The pool-turned-popsicle party

 She started the morning by opening her presents including a new (zebra-print) swimsuit from Aunt Kara & Uncle Josh.  Perfect for her pool party.

 Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  My Little Pony cupcake toppers courtesy of Etsy.


 By the afternoon, however, the forecast was cloudy with a chance of showers.  So we opted for a house-party with wonderful friends and fantastic homemade popsicle from our sweet neighbors. Once again, we were astonished by the sheer number of children!

A lovely day for a lovely girl.  She's our peach.

Our girl, Pippi

We have been reading "Pippi Longstocking" aloud to the girls for the first time and it is a delightful read.  We finished the chapter about Pippi fighting the strong man in the circus today before naptime.  As a mother of daughters, this quote became one of my favorites:

"Oh no, you couldn't", said Annika, "he's the strongest man in the world.
"Man, yes," said Pippi, "but I am the strongest girl in the world, remember that."

Seven Months Old!

Look at that sweetness!  Our little "lovely lamb" is pretty proud of her latest skills--sitting up by herself and crawling over every inch of this house.  The weekend we spent in Hanover I kept thinking her godfather Matt was sitting her up like that and that she was MUCH too young for it.  Um, no.  Laney was pulling herself to that position and handling it like a champ.  She's got only one problem with crawling--the fact that she realizes everyone else in the world is vertical and she thinks she should be too.

As far as food goes, she's loving mango and sweet potatoes the best but will eat anything we put in front of her.  She's also eyeing her sister's new birthday Legos.  She lives for pool and bath time but is pretty "chill" most other times.  As her daddy says, "I could eat her up with a spoon!".

Three

Three years ago today a beautiful burst of blond hair entered our world and we met our precious Carrigan Grace. Her pregnancy was at a difficult time for our family and even her labor (in two different hospitals!) was stressful.  But her actual birth was a lovely, tender moment and when the midwives handed us our third daughter we knew that God had indeed given us a very special gift.  We loved our blondie from the start.

She was a delightful baby and never to be undone by her older sisters.  As she grew into her independent personality we saw our Ward characteristics but with her specific charms. She's certainly on her own time-table.  She walked, talked, and potty-trained at different stages than her sisters.  We joke that in many ways we had this parenting gig figured out--and then she came along.  Amalia and Brinnly never knew that they could get out of bed without our permission.  Until Carrigan taught them.  Most days, she runs into our room around 6:30 am and announces "Boo!" in light of "Good Morning".

We had Carrigan as the "baby" of the family longer than we had either Mali or Brinnly in that role.  What a blessing it was this year to have 1:1 time with her at Target or "Oakmont" or simply at home while her sisters were in school.  But already now she's asking when her first day at preschool is and now she too is a big sister supreme.  Delaney's belly laughs are the loudest for Carrigan.  They are partners.

Carrigan Grace, your smile and headful of blond curls delight us daily.  We probably too often look past your disobedience because it is just too charming.  Seriously, what other three-year-old threatens to "punch out" any potentially mean teachers?   We know you are too sweet for that, regardless of your words say.  You will always be the little girl that cuddles up to her daddy every Saturday and Sunday for naptime and the one who believes her mommy that certain books are "cuddle-books".  You love the Brown Bear series, classic movies like Annie and Heidi, the color green, any fruit, and swimming.  You have the same food/drink tastes as your mommy, scream at the sight of peacocks, and won't put up with anyone thinking you are "little". We watched you the other day at your first gymnastics class, amazed at the girl you have already become.

We are so blessed to have your as our daughter and thank God every day for you. He knew exactly what we needed very early in the morning of July 21, 2009 and it was better than we ever could imagined.  We can't wait to see what this next year brings.  We love you, we love you, little dinosaur.

Five on Friday

1.  Delaney. Is. Crawling.  That about sums about her past week or so.  She has also discovered household treasures such as Trivial Pursuit game pieces, baby wipes, and the toilet brush.  Thankfully I have a crew behind me readily available to snatch such items out of her hands before they make it to her mouth.  She's pretty darn proud of herself.

2.  No, that's not another Ward girl...that's our newest Goddaughter...Sarah Rose Meyer.  What an honor to stand beside her parents, Ruth & Jonathan at her baptism.  Our families number 12 now!  (Not including stuffed animals).  

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3. Speaking of baptisms and Godparents...we traveled to Hanover, PA last weekend to meet sweet, handsome, Eli Wilson.  If you can follow this baptism family tree, Jonathan was Matt's godfather approximately 8 years ago when Matt was baptized at First Trinity (the church where we met Matt and Erica.  Before they were "Matt and Erica".).  Fast forward through their wedding, a few moves and a few more babies, and Delaney is blessed to have them as her godparents.  And now we are the same to Eli.  It was another wonderfully special weekend, even though we clearly have no skills in soothing little boys.  At least I didn't drop the binky into the font as I did at Sarah's baptism.

 4.  Our girls started gymnastics class last night and was it ever a hit.  We could watch through the window and Carrigan especially just beamed during it.  Right now they are signed up just for the summer but they are already asking for it to be a regular thing.  We'll see.

5) Today's to-do list includes prepping My Little Pony cupcakes for a certain 3-year-old birthday party tomorrow.  Speaking of the ponies, this was forwarded to my FB wall this week.  In the words of our friend, "the bronies are everywhere!"

"Impulse" buy

Look what else we did on our weekend in Michigan! We drove there in a Ford Windstar and home in a Honda Odyssey.  After test-driving only two cars, we purchased one of them and couldn't be happier with the decision. The best part was transferring all of the car seats and luggage and still having room to spare.  Now, no one laugh at us for being a two-minivan family.

Amalia's Birthday, Part 2

By her request, we had a small family party for our new 6-year-old starting first with a swim in our cousins' pool.  Since it was roughly 100 degrees outside, it was perfect timing. We headed then to Grandma & Grandpa's for pizza and ice cream.  (Grandma Sandy had taken her to Red Lobster for Coconut Shrimp for lunch earlier in the day). Mali spent the rest of her evening modeling her new bathrobe.  We now call her "Diva".  All she needs is a trailer and make-up crew.  She's pretty excited to use her new "slippery" sleeping bag from Grandma Deni too. Watch for it to make an appearance in August!

Our firecrackers

Amalia's Birthday, Part 1

She's like her mother, therefore her birthday will have many parts.

 

 Starting with blueberry coffee cake for breakfast. Her request!

She opened new bike accessories, a shirt with matching socks, and several cards.  She was quite delighted that a few even contained checks allowing her to attend technology camp this summer.  We let her choose one item to buy with the remainder of her money--she choose a bathrobe of all things.  We picked it out right away that morning on Amazon.  That site is beyond tempting.

We headed out later to Highland Park with another family of girls.  They presented Mali with a bouquet of flowers and a sticker book.  Even sweeter was the card Mali's friend Ella wrote for her:  "Dear Mali, Happy Birthday. I hope all of your dreams come true.  We have been friends for a long time.  I love you.  Love, Ella."   It brought beams to Mali's face and tears to the mamas' eyes.

Finally, we ended with an evening showing of "Brave" with our best buds.  Our girls' first ever movie theater experience ever and they were certainly impressed.  Good flick!