Elle's Birthday

On July 17th our little Eleanor Bailey turned THREE!!! I'm always super excited for my kids' birthdays and want it to be such a special day- all about them. Unfortunately, this birthday was far from the prefect day I would have liked Elle to have. I'm pretty sure she whined and/or cried the majority of the day and even had a couple of time-outs (yes, on her birthday)! Elle's going through a particularly hard stage right now, mostly with whining about EVERYTHING and constantly fighting with Madi. By the time Spencer got home from work I was basically in tears- wondering if the ruined day was my fault, and completely crushed that Elle's birthday didn't turn out exactly how I'd hoped.

For documentation purposes, here's how it went down....
The morning started out good. As always, Elle was up early (6am). She requested yogurt and "crunchies" (granola, or any other crunchy cereal we have in the cupboard) for breakfast. Immediately after breakfast she got dressed and wanted to open presents. I knew I'd be making her cake during the day and figured she should have some new toys to play with while I was busy. So before Spencer left for work, Elle opened her presents. She hadn't asked for anything specific so I got her a Berenstain Bears game about being kind and doing nice things for others (I've been shocked at what a hit the game has been and how Elle will play it by herself sometimes) as well as a moon dough kit (it's like play dough but not as messy and it never dries out) from Spencer and I. She also opened light-up shoes from Gram Rox (to match the ones Madi got) which Elle was stoked about! My parents had gotten her a new naartjie dress with two sets of leggings, and an interactive princess book with cute little princess figures which Elle had opened back when they were here visiting. The girls and I played one round of the Berenstain Bears game and had some fun with the moon dough after Spencer went to work, but then around 9:30 I needed to get started on Elle's cake. She had requested a princess cake (my thought was to make it similar to Madi's rainbow cake from last year but with pink and purple layers and princesses on top). What seemed like an easy project ended up taking 4 1/2 hours (that's with stopping to nurse, take care of Calvin, feed the girls, break up fights, deal with whining, etc). By 2pm the cake was done and I was exhausted!! I felt awful that I'd wasted our entire afternoon working on a cake. The entire day was supposed to be about Elle and instead she was a whining wreck ALL DAY! Usually when the whining/fighting/crying starts, it's best to just get out of the house. So after a quick shower (yup- had been going all day that I hadn't even showered yet), that's exactly what we did. We drove over to Mission Oaks Park and the girls played for a bit before a quick run to the grocery store for ice cream and a few items for dinner (I throw that term "quick" around loosely. Going anywhere- in and out of the house, parks, stores, banks, etc is always such an ordeal). By the time we got back to the house, Calvin was ready to eat again and in need of a nap. I took him back to his room in hopes that the girls would play nicely since they'd had some fresh air and gotten some energy out. But sadly as soon I sat down to nurse Calvin, the screaming began. All I could do was sit and cry. I remember Madi running into Calvin's bedroom to tell me what Elle was doing and through tears asking her to leave. I really couldn't handle one more minute of their arguing (it's the thing that gets to me the most). I finished feeding Calvin, layed him down, and walked out to get dinner started. Thankfully Spencer got home soon after and was able to play with the girls.

The rest of the night was wonderful. With Spencer home to help I was able to get dinner finished and the table ready. Elle requested hot dogs and "pop pops" (edamames). In addition to her request I also served watermelon, chips and salsa, and cabbage salad. Boppi and Grandpa Al also joined us for dinner (we ate outside) followed by cake and ice cream (moved indoors cause it started to get too chilly). After  birthday dessert, Elle opened her gift from Boppi and Grandpa Al- the "Berry Bitty Clubhouse" Strawberry Shortcake set, Miss Lemon, and a watering can. SO fun!! Elle was in heaven. She, Madi and Boppi then went into the play room to set it all up and play for a bit. It made me so happy to see Elle finally enjoying her birthday!

Taken while we were singing Happy Birthday to her.

After blowing out her candles

Inside of her Princess cake that I slaved the day away making!

