We celebrated Alaina's birthday on Memorial Day this year. The night before, we filled her room with pink and purple balloons (her favorite colors), and surprised her with a new baby stroller with a "ballooney friend" strapped into it. She has been playing with a broken stroller for over two years now...it was time!
The morning knock from the neighbors came bright and early, and they surprised Alaina with two pink flowers. She thought it was the best thing ever.
Alaina has been doing her best to avoid the camera lately. When I do have it out, she puts her silliest foot forward.
...and so the four-year-old attitude begins.
Alaina had been asking to go to Chuck E. Cheese's for her birthday, but seeing what a thrill-seeker she is, we thought going to Jungle Jim's would be more up her alley, since it has unlimited rides. Frankly, I won't be going back, since the place was filthy, most of the games ate our money, the employees were weird, and the food was disgusting, but the kids had fun, and that's really all that matters. She loved the roller coaster!
The first couple of laps around the jungle ride were fun, too, but the employee was busy texting so the kids got frustrated after the eighth time around!
Connor loved the space ships. This is a rare pictur of him smiling because he took his job of steering up and down VERY seriously. I have a lot of shots of him looking smug and in-charge.
Connor is the best five-year-old driver around (I would honestly put money on it). He drove laps around the other kids, and then would t-bone them. The other little boys got mad and the girls cried, but I thought it was pretty funny! I wanted to cheer him on. :)
Once we freed ourselves of our fluorescent dungeon, we visited Grandma and Grandpa's house, where she received a soft t-ball bat and a lot of cute clothes!
Toys 'R Us was our next stop where Alaina got to spend her birthday money from Great Grandma and Nana & Papa. We looked at the art supplies first, where she got excited, then I steered her toward the toy aisles. We were walking up and down the aisles, and I was asking her, "Do you like this doll? What about this Barbie? Do you want some more Squinkies?" She looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I 'dus want some art stuff." My kind of gal! She picked out an easel and some art supplies.
These adorable moments don't happen often, so I'm so glad I caught it! The first couple of years with two babies were so so hard, but now it is so fun to see these two genuinely enjoy each other's company. It almost makes me want to have two more, back to back. Somebody give me a bad night with a newborn, STAT!
The plan was to make Alaina a pink-lemonade bundt cake, but my time management skills weren't up to par, and a Dairy Queen ice cream cake it was. Come on, though! At least it's cute! It fits her to a T, too...she begs me for watermelon at the store and calls ants her "little friends", so I felt okay about buying her a cake!
Alaina wanted to have cake and ice cream with her friends, so we all sang her happy birthday and enjoyed some outside time with them.
They even gave her a Lalaloopsy doll, which she loves.
Since the month of birthdays has passed and school's out, we've been having a great start to the summer (with the exception of a gnarly stomach virus last week). The easel is used every day (here, Daddy is explaining how the dinosaurs went extinct), we've visited the pool, and had lots of fun playing with friends outside. I'm still loving trying new ideas from Pinterest, and our dinners have become much tastier for it! I've been focusing on cutting out as much processed food as possible from our diet, and it's helping me to become a more creative and skilled cook, as well as teaching me to be less wasteful and more budget conscious. I'm still couponing at Smith's and saving at least $60/week doing that, but I've cut out my weekly Walgreen's coupon trips. I got great deals doing those, but I was spending between $40-$80 a week on stuff that I THOUGHT we needed, but we really don't. It's refreshing to be working our way through the stockpile I've built up in the last two years and not spending a dime!
Connor takes his new identity as a five-year-old very seriously. According to him, he is stronger now, more helpful now, and will even now try more new foods. I'm not sure how much of that is true, but I do know that he's been pushing for more and more independence. It makes me sad, scared, and proud all at the same time. His most recent development is wanting to go get the mail by himself. He rides his scooter, wearing his backpack so he stuff the mail in there. Like a true helicopter mom, I watch him in the front until he gets out of view, then watch out the back door where I can see the mailbox. I think I'm going to have a hard time letting go when the time comes!
Alaina's silly side surfaces more and more these days, and I think I call her a loon more than I call her by name.
This is my view when I turn around to look at the kids: Connor's feel propped up on my seat because his carseat is getting too small, hands gripping his "credit cards", which he swipes at every store we visit to help pay (some cashiers are amused, some think I'm a weirdo), and his favorite sunglasses (thanks, MA!).
We had dinner at Janet and Sean's last Sunday, and they surprised the kids with ANOTHER birthday gift! Man, did they get spoiled this year!
Connor got a Color Wonder set...
...and Alaina got a Lite Sprite, which she asks for every time she sees the commercial. At first, Connor was a little bummed that he didn't get the magic color-changing wand present, but now he thinks it's super awesome that he's allowed to take markers in his bed.
More to come!
The morning knock from the neighbors came bright and early, and they surprised Alaina with two pink flowers. She thought it was the best thing ever.
Alaina has been doing her best to avoid the camera lately. When I do have it out, she puts her silliest foot forward.
