Belen is One!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah! 

Has it been a year?  Really?

That flew by.

My darling daughter has gotten so big so fast.  She walks, she talks, she eats and sleeps and is really quite the little grownup.  She blows kisses goodnight and waves to everything.  She gets giddy when she sees people her size and smaller, and is gentle as can be.  She laughs at Mac's antics and yells as loudly as he does when they fight.  She snuggles her stuffed animals and dolls and races Mac's cars across the tracks.  Belen is at my favorite age.  And we were excited to celebrate.

Well, the day of this sweetheart's birth was spent playing and playing.  Mac was thrilled.  "Sister, you one today!  It's you birfday, Sister, lets get some presents!"  We went to a park, ate plenty of fruit and pretzels, and opened one  present.  (Which happened to be a mini flower ball pit.  The kids go crazy for it ... and we learn a lot about sharing.)

But the following day was party day, and we experienced a first.  Never before in my four years of living here have I ever had to reschedule something because of weather.  But alas, Belle's outdoor party had to be moved because of rain.  Luckily we have friends with a house, and though she was getting ready to fly out to visit her family that very day, she offered it up for our party shenanigans.

And it was lovely.

Belle pranced in the house, going from finger to finger and trying to go up and down and up and down their one small step.

 

 

So we plopped into a great little toy and ate our chicken salad sandwich, fruit, cheese and/or pizza lunch.  (The pizza, believe it or not, was purchased to satisfy the men at the party ... not the kids.  The idea was Mark's, and though I rolled my eyes at the time, he was right.  Good call, honey.)



 

 

The party people arrived, Beauty and the Beast was turned on, and we scarfed.

 

 

These three amigos had a ball.  They shared pizza, shared toys (mostly), and loved baby sister's party.

After a little talking, we moved on to presents.  Belle was so fun.  She stared intently as we unwrapped each treasure, occasionally patting a box here and there.  She jumped up and down at the necklaces, and grinned her face off as we pulled out the camera to document it all.

Finally, it was on to the birthday cake.  I had attempted a jewelry-themed party, so here is her jewelry box cake attempt.

Everything went wonderfully.  Belle grinned and clapped the day away, sweet as she could possibly be.  Mac got a little crabby when it came to the sharing department, but all things considered, he was great.

I love you, I love you, I love you my sweet baby girl.  The day you were born was everything I hoped it would be, and ever since then you have not failed to surprise us.  You bring so much to our family and we are glad you are here!

Families

I promise my son isn't racist.  He's just organized.

Here's a snippet of our conversation whilst crafting this piggie masterpiece:

Mac:  "No, Mom.  That's not right.  Them piggies go in the red family."
Me:  "They like being crazy and going all over the place."
Mac:  "No.  Not like that.  Them not crazy, thems just bein' with them family."

And so we carefully constructed a color-coded family-oriented wall. 

That's how all our playing goes.

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving was momentous.

Why?

Mark and I hosted.

Luckily there were only six adults, which should've made less work ... but all three of us wives cooked as if there were a couple dozen at least.

Oops.

But it certainly made a lot to be thankful for.

Like family pictures.

And good friends.

Awesome turkey recipes (what did people do before the internet existed??).



Click for the recipe

 Photo bombers.

Posers.

 

Really big pecs.

New and improved pumpkin pies.

Click here for the recipe.

And lots and lots of leftovers.
(There is a second table not pictured, only food there.)

And finally, to cap it all off, I experienced my first legit Black Friday.

We left at 9 pm and I was home by 1 am, so nothing too drastic ... but it was productive.  I about knocked out my entire Christmas shopping.

I think I can handle a 9-midnight mad dash through the crowds. 
Look out, world.

And so our day of Thanksgiving thoroughly felt in our hearts and in our stomachs, we were finally ready to move on to the greatest holiday of the year.

Yes, I started decorating that very next day, Black Friday hangover and all.

A Tearful Goodbye

A goodbye was said recently, one that still stings a little.

It was a guaranteed girl's night, with a consistently fabulous turnout.
It was a source of laughter, of gasps, of terrible lines and worse acting.
It was corny.
It was ridiculous.
And so much fun.

Say what you will about Twilight, I'm quite sure I won't be able to fight you one bit.  (Except for all you people saying that it makes girls think their men should be Edward.  That's ridiculous.  How about all you ladies just be proactive and decide to love your man like Bella loves Edward?  Except, go for how she is in the last book.  She is horrifically pathetic in the others.)

But we enjoyed those yearly nights out, and are sad to see them go.

Any other ideas for ladies' nights?