Allie's Third Bithday

Today Allie turned 3.  It is the first time I have really seen her understand and enjoy her birthday.  Yesterday we celebrated with a party at Junior Gym and invited about 17 other friends, well, mostly our own friends.  I saw how Allie clearly understood it was her party, and she was the center of attention, and she did not shy away from any of it.  It was awesome to see her happily go to the center of the tent and just sit there as everyone sang happy birthday to her.  

In the beginning, Phoebe and Allie got there early and they had the entire gym to themselves.  Mimi topped the cake with six ponies since the girls are all about ponies these days.  These six are Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Flutter Shine, Pinky Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Rarity.  Now, don't ask me how, but Mimi is the one who knows all of these.  I have no idea.  Her and the girls seem to know all the characters.  This cake was huge.  To this day we are still eating it and had enough to continue the celebration on Allie's actually birthday the following day.  

On Allie's birthday, we celebrated further by going to her favorite restaurant which is Korean BBQ, so of course off to Soon's we go.  Bear in mind she had just been there on Monday with Poh Poh, and Mimi, and so its less than a week before they went again.  Then we came home and everyone had a good nap.  Then after the nap I grilled and we ate dinner and had more pie.  During the entire day we talked to Ahma, and Ah Gong, Uncle Mike and Tim and last night we talked to Auntie Christina.  It was nice to just talk with the family.  

The last picture was the dog at Soon's where they girls got to play with the dog before lunch.  

All in all, what I noticed most about Allie was how much she just enjoyed every moment of every day during this birthday weekend.  One of the best quotes was when the Junior Gym teacher asked Allie how old she was, she says, "Two", which of course she was.  Her birthday was not until the following day.  Then I asked her the same question today "How old are you?"  and she confidently replies, "Three".  Then I asked her how old were you yesterday, and she replied "Two".  Then just to make sure I asked her how old she will be tomorrow and she said "Three".  She was very proud.  

For Phoebe, its been a very rough weekend.  She has struggled to have attention all weekend since much of it was devoted to her sister.  With all the new toys, Phoebe really wanted to claim them as hers but we reinforced that these are Allie's toys and she needed to ask Allie to borrow them.  Phoebe tried to cooperate, but it was clear that she was struggling with wanting the toys to be hers and then being in the lime light.  She had to be redirected so many times, and in the end I knew she was having a tough time and tried to talk to her about it, but that would only last for so long before she got frustrated again.  So today when she woke up from her nap early, I took her to Home Depot with me for  little outing.  While we were there, I got her a special treat for accompanying daddy and so she got some M&Ms which made things all better.  On the way back, she did say she wanted to save some for  Allie so she could also have some of the treat, which I thought was very sweet of her.  

These two girls are just amazing.  When I compare to the pictures from just two years ago with Allie smearing cake all over her face as a one year old, I'm seeing just how much she has grown up.  I'm also seeing how much Phoebe has grown and how her mind is so much more complex than just two years ago.  Her physical stature is so much taller and larger, and these girls are clearly not babies any more but rather little smart cute bright girls.  

Oh, and one more story. So in Chicago I bought this birthday card that specifically has Allison on it.  It also sings Happy Birthday specifically to Allison.  When Allie first opened it, she was a little shocked because it played music.  But after she got used to the music she loved the fact that it was singing happy birthday to her over and over again. She must have played that about 25 times before we finally had to tell her to give it a rest.  There was one point where she would open the card to play the music and hold it over her head to blast it throughout the house.  Mimi and I recall the movie "Say Anything" where John Cusack holds the boom box over his head in front of this girls house that he likes, and that is what Allie looked like.  It was the cutest thing.  

Happy Birthday Allie.  Mommy and Daddy love you very much!!!

Kids In Their Nest

So after nearly 4.5 years we have the room to ourselves for a night.  It started last night when Phoebe asked to sleep in her own room, otherwise known as "The Nest".  I think she was asked by Zosia's dad about what it was like for her to sleep in her own room and they talked about how Zosia sleeps in her own room with Toshia.  For some reason, I think that conversation sunk into her, because last night after bath, she told me she wanted to sleep in her nest and asked if I would sleep with her.  I agreed realizing that here was an opportunity for her to take control of some decisions like where she sleeps, plus this is something we would eventually have to do once baby number three comes.  

So last night, on a twin mattress, Phoebe and I slept through the night.  It was tight with lots of tossing and turning, but we made it happen.  I think in the morning, she was extremely proud that she had slept through and was thrilled that there was a pink flower light in her room to help light it up.  We had purchased that light almost three years ago, but it was too bright when she was a baby.  Now that she is a young girl who does not like the dark, this light is just the answer.  She was so excited about it that she wanted to show her mommy and Allie all morning.  

