Happy Birthday Sienna

I cannot believe my little Sienna is one already.  She is growing up so fast.  I love celebrating my kids' birthdays.  It is fun to just make a whole day about her.  We had some friends and family over for dinner and a little party to celebrate our littlest lady, Sienna.  I made some of Sienna's favorite food for dinner; chicken and mac and cheese.  That girl can eat more noodles than most adults.  Unfortunately she ate so many noodles, she did really have any room left for cake.

Natalia helped me make some fun birthday signs for Sienna while Sienna was napping in the morning.  Natalia was really proud of her work (did not get any pictures) and she could not wait to show Sienna.  We made a banner and that read, Happy Birthday.  When we went to get Sienna up all Natalia could say is, " Mom, we have to show her the ABC's...she will love them soooo much!"

Sienna and Elijah playing together

After dinner we let Sienna open her presents.  All the kids were excited and they had a hard time watching Sienna open up presents at one year old speed.  Needless to say, Sienna had lots of present opening helpers.  Kids are funny; you never know what will be a hit.  I got Sienna sippy cups for her birthday.  Practical.  Yes, but we have lots of toys and we really needed new sippy cups.  Well, she loved them.  We had a hard time getting her interested in anything else once she got the new sippy cups in hand.  Silly girl.

Sienna digging for gifts

Sienna with her new sippy cup

The real hit of the night was the gear toy that Grandma got Sienna.  When we pulled it out of the bag, I had about ten hands trying to help me open it and once it was out of the package, the little ones swarmed around it fighting (literally) for a turn.  Sienna loves it and it has hardly had a moment not in use since it was pulled from the box. 

Everyone trying to get a turn with Sienna's new toy

 After presents we moved on to cake.  We sang to Sienna, she only cried for a moment and then we let Natalia help blow out the candle.  Natalia had been talking about the candle all day long.  She kept reminding me that we would have to turn out the lights.  She was really proud of herself for blowing out the candle...after the third try. 

Natalia blowing out the candle

I gave Sienna half of the blocks and let her go at it.  I do not think she ate very much (too many noodles earlier), but she sure had fun playing with it. 

Natalia even had fun with her cake.  Surprising, she did not get messy at all.

Natalia licking her ice cream

 Sienna was a mess by time she was done, so we tossed her in the tub and then played with everyone for a while longer before the birthday wished everyone good night and we plopped the munchkin in her crib.  We sure had fun celebrating with Sienna.  It has been a wonderful year watching Sienna grow up.  It is so enjoyable to see her personality emerging.  It is funny to see her figure out the world around her.  She approaches things so differently than Natalia and it just reminds me that we are each a unique individual.  Happy Birthday Sienna.  We love you so much.  We are so glad that you are a member of our family.  You bring so many smiles to our faces. 

Sienna's Cake

I have discovered that I really enjoy making cakes for my kids' birthdays.  I did not really have a good idea for Sienna this year, so I went for the super yummy cake on the inside and something cute on the outside.  I made a chocolate mouse that I used between the cake layers and a raspberry filling.  It was soooo yummy.  I had fun making the girlie decorations the night before her birthday.  If I was to do the blocks again I would just frost some cardboard or something, because the cake blocks were really difficult and I did not anticipate that they would crush each other when I tried to stack them.  All in all it still turned out cute.  I think Sienna liked it.  Natalia was really excited about it when she got a glimpse of it in the morning and everyone who came to the party seemed to enjoy it. 

pfjk

Natalia is coloring right now in her notebook and she is pretending to write letters.  She is staying between the lines and repeating, "pfjk" over and over.  She just has these cute little squiggle lines and she is so proud of herself. "mommy, I am writing letters.  Come, I show you...I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me."   What a cute little munchkin.

Silly Best Friends

Smile with your eyes open

These pictures just make me laugh.  The other day Natalia asked me to take her pictures.  I told her to smile and as usual, she smiles so big her eyes close.  I told her she needed to try smiling with her eyes open and I would take her picture agian.  She was really determined to keep her eyes open and smile at the same time... 

...and this is what we got!

Sienna loves to stand and she will pull herself up on everything.  The dish rack is her favorate thing to stand near.  So far she has listened well and leaved the dishes alone.  She is getting so big and changing so much.

Birthday Wishes

As to be expected, I had another wonderful birthday last week.  This year was extra great because my sister Rachel came to visit.  The trip was originally suppose to be a surprise, but Hector let the beans spill.  Since I knew about Rachel coming, but she did not know that I knew, I had some fun with her.  A couple of months ago I told her that I was going to buy tickets to Washington for my birthday and come and stay with her.  I told her the dates which coincided with her visit and totally stressed her out when I told her I was moments away from confirming my airline tickets.  I got her to break and she told me all about her secret plans.  We had a good laugh when I told her it was all a game I was playing on her.  Since I knew she was coming I was able to get us some theatre tickets for the night she flew in.  We saw Two Gentlemen of Verona.  It was not the best play we had ever seen, but we enjoyed it none the less.  Rachel was a super trooper; she had to get up at 2:00 in the morning to catch her flight and then I kept her out until about 2:00 that night at the play and milkshakes after. 

