Birthday Kids!

Last Saturday May 11 was Tom's 5th birthday.  We celebrated by throwing a little birthday party with his friends.  We had Star Wars cupcakes, a Darth Vader pinata, and light sabers made from pool noodles.  It was a lot of fun.

Tom riding his new birthday bike.

Tom blowing out his candle.

Tom wanted to have Yoda on his cupcake.

The birthday boy with his friends.  (I'm not sure what Ben is doing in this pic.)

Tom opening his gifts.

After opening each gift Tom would hug the person who gave it to him.  In this pic he's about to hug Jak.

Here he is hugging his future wife Elise.

Tom had such a great birthday. He was so spoiled by all of the gifts that his friends and family gave him.

5 year old Tom is a funny boy.  He l  He loves playing the Wii.  His favorite games are Lego Star Wars, Skylanders, and Super Smash Brothers.  He also loves going over to friends' houses to play.  He really enjoys building robots with his Legos.  He likes to watch Dora the Explorer with Eliza or Pokemon with Ben.
Tom is a really smart boy.  He can count to 100, name all of the ABC's, he can sound out words, and can read all of the readers his preschool teacher has sent home.  He doesn't like to cut, color, or practice handwriting much, but he does like figuring addition and subtraction problems.
Tom has a tender heart.  He is good at cuddling, snuggling, and making you feel better if you are sad.  Sometimes he quietly will tap my arm and whisper, "Mom, I love you."  He is a quiet about love and affection.  He loves receiving gifts and is really good at showing his gratitude.  His facial expressions do all the talking.
Tom's favorite food is applesauce.  He also like peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti, honey and butter on bread, yogurt, and Honeynut Cheerios.
Tom is a very special boy.  I love him very much.

Today May 18 is Eliza's birthday.  We had a lazy morning.  Eliza opened a few gifts in the morning, including a birthday outfit from me and Sam, and a lot of clothes from Granny.  A little later we went out to lunch at Sam's club (we're big spenders).  Then we went to the mall to play at the dinosaur play area.  The kids had a great time running around and being crazy.  After we were done playing we decided on a whim to get Eliza's ears pierced. 
When we got home we opened the rest of her presents and had a slice of cake.  It has been a really low key day, but really fun as well.

She just finishing her cake.  Notice her newly pierced ears.  She only cried for 1 minute.  She was a champ.

 

Just after blowing out the candles.

Blowing out the candles.

Opening her gift from Aunt Katie.

About to open her gifts.

Birthday girl in the new outfit we got her.  Doesn't she look so big?

2 year old Eliza is a very fun girl.  She loves to play outside, on the swing set, digging in the dirt, or riding bikes.  She also loves running through the sprinklers. 
Eliza is a good helper.  She likes to help pick-up toys, sweep the floor, and help put dishes away.  She likes to mother and boss her brothers around. 
Eliza is a good balance between girliness and tom-boy.  She loves to wear pink, flowers, and sparkles, but she loves rough housing and playing in the dirt.
Eliza likes to sing and dance.  She will usually shimmy on demand. 
Eliza likes applesauce, spaghetti, grapes, bread with cream cheese, pancakes, and oatmeal. 
She's finally starting to get more teeth in.  She has 6 in the front (3 top, 3 bottom) and 4 molars. 
Eliza is fearless and smart.  She is learning to count and can recognize about half of the ABC's.  She speaks in short 2 word sentences.  She loves to look at books and be read to.
She is a sweet girl.  Whenever one of her brothers is sad she tries to comfort them.  She freely gives out kisses and hugs, and likes to cuddle.
Our family is better because of Eliza.  I love her very much.

Fashionista?

Eliza and I had our first fight over clothes.  When I say fight, I really mean she yelled at me until I let her choose her clothes.  Isn't she a little young for this preteen drama?  This is what she ended up with.  Fortunately it's not too bad.  She loves anything with flowers and she can't get enough of these handmedown camo crocs that Tom used to wear.  They're a little ghetto, but she loves them.  I think she's telling me to "step down" with this pose.  What do you think?

Dairy and Gluten free is not a punishment, right?

My colonial disease reared its ugly head again this week.  Fortunately, I went to the ER as soon as the unbearable pain started and was able to get on antibiotics before it got crazy.

But now I have to be a good girl about eating again.  I have a serious love hate relationship with food.  I love food because of the comfort it brings me.  It can turn a bad day good.  But I hate food because of the pain it causes me.  If I eat dairy and baked goods then I'm in trouble. 

