Elise's First Day of First Grade

Another big milestone in the bag! Elise began her first day of first grade on August 19, 2015, and I am so proud of our girl. She is so open to change and new experiences and even though she's a bit shy, she always give me the look as if to say, "mom, I got this". I was a very shy kid and more than likely cried and was anxious on my first day of school up until 4th grade, so I'm happy that she has so much confidence and I hope it's something that she continues to embrace until she's grown. She had a great first day and was happy to be in class with one of her Kindergarten friends as well!

Excited for her first day of 1st grade!

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!

The Girls Gymnastics Summer Olympics

Little medalists

Performing in the Summer Olympics challenge at gymnastics

Out of all the sports that the girls have tried, one stands out above all the rest; gymnastics. The girls started up gymnastics again earlier this summer and they have been loving every moment of it. I've had them both in teams sports and I think Alina is still a bit too young to really get in competition mode, while Elise does not like being aggressive whatsoever and she usually will fall back to the rest of the team in most cases. With gymnastics, I think they really enjoy challenging themselves and I am proud as I've seen so much improvement from the both of them. Elise has been working on her bridge and cartwheels, she's got great form now and much more flexibility. Alina is a little ball of energy at gymnastics class. She is excellent on the bars and can flip herself over easily now. Their gym recently hosted a mini Summer Olympic challenge for the kids. They both got to do some circuits and an ending floor routine, which left mom and dad very impressed. They were excited to receive their medals. I look forward to watching these little gymnasts grow and progress even further! 

Alina preparing for the podium

Alina showing off her medal

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

Little Red Cheongsam and our Yin and Yang

Alina in her little red cheongsam dress

I bought this adorable little red cheongsam dress years ago with the intention of Elise wearing it at some point. Unfortunately for me, at three-years-old Elise had a strong aversion to the color red, anything covering her neck or mom telling her what to wear. She flat out refused to put it on. I tried again with Alina and finally had success! She not only wore it, but posed for me and grinned the entire time. I've always found it amusing how kids can have such strong opinions at young ages. Elise was fighting me on clothing choices since before she could talk. Alina will usually wear anything I pick out without much fuss. 

This brings me to the bigger picture and how I see my girls personalities as completely yin and yang. Honestly speaking, they are opposites in most ways, but through all their differences they bring a sense of harmony and balance to our lives in revealing such different personality dynamics and rewards. It's amazing how much perspective they've brought into our lives and while we can spend hours attesting to all their differences, ultimately I wouldn't imagine or want them to be any other way. This really gets me wondering what baby boy's personality will be like. I already have my yin and yang girls, so how will he fit in the mix? I wonder, will he be more like one or the other? As he grows, it will be very interesting to find out and watch his personality reveal itself. As for now I have my yin and yang to keep me on my toes.

Pretty floral embroidery and cute curls

Happy Fouth of July 2015!

Fourth of July festivities 2015

Cuties all ready for fireworks

Hanging out with Nana & Papa

Smoke bomb fun

Alina's first sparkler of 2015

Such a joy to watch the girls play

Happy Fourth of July 2015! We enjoyed a very fun and festive display on our court this year. The grandparents joined us along with some close friends and the kids thoroughly enjoyed lighting up the night sky with sparklers and fireworks. The biggest hit each year have been the smoke bombs. They love the colors and running through the vibrant smoke filled air (whilst plugging their noses and laughing hysterically of course). Later in the evening, once the fireworks were exhausted, they moved on to glow stick dancing and we had to drag them inside by the end of the night. It was a very fun holiday and so nice to be able to enjoy all this just right outside our front door, no crowds or traveling involved. We're certainly loving these lazy summer weekends.

Elise with her super sparkler XXL

Sparkler fun

Alina with her super sparkler XXL

Firework display

Glow stick dance parties are a must

Elise has got the moves

Alina's got the twirls down pat

End of a fun evening. Happy 4th 2015!

Elise's 6th Birthday Party at Wacky Tacky

Sweet sisters celebrating Elise turning six

Birthday girl with her party balloons

Elise's delicious Princess & The Frog cupcakes

The five of us (still getting used to saying that!)

Cute sisters by the playground

Little party friends having a blast

Posing with friends in the birthday chair

Cupcake time and more fun with friends

Book party gift bags - we enjoyed making these