It honestly made me so sad that Elle's birthday was so miserable for me. I wish that I could have done something special alone with Elle. She's always such a sweetheart when you've got her one on one. I think it's the competing with Madi that gets to her. For the record, just a couple things about Elle's personality that I'd written down earlier:
Elle is genuinely very interested in others. When Spencer gets home from work she'll be the first to ask him, "How was your day dad? Was work good?"

One morning, after a run, I was impressed with how interested Elle was:
Elle: How was your run mom?
Me: It was great!
Elle: Did you fall down?
Me: No, I didn't fall.
Elle: How's your ankles?

So sweet! I love how caring and thoughtful she is. Elle is the one I ask to help entertain Calvin if I have to walk away for a minute. She's so calm and gentle with him. Elle is definitely my girly girl. She only wears dresses and/or skirts (it's a miracle if I get her to wear a pair of shorts) and has to sleep in her purple tutu every night. She loves her Pinkalicious books as well as Fancy Nancy. While those are some of her favorites, Elle actually loves all books and reading to herself. We've got a basket full of our library books that I keep in the family room (usually filled with about 20 books) and Elle "reads" the whole stack of them always once, if not 2 or 3 times a day. Along with reading, Elle and Madi love telling stories to each other. Elle's quite the story teller and can go on and on. I love her beginnings: "Once upon a time..... when I was a little grill....".

If Elle's not reading, she's usually playing with her baby, dress-up, or dollhouse. Elle reminds me alot of myself when I was younger. She likes her alone time to play in her room and doesn't like to be bothered. She really is such a sweetheart and I feel so lucky to be her mama!

4 months old

Cal's 4 months old today! Boy do I love my little guy!!! There's just something different about having a son. Don't get me wrong- I love my girls and would love to have another one, but it's just a different relationship with Calvin. I love that I can be rough and tough with him. I love that he growls. I love his face expressions when his sisters have their emotional outbursts (it's like we're thinking the same thing). I love how easy-going and snuggly he is. I love how his face lights up when he sees me. And I especially love that I'm the only one who can make everything better. It's amazing what an incredibly strong bond forms between a mother and her baby in just 4 short months. I feel like I know what he's thinking. I know when he's gonna cry before he does. I know what makes him happy, what breaks him into uncontrollable laughter, and what he needs before he needs it (if that even makes sense).

This month was obviously a good one. Calvin's now entered the "good baby" stage- much more predictable, very awake and alert, lots of fun to play with, easy to cart around, and still a squishy little snuggle bug!

Things to document from this past month:
- At his checkup on Tuesday he measured: 26 1/8 in. (75th%), weighed: 15 lbs. 13oz. (50th%), with a 17 1/4 inch head (90th%).
- Cal had his first night of sleeping through the night at the very beginning of this month. Unfortunately it was his first and only- Cal's now back to waking up once, usually twice (last night 3 times!). I need to start breaking the middle of night feedings, but I'm a total softy when it comes to thinking they might be hungry. Cal's a big eater and he nurses pretty aggressively in the middle of the night. But the good thing is that he's a very efficient eater. He eats quickly and then I lay him right back down- no burp and no swaddle.
- I'm still trying to figure out a good bedtime for our little man. He's so different from the girls. 6pm just doesn't work for him. He's tired by 6 but only wants it for an evening nap! He's always WIDE awake and ready to play 45 minutes to an hour later (just as I'm getting the girls off to bed). It's super annoying!
- He's been great about taking long afternoon naps every day (3-4 hours), but now starting to wonder if it's throwing off his bedtime. Gotta get this figured out!
- He snuggles!!! Head on the chest, arms around me snuggles! It's something the girls never did and I LOVE it!!
- Since Cal is our boy, Spencer and I definitely want to make him tough, but he's so sweet and NO drama that sometimes it's harder.
- Cal is now lots of fun to play with and will always reward those who play with him with big smiles and laughs. His favorite game is up/down. Cal has much stronger legs than both his sisters did and always goes to standing when I pull him up (sisters only went to sitting).

Showing off his muscles!

- He loves playing in front of the mirror and smiling at himself!

- Cal's got a great many facial expressions and it's hard not to love every single one of them! The one I still need to get a picture of is his full on sad, lip out, gonna break your heart, pouty face. He basically gets whatever he wants with that face!

