5 + 2 does not equal 7

Combo spring birthday party!

It's birthday season again. My little lady, who has gotten quite serious lately, turned 5 in March and my little man, who is goofier by the minute, turns 2 tomorrow. It's been quite fabulous really. They play so much together and I love hearing them giggle together while I do chores around the house. They are both taking gymnastics at the same time, separate classes, and it's so sweet when Max looks over the mini wall to watch his sister or escapes his lesson to join his sister's class. Max will ask me after crawling into bed with me in the morning: "Sissy wake?" When Maggie wakes up, Max crawls in with her and they hug.

Max loves his summer flip flops and doesn't want to wear shoes and socks anymore. He calls them "flop flops" or something similar. His vocabulary is exploding and he's saying 2 or 3 word sentences. He is now sleeping in his big boy bed and it took about a week to train him (although recent nights haven't been so easy and he's wanting out or waking up in the middle of the night). He calls out lawn mowers (his favorite), buses, and choo-choo's on the road. He has been telling us thank you for the funniest things, like changing his diaper. And speaking of, he's using his potty more and more!

Maggie is completely infatuated with the movie Frozen and Elsa, the magical sister. She belts out the songs constantly. For Maggie's birthday, I took the kids on a spur of the moment trip to the beach in San Francisco. We enjoyed beach time, the spa, and riding the train through the city. I've also started a special present theme for her that I will continue as she gets older. I gave her an antique tea cup that she can use with supervision but it's something I want to collect and save for her once she's older and on her own. We've christened it with hot cocoa :-) One day she'll have quite the eclectic collection of little tea cups and it's something we can share over the years.

I'm 5!

How old are you? Five (said perfectly)
Who do you like to play with most? Kellen and Kelsey and all my friends at daycare
What is your favorite toy? Ede (sea turtle named after her cousin) and Howie (her little dog that goes everywhere with her) and Snowball (little white rabbit)
Where is your favorite place to go? Lita's zoo (the Sacramento Zoo which her grandma takes her to often)
Why? Because I like the animal hospital and I see "Doc" there (she makes sure I know she means          pretend)
Are you happy to have a brother? Kind of
What is your favorite show? Octonauts and Stella & Sam (and then lists other shows like Caillou, Doc McStuffins, and Frozen)
What do you like to wear most? Dresses and flip-flops
What is your favorite color? Pink and purple and red and turquoise and light blue...
What is your favorite song? Taylor Swift songs, Frozen songs, Tangled songs...
What is your favorite food? Grains and star or princess soup
What is your favorite animal? Turtle
What is your favorite book? Frozen
What is your favorite craft? Coloring ("in the lines" she adds - first child syndrome :-)

I'm 2! (I hadn't really planned asking him questions but he saw Maggie being asked and was giving me his answers too)

How old are you? One (said in his learning-to-talk voice)
Who do you like to play with most? Me
What is your favorite toy? "raarh"
Are you happy to have a sissy? (nodded yes)
What is your favorite show? na-nauts (after Maggie said it)
What do you like to wear most? Flop flops
What is your favorite color? (sounded like "black")
What is your favorite song? "oo-oo-ah-ah" (Matilda the Gorilla)
What is your favorite food? milky

On the Muni in San Francisco on Maggie's birthday

The week before Christmas

Every day now Max says something new or Maggie says something funny and unexpected and I would like to write it down but then the moment passes and it doesn't happen. Max is really starting to talk and babble sentences at 20 months old and I love listening to him and see his excitement in discovering things. It's just so cool to be there watching them repeat a word in their own way for the first time while you're realizing they know what you are talking about but they just haven't verbalized it yet.

Every year with Maggie holidays get a little more elevated. I had it more planned out this year but still, once this week hit, I started feeling the pressure. Thank goodness for good friends and my hubby to relieve anxiety, red wine, and honest conversations. Oh, and Parenthood. I'm hooked on it right now and am goofily relating it to all situations I encounter...yep, pretty realistic, I know. Overall though, this holiday season has been enjoyable and in a slightly different way than past years. I feel that I am growing and with our kids growing up, it takes on new meanings. One of the things I failed at this month...not being able to pull off a popcorn and cranberry garland for Maggie to string around our tree. This is something we read about last Christmas in one of her books and it looked easy, even after googling the how-to, but I burnt the popcorn and it said to string on floss and well, I tossed the popcorn and I'd rather buy something pretty at this point :-)

We don't seem to be doing the same things as last year (gingerbread house, family the weekend before with ice skating, all the movie watching and Christmas lights, Nutcracker) and are more mellow this year. The days on the advent calendar seem to be going by very quickly. We ice skated right after Thanksgiving this year, I actually bought and wrapped gifts early (thank you online deals and free shipping), and we've used lots of babysitting to attend a progressive ugly sweater dinner and a couple other holiday parties.

Here is what 4, almost 5, has looked like lately: Maggie constantly asking for one thing or another. If it isn't gum, it's to do a craft or move on to the next best thing immediately and it might be fine if I just had Maggie to worry about but I'm also managing a toddler. So I often have to par it down with "let's just read a book" or "watch a show together" and she seems happy enough with that :-)

Pictures later...happy holidays family and friends!

I’m Currently…

Watching…Downton Abbey. It's addicting and quite the English drama. I wasn't sure at first, now I'm hooked. It definitely transports you to another time and place, something that is nice after a long day but the episodes are long and keep me up too late :-)

Eating…breakfast for lunch today? It's another 3 am wake-up morning so looking ahead...

Planning…spring cleaning and wrapping up the new bathroom now that Maggie and Max's party is complete! 


Reading…The Female Brain. Really good book. Found it at a kid's thrift store of all places and I would recommend it to every woman (and man for that matter but not sure that's gonna happen). It's the stuff you wonder about when no one really comes out and tells you specific things about what it's like to be a female during different stages of your life. The author includes fun scenarios to explain her points with scientific evidence to back it all up.

Inspired by…my husband's ability to turn something ugly into something very pleasing in a relatively short amount of time.

Excited about…spring arriving and our new bathroom!