Alina's 4th Birthday - Sleeping Beauty Party!

Alina's 4th birthday - Sleeping Beauty party fun!

The very happy birthday girl

Sleeping Beauty party food and dessert table

Bounce house/water slide fun with little friends

Alina and Annie, best little pals

The little beauty

Food fit for a princess

She loved her Sleeping Beauty birthday cake

Making a wish

Party guests and sweet treats

Bright flowers and Sleeping Beauty figurines

Big smiles from the birthday girl

Littlest party guest, baby Cousin Brett

Opening her presents

Sweet birthday girl after a very fun day!

Happy 4th Birthday Alina!

Our adorable little four-year-old birthday girl, Alina!

Happy 4th Birthday to our littlest baby girl, Alina! It seems like such a short time ago when she was placed in our arms for the very first time. I could tell from the start that she had a special little spirit. She was the easiest baby and almost never made a fuss over anything. She was a very active and inquisitive toddler, but one thing always remained central; her thoughtful personality. Four years later and she still really is the sweetest girl with the biggest heart! She never went through terrible twos or the tantrum stage, which has been amazing for mom and dad. Her favorite saying is, "momma, no matter how big I get I will always be your baby". It gets me every time. We had a fun Sleeping Beauty theme birthday party for her last weekend with her close friends and family. She had the BEST day!

Raising her and watching her grow these past four years has brought so much joy to our lives. She loves swimming, riding her scooter and bike, playing with her princess dolls, drawing, gymnastics and finding other fun outlets to get her energy out. She is excellent at coloring and very meticulous about staying within the lines and using the brightest colors possible. She now recognizes all the letters in the alphabet and has started sounded out words and associating them to each letter. I feel like reading is on the horizon for her soon! She loves to learn, but also has such a playful spirit and thoroughly enjoys immersing herself in imaginary play. She is a great caretaker to all her dolls and toys and makes sure they never get lonely. While we celebrate four, at the same time I find myself wanting to bottle up her sweetness and adorable little high pitched girl voice. I find that we dote on the words and phrases she says because she truly has the most optimistic and positive view on the world and how things work. She is growing up so quick, but I have a feeling that her sweet nature and thoughtful spirit will always remain a central part of who she is. We love you Alina, Happy 4th Birthday!

We love you, sweet birthday princess!

Elise & Alina's New Room

Elise & Alina's new shared big girl room!

The girls are officially roommates now! This is the result of months of debating on what to do to make our tight four bedroom home work to accommodate baby brother on the way and still maintain our office work space. They both expressed excitement over the prospect of a bunk bed although initially they weren't exactly keen on sharing spaces and toys (mostly Elise, who's been used to having her own room for the past 6 years). We're happy with the end result, mainly because we found a nice quality bunk bed that works well for the space and being a twin/full combo they can grow with it over the next few years. I had to get plenty of photo documentation as this may be the cleanest we see their room EVER again...hah! We are now working on turning Alina's old room into baby brother's nursery. More photos to come once his nursery is finished. Stay tuned...

Their lovely cherry hutch and floral chic bedroom decor

More shared spaces and the view from Elise's top bunk

Happy 6th Birthday Elise!

Celebrating with our big 6-year-old birthday girl, Elise!

Six years ago our oldest child, Elise, was born and she’s turned our world into something new ever since. We’ve experienced all the first big milestones with her and have watched her grow from a tiny newborn into a very intelligent, driven and fun-loving young girl. Although she’s only 6 years old, I feel like she’s matured so much that she’s 6 going on pre-teen. She loves school, reading, swimming (just about every day she can), riding her bike, golf, gymnastics, legos and play dates with her little friends; and I feel like the friends part will start taking over pretty soon, so we certainly plan to cherish these last few years that we still have with her as mommy and daddy’s best friend. 

Elise is such a little character with a very independent spirit when it comes to what she likes and wants. We are rarely able to influence her or change her mind/opinion; the girl is steadfast as far as her determination goes. I used to think it was more of a challenging quality, but over these past years I've learned to embrace the fact that she is so decisive and driven. She is naturally a bit shy, but she never refuses to participate or embrace a new experience, which makes me very proud. It's her high level of determination that drives her to be brave and speak up rather than retreating when faced with uncomfortable situations. She is one tough girl. She celebrated her birthday party earlier this month and truly adored sharing the day with all her wonderful friends and family! Our girl is growing up so fast. We love you Elise, Happy 6th Birthday!

Enjoying her Wacky Tacky party with great little friends

Happy Easter 2015!

