Nory Loves Her Bike

This girl is crazy about her bike - no surprise there! We went for a fun bike ride on Memorial day and then I tried my hand at iMovie - I'm clearly no expert at this, but it turned into a fun video nonetheless.

And the music version doesn't work on phones, so here is the no-music version too.

Nory Videos (+ Elliott)

Sorry if this is the second time you are seeing this on your reader, the new blogger and I aren't getting along very well.

Anyway, as I was saying before deleting my own post by accident... we've all been down and out with a stomach bug. Dan, Nory, and I got hit Sunday night and Elliott came down with it last night. Now we are in quarantine, mostly better although Elliott just vomited all over me after his nap today. Ugh.

In the meantime here are a couple goofy videos of Nory and one of Elliott causing his mother grief. Cheers.

THREE!

Somebody is...

Three!

Yes it has been three years since this beautiful girl was born, almost on the freeway because she was in such a hurry to join us.

Three years since Dan and I embarked on this crazy amazing miraculous wonderful terrible journey called parenthood.

Three years since our lives changed forever.

Three years since my heart grew two sizes overnight.

Three years since I've wondered whether I could really raise a child... and three years since I discovered that really, we are raising each other. 

This girl makes me laugh *every* *single* *day*.

And she makes me grit my teeth and cringe... most days. 

She pushes all my buttons... but tickles all my funny bones too.

This girl melts my heart with her mile-a-minute conversations. With her constantly evolving make believe world. With the way her small, strong body never stops moving. With the songs she creates and sings and repeats and forgets. With the way she loves food. With the outfits she chooses. With the love she shows her brother. With the way she mimics her parents.

I never knew that I could love someone the way I love my children... and this kid is the one who taught that to me. It's been three years. 

We will be having blueberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting to celebrate this special girl's special day.

Happy Birthday, Nory!

Birthday Party II

Dan's Pictures!

Three and One

Root helps Elliott blow out his candle.

Cupcakes yum

Cupcakes yum, part II

Cupcake and Strawberries and Animal Crackers, Oh My! Betty Cake enjoys a cupcake in the background.

Actually, yes, I do want the rest of that, thank you very much.

Presents

Elise and Emilie look on. Emilie looks like a little Nory twin in this picture.

Elliott loves his new ball! Our sweet Susanna in the background.

Birthday Party I

Last Saturday we had a birthday party for the kids. I hope it is the first of many combined birthday parties! It went pretty well, about 15 adults and 15 kids. Dan took some pictures so hopefully someday I'll have a Birthday Party II post, since I only took a couple with my little-c camera.

We did a verrrry loosely themed party based on Curious George. Which is to say, we had a Curious George balloon, stickers, napkins, plates, and I made some monkey cupcakes - which turned out much better than I thought they would!

The main "activity," as it was, was a Birthday Egg Hunt. I bought 12 dozen plastic Easter eggs for a screaming good deal the week after Easter. In each egg I put a sticker, fake tattoo, a couple animal crackers, or a little toy like a bouncy ball or plastic ring. Then I hid them all over the house and the kids had to make their own goodie bags with the stuff they found in the eggs. This activity was more or less successful - the two kids who came late to the party got nothing, and the older kids got lots, but I know at least that Nory was pretty happy with her 6 or 7 eggs filled with surprises. Even Elliott managed to open an egg and eat a couple animal crackers before I noticed.

There were balloons, lots of them, and presents, and kids kids kids everywhere. It was chaotic but fun. Here is Elliott enjoying his new tunnel. We set it out as soon as Nory opened it and the kids all loved crawling back and forth through it!

So fun!

First Hair Cut

Were you looking at those last posts thinking what on earth happened to Elliott's hair?

Considering that we waited until Nory was 2.5 to give her a first hair cut, you might be surprised to know that Elliott got his first hair cut the day before he turned one! Well for starters, Elliott has WAY MORE hair at age 1 than Nory did. And those crazy bangs were always in his eyes and since he is a little boy it didn't seem quite right to put a clip in it.

Have YOU ever tried cutting somebody's bangs in the bathtub with sharp scissors while they were squirming like crazy? I have. Yikes. I got the job done but it wasn't pretty. The next morning when Elliott woke up I almost screamed when I saw him. Yikes! Too short! Oops! Lesson learned - hair is much much longer when wet! Hopefully it will look just right in a few weeks.