Banana shirts

My dear friend Adam gave Leo a shirt he designed for Leo's first birthday. It was quite large at the time, so I saved it for when he was older. When Adam came to Serafina's party, he brought the same design in a onesie in her current size. Today I dressed them in their matching shirts and it was pretty cute. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to take a picture of them together. Leo isn't too bad about standing still for a picture, but Serafina just starts to wander away as soon as you put her on her feet.

Matching at the park. The shirt reads, "Orange you glad I didn't say banana."
Loaded up in the stroller for a post-nap ice cream trip.
Leo got his own cone.
Serafina shared mine.

Nothing like...

a face full of chest hair while you nap.

Another party?

Not exactly. But we wanted to invite the neighbor girls over for a swim, and you can't invite them without inviting the twins who live at the end of the Court. And if you invite the twins, you have to invite the siblings two doors down. We didn't invite everyone to the party and maybe Tom was feeling a little guilty when he encouraged them all to drop by. It was a fun time and I was able to unload some of the leftover veggies and dip.

Kids having fun in the pool.
Serafina was happy to play with the water table.
She was definitely interested in what the kids were doing in the pool.
So daddy took her in.
Everyone hanging out, playing with the water canons.
Anna enthusiastically soaks her big brother.
Juice drinks.
Serafina dries off.
The kiddos.

Party girl!

It's party day. We've been looking forward to it and Leo's excitement added to the anticipation and positive energy. He was anxious to "play with the kids and eat cake". I was a little worried about the weather since it was overcast in the morning but the sun came out and many guests got into the pool.

Here's Serafina in her party dress. I bought it at a yard sale for a dollar many months ago and it is what inspired me to do a luau theme party.

They don't pose together well, so this is the best I could do.
Proud Papa.

Playing with baby Maia, who looked lovely in her Hawaiian attire.
Cara and baby Riley (who looks exactly like her sister did at this age).
Party hat. She hated it.


Birthday cake. It was so super cute and extremely delicious. Guava cake with guava mousse in the middle.
Everyone gathers to sing happy birthday.
Yum. Cake.



All done. Clean me up!


Videos of her eating cake.




All in all it was a wonderful day and everyone had fun. Leo missed his nap because of all the party happenings and guests coming and going. He was a little sleepy at dinner time. Guess he hasn't outgrown that nap.

Party Details

I tend to fixate on the little details of my kids' first birthday parties. Details that are often overlooked. I think it prevents me for focusing on my baby growing up so fast and hitting a milestone that is so bittersweet. Plus, I don't want Serafina to look at pictures of Leo's first birthday party and wonder why we didn't do the same for her.

Here's the birthday sign and a display of all the Raggedy Ann pictures in progression. I'll post a slide show of them once I take her 12 month picture on Thursday.

I covered her highchair in a Hawaiian fabric. The birthday bib is from Nana. She wore it for lunch but I didn't get a picture.
Here's the table set up before the food was added. We kept it simple - veggies and dip, fruit salad and pizza. My hibiscus managed to give me one bloom for the big day. It looks like it will have a ton of fabulous flowers tomorrow or the next day.
The other wall with gift bags, fresh flowers from the farm, photo collage and wall decor.
Close-up of gift bags.
Collages.
Aloha monkey greeted the guests. It totally freaked out Serafina and made her cry. .

Possible party hair-do?

Countdown

In one week, my baby girl will turn one. We've been having some super hot days, and yesterday when I was running errands, I saw a very pregnant woman waddling through the sweltering parking lot. That was me this time last year. It's hard to believe. The time has flown by in a blink of an eye, but it's hard to remember life without her.

I haven't been blogging since I've been busy with party planning. We're having a luau-theme pool party on Saturday. We're hoping it's a fun time with good weather, but no matter what, the cake will be awesome. Serafina's loving daddy ordered her a guava cake from a local bakery that specializes in the unique dessert.

Here she is after an evening dip in her post-swim cover up that Nana sent her.

A little naked walking. Gotta love that cute tush.
One of her favorite activities is cruising the house with her snack cup full of puffs.
I bought this hibiscus plant as a centerpiece for the table during the party. It looks amazing today, but I'm not optimistic it will look this good on Saturday. Fingers crossed, though.

Whatever, Mama

When I was trying to talk to Leo sternly about a serious issue today, he responded with "Whatever, Mama." Oh, brother. I'm in trouble.

Tomato Sauce

Between our CSA and our personal tomato plants, we have an abundance of tomatoes. That means it's time to make sauce.

Tom got out his father's day gift - a tomato mill - and Leo was happy to help.


While the boys work on the tomatoes, Serafina works on her walking skills.



Once the sauce is made, some is served up to Serafina, only to have it stolen by Leo. When he was served up his own bowl of pasta, he completely rejected it. Go figure.
Trying a bite.
Dinner is over.


Time for an after dinner bath to wash off all the sauce.


Ready for bed, but first some walking while carrying her shoes.
Leo tries out his new skeleton pajamas from Nana.

Here she comes

Leo's world

Here's a picture of Leo helping me vacuum today.
Here are a few things he said today.

At nap time, after I told him a story, sang a song and it was time for him to sleep, he sat up and said, "Mommy, I have an good idea." Me: "What's your idea?" Leo: "Another story."

At the park, to Dougie's mom: "Why is Dougie hitting me?"

This evening, not sure why, "Serafina is freaking me out."