...and so the four-year-old attitude begins.
Alaina had been asking to go to Chuck E. Cheese's for her birthday, but seeing what a thrill-seeker she is, we thought going to Jungle Jim's would be more up her alley, since it has unlimited rides. Frankly, I won't be going back, since the place was filthy, most of the games ate our money, the employees were weird, and the food was disgusting, but the kids had fun, and that's really all that matters. She loved the roller coaster!
The first couple of laps around the jungle ride were fun, too, but the employee was busy texting so the kids got frustrated after the eighth time around!
Connor loved the space ships. This is a rare pictur of him smiling because he took his job of steering up and down VERY seriously. I have a lot of shots of him looking smug and in-charge.
Connor is the best five-year-old driver around (I would honestly put money on it). He drove laps around the other kids, and then would t-bone them. The other little boys got mad and the girls cried, but I thought it was pretty funny! I wanted to cheer him on. :)
Once we freed ourselves of our fluorescent dungeon, we visited Grandma and Grandpa's house, where she received a soft t-ball bat and a lot of cute clothes!
Toys 'R Us was our next stop where Alaina got to spend her birthday money from Great Grandma and Nana & Papa. We looked at the art supplies first, where she got excited, then I steered her toward the toy aisles. We were walking up and down the aisles, and I was asking her, "Do you like this doll? What about this Barbie? Do you want some more Squinkies?" She looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I 'dus want some art stuff." My kind of gal! She picked out an easel and some art supplies.
These adorable moments don't happen often, so I'm so glad I caught it! The first couple of years with two babies were so so hard, but now it is so fun to see these two genuinely enjoy each other's company. It almost makes me want to have two more, back to back. Somebody give me a bad night with a newborn, STAT!
The plan was to make Alaina a pink-lemonade bundt cake, but my time management skills weren't up to par, and a Dairy Queen ice cream cake it was. Come on, though! At least it's cute! It fits her to a T, too...she begs me for watermelon at the store and calls ants her "little friends", so I felt okay about buying her a cake!
Alaina wanted to have cake and ice cream with her friends, so we all sang her happy birthday and enjoyed some outside time with them.
They even gave her a Lalaloopsy doll, which she loves.
Since the month of birthdays has passed and school's out, we've been having a great start to the summer (with the exception of a gnarly stomach virus last week). The easel is used every day (here, Daddy is explaining how the dinosaurs went extinct), we've visited the pool, and had lots of fun playing with friends outside. I'm still loving trying new ideas from Pinterest, and our dinners have become much tastier for it! I've been focusing on cutting out as much processed food as possible from our diet, and it's helping me to become a more creative and skilled cook, as well as teaching me to be less wasteful and more budget conscious. I'm still couponing at Smith's and saving at least $60/week doing that, but I've cut out my weekly Walgreen's coupon trips. I got great deals doing those, but I was spending between $40-$80 a week on stuff that I THOUGHT we needed, but we really don't. It's refreshing to be working our way through the stockpile I've built up in the last two years and not spending a dime!
Connor takes his new identity as a five-year-old very seriously. According to him, he is stronger now, more helpful now, and will even now try more new foods. I'm not sure how much of that is true, but I do know that he's been pushing for more and more independence. It makes me sad, scared, and proud all at the same time. His most recent development is wanting to go get the mail by himself. He rides his scooter, wearing his backpack so he stuff the mail in there. Like a true helicopter mom, I watch him in the front until he gets out of view, then watch out the back door where I can see the mailbox. I think I'm going to have a hard time letting go when the time comes!
Alaina's silly side surfaces more and more these days, and I think I call her a loon more than I call her by name.
This is my view when I turn around to look at the kids: Connor's feel propped up on my seat because his carseat is getting too small, hands gripping his "credit cards", which he swipes at every store we visit to help pay (some cashiers are amused, some think I'm a weirdo), and his favorite sunglasses (thanks, MA!).
We had dinner at Janet and Sean's last Sunday, and they surprised the kids with ANOTHER birthday gift! Man, did they get spoiled this year!
Connor got a Color Wonder set...
...and Alaina got a Lite Sprite, which she asks for every time she sees the commercial. At first, Connor was a little bummed that he didn't get the magic color-changing wand present, but now he thinks it's super awesome that he's allowed to take markers in his bed.
More to come!
1 comment:
I think I'm gonna have to steal your idea of a room full of balloons for my kids birthdays - do your kids get up in the night to go potty? If so, doesn't that ruin the surprise a little? Cuz mine do, but I don't want them to see it until the morning! As I look back through pictures of Tori, I have to say that age four was my favorite for sure. I hope that is the same for Alaina! She is so cute. I love how her neighbor friends brought her flowers in the morning - how thoughtful! Your depiction of Jungle Jims sounds pretty gross, but I hear that's pretty accurate. Glad the kiddos loved it. I like that shirt mom gave her - haha! I ADORE that picture of them hugging...frame-worthy for sure! Glad C-man likes the sunglasses!
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