Happy 2nd Birthday Amber!!

It is hard to believe, but it is true...Amber turns 2 today!

Amber at 2:

*She loves her big sister. Her big sister is her guide to life. We have to remind Leah that Amber is taking in everything that Leah is doing. Leah is fantastic to Amber and is doing a fabulous job as big sister.
*She loves to “olor”- Color.
*She loves to help cook . In fact, she helped to make her birthday pancakes!!
*She loves to sing – her fav songs to sing and act out: “Baby BumbleBee,” “Wheels on the Bus,” “Baby Turtle,” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider.”
*She plays xbox Kinect “Just Dance” and actually tries to follow the steps!
*she is still a good sleeper and eater.
*Doesn’t really like the snow, but due to the winter we have had, has really not had a lot of time to adjust to snow!
*She has been dealing with a double ear in infection for more than 1 month (she is on her 4th antibiotic) – rechecks in 3 days, possible visit to see an ENT in her future.
*She is taking swimming lessons for the first time with Mommy. She can blow bubbles in the water now and is working on her underwater zooms, backfloat, tiger paddles, kicks, and monkey cheeks!
*She loves her baths, has to brush her own teeth, doesn’t like her hair combed or fixed(unless it is done for her at daycare), is getting better at getting her nails clipped, loves to have her nails painted (but doesn’t like to sit still during the process).
*Says “beep beep” when she wants you to move.
*Good at saying “pease”, sometimes says “tank you.”
*When you ask her if she is 2, usually she says “no!”

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY LEAH!!

Leah 1 month old
Leah 7 years old (bonus - at school today it is Hat Day, and it is the 100th day of school!)

Leah at 7:

*Smart
*Loveable
*Great big sister!
*Loves to sing and dance
*Energetic
*Does well in school, but is distracted easily (she always wants to know what is going on around her)
*Reading is becoming more independent
*Does well in math, but thinks it is hard!
*Great in spelling
*Still loves Taylor Swift
*Watches mostly Disney Channel programs
*Social, loves to be around other people and kids – and really doesn’t like to play by herself
*Still can whine with the best of them (a trait Joe and I are both anxious for her to outgrow)
*Still is afraid to get close to people in costume, but she is trying to be more brave…because she wants to go to Disney World!
*Still working on correcting her vision (which is much better than it was originally). Right now she is getting a drop put in her strong (left) eye 3 days in a row each week which keeps her left eye constantly dilated which makes her have to use her right eye. If you look closely at the pictures from the birthday party, you can see it! We check back with the pediatric ophthalmologist the second week in March to see if it is working. She is currently seeing about 20/40 in her right eye with her glasses which isn’t too bad, but we are working on making it 20/20!
*Likes to do crafts
*Stubborn
*Participates in swimming, gymnastics, dance, soccer, t-ball, skating – she likes everything she tries and wants to keep doing each one. We are on a 2 activity limit, right now she is in Dance and Swimming!
*Did I mention, she is a WONDERFUL big sister! We really are quite lucky at how well she treats her little sister

*****

I was able to take today off of work. I pretended in the morning as if I was going to work - routine stayed the same. I was able to surprise Leah at school for lunch. It was so much fun. She gave me the biggest smile and hug. So worth it!! :)

2/4/12 Party Day!!!

We had Leah and Amber’s Birthday parties on Saturday 2/4/12. It was a little early, but the day that worked the best!

The day started out with Leah’s “friends” party. This party was from 11-2. She had 13 friends come to her party – Bailey, Morgan, Kaylee, Delila, Thea, Vivian, Katie, Rachel, Samantha, Haley, Riley, Kaylee, and Michael (yep, 1 boy – 2 more were invited, but couldn’t make it)! The kids played – drums, Xbox Kinect (Wipeout and Just Dance), and with anything they found interesting in the kids’ toy area. We had a craft – of course! The kids got to decorate their canvas bag with foam shapes and letters. This was a bit chaotic, and I could have organized it much better – THANK YOU to Tiffanie and Sara for helping me get through this one. The kids all made some great bags. I was amazed at their creativity. Joe put together lunch (with the help of Dan)- Papa Murphy’s pizza. The kids ate (with only 3 spills – not too bad). Then it was piñata time. We held this activity in the garage – did not know where in the house it would be safe. They really got into this one – screaming “now” when the child who was swinging should try to hit the piñata. “Now” eventually changed to “whack it!” which was pretty amusing considering 13 kids were screaming it! The chaos hit once again when Michael made the final swing to break most of the candy loose. Joe helped empty the rest. Thanks Dan for helping the little kids with their turn – brave man! Of course, no birthday party is complete without cake and presents which were the next activities. More playing followed until parents came to pick up their child – some of which pretended to hide! It was absolutely crazy at our house, but I think the kids had a good time. They didn’t want to leave, so I took that as a good sign.

Next up: Leah and Amber’s “family” party. This party started at 3:30. We did a quick turn around of the house in preparation for close friends and family to celebrate Leah, age 7, and Amber, age 2.

We had lots of attendees for this party. So happy that so many were able to make it to celebrate the girls’ birthdays. That is very special! We had – Nonna, Grandpa, Grama Mary, Aunt Linda, Uncle Steve, Aunt Tiffanie, Uncle Dan, (cousin) Thea, (cousin) Delila, Aunt Pat, Aunt Karen, (cousin) Chris and Cherice, (cousin) Nikki, (cousin) Emilee, Sara, Mike, Michael, Joshua, Jaclyn, Rick, Kaylee, Kurtis and Kaysee. The girls were so excited! Amber was most excited about “my berday cake!” What a very special day. Thanks to everyone for coming!!
THANK YOU Sara, Dan, Tiffanie, and Jaci for helping out during the parties!