Cal sure is a sweetheart. We're so happy to have him as a part of our family!

Binkies are for babies

The weekend before Elle's 3rd birthday, Spencer and I finally decided to stop procrastinating what really ought to have happened months earlier. We gathered up Elle's 3 remaining binkies, put them in a ziplock, loaded up the kids, and drove to the nearest Build-a-Bear. A little over two years we went through this exact same thing with Madi which made her especially excited to share this experience with Elle. On the drive over we asked Elle what new animal she'd like to have. Her first response was a kitty, so as soon as we saw the cat on display, Elle was sold! She picked out her kitty, chose a kitty sound, and got in line.

Elle was nervous about stuffing the cat (she doesn't like loud noises and I guess the stuffing machine was one of those disliked noises). So she stepped back to watch.

Her pink binky was put inside. . .

Never to be seen again!!

Elle immediately fell in love with her new friend who she initially named "Kitty the Kitty" but then later changed to Callie.

Elle very bravely waited in line with her bag of binkies to pay for her new special friend. I was pretty shocked when Elle handed them over- but so incredibly happy!

It's now been almost a week and a half since Callie joined our family. And oh how we all love Elle's new kitty. The first few days Elle woud cry for her binky and we'd hand her Callie to snuggle instead. Worked every time. Way to go Elle- we're so proud of you for being such a big girl!

Dynamic Singers

Back in June, before school got out for the summer, I signed Madi up for a class called "dynamic singers". The description for the class seemed like something that could help her with her singing and performing. She learned basic rhythm and simple choreography to go along with the five songs they learned. Madi had class every Tuesday for 6 weeks. Then on the 6th week (this past Tuesday) was their performance. It was super cute to watch Madi practice during the week, and I loved seeing the final production at her concert! Madi started the program by singing the National Anthem and she also had a solo in one of the songs. Spencer and I always tell Madi what a wonderful talent Heavenly Father has blessed her with- a beautiful voice and the confidence not to be scared of singing in front of people. I hope she's always willing to sing and perform for others! 

Camp-out

This past week, on our regular library visit, Elle was excited to find two new Fancy Nancy books. She threw them into our book basket and later that evening the books were requested as bedtime stories. One of the books was entitled, "Stellar Stargazer!" In the book, Fancy Nancy thinks that everything in the sky is simply "stellar" (Madi also is currently obsessed with everything related to the sky- stars, planets, the moon, earth's orbit, etc.). In the book Nancy has a special sleepover under the stars with her dad and her little sister. As Spencer was reading this book to Madi and Elle, I guess he suggested that they have a sleepover too. Of course Madi jumped right on that! So plans were made to sleep under the stars on Friday night. Madi was beyond excited. She kept asking me when Friday was and telling me exactly what they were going to do. Spencer got home from work around 6pm. After a quick dinner they immediately headed outside to start setting up.

While Spence got ready for the bonfire, the girls climbed into the tent and started telling each other stories.

Then out came the graham crackers and marshmallows! 

While eating their smores, Spencer and Madi took turns telling "scary" stories around the campfire.

It was such a picturesque scene in our backyard! Quit the beautiful campground if you ask me. And I also loved that the girls were able to come in and brush their teeth, wash up their sticky hands, go potty, and put on another layer- plus socks, before getting tucked in underneath the stars. Definitely my kind of camping!

Around 8:45pm the girls climbed into bed. I didn't get a picture, but Spencer snuggled right there in between both girls. I guess Elle was asleep within seconds. Madi on the other hand was thrilled to be gazing up through the mesh windows on our tent, looking up at the stars with her dad. She quietly chatted Spencer's ear off for the next hour about the moon, the sun, stars, and constellations. Spencer showed her the Big Dipper and Venus, and Madi insisted that the airplanes flying high overhead were spaceships with aliens inside. Madi made the comment several times that she wanted to stay up all night because she didn't want the night to end. Spencer reassured her that there would be many more camp-outs in the future. A little before 10pm, she drifted off to sleep.

