Opening (MANY) presents!

Olivia received a lot of presents! CK and I try to get the girls one or two gifts for their birthdays since we know they are well loved and receive a lot of gifts from Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles and friends. This year was no different and Olivia literally had a tower of gifts! After dinner we got busy with opening presents. She started with her gifts from Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Jay and her three cousins. They gave her a "Fill and Spill" purse that included toy "coins," cell phone and keys! She LOVES the phone, of course! They also gave her a "Farm Sounds Block Set" that makes animal noises when you line up the right halves of the animals. Another big hit. Olivia finally continued opening presents. In fact, she is very much like Sofia in that she opens each present and has no real interest in continuing to open presents, but would rather play with her brand new toy! She opened the rest of her gifts and is a very lucky girl. Her Grandma and Grandpa gave her an adorable raspberry dress and sweater, ballet slippers (that HAD to be worn immediately) and a nursery songs book, she opened a bubble blowing shark and bubbles from my college friend Sian (who also sent Sofia a cute horse insulated bag), her Aunt Becky and family sent glow-in-the-dark stars as they did for Sofia (which I plan to add to her ceiling this weekend), her awesome babysitter Miss Megan gave her a coloring book and a cute doll (she loves dolls). She also opened her gifts from Uncle Rob and Aunt Margee, a matching Denali Park vest just like Sofia's, and she opened her gifts from us which included pool toys and a Thomas Train magical book. She opened her gift from Grandpa Joe, a pink swing just like the one he has at his house, which we know will be greatly enjoyed! Both girls tried to get into it while it rested on the ground. I know it will be well loved! Finally, Aunt Shirl and Uncle Steve sent a wood biplane with two wood people and a wood catapult with ping pong balls to sling. Of course, Sofia took control of the catapult, but Olivia was very happy to play with the "Pa Pa" as she calls it! What great gifts and she loved opening all of her new toys! She went to bed a very happy and lucky little girl!

Look at all those gifts!!

Opening her first gift - from her Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Jay and cousins - Farm Sound Blocks! A new favorite!

Sofia "helping" Olivia with her "Fill and Spill" purse and goodies

Her new dress and sweater from Grandma and Grandpa! So adorable!

Fun toys from Aunt Shirl and Uncle Steve! She especially loves the "Papa" (aka airplane), as does CK!

Birthday Celebration!

Since Olivia's birthday fell on Sofia's second day of school, Sofia was convinced that she was going to miss the party! So, I told her Olivia and I would join her for lunch at school and told her our plan to have dinner and cake with Grandma that evening. After dropping Sofia off at school, Olivia and I took Buddy for a walk and did our usual thing before meeting Sofia at school. Now that she's in 1st grade, Sofia is in a new class with mostly different kids. Olivia and I sat next to Sofia at the lunch table and I was surprised that none of the kids talked to me or wanted to play with Olivia. Last year, the kids, especially the girls wanted to play with Olivia and asked me a million questions. I think by six kids are just more aware and sometimes more shy, especially around adults. We had a fun lunch and Olivia loved hanging out with Sofia and her classmates. Sofia was so happy that we came, so it was all worth it.

After lunch, we returned to the house and Olivia took a good nap. While she napped, I made her birthday cake. I figured she loves puppy dogs, so picked out a buttermilk cake recipe from Martha Stewart and pulled out an article I had on how to decorate dog cupcakes. I used the 6" cake pan so it wasn't too big. I also decided to use a raspberry filling for the center of the cake and made a homemade buttercream. For the dog ears, I warmed up several caramels and then rolled them out and cut them to shape. For the eyes, I found small peanut butter cups and a large dark chocolate chip for the nose. For the tongue I warmed up two strawberry Starbursts and combined them. It really turned out cute, although the tongue and ears started to fold down once they warmed up. Olivia helped me decorate, and loved to try the caramel and Starbursts. Of course, she liked both. It was fun to make, but also a bit tiring and took longer than expected.

I picked Sofia up from school and she and Olivia played before CK arrived home with Grandma! We welcomed Grandma and got her all settled in before dinner. Both girls were so excited to have Grandma visit and we felt special that she would spend Olivia's birthday with us! I wanted to make something that I knew Olivia liked to eat and decided on quiche lorraine and broccoli. It was good, although she didn't eat much since she likes to snack in the afternoon, especially before dinner.

