The Big 0-4

Yesterday my first baby, Elia, turned four.

I normally say that I can't believe (enter offspring's name here) is (enter said offspring's age here) but four I saw coming.

Elia has grown so much in the last year. I think it's in large part to her starting preschool in the fall. She knows all of her letters, can read maybe a dozen familiar words, has picked up little phrases and mannerisms (for better or worse) from kids at school, and has become more confident since the fall. Honestly, it has felt like she was four for a while now.

Regardless, we were so excited to celebrate the big 0-4 this weekend. We hosted a painting party for her and some of her classmates at the Grand Rapids Art Museum on Saturday. The party was great and included a tour, story, time to paint, and of course, we had time set aside for cake and gifts.

I was so impressed by how nice and well-behaved these kids were. It was so much fun to watch Elia play with kids she spends time with every day.

She was over the moon about the party and it seemed like all of our guests had a nice time too.

After the party, I took Elia to an Easter egg hunt while Todd took Wells home to nap.

We followed up her big party day with Easter Sunday. A combination birthday/Easter weekend is kind of loco guys. We had Easter baskets and bunny pancakes before church followed by Easter brunch with both sets of grandparents. Followed by cake and gifts.

It was SO MUCH FUN AND EXCITEMENT for the kids.

Seriously, so much celebration. How lucky are we? And we're not even to her actual birthday day yet.

Since her birthday fell on a Monday, it wasn't the most celebratory day of the multi-day celebration but we did presents before school and she got to wear her "It's My Birthday' t-shirt to school, which was a hit.

Yesterday was also the first day of a cooking class she and I are taking for the next few weeks so e grabbed a quick dinner at Donkey and then headed to class. We had a great time and are looking forward to the next class.

All in all, it was a fantastic birthday for Elia.

I cannot wait to see how she grows and changes this year. I wrote a sappy Facebook post about how wonderful this little peanut is and I'm going to conclude the longest birthday recap post of all time with a large portion of it:

"My girl is a thoughtful, careful, creative, inquisitive, gentle and caring child. She has the memory of ten elephants. She loves singing, playing school, drawing, practicing her letters, and cutting with scissors. She made me a mom and helps me learn how to be a better one every day. She asks the most amazing questions that make me think about things in new ways. She is growing more independent every day but still needs me (which is good for a mother's heart). I can hardly remember life without her. Elia Grey, my love for you is fierce and deep and I pray your year is one of both joy and growth. Happy birthday, my little love."

christmas recap

Happy New Year! I hope your 2017 is off to a bright start.

I thought I'd do a quick holiday recap before we get too far into January. Plus, I need to share all of the adorable photos I took over Christmas, right?

Are you ready for photo overload? Here we go.

The kids met the big guy at a Breakfast with Santa this year. One of them was more interested than the other.

holiday cheer: christmas brunch

This holiday season we are blessed to have almost all of our family coming to town. My brother, sister-in-law, and sweet nephew arrived this week from Cairo (yes, THAT Cairo), and my brother and sister who both live in Seattle got in yesterday. Todd's brother, our sister-in-law, and niece and nephew will be in from Denver next week and we cannot wait. The only ones missing will be my brother-in-law and sister-in-law-to-be and we will miss them dearly but can't blame them for wanting to enjoy a sunny vacation this year.

Needless to say, all of the family in town means that we get to spend a ton of time with them and these two weeks are going to be family packed and the best kind of busy.

halloween at hess

Today was the most beautiful Michigan fall day. The weather was gorgeous and the sun was shining and it was just perfect.

After church we took Wells for his first haircut. We had very mixed emotions about this as we had grown to love his sweet, curly little mullet. We knew that cut would mean a farewell to his baby curls and we weren't entirely ready but, alas, it was time. Please enjoy the photos below, documenting Wells' before and during experience. They show the mullet in full force and his very not mixed emotions during the haircut.

girls weekend: chicago

Two of my favorite people in the world have birthdays just six days apart from each other. To my delight, they are also two of each other's favorite people so when I found out my sister was going to be in Chicago, a mere two and a half hours away on her birthday, we quickly decided that the best way to celebrate both her birthday and Elia's would be to spend a long weekend together in Chicago. Our mom was available to join too making it a perfect girls weekend.

We left early Friday morning and Elia was such a great road tripper. As soon as we could see Chicago, she was so excited and kept pointing to buildings and saying, "Is that Chicago?" So sweet.

And now...in lieu of all of the words that I could offer you, I give you all of the pictures. (And just a few words peppered in to explain.)

egn: third birthday

We officially have a three year old.

I keep hearing myself say that I can't believe that Elia is three but, honestly, I can. Two was hard to believe but three, I saw coming. Honestly speaking, this year has seemed long. Not too long, exactly, but so much has happened in the last year. We've felt really tested and challenged as we navigate the growing pains of life as a family of four, all while Elia navigated becoming a sister, sharing her parents' previously undivided attention, plus all of the normal wonderfulness that comes along with toddlerhood. I've been looking forward to the promise of three, like our very own little happy new year.

summoned by name

On Sunday, we celebrated Wells' baptism. We formally welcomed him into the body of Christ amongst family members and in front of our congregation.

It was a special morning as we committed to raising Wells in the Christian faith and our family and church family committed to supporting us in doing so.

Elia even joined us in church for his baptism, which was an adventure that went more smoothly than I expected. What a joy it was to share in his baptism as a family.

get a sister

I have Fridays off and last week Friday, Todd and I had made plans to meet for lunch and take the kids to visit ArtPrize. Wells had his four month checkup that day so we moseyed downtown afterwards and since we were running late, decided to just meet Todd at his office for lunch. He had lunch waiting for us in a conference room and to my complete surprise, my sister was waiting there, a bouquet of confetti-filled balloons in hand, when I opened the door.