Fast forward to 4am ... I just climbed back into bed after nursing Calvin. My bedroom windows are wide open. I look out into our backyard and I hear ...  sprinklers!!! Seconds later, Madi is screaming - "Ahhhhhhh, It's Raining!!!!" (the rain fly for the tent wasn't on and the water was spraying directly into the tent!) Instantly, I bolt out to the back, run through the sprinklers, and meet Spencer who is sitting up in the tent in a dazed fog. I reached out and grabbed Madi, Spencer scooped up Elle (who up to this point was sleeping through all this), and we ran to the patio. Then together Spencer and I pulled the tent off the grass and onto the concrete. The girls were crying and a little wet, so we quickly got everyone inside, socks off, pj pants changed, and back into bed! Definitely a camping experience not to be forgotten!!

4th of July Festivities

It was another great 4th of July in the Jenkins home! We started out our day by walking over to Mission Oaks Park for a flag ceremony and continental breakfast. Madi had been previously asked by our bishopric to sing the National Anthem at the flag ceremony and she did a fabulous job! 

Elle was a little disappointed with not having gotten to sing, so in the evening, both girls sang at our big 4th of July dinner. I got the whole thing on video- it was adorable!

We stayed at Mission Oaks for quite awhile- giving the girls lots of play time. In the afternoon we all took naps- it was heavenly and such a nice break for me. Then around 4pm (once everyone woke up) we headed over to Spencer's parents for a BBQ. Those in attendance included the whole Lassen crew, Stolworthy's, Goodman's, Andy and Sherry, mom and dad and of course us! With so many people, there was naturally SO much good food! It was a great feast! We (meaning Spencer) were in charge of making ice cream and root beer. We also had hot dogs, homemade onion rings, several different salads, corn on the cob, watermelon, chips and guac, and tons of desserts. I was sad that I had forgotten to make my traditional flag cake. Bummer!

Delicious root beer made by Spencer. It's the only soda I'll drink.

Mom and Debi headed up the onion rings. Bro. Goodman and Hans helping out!

Then around 7:30pm we headed over to the Bell's, parked at their place, and walked over together to the big soccer field at Village of the Park. Having had naps, our girls were super happy and extremely excited for the fireworks. Spencer refused to get the show on video- he complained that he never gets to just enjoy it because he's always behind the camera. Once the show began, Madi was dying over how beautiful all the fireworks were. She kept saying, "OH Mom! Take a picture of that one! Wow! Did you get a picture of that." I loved her enthusiasm for the show. Elle was also completely enthralled. It was fun and a really great show! Being used to a DC 4th, Spencer and I were both surprised and very impressed at what a great show our little city of Camarillo put on. It was also nice to have an easy walk back to the car and a short 10 minute drive home. The kids were in bed by 10pm.

Mom & Dad's Visit

Just a few more pictures from the fun we had while my parents were in town . . .    

Friday we went to the beach: 

The girls had fun helping Papa fly his kite.

Saturday mom and I did some morning shopping while my dad and Spencer got started on making us a picnic table! A "two hour project" turned into all day, but I am super excited about the end result. They should be able to get it finished on my dad's next visit!

We ended the day with celebrating mom's birthday- just 12 days late! But I'm glad we were able to continue our tradition of joint birthday weekend for my mom and Madi (5 years and counting)!

Madi's Birthday

The week before Madi's birthday was a busy one and I had no plans of throwing a big party. We'd previously decided that next year would be "friend party" year for Madi and she was totally content with having a small party here at home, celebrating with just family. She had originally asked for a Tangled party and wanted to act it out which I thought we could have a little fun with. Then on the phone, Madi told my mom all about her "Tangled Party" and how she wanted to be the queen, Spencer the king, my mom the witch (Mother Gothel), Elle as Rapunzel, and my dad as Flynn Rider (I obviously wasn't included in Madi's plans)! Of course my mom totally jumped on this and got super excited. She secretly made plans with my dad to drive up Wednesday night and surprise Madi the morning of her birthday. Little did I know, my mom (knowing that I'd had a super busy week) went ahead and planned a Tangled Party. She got onto pintrest, got tons of ideas, rewatched the movie, created costumes, made up games, and even brought stuff for Madi's dessert. 