Easter egg hunt fun 2015

Pretty painted Easter eggs

The girls enjoyed their fried egg bunny rabbits

The look of egg discovery

The hunt kept them very entertained

The girls were very excited about their Easter egg hunt this year. The morning began with fried egg bunny rabbits, and a special note from the Easter Bunny telling them that the egg hunt was a team effort this year, so basically two eggs in each hiding spot. Even Mr. Bunny is aware that sisters can always improve upon their sharing skills - Hah! While the girls found PLENTY of eggs and goodies, I think their favorite part was the cute fluffy toy chicks they got. The Easter sugar goodness should last them well until the next big holiday. Happy Easter 2015!

The BIG Easter baskets goods

In sync with their Easter finds

The bunny left plenty of treats along with fuzzy chicks

Look who found the Easter Bunny's special basket

Enjoying the bounty of Easter goodies

Merry Christmas 2014!

Two very excited little girls on Christmas morning 2014

Presents and big smiles

These cuties just squeaked by onto Santa's nice list...whew

Sweet sisters in their pretty Christmas dresses

Miss Alina trying to guess what's inside

Gift opening galore

Christmas morning 2014 finally arrived! The girls not so patiently counted down until the big day and were thrilled to find that mom, dad, the grandparents, aunts & uncles AND Santa came through in the best way possible to bring all the gifts that their little hearts desired. They were all smiles throughout the morning and discovered that Santa is really hip to the Frozen craze. It's not like he has much choice, and he's smart enough to know that millions of little girls can't be wrong! He brought the girls the sparkling princesses that they had been longing for and of course some other fun surprises.

The girls loved opening all their gifts and then getting to go to the grandparents houses and open even more. The question now is, what do we do with all this stuff!?! Toy boxes are filling up, closets overflowing, books shelves packed to the brim. Even after donating old toys and relocating others to the grandparents we are still maxed out. It's amazing just how much our house has transformed in the thirteen years we've lived here. There have been so many great memories and this Christmas is yet another to add to that ever growing list. I always say how much I want to move, but I know when that day comes it will be bittersweet and we will miss what we had here, what we created, and where we were that one Christmas back in 2014.

Alina had the happiest smile all morning; Santa delivered!

Mommy with the two sweetest gifts of all

Daddy's girls

Christmas at Nana & Papa's and fun with the cousins

Little snake charmers

Christmas 2014 at Grandma & Grandpa's

The Girls Summer Birthday Party! Featuring: Frozen & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

The adorable birthday girls! Elise as Elsa and Alina as Minnie Mouse

 

Elise's lovely Frozen birthday cake

Alina's fun Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake

The girls were overjoyed by their cakes, balloons and gifts!

Our attempt at getting the kids together for a photo...haha

Little party animals having fun

The bounce house at Party Place

Our girls had the greatest time celebrating their birthdays last weekend with one big summer birthday party extravaganza. We celebrated Elise turning 5-years-old and Alina turning 3-years-old. It's really hard to believe how fast the time has flown by. We decided to host at Party Place in Roseville rather than our home, as we've done for the past few years, and let me tell you it was well worth it. There was way more space for guests, plenty of fun activities for the kids and best of all, very little cleanup to do when the party ended. It was fun to watch all the kids bounce around entertaining themselves. There was a bounce house, air hockey table, slides, video games and even a movie room. The girls loved getting to spend time with their guests and especially all their little preschool friends. 

We had a double birthday theme going this year; Frozen and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Elise is all about Elsa, Olaf and Frozen (what kid isn't, right?) and wished upon a star for momma to bring  snowflakes and winter wonderland in the middle of July...wish granted. Alina has been obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse since she was a baby, and she still loves it just as much to this day as she did then. It's been well documented just how much she loves Mickey and Minnie. Nobody is allowed to dare pause the show or change the channel while she is watching. Of course, both girls insisted on dressing up as their favorite Disney characters, Elsa and Minnie Mouse. Momma made that wish a reality too, and they both looked super cute. They were also big fans of their birthday cakes! I loved their reactions upon seeing their cakes; they were beaming ear-to-ear. When it came time for everyone to sing happy birthday and eat the cake they were both so incredibly happy. The smiles continued throughout the day. What a fun celebration! Thanks again to everyone who shared the day with us. Happy 5th Birthday Elise and Happy 3rd Birthday Alina!

Enjoying birthday wishes with family and friends

The girls with their friends, plus the movie room

Little cousins playing a game of air hockey

Olaf and Frozen balloons

The two birthday girls opening gifts at home

Love Alina's excited expression here

The grandparents enjoying time with the birthday girls

Alina has just a slight Minnie Mouse obsession!