Olivia loved her cake and kept saying "Puppy!" while pointing at her cake, which was cute. When it was time to eat cake, we put the puppy cake on the table and took pictures of the girls and Grandma and the girls with CK and I. Every picture has at least one of the girls getting frosting or already licking it off their finger! We sang Happy Birthday to Olivia and let her blow out the candle, which took a few tries but she finally got it. The cake was really good and we all loved the raspberry filling. Of course, the girls loved the caramel ears and both had a little bit since they were both so big!

At lunch with sister

Watching her cake bake

Helping me roll out the caramel ears....she also liked to taste test!

The finished product!

The girls with CK and Grandma!

With Grandma and me....Sofia is eating frosting

Our big two year old!

Ready to blow out her candle

Wonder what her wish was....

The four of us!

Olivia at 2 years old!

Our girl is TWO and so much fun! She's still a complete ham every time a camera is pointed at her and also loves walking around with one of Sofia's cameras saying "Say Cheese" and pretends to take pictures. She is 34 3/4 inches tall (83rd percentile) and weighs 32.1 pounds (95th percentile) and wears 2T clothes, although she will likely be moving up to 3T soon, especially in tops, which are getting both snug and short. She is still a huge shoe fan and loves wearing any pair of shoes that she can find and will often come up to me and say "Mommy shoes?" which means she wants to wear the shoes I'm wearing. Every morning she picks out the shoes she wants to wear and usually changes shoes throughout the day too. She also has to pick out what she wants to wear and will not let me put on her clothes until she's completely out of her pjs and just wearing a diaper.

Olivia adores her big sister and loves to play dinosaurs with her, taking out each little plastic dinosaur and lining them up next to each other. She also loves sitting at the craft table and coloring and is excellent at taking the lids off pens and putting them back on, which I'm thankful for so we don't have dried out pens. She doesn't have a lovey or favorite toy, although she loves "reading" to herself in her room and also loves being read to before naps/bed or anytime. She's working on talking more and tries saying more words now. She loves to say "I need to see" when I'm cooking or when I'm pointing something out to Sofia. She also says "I need one/some" or "I need a piece" which really means "I want a piece of gum". She loves gum and mints and would eat both all day long if she could! She still doesn't try saying "cow" ("boo"), "horse" ("neigh"), "cat/kitty" ("mauw"), or any other animals other than "puppy". She's great at "Hi" and "Bye Bye" and when asked how old she is, she says "Two." Even though she may not be as verbal as Sofia was at this age, she can get her point across very well!

She's just starting singing and loves "Old McDonald Had a Farm" which she calls "EIEIO" and will often say "Mommy, I want EIEIO" and she'll sing along to it as best she can. She also will walk around during the day and just start signing it, which means she carries the tune and gets the "EIEIO" parts right but then will say "BOO, BOO, BOO" to the tune. It's very cute. She's such a fun, sweet, happy girl who goes with the flow and is so much fun to be around all day!

Our sweet girl and her stuffed puppy she sleeps with each night

Such a big girl!

Love this look!

Checking out her toes

Serious face

Smily face

Silly face

Reading is her favorite and this book, "The Little Red Train" is her favorite

First Day of First Grade

Yesterday was Sofia's first day of first grade! On Friday, we found out Sofia's teacher for the year will be Mrs. Schultz, who I've heard very good things about and who we met Friday afternoon and are excited by her enthusiasm and personality. We also met some of Sofia's classmates and there were several new names and faces, as well as kids who Sofia already knows from the other two Kindergarden classes. It seems like it will be a good class and Sofia seems to be looking forward to the year.

We woke Sofia up at 6:45am, which seemed like a rude hour to be awake but we wanted to be sure Sofia was awake and ready for school and also wanted to get a few "first day of school" pictures before 7:45 when school starts. The night before, Sofia and I picked out her dress and I got her lunch all set up for the big day, probably the last time we'd be that prepared. Sofia got dressed and ate pancakes and a scrambled egg for her first day of school, while Olivia joined her at the breakfast table. We took a few pictures of the girls and of Sofia and then we all loaded up in the car and drove to school. On the way to the car, Sofia grabbed her lunch and backpack which caused Olivia to fuss and say "I need mine." So, we got Olivia's little backpack out of her closet, she put it on her back and was happy to join in the fun.

The first day is always crazy, so we parked at the church next door and walked over together. We walked Sofia into school and to her classroom. Olivia walked between CK and I wearing her little backpack, like her big sister. It was a much different feeling than the year before. Last year, both CK and I were very emotional and sad to let our little girl out into the big world. This year, we were both much more excited for Sofia and the promise of a fun and successful school year. We arrived at Mrs. Schultz class and said hello to other parents and kids before giving Sofia a big hug and a few kisses and telling her to have a great day.