It's because of the colonial disease that I need to go dairy and gluten free.  But it's not that simple.  How do I transition to a gluten/dairy free diet when the rest of my family eats gluten/dairy containing foods?  Especially when I am the main cook in the family.  I prepare almost all of my and my kids meals.  Sometimes the temptation to eat a quesadilla is really a struggle when I'm making 3 for the kids.  Also, have you ever checked out gluten free foods?  They are way more expensive than regular foods.

This is my dilemma.  How do I make this work for everyone without it being stressful and frustrating?

What's the deal with Google Reader?  Why are they closing up shop on July 1st?  This is super annoying.  I was complaining to Sam and he made a face and said, "oh no, now you'll have to actually look at all the blogs you follow.  What a tough life!" 

Here's the deal, I like reading other people's blogs and it would take a long time for me to individually check each one of the blogs I follow.  I don't have that kind of time people!  If Sam thinks that all I do is sit around and hang out on the computer all day then he's WRONG!  If I really spent that much time on the computer our house would go to pot in about 30 seconds flat.

What are you going to do when Google Reader calls it quits?  I need solutions so my house doesn't end up like a pigsty.

(P.S. I love you Sam and I know you're not a chauvinist man, 99% of the time.)

Where are you?

I'm taking a break from Facebook.  I'm just done with it for a while.  I'll probably be back in a month or two, or never.  I haven't decided.

Gratitude update

I have been posting on my gratitude blog Grateful Mom.  Some days it has been a chore to find something to be grateful for.  Those are the days that I'm the most grateful for my gratitude  blog because it helps me to think outside of myself and realize that I am very blessed. 

I'm not sure if I'm more virtuous yet.  Probably not, but maybe.  It's a process.

Here are three people I am very grateful for.  I love their guts.

Eliza not really trying, yet being successful, at being cute.

Tom is trying really hard not to smile.

Ben is trying really hard to be cool.

Baby Dolly needs a bath and some air freshener

When Eliza was a few months old my mom sent a box of things for her.  In the box was a little plush doll from my granny for Eliza.  For some reason Eliza took to the doll immediately.  The doll is known in our house as Baby Dolly, or Dolly for short.  Eliza has named several other dolls, Baby Love You, Baby Mary, and Bear, but none come close to Baby Dolly.  Baby Dolly goes everywhere with Eliza, to church, breakfast, lunch, dinner, nap time, bed time, digging in the dirt outside.  You get the picture.  Often times Eliza's brothers will steal Baby Dolly away and throw Baby Dolly around and taunt and tease Eliza with Baby Dolly.  This drives me and Eliza crazy.  You know, typical brother stuff.

Last Friday Baby Dolly went missing.  Eliza had her when she woke up, but we couldn't trace her from there.  It was horrible.  Eliza kept asking in her cute almost 2 year old voice while shrugging, "Oh no, where Baby Dolly?  Oh no!"  By Sunday night I had searched just about every where and was asking everyone (even our neighbors) if they'd seen Baby Dolly.  I was desperate.  My heart was breaking for my sweet girl who was missing her best friend and favorite toy, Baby Dolly.  I did what any girl would do in my situation.  I texted my family and asked them to pray that we would find Baby Dolly.

Later that night as we were about to go to bed a thought came to my mind.  Eliza had recently started putting toys and such in the diaper pale and flipping the lid to make them disappear.  That had to be it.  Where else could it be?

The next morning my sis-in-law Camille, who was staying with us, got Eliza up, changed her diaper and checked the diaper pale.  And sure enough, there was Baby Dolly.  She was tucked under 4 or 5 nasty wet and dirty diapers.  Sooooo gross!  Needless to say I soaked her in Spray'n Wash and tossed her into the washing machine.

Eliza was so happy to have her back.  Unfortunately Eliza saw me put Baby Dolly into the washer and couldn't understand why I wouldn't let her have her.  I wanted to be like, "Trust me girl, you do not want her until this washer is done with her."

Lessons learned from this experience:
1.  Implant homing device in Baby Dolly's tummy.
2.  You can never go wrong asking Ginger Knecht to pray for you, no matter how small the problem may seem.
3.  Heavenly Father loves my girl and cares if she is sad.
4.  We are no longer using the diaper pale.  I can't bare finding something else buried in its nastiness.
5.  I've already purchased a back up Baby Dolly online. (Thanks Jacquie)