Update

Um, could this girl get any cuter?  I know.  

These pictures are when she was 1.5 months old.  This is the beautiful blanket Emily made for her.  So sweet.

 And these are when she was 2 months old

 She really is the best baby.  She sleeps 11-12 hours at night.  She naps well and is happy, engaged, darling and content when she is awake.  She smiles and snuggles like crazy.  We could not love her more.  If we did, we would explode because there is just not room for any more love.  So happy she is here.

Emily's Visit

I am having a hard time coming up with words to describe this visit.  16 years ago, as a freshman in college, I was randomly placed with a roommate who would become my best friend for life. Unfortunately for us, we live on opposite sides of the country.  But I was so happy when Emily's family vacation brought her to LA and then she and Jeff and her 2 darling daughters added on a couple of days to come up and see us.

Ellie is only 2 weeks old, so excuse my puffy look, but here we are reunited.  Look, we even stopped talking long enough to smile for a picture!  Amazing accomplishment, really.

Ruby, Amelia and William were fast friends. 

Except for when Amelia or Ruby happened to be feeling persnickety.  Which they both have the ability to do.  But they don't get that from their mothers.  Must be those fathers in the mix.

 Emily's other daughter is also named Eleanor.  Best friends, I tell you, we even like the same names for our kids :)  And what a doll she is!

 William thought Jeff was just about the coolest guy on earth.  He even wanted to ride in their car with them when we went to the zoo - and this little boy NEVER wants to leave my side, so that was pretty impressive!  Probably helps that Jeff taught him to say, "Jeff's cool."

 Oh, Emily, come and visit again soon!  Please.  

Transitional Kindergarten

At the end of August, Amelia started TK and it is absolutely wonderful.  She loves being actively engaged, social and entertained for 5 hours a day, and I love having her actively engaged, social and entertained without me doing it for 5 hours a day!  Her teacher is very kind and sweet and she is learning so much.  This girl is so social.  Oh what am I going to do in the summertime...

 Her sweet and saintly teacher Miss Bowen

You can see a little bit of nervousness as she was standing in line.  I love watching her grow up!

Amelia's 5th Birthday

 Look Trina, I can do hair too!  Except I only do it once a year for her birthday...

 This girl was so happy to have a birthday.  As usual, she did all the party planning and I was directed on how to implement.  It was a fairy tea party theme.

 She wanted to decorate sugar cookies.  Seeing as how I had a 1 month old baby and am not really a party planner myself, I went all fancy and bought halloween sugar cookies from Albertsons.  I cut the heads off the bats and said they were fairy wings.  The pumpkins, they were fairy worlds.  The ghosts...well they were just ghosts and no one even cared because they were covered in frosting and sprinkles and the kids are 5 years old.  So there.  Take that pinterest.

They then had a fairy tea party with a tiny tea set someone gave us.  It was filled with fairy punch (i.e. crystal light) and the girls loved it!

Pouring her 10th cup of fairy punch.

And they made fairy houses out of toilet paper rolls.  They turned out really cute and were great homemade party favors that 1. the kids liked 2. cost nothing and 3. no one would feel bad throwing away...win, win, win in my book.

We played Simon says, duck duck goose, limbo, telephone, red light green light, hide and seek, and probably ten other games just to keep up with the attention span and energy of eight 5 year olds!  Amelia whined through all of the games.  Birthday stinker.

And then we finally got to the part she was really waiting for - the presents!  And she was so happy.

Cute friends!

 Happy to be the center of attention

William spent the day at a friend's house because I knew I would have to focus on the drama created by the birthday girl herself and wouldn't have any energy left to deal with the entitlement and demands of the 3 year old brain in the middle of all that!

Ellie got to stay.  She did this.

And then she did some of this.  Little trouble maker.

We celebrated later with the family with angel food cake and strawberries.  She can't wait until her next birthday.  She is really mad that William and Ellie's birthdays come before hers every year...the logic of a 5 year old.

Aunt Lisa's visit

And then Aunt Lisa came to visit, and it was ridiculously awesome.

We went to the zoo. 

 We went to the beach

 We went out to eat at one of our favorite spots on the water

 And it has a sandbox for the kids to play in while you wait for your food

We took sister pictures

And belly pictures.  Of her belly, not mine, thank you very much.

Oh, Aunt Lisa, we love you.  Thanks for coming.  

Can't wait to meet Cousin It when he/she arrives :)

 Andrew's 39th Birthday

We celebrated Andrew's last birthday in the 30's by eating mochi and going to the pumpkin patch.

Mango mochi "birthday cake"

William loved the old tractor at the pumpkin patch

At Easter you sit on the Easter Bunny's lap, at Christmas it's Santa Clause, and at Halloween...you sit on the Scarecrow's lap.  At least that's how we do it.

Happy 39th handsome husband of mine :)