Clare's 1st Birthday!

Clare celebrated her FIRST birthday ... in December 2016! We can't believe she is 1. Still. And it is now March 2017. Many people have commented at her birthday on "how is that possible?!" So our baby is now 1 - not 0 like William would say leading up to her birthday.

We celebrated her birthday at the playground in front of our house on her actual birthday. Simple playground fun with lunch and cake served. In the morning we relaxed at home and gave her birthday presents. We got her a chair for the playroom (the kids love their little chairs more than sitting on a couch in the playroom!), a puzzle and her godparents sent her an adorable gray horse. After breakfast and presents, we let her take her morning nap - as best as possible since her morning nap is slowly getting pushed back later and later. She took a little cat nap and was ready to party.

Likes her chair! William picked out the chair.

Did my best making the "one" with gum paste

Swan lake theme for Miss Clare!

Clare wasn't feeling a family photo

She loved her cake and loved playing on the playground. A great party for our baby Clare! 

School Christmas Parties

William and Grace had their school Christmas parties this past week to wrap up the "fall semester" of school. The 2015 school year is over! It is crazy to think half of their year has come to a close. We sign them up for the next school year in early January. I feel like we only began... but, back to Christmas parties.

Both parties were on the same day at the same time, so I run back and forth between the two classes. They're only 10 feet apart from each other. It isn't that dramatic :) I love seeing the progress Grace's class makes at each party because you can see how much they've grown in only a month time. The Halloween party to Christmas party is a big difference. They're really mature. Not. But they are noticeably more civilized. I didn't see any tears now that I think about it! There were a couple criers. Obviously Grace wasn't a crier, but she might have pushed someone causing them to cry... Oh, Grace.

Grace's class listening to a Christmas story

Grace spots Mommy!

Snack and party time!

Straight to the cupcake...

I went from Grace's party over to William's party and talk about night and day... The 2's are more civilized than even a month ago, but the 3's are perfect angels! It's incredibly quiet and they eat their food and clean their places and then participate in the craft -- without any instruction. William has a smaller class and his teacher is really big on structure, so I think that helps. Grace's class has 14 two year olds... wow, holy patience.

William's class party.

Holiday sticker wreath craft

William loves his crafts!

Grace with her girl buddies, Brynn and Leighton

Grace LOVES her assistant teacher, Mrs. Kest

The parties are always a good time. It's fun to chat with the moms and hear what their kids are saying too. A mom from William's class told me that her daughter is "wishing her and William could play more often, but he wants to play bad guys and she wants to play princesses, so they can't play right now!" Cracks me up!

Fun party day! We went home and passed out -- them from sugar comas and me from pregnancy tiredness and running back and forth between classes :) Looking forward to the next half of the year - they go back January 5, 2016!

Birthday Celebrations

Matt and I really enjoyed celebrating William's first birthday. William turned one on Friday, January 25 and we had everyone over for dinner and birthday cake that night. The birthday cake was a first for William and he went right for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then on Saturday we went to the beach and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. It was pretty cool and we didn't stay for too long, but William wouldn't stop running toward the water. The water was cold and he wanted to splash in that water as long as he could.

Sunday was William's first birthday party with friends. We went to a park in Baldwin Park and setup food and treats. Yet again, William was more than happy to dig into his birthday cake. This time he put his face into the cake instead of bringing the food to his mouth. Good job, William!

A great weekend celebrating William!