My sweet sister flew in, all the way from Seattle, to help me celebrate my upcoming thirtieth. (Still upcoming...I'm squarely in my twenties, I swear.) The arrival of my sister was gift enough but she also made arrangements for a delicious dinner at Reserve with our parents and brought sweet and thoughtful birthday gifts.

egn: second birthday

It has been a big weekend at our house, due entirely to the fact that little miss turned two on Friday. Two!

We kicked off her birthday morning by decorating her bedroom door with streamers and it was pretty cute to see her try to figure out what that was all about. 

She opened her gift from us, a water table, after that and was outside playing with it by 8:00 AM. 

After water play, some errands, and music class, we had a special birthday lunch with Todd. When we walked into the restaurant she yelled "Happy Birthday!", just to make sure everyone knew it was her day.

She was excited about her yogurt parfait until she realized that it was vanilla yogurt, not plain. Thank goodness her sausage and mom's pancakes saved the day.

It happened to be the nicest day ever on Friday and after nap we were back to the water table only this time, she donned a bathing suit, which she insisted on wearing for the rest of the night.

My parents and grandparents came over for birthday dinner and we grilled out, pretending summer had arrived. It was a great backdrop for a birthday party. 

Elia even tried her birthday treat, strawberry frozen yogurt, and Grandpa Bob was happy to finish it off for her.

On Saturday, we had Elia's birthday party with friends at a local gymnastics facility. We had the gym to ourselves for most of the party and the kids had a great time running around and trying out all of the gym equipment.

What fun! It so great to see all of our friends' kids growing up and playing together.

We enjoyed a quintessential birthday meal after all of the fun in the gym: pizza and cupcakes. Then, Elia opened presents from her friends, what a lucky girl! We have the most thoughtful, generous friends and she loved everything that she got. 

We were so happy to celebrate our babe's second birthday and so grateful to everyone who helped make it special for her. Happy birthday, Bug, we love you!

To look back on Elia's first birthday see this post and this one.  And for more fun from this year's party, check out my friend, Jess's blog - she's so great at documenting this stuff and took tons of pictures!

'twas the season 2014

I know, I know. It's already 2015 but 2014 was just days ago and I neglected to post at all in December.  So to make up for that, here is a quick recap of our holiday season.

Saint Nicholas Day 

 Santa Parade

Advent Alive

Stockings

Family Christmas 

Teepee Surprise

Popsicles with Tio

Christmas Morning Skype with Cousins

Ice Cream Treat

Coolest Girl at Brunch

Happy to Be Out in the Sun 

Dad's Birthday

NYE

Snowy Fun for All

We've been blessed with visits from most of our siblings and lots of time with family over the past few weeks.  Despite being hit hard with a cold bug, we've enjoyed having most of the past two weeks off from work and school and are looking forward to everything that the New Year brings.  Hoping you all have had a wonderful holiday season!

e's golden (month) birthday

Now that Elia is over a year old, her monthly birthdays feel less and less important but when a girl turns seventeen month on the 17th, that's noteworthy, right?  In honor of her golden (month) birthday, here are some of things that are ruling Elia's world.

Favorite foods:

• Wafles. Yes, that's spelled correctly, as in "waf-lays", breakfast of champions.
• Broccoli. She clearly doesn't get her taste buds from me.
• Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries. All day, every day, by the handful if you please.
• Applesauce. Her self-feeding has come a long way but an applesauce beard is a given with this treat.
• Frozen peas. Why heat 'em when you can just eat 'em?

Thankfully, we've been blessed with a good eater.  She has things she doesn't like and some foods can be hit or miss but overall we've had no issues with picky eating.

Words:

• Mama - Is it me?  Is it Todd? Who knows but, she says it to refer to either of her parents.
• Maa Maa - Not to be confused with "Mama" this is "más, más" (more in Spanish) usually used in the context of "I want more food." and occasionally just used for "I'm hungry."
• Baba - We think that means Todd.  Same with "Dada", seems pretty straightforward.
• Nigh nigh - "Night night". Often followed by her laying her head on something soft and pretending to be sleeping.  One of my favorites.
• Yea - Yes, to everything.  We have the most agreeable child on the face of the earth.  ¿Quieres jugar con mami? "Yea." Did you see Grandma today? "Yea." ¿Estás haciendo popó? "Yea." Do you want broccoli for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? "Yea!"
• Gua - "Agua".  Water. 
• Bye bye - This is self-explanatory.

She also can tell you what a dog says, "Fffff" (the tail-end of "woof" - ha, tail-end, I crack myself up), and what a duck says, "Gack", and sometimes what other animals say. She has a handful of other words, too.

Favorite Song:

Row, row, row your boat. And she sings along. "Row, row, row." Melt my heart, little one.

Favorite Activities:

• Bath time. Hands down, the most fun to be had is in the bath.
• Hiking. Girl loves nature.
• Going fast. Pick this kid up, start to run, and she'll be as happy as can be.
• Tickle parties! Because, they're just fun. And funny.  The belly laughs are the best.
• Reading. She's really started to enjoy reading books with us over the past few weeks.
• Helping. Also in the past few weeks, she's really been taken pride in helping around the house and doing things on her own such as putting things away or bringing things to one of us. It's so cool to see this happen.
• Showing us her belly. Oy vey. This started over the weekend.
• Pointing at dogs.
• Carrying things around. This may not seem like an activity but to Elia it is a sport. Preferably, with two identical items, one in each hand.

I hope all of this gives you a glimpse into who our baby girl is turning out to be. She is in such a fun and exciting stage where she is moving quickly from baby to little girl and every day is different. 

Happy seventeen months, Bug.  Te amo muchisísimo.