As soon as Madi fell asleep Wednesday night, my mom and dad showed up- armed with all sorts of decorations and ideas! They immediately got to work, making poof balls, hanging lanterns, putting up wanted posters, etc. etc.  They pretty much transformed our living room into a sceen from Tangled. It was super fun and I was giddy with excitement!

Thursday morning, 6:30am, I was sitting in Calvin's room nursing when I hear Madi come out of her room. Luckily Spencer also heard her. We both jumped up, meeting her at her bedroom door, video camera in hand. We sang happy birthday and then asked if she was ready for her first surprise. We opened the door to our guest room and told her to take a peek. My parents sat up in bed and started singing happy birthday! What a fun surprise for Madi. My parents climbed out of bed and led Madi around the corner to the living room where Spencer and I waited with video and camera for her next surprise. 

Madi and Elle checking out all the surprises on the present table.

It was a fun morning with a pancake breakfast (Madi's request), playing "find Pascal", and opening presents from my parents (mom couldn't wait til the evening)! Madi had asked for a few things for her birthday and luckily all her birthday wishes came true! She had asked for a princess book, a new doll, light-up shoes, and a butterfly cake. Below is the first present Madi opened- a collection of the classic princess stories. There's a quote from Albert Einstein on the dedication page of the book that I love: "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

And that's exactly how we spent the rest of the morning- reading fairy tale after fairy tale. I was surprised with how attentive Madi and Elle were with the stories. There were fewer pictures, more text, and higher level words, but they stayed completely focused and interested. 

Madi's second gift was a doll (just as she had asked for), but this doll wasn't like any other baby Madi and Elle already have. This was a special doll my mom had found in some specialty store in San Francisco. On one end the doll is Cinderella in rags:

Then you flip the doll over and it's Cinderella in her gown. Madi's already had so much fun dressing up as Cinderella's twin and insisting I take a picture of them!

We'd originally planned on going to the beach for Madi's birthday, but she was having so much fun at home that she decided we should just go the next day. It worked out better anyway cause we actually still had a lot to do before the evening. We had to finish her cake, wrap presents that arrived that day, and get everything ready for dinner. My parents are always great with making a normal afternoon extra fun. They took the girls to the park and then onto the store to pick up last minute stuff for dinner (plus some extra treats for the girls)! 

Madi's requested birthday dinner was mac-n-cheese. Since she also loves hot dogs, I figured we could have a BBQ (hot dogs and hamburgers) for the adults and mac-n-cheese for the girls. We also had a couple of Madi's other favorites- watermelon, corn on the cob, and chips and salsa (no salsa for Madi though). My mom also had come up with these adorable jello cups to go along with our Tangled theme:
Blue jello for the water and an orange slice for the boat. Cute cute!

While we were waiting for Grandpa Al, and Boppi to arrive I let the girls get started on their dinner. Madi wanted to sit at the adult table while Elle decided to eat at our small picnic table. As we were hustling around inside the kitchen and the girls were outside eating, we hear Elle's little voice call out, "Happy Birthday Madi!" Such sweet little sisters!

After dinner, per Madi's request, we had a (very) short enactment of Tangled. I actually don't think it was what Madi had in mind, but I know she was very pleased with the costumes!

The King and Queen

The rest of the cast! Mom and dad went all out on their costumes. Flynn Rider was a total hit!

After a good laugh we brought out cake and ice cream. Madi had been asking for a butterfly cake, which thanks again to my mom, she got! My parents found the butterfly cake pan in Monterey and my mom very patiently spent a couple hours in the afternoon decorating it (pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to make it this beautiful):

After cake and ice cream Madi opened presents. She got light-up shoes from Gram Rox (just as she had wanted), an awesome bubble blowing machine (that she and Elle have already have tons of fun with) from Boppi and Grandpa Al, matching 4th of July shirts (for her and Elle) from Elle, a clock/ cd player for her bedroom (something she's desperately been needing), Sound of Music DVD (watched bits of it at Boppi and Grandpa Al's and fell in love), and lots of clothes from Spencer and I. It was a very happy 5th birthday for Madi! Big thanks to Gram and Papa for all their help in making it a special day!