Smiles!!!

I was finally able to catch Elijah smiling. He still smiles mainly at Isabella! That's, of course, who he is looking at in all of these pictures.

Time Warp

Since I've been looking through my baby book with Isabella, I came across this picture of me when I was two years old at my cousin, Liz's, baptism.


Here is Isabella wearing the exact same green dress when she was two years old!

Haircuts

I usually trim the girls hair, but every once in a while they get a professional haircut to clean up my poor cutting job. This was Sienna's second professional cut. She's not really mad. She's just engrossed in watching The Fox and the Hound 2.
The girls love going to get their hair cut because they each get a lollipop, and they get to choose something out of the treasure box. This time Sienna chose a Beanie Baby camel and Isabella chose a green braid that she can clip into her hair.

Isabella also chose a blue lollipop!

The "Wonder Pinks" and Pajama Girls

When Isabella and Sienna have their girl friends over to play, they spend the majority of the time changing their clothes multiple times. (I can only imagine what this will entail when they are teenagers!) They used to try on Isabella's various dresses, but now they like to try to find matching outfits. Isabella and her friend, Charlotte, told me that they were the "Wonder Pinks." I wasn't sure how they came up with that name.

Isabella reminded me that I told her about the time that her Aunt Katy and I dressed up as the Wonder Twins. When I was in college, my roommates and I had a Super Hero party. Katy happened to be visiting at the time, and although she was several years out of college and married, she was a good sport and dressed up with me. Mike was Mighty Mouse-complete with yellow tights!

The real Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, and Mighty Mouse

Even the little girls like to change their clothes now, too. Sienna and Lily raided Sienna's pajama drawer!
Four friends

Charlotte and Lily have a baby brother who is due to arrive in July, so hopefully, he'll be as good of friends with Elijah in a few years!

Where a Kid Can Be a Kid

It was a rainy Saturday, so Isabella asked if we could go to Chuck E. Cheese's. We hadn't been since November, so we decided to brave the birthday party crowds and have some fun !





We ended our visit with a little air hockey. It's fun now that the girls are both big enough to really enjoy these activities.

Snuggle Time

Elijah is still a very snuggly baby and falls asleep easily on my chest. I have to enjoy this time since I know it won't last forever!

Magic Mike*

Isabella's teacher asked for parent volunteers to come in and read a story. Since I didn't get to volunteer as much this year, I went in and read a story to Isabella's class. Last year Mike didn't want to just read a story, so he planted seeds with the kids. That was appropriate considering his job and that it's actually part of their curriculum. Of course, he didn't want to plant seeds again since it's mostly the same kids and teachers. Isabella's teacher was brave enough to let Mike do "whatever he wanted." So, Mike decided that he wanted to do a magic show! Mind you, he didn't know any magic tricks... He went online and bought some supplies. After a couple weeks of practicing he was ready to "work his magic!" Mike said that when he walked in, all of the kids were chanting, "Isabella's dad, Isabella's dad!" which got him pumped up!

Mike borrowed Isabella's friend, Collin's, vampire cape. (*Collin's dad came up with the name, Magic Mike) Isabella got to be the magician's assistant.

For some reason, the magic wand only worked for the magician. Every time one of the kids tried to hold it, it broke! They got a huge kick out of this.

The magic coloring book... He made the colors and then the entire pictures disappear!
Balls and cups


Coin in the hand
The magic sponge balls multiplied and disappeared!

Notice the captive audience!
Mike came up with his own trick using the magic sponge balls and a toilet paper tube.
At the end of the show, all of the kids could ask questions.

Isabella's class made Mike a special thank you note. I'm pretty sure that's a picture of the puppet theater that he sat behind and Mike's wand.
All of the kids traced their hands and said what their favorite part of the show was. Charlotte: My favorite part was holding the wand.
Jacqui: I liked the fuzzy ball trick!
Isabella: I liked when I broke the wand.
John: I liked everything!
Ben: I liked the trick with the red ball.
Sarah: My favorite part was the wand!
Collin: I liked the fuzzy ball trick.
Jenny: My favorite part was the magic wand!
Adam: I liked the wand.
Nick: I liked the broken wand!
Ryan: My favorite part was the wand.

All of the kids got to try the wand at the end which seemed to be a huge hit! Mike will have to keep practicing his act because I'd like him to do his magic show again at the girls' birthday party. There's nothing like cheap entertainment!!! If he gets really good, we can hire him out. Any takers?!?

Bikes and Baseball

Although Isabella's birthday isn't for another 7 weeks, we decided to get her a new/bigger bike as an early birthday present so she could ride it all spring and summer. She chose a Disney Princess bike with an attached bag and water bottle and streamers hanging off the handle bars. She loves it!


Mike told her that she'd go faster if she leaned forward when she was pedaling. Notice the streamers flying in the wind!!

Water break

Sienna inherited the "Crocodile Cruiser" which used to belong to Trevor and Sydney and then Isabella. She's still working on coordinating the pedaling and steering.
In addition to riding her bike over the weekend, Isabella also got in some batting practice with Mike. Since Mike played baseball for years, all of our children will learn how to play, too. We don't usually make her wear a helmet, but she just got done riding her bike and didn't want to take off her helmet.

Both Isabella and Mike stick out their tongues when they are concentrating.

See Any Resemblance?

Last night Isabella asked me to tell her stories about when I was little. I got out my baby book and showed her some pictures. When she saw this picture, she asked, "Is that Elijah?" I don't have a picture of him that totally looks like this, but he does look a lot like I did as a baby. People always wonder who our kids look like. I try to tell people that Isabella and Elijah both look like I did as a baby. It's hard to picture since they both have blond hair and blue eyes and look a lot like Mike does now. At least Sienna has brown hair and looks more like I do now. One out of three isn't too bad...

Liz-3 months

Elijah-2 months

Liz and Dad (aka Bobu)-1 month

Unfortunately, you can't enlarge this picture since I scanned it, but Elijah looks like Mike as a baby, too.

Mike-1 month