this is the life...

Jack is playing hookey with Nani and swimming naked on a hot, summer day...makes me happy and...


(Does it count as skinny-dipping if he's wearing water wings?!?)

Party prep...

Banner & cupcake garland: check.


Cake bunting: check.


Piñata, streamers, menu: check.

Ready for the party...just not ready for my baby girl to turn 1 year old already...

A first and hopefully last...

Baby girl will have surgery on Friday morning...it was a long day at Children's Hospital, but as usual, she made us proud with her smiles to everyone and her happy demeanor...


She has a foreign body stuck in the palm of her hand from a cut that happened almost 6 weeks ago. The procedure to remove it will be fairly minor, and hopefully less than an hour, but that doesn't mean I won't be a nervous wreck until it's over...

My poor baby girl...having her first surgery before her first birthday...my head hurts, my tummy hurts...and I just want her hand to be healed up and better...

Test-cake success

The semi-rainbow cake was a success...and fun. I can't wait for the party...

First ponytail...

A look i'll dub: Pebbles meets Lila...





are hair lumpies in?!?

Iced...

...but not pretty. Might need to work on some icing techniques...

Rainbow cake: testing phase

Thought I'd make a test run of Lila's rainbow birthday cake before the big day in an attempt to avoid a fail-cake. So far so good...cakes baked, leveled, and cooling in preparation for the icing...here goes nothing.





Note: the colors are pink, turquoise, and purple, although they don't show up well. I need to get some vibrant colors of the rainbow for the real deal!

first field trip...

In continuation of my previous post subject: time moves too fast…

Jack has his first “field trip” today, for which they are walking to a nearby ice cream shop. I’m so excited for him! What a fun adventure. Field trip days are the best.

He also received his paperwork for preschool, which will start soon. When did this little boy get old enough for preschool?!

I remember when he was a baby and I thought, “I wonder what he’ll sound like. I wonder how he’ll act, and look, and think, and be…”. Now these wonders are pushed further into the future to a place where he’s a big boy and I wonder what sports he’ll play, and what he’ll enjoy, and what subjects he’ll like, and, again, what he’ll sound like, and think, and be...

Little boy, little man.

soon to be 1...

It’s cliché, and I hate clichés, but I cannot believe how fast this last year has gone. In a flash, in an instant, right before my eyes, my baby girl is on the verge of 1 year old…

She’s a crawling and standing machine who (unlike her brother) loves to splash in the bath, and drink the bath water. She blows kisses and hides behind her blanket for peek-a-boo, and always claps in excitement when she appears. She falls asleep snuggling her blankie and
wakes up happier than anyone I know, as she sits in her bed in the morning, talking to herself contently until we scoop her up.

She eats almost anything, but always shares bites. She’s transitioning to whole milk and away from bottles and 3 hour schedules and baby-ness.

She’s in love with her brother, and vise versa. I’m the most proud when he is so kind and gentle with her, and insistent that he hug and kiss her and even wrestle with her (softly!). Jack loves to play with her, and they’ve made a fun game of crawling around the kitchen island and laughing upon finding the other. I hope they never tire of playing together...although that's probably a hope made in vain.

Nothing in my life is more endearing than watching my kids play together and love one another.

Time has gotten away from me this past year, and I can’t wink and ask it nicely to rewind, or start over, or slow down. It won’t listen to me, and that's okay. Seeing as I have no control it's a "let go and let God..." situation.

So in lieu of mourning the rapidness of time, I will try to celebrate it all: the past year, the baby girl turning into a little lady, the little boy turning into a protective brother...the rainbow of happy moments we've had, and to come.

PS: Lila's first birthday is a rainbow celebration...I don't know what I ever did before Pinterest!

back to reality...

I wore flip-flops and comfy shorts for an entire week and it was glorious. Now, it's back to work and school and schedules and real life...

Luckily, I come back with happy memories of first fish caught...

...first vacations enjoyed...

...wrestling, superheros, and lots of jail-time...

...first swims...

and pretty in pink sunsets...