We were both really bad about remembering to take pictures during Rachel's visit, but we did have lots of fun.  We mostly hung out at home during the day.  Poor little Titus was sick; he still managed to be super cute even with his puffy eyes.  Natalia loved Rachel and Titus.  She wanted to sit next to Rachel at every meal.  We ate so many treats; milkshakes, cupcakes, chocolate strawberries, custard...just to name a few.

Making Cupcakes for FHE.  Talia loved the sprinkles

Tubby Time; Kids started crying so this is the only picture we got

Talia and Rachel eating the leftover chocolate after we finished the strawberries

Titus...we love you...sorry you were sick the whole time

Birthday Custard...Talia refused to look at the camera

Rachel was here for Valentine's and my Birthday.  We had fun making Hector a Valentine's present...we will leave out those details.  We did not make Valentine Evening plans because I had young women activities.  The lame thing about that is I want to the church, did not make plans with my husband and then none of my girls showed up.  Oh well. 

Rachel flew home on my birthday.  We all went up to the airport with her and then we went out to eat after we dropped her off.  It was a simple birthday, but it was nice to spend it with my family and the people I love most.  Hector made me a great birthday poster.  It really was funny.  I have made him candy bar posters before, but Hector took his own spin on this one.  It really did make me laugh.  He even bought a package of feminine products so he could use the word "always".   One line said he loves me because I am a cheese curl; at least that is what I thought it said.  Rachel and I laughed about that.  Found out Hector was calling me the "real cheese".  I guess that is a nicer compliment.  I loved having Rachel here.  It was fun to share all the fun with her.  I cannot wait until the next visit.  Thanks for coming Rachel.  You always make me feel like I am a priority in you life.

Chill'n

Mardi Gras

Another Mardi Gras has come and gone.  Mardi Gras always reminds me of my mission and I love to think back about all the wonderful people that I met.  I love the traditions that I learned from those people and it is fun to share that with my friends now.  My good friend Jodee was the queen of the party as she is the one who found the baby in the King Cake.  We ate tons of good food thanks to my good Cajun cooking and the great dishes everyone else brought to the party.  Natalia had so much fun helping me decorate and she kept talking about the party.  She was very disappointed that I put her to bed before the party started.  She kept sneaking out of bed, but she knew she was not suppose to be up so in her stealthy little way she would just sit at the top of the stairs in the dark.  I do not think that anyone even knew, with the exception of me, that she kept getting out of bed.  In fact, at the end of the night, Hector commented, "The girls did really well with all the noise, I cannot believe Natalia stayed in her bed the whole time."

We even had a less than three week old get in on the Mardi Gras action.  Olivia was the youngest lady to earn some beads.  Thanks friends for celebrating with us.  Everyone got into the fun.  My friend's kids came over the next day and they just loved the masks.  Mormon Mardi Gras is the best; so family friendly. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE

Amor,

I am thankful to have you in my life, and though lots of things have changed since we were married i.e. two wonderful little girls. I am grateful that you are still the same great person I fell in love with.  I hope you have a wonderful and enjoyable birthday.  I love you.

Hector

Babe and Dada (aka: Stephanie and Hector)

Natalia really only refers to me as Babe these days.  I guess it started because she heard Hector call me that.  She is so casual about it, we hardly notice it any more.
Natalia:  "I need to go potty, babe"
"Babe,  I need a snack"
"Can you read me a story Babe?"
We are so used to it now, and Natalia is not doing it for attention, that we forget it is not normal until someone else hears her say it.  It is really cute.  I wonder when it will fade.
Speaking of name calling; Sienna has started to talk.  She says Dada and Mama.  Mostly Dada though.   She also learned to wave a few weeks ago, so when Hector gets home from work in the afternoons she starts waving and says, "Dada, Dada, Dada!"  She is an enthusiastic waver, so it is lots of fun to watch her.  If she hears anyone say goodbye or goodnight, she starts waving.  Yesterday she heard Hector's voice on the phone and she started waving and repeating Dada.
She has really grown up lately.  She pulls herself up on anything that she can.  This includes Natalia, which I might add...Natalia is not a fan of.  She is still really happy most of the time and she loves Natalia.
Natalia, on the other hand, only loves Sienna when Sienna is confined.  When Sienna is in the high chair, they are best friends.   Natalia will tickle her toes or try to feed her food.  When Sienna is in her crib they are best friends again.  Natalia loves to go in after Sienna wakes up from a nap.  Sienna is still in the crib, so Natalia will peek at her through the rails, she will throw books into the crib, and she will do tricks on her bed so that Sienna will start laughing.   Natalia asks me to stay out so that she and Sienna can have their alone time.  I love listening to them laugh together.