I'm 5

Sure wish I could turn 5 again.



The morning started off with a little mug o' Brian Williams for Eliza. I am appalled that NBC doesn't sell any Brian Williams gear (not even a size 5T shirt?) so like any good mother I had to take things into my own hands and have something made.



Cake batter pancakes for breakfast. Yes, they are as good as they sound.

Just your average 5 in 1, 3D princess bouncy house and water slide combo. So much fun.

As Lucas said, this party was sponsered by Pinterest. My fav was the lemon slices, blueberries and mint frozen cubes for the drinks.

I have been craving this cake since March when I first had a sample. Chocolate with peanut butter filling. Out of this world good. A quote from the evening:
"The people came to celebrate a child's 5th birthday but the left completely blown away by the beautiful AND yummy cake."
~Christina Babin July 1st, 2012
Thank you Miss Jen!

Our sweet girl opening gifts from family.

The kids even got a little crazy about the cake. We almost had to shut down the place for security reasons when the children franticially shouted at Lucas to eat specific colored dots on the cake.

12 day old Cameron wins the prize for being the youngest in attendance.

Watch out though. One day they are 12 days old and the next they think they are 21 years old. Who brought this kid?

A sweet end to the party. To overcome a traumatic experience where my older brother took my huge rainbow lollipop on my 5th birthday, I had to buy these for the guests.

I know we all say this over and over as parents, but I truly can't believe our 1st born is 5 years old. It means she is a kid. Eliza told me she is so excited to be 5 because now she can be in Kindergarten. This is a big deal my lovely little one. Enjoy the years to come.

Xoxo

Tiny Dancer

As soon as we knew we were having a girl, people started telling us how exciting it would be to have her in a dance class. Well, at least the other women in our lives did. Cute little outfits, shoes, pretty hair and the dance recitals with kids trying so hard to focus on the task at hand.

 Lucas would always say "No, she will only play soccer!"
I rolled my eyes and thought whatever happens will be fine.

 Are you kidding me? You only get one shot in life to look this cute in a dance outfit and 3 years of age is the perfect time to start. Lucas is even excited now that he sees how adorable she is. Well, actually he thinks it will help her be a more coordinated child on the ski hill. Whatever.

We started a series of ballet classes through the Boise Community Education and I couldn't be more thrilled with how well it is working out! Stay tuned for the recital in May!!!

Ski Bunny

The waiting and pep talks are a memory now...we have officially introduced Eliza to snow skiing! With a child who is slow to warm to new activities we weren't sure how she would react to the first attempt at this sport. The weather was in our favor as the sun was shinning like it was a beautiful day of spring skiing. Lucas had been introducing Eliza to her boots and skis at home. Goggles and helmets were purchased. Lucas brought a chair for her to sit on while we put her boots and skis on. We made promises of having cousin Molly on the ski hill. I had treats and Kleenex in my pockets if necessary. It all paid off because she LOVED it!!!

Of course there was a bit of whinning on the first run...

Then she begged to do it again and again and pointed to the big chair lift. "I want to go on that!"

We all ended with smiles and one exhausted 3 year old!

So you think you can sing?

This little girl of ours loves to sing. I finally captured some of her greatest hits on video. Enjoy.

This video is a collection of "ABC's", "Baa Baa Black Sheep" (my favorite is when she says "wool"), "Winkle Winkle Little Star" wrapped up with a bit of a song from swimming lessons:

When she gets tired of that same tune over and over again, she turns to the song my mom used to sing to us and now I sing to Eliza before she goes to sleep, "Bayou, Bayou Baby Girl". This about drove my family crazy when we were at the cabin because she would sing all day long. Notice how she yells at our dog Henry and Lucas falls asleep.

Fear Factor with Santa

We survived a trip to see Santa at the mall! Last year Eliza was all smiles for the camera while sitting on Santa's lap. After the first year of life, children develop a sense of fear, which is a good and bad thing. Bad if you are a man dressed as Santa. I couldn't help but think how our experience was straight out of the movie "Christmas Story."

We were the second people in line once Santa started taking visitors. The first girl, maybe about 4, was clinging to mom and dad. Well, Santa and his helpful assistant spent 10 minutes playing a little game consisting of: Santa leaving...calm child...act like you are taking a picture of only her and then Santa sneaks in behind just in time for the photo they take for $20. Cute, well thought out, everyone would get this treatment. No.

As we enter the arena, Eliza immediately starts crying and clinging (despite pointing to him a minute ago saying "Santa!" for the first time). We look at the moving snowmen hoping for distraction. Nope. We sit on a stool near Santa and try to read a book. I try to move her near him but fear sets in. Finally Santa tells me:

"You gotta just do it Mom, I have a whole bunch of kids waiting in line."

Seriously? Well here you go...I hope she doesn't bite you with her 4 1/2 teeth.

I think it was because I didn't pay for their pictures and took my own. Who knows. Merry Christmas!

It is a winter wonderland around here, I love it! Although the temps. are really cold (our high is supposed to only be 12 degrees one day this week) the snow is falling and that means we should be skiing soon! I also just realized we will need to get a sled for Eliza (a.k.a. a winter wagon or "wee!"). Life is so much fun with kids. We are so fortunate.

Giving one of many kisses a day to "Me-Me"

We love the cute bear hat Claire, thank you!

Delicious Baby

I can hardly explain in words how much I love this sweet little girl of ours. Even when she has her challenging moments, the amazing moments take center stage. I don't know how many times a day I cover her in kisses and tell her "I love you!" She is absolutely delicious, I could eat her up.

Once a month I facilitate the miscarriage and infant loss support group at the hospital. This opportunity to work with families who have experienced unimaginable losses gives me a tremendous feeling of gratitude for having Eliza in our life.

There is nothing cuter then a pair of buns running to a bath! The video shows several of her latest accomplishments: walking (quickly), demonstrating her electrician skills and pointing out the light in the bathroom, saying "up" to get into the tub and peeing on the floor right before she gets in!

Hunting buddy

Lucas has been working hard to make Eliza his hunting buddy as he has been practicing calling the Elk and ducks with her. I do think she has captured the art of imitation quite well!

Hot hair and clothes

This is why dads shouldn't dress kids...I doubt the onesie over the short look will catch on. Also, if anyone has any suggestions on what to do with this wild hair let me know!

Walking!

It is official, Eliza is walking! She took her first steps on Sept. 19th and has been taking more and more each day. What a blast to see her upright instead of crawling all the time. As you can see, she is pretty pleased with her accomplishment as well.