Monica's Tea Party

At the beginning of June, we had a birthday party for the girls since a lot of their cousins were in town. We hadn't seen my sister in two years, which is the longest I'd ever not seen any one of my siblings. BUT- those pictures are all on a CD, and since our CD-ROM doesn't work on this computer, Ryan completely removed it. So I'm starting with Monica's Tea Party that we had on her birthday, June 26th. I just wanted to do something simple but fun to celebrate her actual birthday so she would know the difference between her birthday party and her actual birth DAY. And since this blog is essentially my journal for posterity, I'm not too worried about posting out of order. As long as it all gets documented, I'm good, right?

Kenzi and Monica - who especially liked the Princess Graham Cookies. Princess Monica blowing a fishy face and her kitty. Princess Kenzi Cash -- and Kitty, who Monica insisted be in the picture.
Princess Katie Milberger
Princess Aly Farrow...and Kitty. Again. Princess Bella Foutz - and - you guessed it. Kitty!

Since Monica turned four, we let her invite four friends to come celebrate her little party. They all came in their favorite princess dresses and had fun with the finger foods, but especially the little cupcakes. I took out my wedding china and used it for the first time for the party! I made sure to use it over my plushiest rug in case anyone dropped their plate or cup, but there were no mishaps! Well, there was one. I spilled on the tablecloth, but the 3 and 4 year olds were impeccable. HAHA!
All the princesses holding up their cakes.

And no, I didn't do anything to mark Leah's birthday the next day because we headed out to the Lambson Family Reunion in Ramah. Sorry, Leah! But I can tell you that Leah was really cranky. I almost considered backing out of the trip and just sending Monica with Ryan because Leah was teething two very big front top teeth and getting over a cold at the same time. But we went and had a blast. Pictures of that to come later!

Lost and Found

I FOUND my camera!

I feel like a dork.

It was under my passenger side seat this whole time.

Pictures to come!

"The Proposal"

If you need to laugh...
Or see something predictable...
Or laugh even harder...
Go see "The Proposal"!

I LOVED it!
And I loved going with my friends,
Miss Holly Johnson and Courtney Martinez.
Dinner afterwards was AWESOME!

So get some lady friends together (or your hubbs),
And get ready to laugh!

Lost Pictures

My heart is broken!!!

I lost my camera.

*sigh*

And it had over 100 awesome pictures on it...

SO- since I don't have pictures to post, I will just update.

I am totally rocking school this semester!! And I found out I'm a little further away from my associate's than I thought. It's a transferrable credit issue. Apparently my AP English score was good enough to get the 4 credits at NMSU, but not good enough to transfer to UNM. So I will have to take English 101. I guess I should be happy that it will be an easy A. I COULD just take one super 18 credit semester in the fall, but I'm afraid of burning out. 12 credits is a doable load for me. So I think I will stick with it. That means two more semesters til my Associates in Liberal Arts. Then next summer I will be able to transfer to UNM! I'm totally stoked!!

Ryan is in Kingwood, West Virginia finally getting his training for his Reserve unit. Hooray! He said he passed his PT test first thing this morning, and then after his first day got a 100% on the first test. YAY for Ryan! He's at Camp Dawson, and made me jealous by saying the hotel he is staying at is a lot like the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch, Germany. Then rubbed it in further saying he took a walk with the fireflies. I haven't seen those since I spent a summer in Missouri! Those were the COOLEST!!

Leah is officially walking! As of TODAY she learned how to push herself back up to standing without pulling up on anything, and she is just taking off! She wants to walk everywhere. And she has relaxed just a TAAAAD! She says Mama, Dada, nigh', and baba. But we just don't quite know what 'baba' is for.

Monica is all about Little Pet Shop right now. She LOVES her toys! She's also all about making a deal. And telling anyone who will listen about how she is four years old. Ask her 'how are you?' She will say, "I'm four!" Ask her what she did today, she will say, "I played, cuz I'm four!" Ask her how she likes her sister, she'll say, "Leah's only 1. But I'm a big girl bcause I'm FOUR!"

So...until I find my camera. Or have enough money to replace it.

You can depend on updates.

And more updates...

Monica is 4 and Leah is 1!!

I cannot believe my little girls are a year older.

It feels like just yesterday I was holding Leah for the first time, while she was all gross and birth-y, but still feeling that rush of love for a new child.

And it was yesterday that she barely fit into a newborn diaper.

And it feels like just a few days ago, I changed Monica's first poopy diaper.

And I cried because I didn't hear the nurse tell me the first time that I had to wet the wipes.

And all I was doing was spreading her poo all over.

And just a few days since Ryan and I were staring at Monica when she was just a couple days old, and we had just taken her home.

And we had NO IDEA what to do next.

And now Monica is 4.

She is a riot! She is unpredictable. She is funny!

Monica has the best laugh/giggle.

And an arsenal of Monica-isms.

1. She still says soda -- "soo-da"

2. There was a man visiting our ward and she pointed to him and said, "Look, Mom! That guy should be on Biggest Loser!"

3. At the Lambson Reunion, Ryan's cousin Shannon asked Monica if he could take her baby sister home and she replied, "No. You can get one out of your mama."

4. In the car, we were talking about Leah teething, so Monica turned to Leah and said, "Are you so excited to be getting your own teeth? Good job, Leah!"

5. Again, at the Lambson Reunion, we were walking behind Grandma Kris, and I needed to readjust my grip on the chairs I was carrying, so Monica and I fell behind. As we were walking to the pavilion, Monica said, "Grandma Kris is in heaven. I can't see her anymore. She went up in the clouds with Jesus!"

6. I wasn't feeling good one day, so I laid out on the couch to doze while Ryan watched the girls, but so I could still be available if I needed to be. Monica came up to me and said, "I'll be your mama, and you'll be my sweetie pie. I'm going to take care of you." Then she proceeded to stuff her purse with her socks and cover me with them.

Leah is growing as well.

She is 1!

She has taken her first un-clinging-to-finger-solo steps.

That happened about a week and a half ago at Nana's house. She has also cut her third and fourth tooth - the top two. She said "up" clearly today, and has started to sign "more". She is still the easiest, happiest, non-squawkiest, laid back baby. She is still under 18 pounds. AND- NEWS ALERT- SHE IS SMILING MORE!

I know every mom feels like their kids grow up way too fast.

I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Ok, so maybe not EVERY minute, but close enough.

There used to be a part of me that wondered "what if?".

Now I just can't wait to plan, and have an answer to Monica's,

"Then what are we gonna do after that, Mama?"

I LOVE my girls!!!

And I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for giving them to me.

I hope they will always know how much I love them.

New Family Pictures

Christina took some family pictures for us and they turned out great!

I have so many options to choose from for prints and I am so pleased!

Thank you Tina!

Celebrating with Aunty Theresa

Aunty Theresa and Uncle Bruce.

Aunty Theresa has reached 10 years of working for Continental and invited us to help celebrate! We ate at Buca di Beppo in the Pope Room.
It was really cool, with pics of popes all over the room and a pope in the middle of the table!
Jessy and Melissa.

One of the coolest things was the huge lazy susan in the middle of the table.
Leah thought she was pretty cool when she got a ride on it! And yes, she had a lot of fun with her chocolate milk.

Emily and Julie, feasting on the yummy salad. Aunty Sarah and Mikey. Uncle Paul, Aunt Michele and Cynthia.Aunty Theresa blessed the dessert, which was SOOOO GOOD!
Devilishly good.
Pardon the pun.

Congratulations, Aunty Theresa!!!