After school, Sofia was very excited by her teacher and class and told us all about her day. She also professed that she "loves" Mrs. Schultz which is fantastic! We are all excited by a fun school year ahead!

Our big 1st grader with her Papa, Olivia and Buddy

The girls and me - I love how happy and excited Sofia is!

All set for her first day!

Such a big girl!

Heading down the hall to Mrs. Schultz' classroom

Sofia and Mrs. Schultz

Sofia at her desk

The circus

Before leaving for Mexico Sofia's friend Ainsley's mom and I decided to go to the circus together. We picked Friday, the day after getting back from Mexico, and Traci agreed to buy the tickets while we were gone. I'd sort of forgotten about it all when I received a text from Traci on Thursday evening while standing in the customs line. While CK drove us home, I called Traci and we agreed that the girls and I would be at here house at 8:15am so we could all go together.

The next morning it was hard to get up and going, but we did it and weren't terribly late to Traci's house. We loaded up and headed toward Ft Worth. Traci's dad met us and went along since he's taken Ainsley to the circus every year and didn't want to miss out this year. We made it to the convention center, went inside and walked down to the floor where a huge bounce house was set up, clowns were there to be met, a trapeze artist was showing kids how she climbs a silk rope and one of the circus elephants was "painting." It was really great to be so close and Sofia loved watching the elephant while being so close. Olivia was desperate to go into the bounce house but I was uncomfortable with letting her go since I could easily see getting separated from her. After a bit, we headed to our chairs and found that they were at the first row above the stairs, which sounded great but the safety rail was right in the middle of the kids' eye sight. While in our seats, there were tons of vendors walking around selling snow cones, cotton candy, toys, etc. Sofia wanted cotton candy so I gave her $10 and sent her down the stairs to the walkway. She came back and said that it cost $14!! Yikes! Of course, it came with a "souvenir" hat which was cheap and ugly, but I gave her more money and she came back happy and shared with Olivia.

Traci talked to the ushers and we moved to the lower level and had an excellent view of the circus! This year's theme was Dragons and I was interested to see how it would be, since our first and only other visit to the circus (in Atlanta with Cynthia and Jay when Sofia was around 1) felt a bit overwhelming and crazy. The show got started and it was just a lot of fun! The ring leader was fantastic and the music and show were great! My favorites were the lions and tigers, although there were a few times that I was a bit nervous for the tamer since two lionesses got a bit frisky and I'm not so sure it was part of the show. The elephants are always a huge favorite too and they were amazing! But, everything was such fun and incredible! At one point, they brought out a huge steal ball and nine motorcyclists got into it - it was crazy! Sofia was mesmerized throughout the show while Olivia danced her way through it all (and ate cotton candy).

At intermission, we went down to the souvenir area and I told the girls they could pick one thing. Sofia picked a baby tiger stuffed animal while I helped Olivia pick an elephant bowl. It came with a snow cone but it was so chilly inside that I told the lady I only wanted the bowl. We also picked out a container of popcorn since we were all a bit hungry. Both girls were very excited with their souvenirs.

We returned to our seats and watched the rest of the show, which ended with a group of "dragons" and one huge dragon. It was very well done and a lot of fun. After, we made our way to Papa's Burgers where we all ate some real food. We made it home around 3:30 and Sofia and CK headed out together to watch "Planes" the new animated movie that came out. Olivia took a much needed nap while I unpacked from Mexico. It was a very fun day!

The show about to get started

The grand entrance

The girls at intermission - Sofia wearing the "souvenir" hat

The elephants

Just amazing!

Last Days in Mexico

For our last full day at the villa, we decided to do what we'd been doing - eat, swim, read and relax. We didn't have to leave for the airport on Thursday until 1pm, so we had most of the next day too, but his was our last full day.

After breakfast, we all swam and enjoyed the pool with the kids jumping back and forth between the hot tub and the pool. While Olivia and Antonio napped, I read my book while CK and Sofia continued to swim. Before long, I looked down and saw both of them asleep on the lounge chairs in the shade.

For dinner, we had four chicken breasts left over as well as random other goodies. Marco devised a dish that included a lot of the left overs and it turned out to be delicious! After, we were all a little hungry for something sweet (the Oreos and cookies were long gone), so we ordered room service and had slices of cheesecake, chocolate cake, and carrot cake brought up as well as a pot of decaf coffee. It was really fun! We had planned to watch a movie that night, but were all too tired. Over the week, we'd watched two movies: Star Trek and Silver Lining Playbook. Both were very good and a lot of fun to watch. Instead, we all went off to bed after a fun week together at the villa.

