. However, sometimes Sara will get overly enthusiastic and will hug for a long time and cover Eliza's entire face. Eliza will then protest. When I ask Sara to give Eliza some space she tends to respond "Liza crying. I hugging her." Yep, Sara can always make it all better.

One of our favorite games with Sara is the faces game. She will look at me with this expression and ask "Do you like dis face?" We naturally respond "No"

Then she will change her expression to this one and ask "Do you like dis face." To which we respond "Yes" Then we repeat and repeat and repeat.

Oh, and have I mentioned that Sara hates to have her face washed? Absolutely hates it. But, if she gets even the slightest mess on her hands she says "I need a napkin" and will promptly clean her hands.

Sara had Jason and I rolling when on the way home from voting the other day, she confiscated my keys. I was then instructed to "Say please when you want them" Yep, manners are a big deal at our house.

One of Sara's favorite places lately has been the master bathroom. I often find her arranging things in my bathtub or even more often, she is hanging out in the shower. Oh, how we love our Silly Sara and how much she makes us laugh!

Laura Starts First Grade

What?! I thought that Laura just started Kindergarten. Yep, we are still adjusting too. Last Friday I came home to a message from Laura's school principal saying that he would like to "discuss a matter concerning your daughter, Laura." I started freaking out thinking that I have dressed her terribly wrong in her uniforms or something similar. When I called him back he said that they wanted her to skip grades and for us to meet to discuss it.

We met on Tuesday and decided that because of her intellectual skills (reading, math, writing and reasoning) being so high (apparently she is very bored in class) and her social skills being very good (as said by her teacher, not me) and her being old for her grade, that the best thing would be for her to skip into First Grade. So, we've packed her a lunch and won't be picking her up from school until 2:30 pm. It will be a big change for all of us, but I know that Laura will love finally learning things in school.

Eliza at 6 Weeks

Eliza is big enough that I now end the weekly posts and go to monthly ones for her. Wow, that went fast! Perhaps it went so quickly because she continues to be such a joy. She is almost always happy and loves to be chatted with, kissed and just be around people. Oh, and she still sleeps great...only up once a night to eat during a 9 hour stretch. Thank you, Babywise!

Eliza has grown marvelous cheeks and is getting a lot longer. She is also super strong and really starting to hold up her head, turn around, and move her arms and legs.

My only miserable experience with her so far was getting her professional 6 week pictures taken yesterday. She wouldn't wake up and was just miserable...she does not like car rides. I think I will have to try pictures on my own (on a dark background, so you can see her blessing dress) and miss the car ride. I hope I can get better results that way. Wouldn't you agree, that she is not looking her best in these pictures?!

**(Added on 9/16/09) I bought some black fabric at Walmart yesterday and when she was awake and happy today, I tried a few pics on my own. Even with only 10 minutes of effort, I like them much better and I think with some help from my Mom, I'll get some that are wall worthy.