Halloween 2011

This year Eliza was excited to be a ladybug for Halloween.  We had a similar costume for Matilda who also had a costume change into a caterpillar.  After last year’s bee costume apparently we’re all about the insects.  Eliza has so much fun trick-or-treating with the neighbors, seeing all the costumes, and, of course, getting lots of candy.  This year she got to stay out a lot later than last year so we made it through a couple full blocks of the neighborhood.
One of my favorite highlights was when it was very dark out and Eliza dropped her only sucker (still in the wrapper) and was so distraught that we couldn’t find it.  Using the light on his phone, Kirk spent about five minutes backtracking and looking for it, and Eliza was so thrilled when he did.  In fact, instead of saying “trick or treat” she told the next two houses, “Daddy found my sucker!”  Hilarious – what a hero.

The neighbor boys were ready to go!

Matilda was a very hungry caterpillar

Nick as the nicest little devil you’ll ever meet, and Jack as Spider-Man unmasked!

Our neighbor Elle was the perfect grazing cow.  I think I’d vote for this as cutest costume in the neighborhood.

Preston was a cute Mr. Potato Head

Eliza also went to the daytime version of the haunted house at the Children’s Museum with Gae and Papa.  She had a lot of fun and didn’t think it was very scary (since the lights were on, of course!).  She loved prancing around the museum in her ladybug costume.

Driving Papa in the tuk-tuk.  Who wouldn’t want a ladybug chauffeur?

Standard construction clothes, right?

Fourth of July with a Bang

Since I was 38 weeks pregnant we stayed in town this 4th of July.  We headed over to Kevin and Tammy’s for their annual firework extravaganza.  Kirk and Papa had been setting off some smaller fireworks for Eliza over the previous weeks so that she was somewhat prepared for what was to come.   There are so many fireworks to set off that our family can’t even wait for it to get dark.

I have had contractions (ugh) for the past few weeks.  I normally have about three an hour, but it can vary a lot.  While enjoying the fireworks I noticed that they were coming more and getting a bit more uncomfortable.  After waiting a while they didn’t seem to be changing so I timed them to be about 5 minutes apart.  After getting Eliza home with Gram we headed to the hospital to see if anything was going on.  They watched the contractions for a while and saw them start to taper off so we were sent home and told it would be “soon.”  Seven days later we are still waiting.

Eliza loved the fireworks that dropped the “parachute men”

The infamous Value Jet, an annual tradition of strapping fireworks to a glider for repeated launches until it breaks/melts

Daddy’s Oldest Daughter

They look alike don’t you think?

Photos taken during our 4th of July festivities.

Hoping that Daddy’s youngest daughter makes her appearance soon!

Father’s Day

Kirk spent Father’s Day working down in the basement, but he took a few days off this last week and we had one day playing all together. We called this his Father’s Day. Normally Kirk doesn’t get to go to the Children’s Museum with us so we packed up and went for a few hours. Eliza loved showing daddy all that she has found in her exploration at the museum in the past few months. There were also some things that Eliza hasn’t been able to do because of my belly like crawl through a cave, so we put those on the to-see-list for the day as well! Later in the day there was a nap involved for the whole family and then we finished it all off with Waffle Cone Wednesday at TCBY. Thank you for all you do for us! We love you and Happy Father’s Day, everyday!

We loved the new exhibit Treasures of the Earth which is were all these pictures were taken.

Memorial Day

Our neighbors got together for a little evening grill-out on Memorial Day.  It was so terribly hot that the water guns and sprinkler were a necessity for the kids.  Eliza had so much fun playing that she wouldn’t eat dinner.   It was a great way to kick off summer but we’re rooting for the temperatures to drop a little.

Locked and loaded

What a straight shooter

It’s like nineteen squirt guns at once!

You’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do ya, punk?

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee

Mother’s Day in NYC

For Mother’s Day this year, Kirk surprised me with a trip to New York for three days.  He was going to be out there for work and I was lucky enough to tag along.  I spent the days by myself (a mother’s dream!) and at night we had three date nights in a row!  It was glorious and the weather was perfect.  Our friend, Mallory, was also in NYC visiting her sister, and we were fortunate that our trips overlapped a bit so I got to hang out with her for a day of much needed girl time.  It was also great fun to browse shops and just sit and read in Central Park.

Kirk and I had some fantastic food in the evenings, including the original Shake Shack, Nirvana (Indian), Kin Shop (Thai, which Kirk raved about when it opened last Fall), and Le Parisien (French, of course, which I was craving to commemorate our trip to Paris last summer).  At Kin Shop, we enjoyed a feast featuring a fried pork belly and crispy oyster salad, soft shell crab, short ribs and noodles, pad see ew, and Thai chocolate coffee and Thai iced tea ice creams.

We also got to see a Broadway show – Anything Goes!  The show was sold out, but thanks to a generous local high school assistant principal (and a couple of his students that were no-shows), we got to see it for free the only night it was showing during our trip.  I really enjoy Cole Porter, and the show was phenomenal with spectacular singing, dancing, and comedy.  It’s currently nominated for nine Tony awards, including best revival, best actress, and best choreography.

It was also fun to see Kirk’s office after their latest move (last summer), and his co-workers through him a little baby shower while we were there, too!  I love being a mom but it always nice to get away and just be with Kirk!  

Easter 2011

For over a month Eliza would get excited whenever she saw Easter eggs, begging her daddy to hide them outside.  But Easter turned out to be quite rainy, so we had to celebrate (and let Eliza hunt for eggs) inside.  At church we celebrated our friend Tony’s baptism (perfect day for it, right?) and Eliza went to the 2 and 3 year old room for the second time.   She gets a little overwhelmed by all the kids running around, but after a few minutes of playing with the toy kitchen she really seems to settle in and interact with some of the less rowdy boys and girls.  Her favorite activity at Sunday school is sitting at the children’s table to eat a snack and drink out of a Dixie cup.  Last Sunday she had to take the cup home with her, it was so exciting.

Of course the real joy of Easter was not overlooked as we praised the risen Lord.  This year it has been great sharing our faith with Eliza, and over the last month we’ve began to pray together.   She thanks God for her food, her water, and her ice.  If we leave one of those three out we will have to pray again.  There have been times where we pray five or more times during a meal.  We’re working on praying for other things, like our family and friends.

After church we headed home to open a few Easter gifts and hunt for eggs around the house.  Eliza loved the search and finding nickels inside the eggs for her piggy bank.  Then we headed to Gram and Papa’s house for lunch with Cece (Cindy) and Steve.  We don’t get to see Cindy and Steve very often (and sadly they’ll be moving to South Carolina soon) but Eliza talks about Cece all the time – it’s hard to resist her smile and curly hair!