Our sweet girl

CK and Sofia (under the towel) napping

Under the towel....

The view from the balcony with everyone hanging out in the water

CK and Sofia - one of my favorite photos

Marco's delicious "experimental" dinner

Our last morning...drawing with ice

Sofia tracing Antonio's hand

Olivia preferred to color in the squares

The Beach

Since arriving, Sofia asked every day when we planned to go to the beach. We decided to go on Tuesday morning so we could spend most of the day enjoying the ocean. We got the kids ready and Sofia was so excited to get going. We took a cab to Pueblo Bonito Blanco, a sister hotel that is near the marina and right on the water. We were able to use all of their facilities, so we gathered beach towels and headed to the beach where we were able to sit under a cabana on lounge chairs. It felt a lot hotter down in town than it did at the villa, but we were soon all in the Sea of Cortez. Sofia was in immediately and she and CK swam out together as far as they could. Olivia would go in, but only when I held her which was fine except there was a pretty steep drop off so that I could stand fine and then couldn't and I can't really swim and hold her out of the water for long. So, although she kept pointing to go deeper, we stayed in the shallow area just past the wave break.

Sofia soon discovered that if she floated and let the waves take her, she would get pushed up onto the sand and then pulled back in for the next wave. I actually tried it with her and it was really fun. Sofia did this for a long time while Olivia sat up on the lounge chairs with Antonio and had a snack. Soon, Sofia was playing in the sand and making up stories. Meanwhile, there were the constant hawkers of goods walking around trying to grab our attention to buy blankets, jewelry, bags, cover-ups, hair braids, henna tattoos, bracelets, carved statues of fish, etc. I think I must have said "no, gracias" ever minute. While sitting on the lounge chairs, I did see a blanket that I really liked, so ended up "negotiating" from $30 to $20, which I'm sure is still over-priced but it makes a great reminder of our trip. While looking at all of the vendor's blankets, about six other vendors came over with their goods and CK kept calling me "a mark" from then on.

We ate lunch in the outdoor cafe by the pool and then got onto the glass-bottom boat for a tour of the bay. Marco needed to wait for a call, so he stayed back while the rest of us walked down the beach to get onto the boat. It was not very organized and we weren't sure exactly what we were doing, but we finally loaded onto a boat and headed to the arch. It was marginally cooler on the ocean and there were a ton of boats, jet skis and other water-traffic around while we went. He took us to a spot where tons of people were swimming and jumping into the water from a rock and we saw tons of fish (thanks to the food he threw out), then to "lover's beach" and on to the arch. It was pretty rough by the arch, but I got a few cute pictures. We also saw sea lions, which really were stinky, but Sofia loved them and Olivia kept saying "I see. I see." We started heading back and he asked if anyone wanted to get off on that first beach to snorkel for an hour. CK and Sofia decided to get off and try it and I was going to get off too, but there was absolutely no shade and I knew Olivia and I would not only be very hot and uncomfortable but would get sunburned. We headed back to the hotel with Stacy and Antonio.

Once at the hotel, Stacy, Marco and Antonio headed to the villa. Stacy had gotten her fill of sun. Olivia went straight for the pool and used the stairs to walk in the water, jump and swim to me, then go back, get all the way out and try it again. She did this over and over and several people came over to ask how old is was and how she learned to swim so well. After Sofia and CK made it back, the four of us swam in the pool and cooled off for a bit before we took a cab back to the villa. It was a fun day and it was interesting to do something different.

Three excited kids ready for the beach

CK and Sofia hit the water

The view down the beach

There they go

Olivia in the sand

Olivia and I in the water with Sofia heading back out

Marco, Stacy, Antonio, me and the girls on the sand

Snack time.

Olivia and me hanging out on the lounge chairs

The hawkers trying to sell their goods

Lunch

Heading out on the glass-bottom boat tour

Sofia

Looking at one of the beaches

The arch

CK and Sofia by the arch

CK and Sofia on the beach with their snorkel gear

Heading back to the hotel with a tired girl

The view of Cabo from the ocean

Marco making his delicious "fried spaghetti" with our leftovers

CK and the girls in an after-dinner swim

A group shot....my camera would not flash with the timer, so CK got out and took the picture.