My Baby is 5!

My first baby is 5 years old! I cannot believe how the time flies. She has grown and changed so much from the day she came to us 5 years ago. She is beautiful, smart, and creative. She was my first baby, so she holds that special place in my heart. I am so glad she came to us and that we have the opportunity to help her learn the things she needs to here on Earth. That piece causes a lot of guilt, as well, but it is a privelege to have such a beautiful daughter from our Heavenly Father.


None of these pictures are edited, so some might be dark/yellow--I'm too behind to do all of them!
Birth:



1 year:



2 years: (There's a little resemblance to Mac...)



3 years:



4 years:



5 years:

Special breakfast, which Leiden reminds us to do for every one of our birthdays. Waffles, berries, fruit sauce, chocolate chips, cream, and sprinkles. Brad's a master. This is POTD 5/25/10:




A little birthday morning present--a fish tube for the pool.



Leiden's band-aids from the doctor visit. She was very brave, and only cried for a few seconds.



Out to lunch after the doctor:



Holding Mimi at the Barringers':



The birthday girl at her party. There were a billion pictures taken, so if you want to look at them, they are here, although none of them are edited, either. Grandparents, if you ever want pictures from that site, let me know before you purchase so I can edit them!



Happy Birthday, Leiden! You are such a big girl, and we love you!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a beautiful day here! The sun was shining, the temps were up a bit from the previous week, and so we decided to grill!

First of all, here was the card that Leiden drew me at church. It's me and her. Love so many things about it. The hearts above our heads "because we love each other", the puffy sleeves on our dresses, the flower she has picked to give me--and particularly our toes. Love it.



To grill here, you have to go out to the play area and use the common grills, but surprisingly, there was no one out that day!



Brad manning the grill...



cooking some serious steak.

The girls had more fun running around than eating--of course!

Mimi was well behaved, sleeping for a large part of the outing.

The calm playing together before the screaming for one reason or another started. They do a lot of fighting!

Then they discovered the dandelions! I hope they got their fill, because dandelions in our own yard will be swiftly removed, and they will be in trouble if they blow them there!

Then Mimi woke up, and was in good spirits. She enjoys being outside!

Mac really enjoys being outside! This little girl is so intense. When she's happy, she's HAPPY!

These days, we settle for just not crying with this one. Not a whole lot of laughing going on yet!

Wish I'd been closer for this shot.

It was a wonderful Mother's Day--the girls gave me a cupcake cookbook. Was that a hint? It may have been.

Girlies

Some sweet pics.



Miriam 5/8/10:

Leiden working on a project.

Chuck E Cheese

A couple weeks ago we went to Chuck E Cheese for an evening of fun and entertainment--for the kids. It was during those cold times, and they had had it with being cooped up. This pic of Mimi isn't really noteworthy, except that her eyes are pretty in it. Lots of lights.



I don't know why Mac was pulling this face, but I'm pretty sure mine looked just the same when I tasted the...er...delicious...food there. Gag.



Leiden thought the cheese sticks were great. They weren't even hot enough to be really melted.

More pretty lights in the eyes.

Mac did not share our dim view of the pizza.

This is Mimi 5/7/10: She didn't know what was going on, but she sure was happy to be there! no fussing, and she even fell asleep while we were there--amidst all the noise!

POTD 5/7/10: Of course Mac thinks that Skeeball is played by walking up to the rings and putting the ball there. Also possible was hucking the ball at the little ramp so hard that it bounces back.

She was less than impressed with the rides, although she kept wanting to ride them.

Leiden seems a bit blase as well.

She really didn't like this one.

The evening's saving grace for Brad and I? They had this giant gerbil wheel that actually got your heart up pretty good. I'd be in awesome shape if I could do this for 10 minutes a day!

Brad, too, was impressed with the workout! Although we both felt faintly ill after the pizza and then exercise, it was a fun evening, and the girls got out.

Days in the Life

Mimi is very strong, holding her head up way high on her tummy, and moving it around to see what's going on.



I liked her face in this one, so it's Miriam 5/3/10:



They are so guileless--an adult staring up at something with their mouth hanging open would look foolish. Babies just look sweet. There are a bunch more from this day here.



It's hard to catch a good picture of Leiden these days--you usually have to go the candid route or you get an unnatural smile. This blurry but great action shot is POTD 5/3/10:



Leiden brought home some hot chocolate cubes (sticks with a big cube of chocolate on the end that you stir around in hot milk until melted) and she brought me a mug from Amsterdam. The other night she availed herself of both of them.



POTD 5/4/10: This little guy has saved me here at the apartment. Mac got it for her birthday, and the girls play with it all the time on the balcony. Thank heavens for bubbles in a confined outdoor space! His misshapen head has a certain panache.



Miriam 5/4/10: Mimi is really plumping up. Her little arms, while not as skinny as the other girls to begin with, are beginning to be squishy. Love it.



Miriam 5/5/10: Not everything is fun and games around here. Mimi seems to be a fussier baby and harder in a lot of ways than the other two. I'm not sure if it's a personality thing, or her reacting to my increased stress at our circumstances, or just the added strain of child number 3 versus 1 or 2. There is actually a fair amount of sadness around here.



POTD 5/5/10: Our realtor began preparing numbers for the offer we put on the first house we liked--which, because I'm writing in hindsight, I can report did not work out, and good thing, because we found one we liked better!



This is a great one of Mac--it's been edited, though. I wish I could manage to get better shots straight out of my camera, but photo editing is awesome!



My mom always talks to my babies about their heavy cheeks, and how that's why their heads bob. These cheeks are certainly looking heavy.



Brad had something going on on May 5 (Cinco de Mayo), but he still wanted to celebrate, so we opted for a Seis de Mayo dinner celebration. I went all out and made carne asada soft tacos, strawberry daquiris, corn cake, and caramel flan for dessert. All from scratch. This dinner reminded me why I don't do as much 'from scratch' cooking these days! But I hope to get back into it as things settle down. POTD 5/6/10:



Miriam 5/6/10: What would a baby book be without a bare bottom shot?



Leiden managed a great forced smile, here!


We're slowly but surely getting caught up! There is certainly more to come!