Birthday Dinner

We finally had our delayed birthday dinner with our immediate family for A & C last night.  They were very much looking forward to it, and thankfully everyone is 100% healthy again in our household!  We simply went to Hola near our house for dinner, which is a loud Mexican restaurant that handles groups and birthdays well.  All of the kids did really well all through dinner, eating a ton.  Unfortunately, when the cakes came out, so did 5 very loud waiters singing a birthday song, which scared the girls pretty good.  The Susie Cake creations were delicious though, and I didn't have any mess to clean up afterwards...yeah!!

  

 This was the second before the singing began....

 The girls got to open their gifts from Nana and Granddad after dinner- a Little People school house and school bus for them to practice playing with before they start their big girl school in the fall.  Great idea Nana!

 The girls received beatiful personalized shams along with their new bedding from Lee Lee and Grandpa Bill...the pillows haven't made it to their beds yet, but they've hauled them around the house everywhere they've played today!

 Tia Lindsay and Tio Jonathan gave them these adorable personalized sleep mats.  These will allow us to practice nap times anywhere, to best prepare them for school in the fall.  Thank you!!

 The twins:

Happy Birthday Hassan!

Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Hassan!  We hope that you're having a fantastic day today!  We're sure that Tia Erica is making you feel extra special!

Colbie Eileen at Three Years Old

To mark their three year birthday, I will make note of some key favorites and personality traits of each girl.

 Colbie Eileen
Colbie is quite the active little girl right now, requesting to play catch frequently.  She begs to get on her scooter daily, and wants to keep going and going and going for hours.  She is getting quite fast at running, and Josh swears she has an "amazing swing" already.   Much of these passions seem to stem from her undying love for her big brother Jake of course.  She wants to be by his side at all times when he is home, and literally repeats every single thing that comes out of his mouth.  When he is at school however, she is glued to the side of Addison, constantly asking if she wants to play or do a project with her.  It's pretty safe to say that she isn't super excited about being alone at this time, and would much rather be playing with others.  She seems to have quite an imagination too, much like Jake, coming up with complicated story lines for her dolls every day.  Colbie is very shy around new people just like her sister however, and puts on quite a show (i.e. tantrum) when I leave her somewhere.  Speaking of tantrums...hers are quite epic, and daily at this point.  She can keep one going from the time we leave the house, through the drop off to Jake's school and back home again (that's a good 30 minutes).  The best is what can ignite said episode- nearly all of them are minuscule things- a seat belt that has a slight twist in it, a pair of pants that are not the right color or opening her string cheese just a centimeter too far.  Colbie IS the sillier of the two girls though, constantly trying to get a laugh with silly dances or funny words.  She is just Ms. Personality already!  When asked about some of her favorite things, here is what she said:
Animal: zebra (??)
Color: pink
Food: grapes and chocolate
Ice cream flavor: strawberry
Adventure spot: zoo
Park activity: Swings
Sport: Soccer and basketball
Characters: Max and Ruby, and the Peanuts crew
What she wants to be when she grows up: teacher
Craft: Play doh

Medical stats:
Height: 35.5 inches (10th percentile, just where Jake was at 3 years old)
Weight: 26lb, 11 oz (11th percentile)

 Here's my girl Colbie:

  

Addison Rose at Three Years Old

To mark their three year birthday, I will make note of some key favorites and personality traits of each girl.

Addison Rose
Addison is technically "Baby A" in twin speak, and therefore is supposed to be the larger and slightly more advanced twin.  Yet in actuality, she is the smaller and slightly more delayed of the two girls.  She is incredibly shy, but very head strong already.  Addy will hold her ground when she wants her way, and will scream until her voice goes hoarse if the negotiating of her sister or myself isn't going in her favor.  She is the more cuddly of the two girls at this moment though, giving me dozens of hugs a day, and now just learning a good pucker for some kisses.  While she is obsessed with her big brother, she is content to play on her own when Colbie and Jake buddy up, often pulling out a puzzle or game and working through it on her own.  Addy is very good at recognizing quite a few letters already, especially finding "A"s in everything she looks at.  She has the silliest sneer/grin that she pulls out often.   When asked about her favorite things, this is what she reported:
Animal: Kitty Cat
Color: "Blue...oh and yellow"
Food: Chocolate
Ice cream flavor: Blue Sherbert
Adventure spot: The zoo
Thing to do at the park: The SLIDE!
Sport: basketball
Fruit: Banana
Characters: Max and Ruby
Craft: Glue and play doh

Her medical stats are:
Height: 35.5 inches (10th percentile)- this is the exact same as Jake at 3 years old
Weight: 26lb, 3oz (7th percentile)

For some context, here are Josh's stats at 3 years old: weight- 24lb, 2oz and height- 34.5 inches....hmmm...

Here is my girl Addy Rose:

 

 I still see a whole lot of  Josh in little Addy.  What do you think?

Sprouts School Celebration

We had a little Sprouts school celebration for C & A yesterday.   One of the Moms made them birthday crowns that they actually put on.  The special yellow happy birthday chairs make any birthday extra special. 

 

Build-A-Bear Birthday Treat

Our very quick Build-A-Bear visit on Sunday was pretty hilarious.   The kids ended up picking the following:  a monkey dressed as a 49 football player (Colbie), another monkey dressed as a soccer player (Addison) and a Captain American bear dressed up as a Warriors basketball player.   We've got three sports fans so far in this fam!  I continue to be impressed with this store- the customer service really doesn't make each kid believe that their bear/animal is extra special and personalized.  The fact that they get to operate the stuffing machine to fill the bear is super fun, and then the accessories area is out of control.  It's a great place for a once a year special stop!

 

 

  

DIY Dollhouse Gift

I was racking my brain for good ideas for gifts for the girls for their birthday this year and I was having a hard time coming up with anything good.   We have so much stuff between the three kids, more toys didn't seem like the best option.   So, I decided to convert the little house bookshelf that we inherited from Aunt Gail and Cousin Rachel into a real dollhouse as their big gift this year.  The girls have a lot of dolls and stuffed animals, but the ones that they play with the most, every single day, are these 12 inch Corelle dolls from Aunt Carol and from Tia Lindsay.  The dollhouse fits them well, but finding furniture was another story.   They are technically the same height at barbie, but definitely wider, so much of that furniture doesn't work.  The American Doll furniture is too large, as most of those dolls are closer to 14-16 inches tall.  Furthermore, the traditional dollhouse furniture is made for dolls between 8-10 inches tall.  So....after much searching online, 4 trips to 4 different Targets and 2 different Toys R' Us, this is what I came up with.  It still need a few finishing touches, but so far it has kept the girls quite entertained.   Phew!!

Before:  Very cute bookshelf that was jammed with stuff

 After:

 Bedrooms- I found cute contact paper in the $1 bins at Target and little beds for the Target Our Generation Doll line.   I painted some little side tables from the $1 bin at Michaels, and made some lamps out of egg cartons and dowels. 

 Kitchen: I used Mod Podge and stuck some craft paper up on the wall.  The fridges are Barbie.  The table was a gift to the girls awhile ago.

 Office: Duct Tape rug, Barbie desk, painted Michaels box for the little bench, and an old pencil box for the bookshelf.

 Living Room:  I made the rug and pillow with needlepoint (thanks to my monthly Darby Smart craft box for the perfect yarn).  The couch is Barbie, and the wallpaper is again just paper glued on.

 Bathroom: The one thing I found at the dollhouse store is this adorable blue tile paper for the floor.  I used the extra to put in the shower for the Barbie shower to match.   The bathtub is some random thing I found around the house, and the picture is just cutout from the Paper Source catalog.