Piper is amazing. Have I blogged about this yet? Truly. She is an AMAZING baby!! I can't say "third time's a charm" because I think I have two amazing "older" girls, too. But we've all nicknamed her "Smiley" for a reason. She has a beaming smile for anyone who even looks at her. She rarely cries and if she does it's usually just a few holler-outs until she has her needs met. I know I mentioned how she hasn't cried after receiving any of her shots and the one she received last week resulted in a big smile for the nurse. Even the nurse was taken aback.

Well, today our littlest angel woke up with her right eye completely shut with goopy crud plastered to her eyelashes. Not two hours later, she was puking up buckets. I had no idea a little body could hold so much milk. It was everywhere... projectile doesn't even describe it. But even with all of this: conjunctivitis, puke, snot everywhere... she was STILL smiling! Sure, I could tell she wasn't as happy as she was yesterday, but she was still there with a smile. Puke - smile. Sneeze - smile. Popeye - smile. Fortunately, we were able to get her into the doctors today for an appointment. Tongue depressor stuck down her throat - smile. Swab on her behind to check for strep - smile. Sharp instrument stuck in her ears - smile. Drops dropped in her eyes while her head was being held still - smile.

She's teaching me a thing or two...

Posted by Rebecca at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dillen's 6th birthday party pictures at American Family Martial Arts (aka our second home):

Posted by Rebecca at 9:09 PM | Permalink

Oh my goodness. SIX!! More then a whole hand. And what an amazing little girl Dillen is. She is vivacious, kind, expressive, emotionally driven, intelligent and popular amongst her friends for being so nice and for walking her own walk without a care in the world. She is becoming sassy but not in a back-talk sort of way. She's a golden child who is coming into her own as a little performer and feeling good about herself. She loves to grab a play microphone and bust out lyrics and tunes she makes up on the spot. She loves to create scenarios that are full of dramatic play and will rope Roxy in without hesitation. She loves to still snuggle and give me sweet kisses... she is still attached to me in a special way that is indescribable. Her hugs say it all. I recently found a way to have a moment of perfection with her: sitting together on a swing, face to face, with the wind blowing our hair and our foreheads touching -- absolute heaven.

She truly is a unique individual still. She always has been an old soul. She speaks clearly and with great thought. Her words are always tender and she cares deeply.

Today, we all (sans Daddy who had to go to work) woke up early and picked up doughnuts and juice boxes to take to her class. It was a wonderful morning celebration at school (pictures and video coming). Roxy, Piper and I went BACK to join her for lunch and I volunteered in the classroom afterwards while Roxy played with a box of toys and Piper slept. For her special dinner, we went to Pacific Coast Grill and then to Cupcake Love for dessert. She opened her gifts over cupcakes.

It was perfect. She was thrilled with her High School Musical and Hannah Montana gifts. And we are looking forward to her All Girl Karate party at her karate studio this Saturday.

Posted by Rebecca at 10:53 PM | Permalink

Last week's meals were mostly a hit. One night Dillen said she wanted to go out to dinner and I told her that we were not going to let our homemade dinners go to waste. She hemmed and hawed for a bit but did eat what we heated up that night. The girls were troopers - eating foods that were new to them and different in taste.

I decided to add a little twist to the Sunday Family Cooking Day by also educating the girls about different cultures. By choosing three dishes (all healthy!) from different countries, we expanded on last week's family cooking time. Sean and I chose:

1. Chickpea Ragout from Morocco
2. Greek Salad Pita Sandwiches with a side of hummus
3. Slow Cooked Carnitas Tacos from Mexico

The girls scarfed down raw garbanzo beans; smelled ground cumin; smelled and crushed leaves from a fresh thyme sprig; mixed several ingredients and stirred a lot; were educated about the wonders of a garlic clove and how it becomes minced; and tasted (all while yelling "blech, blech, bleeeeech!!!") the spiciness of a radish. They also took the top of a chopped green bell pepper to their garden - determined to plant the seeds and grow new ones. :D We had the globe out to show them the locations of where the foods were coming from and used the internet to answer any questions about those countries they had. We bought a pre-made lasagna from the grocer for dinner tonight so we talked about Italy, too. ;) Our first homemade dinner will be eaten tomorrow - the Greek salad pita sandwiches. I am going to pick up a little hummus tomorrow to add to the dish.

Sean was gone on business last week so it will be fun to have him here this week to enjoy all of our work in the kitchen. Hopefully we will still have enough leftovers from each meal to last one more night. ;)

Posted by Rebecca at 10:31 PM | Permalink