So as tonight rolled around, I asked Phoebe again where she wanted to sleep.  She again said her nest but with daddy.  I wanted to, but I also realized that it was a rough sleep last night and I really needed the rest.  We all decided that Allie would join her in their nest, which it actually is, and that the two of them would stay on the queen bed that was previously in our room.  We moved the bed over, adjusted it so that Allie is against the wall so she would not fall off, and put the single mattress next to the bed on the floor so that in case one of us parents needed to go there in the middle of the night we would have a place to rest.  I laid down with them to keep them company and Allie was the first to fall asleep.  She was definitely tired as it was almost 10 pm by the time she fell asleep.  Phoebe had a little harder time but eventually fell asleep by 10:30 pm.  What was super cute was how she acknowledges she can be afraid and said Allie was brave, and then asked to pray a prayer to Jesus.  I said sure and prayed with her.  Phoebe said, " Dear Jesus, help me to not be scared and if I do get scared keep me in your hands and safe.  In Jesus name Amen."  I could not believe this little sweet prayer that she prayed, so real, so true, so innocent.  I loved how it just expressed the truest portions of her heart.  Here is what the two look like in their first night in the nest together as sisters.  

So now as Mimi and I are laying in our beds and catching up with each other, we sit here a little bitter sweet.  We are definitely happy that they are moving on and growing up and it was important that they went to their own room at their own time, as much as possible.  However, we both feel a little empty that they are not next to us where we can hear their sleep noises, or just look at their cute sleeping poses.  Even Mimi wanted to put up some image of them next to our bed since it felt so empty.  

One thing that I forgot to mention was how Allie was the one that would often pick her nose and then eat the boogers.  She would eat them and say "Gum, Yummy".  Mimi says Phoebe also did the same, but I can't recall it.  Here is a lovely picture of Allie with double fingers.  

This past weekend, Phoebe and Allie have really been into princess weddings.  In this case, Phoebe will be the designer and dress Allie for her wedding.  Then Phoebe will ring a bell (which is actually hit a pan with a stick) and Allie comes forward in her wedding dress as seen above, horns, cape, and veil.  

Finally, Allie has been doing this super silly face, which she calls her scary face.  Here is an example from dinner tonight.  

She is so funny.  She clenches her hands and teeth together and then shakes her head and its just so funny to watch.  

With our four day weekend now coming to an end, its sad that time went so fast, but we had lots of fun.  Till next time....

July 4th Weekend 2013

This year July 4 fell on a Thursday, so Mimi and I took the Friday off as well.  Its been a fun two days so far and we still have the weekend ahead of us.  

On July 4, we pretty much stayed home and played.  It was the last of the "hot days" of this really warm spell that we have had for more than a week now.  Warm I'm talking like 80s to 90's.  It has been just amazing and how summer should be.  To celebrate the final warm day we all went to the pool and had a great time swimming.  The girls this year are really good with their floating devices.  Once they have them on they are just fine swimming on their own and doing cool tricks.  They still struggle with putting their head in the water, but they definitely enjoy the pool.  It was also definitely nice to have Mimi come too as they like to ride our backs and go around the pool.  

Then after swimming I did a bbq and we had a nice dinner.  I had to steal away to pick up Zosia and her family from the airport but I was back in time for the fireworks to start.  We got to watch them again this year from the comfort of our own home at the stairwell.  I love how the house we purchased has so many perks like not having to leave the home to watch fireworks.  

July 5 was also very nice.  We had the chance to just kick back and relax with Popo, who took us to Tomi Seafood Buffet.  This was good and the girls ate a lot.  They ate a lot of sashimi and desserts.  At the end they both showed just how big their bellies were.  We came home and they napped on the way back and in the evening we had small group.  It was so nice just to be with other parents and children, all experiencing similar things in life and struggling with parenthood together.  As much as I appreciate the video series, I appreciate more the sharing of the struggles and the ideas that each one contributes on how best to handle parenting.  

In a week Allie will turn 3.  I can't believe that she is getting that old.  I felt like it was just yesterday that she was born and now she is so much bigger, smarter, and not a baby anymore.  In fact, I distinctly remember being at the 211 Bowsprit home and Allie had just been born and I came back to wash the carpets since I knew that Allie was coming back home and the carpets had not been cleaned for a while.  I was dead tired from being up for the delivery but I was determined to make sure that those carpets were clean for my baby.  

Allie has come a long way in the past year.  She was much more quiet and withdrawn but I have seen how her teachers at the Angelfish classroom have really helped her to come more out of her shell.  She is able to sing with the class, let her voice be known, and I've seen her laugh and smile more than ever before.  I've also seen how stubborn she can get, but then when she flashes that cute smile its hard to stay mad at her.  

These are the days that I really love capturing here in this journal.  Watching these girls grow up is just amazing and I don't want to miss a moment if I don't have to.  I have an awesome family, with Mimi, and the two girls, and one more on the way, life is good.  Praise God.