Happy Birthday Madison

Saturday night was Madison's (Makayla's sister) 3rd birthday party at Gymboree.  It brought back such great memories being at Gymboree. I can't wait to sign Danielle up.  Technicaly, I could take her to classes now.  But I think I'll wait until she is about a year old, when Lily is in kindergarden.  It gives us more time and I think that is about the best age to start.   Sadly, Lily didn't remember ANY of our time there-- none of the songs, dances, etc.  But she had a blast and wants to have her next birthday party at Gymboree.

 

The big kids at the party - Lily, Makayla, Carys and Matthew.

Danielle sat with Rhiannon for most of the party.  I was so glad!  Last week she cried when Beth (Rhiannon's sister) held her and she didn't want Patti to hold her at dance this week.  I was afraid she was entering that "mommy only" phase.  But she didn't mind Rhiannon!

Five Months Old!

I can not believe that Danielle is 5 months old.   She is still such a sweet and wonderful baby that gets along pretty much anywhere.  She is starting to really enjoy her toys -- especially soft animals and crinkly fabrics.  She is such a joy and the perfect addition to this family.  She makes us all smile constantly and we love her so very much.

I knew I had to take 5 month pictures today, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.  So on a whim I grabbed some Christmas paper (that wasn't too Christmasy) for a background and then on another whim tied the red ribbon from my Tiffany boxes on her head and ta da -- we had a photo shoot going.  I am pretty happy with the last minute look.   (again, I know there are a lot of pictures -- but these were my favorite from the 150+ that I took!)

 

Hailey's Birthday

We went to Hailey's 5th birthday party today.  Hailey is one of Lily's good friends from school.  There was a surprise guest at the party that I knew about, but none of the kids did.  So it was awesome to see their reactions when the birthday girl answered the door and Cinderella was there!  Cinderella threw a party amazingly similar to the one Belle did for Lily last year (they must compare notes!)  They played games, danced, sang songs and got their makeup and nails done.  All the girls were so excited.  

 A princess makeover.

 Lily and Hailey

 Makalyla, Lily and Carys

Ready to Play

Friday after Lily got home from school and after her movie date with Patti and Emily (they took her to see Puss N Boots), we all went to the park to meet Kathleen, Avery & Cade and Meridith, Taylor, Paisley & Blake. It was a busy day! I didn't get any pictures while the kids were playing, but I did get some pictures of Danielle all bundled up and ready to go to the park.  It was a cool and windy afternoon.

 Stinky Buns!

It is pretty much pointless to put her on her back to play anymore.  She just rolls over.  She still sleeps on her back (or side), but during the day she just likes to roll all over.  A few times she has kept on rolling, but usually she'll stay on her stomach until I flip her back over.  I give her time to try to roll on her own, but when I can tell she is getting really upset and frustrated, I'll help her out.   The rainforest gym was my favorite place to put her while I got stuff done around the house, but it is not working so well anymore since she just rolls out of it!

21 Weeks Old

I've had my new camera for over a year now and when I first got it I told myself that I wasn't going to shoot in "auto" mode.  I was going to use the manual mode and get the most out of my photos.  I took years of photography in high school and was quite familiar with the concepts of f-stops, aperture and ISO.  But "auto" mode is SO easy and takes good enough pictures, so I never really ventured out.  But lately, I haven't been as happy with the shots I've been getting.  So I have been reading camera tutorials online and re-familiarizing myself with the workings of the camera (high school was a LONG time ago).  Plus, I got photoshop lightroom from Christmas from my parents and I have been dying to play around some.   I haven't had a lot of time or opportunity to try out my camera and new editing software, but I did take a few minutes this week to get this shot of Danielle:

 

 Above: the original

 

After playing around with the hues and colors.  I am pretty happy with the way they both turned out and can't wait to experiment some more.  It helps a lot when you have such cute subjects to photograph.

Lily's Birthday Party

We had Lily's birthday party on Sunday.  This year she wanted to have it at a gymnastic or bounce house place.  She didn't want anything too girly because she really wanted her boy friends from school to be able to come to her party too.  We attended a fun party at a local gymnastic place a few years ago, so we decided to have it there since they have trampolines and a bounce house slide -- perfect for Lily.  It was so weird how easy it all was.  I am used to throwing the parties which requires a lot of planning, shopping and work (which I love), but this year I just had to bring a cake and favors -- they did everything else.  It was great since we just got back from California, but strange to not have control!

 I decided to keep the favors simple this year -- instead of shopping for separate boy and girl toys.  So we got Rainbow whirly pops that everyone can enjoy.  I did get to have a bit of fun making the little "bouquet" and tags.

 Lily wanted a Strawberry Shortcake theme this year.  So we got a Strawberry Shortcake cake! 

 And a Strawberry Shortcake shirt.

 Party Time!!

 Lily has never been a big fan of the foam pit before, but she was loving it today!!

 Bouncing with Hadley and Carys.

 Since she is 5 now, Lily is a lot more daring.  She even said that she can do things like this now because she is 5. 

 Emily jumping in the foam pit.

 The kids had tons of fin running around like crazy, bouncing, playing in the foam pit and just going wild.

 Playing with Logan and Matthew.

 Foam fight!

 Then it was game time.  The kids had to get foam blocks from the pit for a foam war.  What they didn't know at first was that it was kids vs parents.  It was fun!

 The kids all ready to go to "war".

 They were all having so much fun.  I was so glad that Lily had a huge smile on her face the whole party!

 They played a couple more games.  This one involved crawling and acting like animals.

 The whole gang!

Matthew, Emily, Parker, Eagen, Hailey, Logan, Justin, Ben, Callie, Taylor, Lily, Hadley, Hannah, Makayla, Ashley, Carys, Madelyn, Christie (not pictured - Paisley and Madison & babies, Danielle, Abby, Matthew and Blake)

 More play time on the other side of the gym.

After a little over an hour of play, it was time for cake and ice cream.

 With Hailey and Ashley

After the party we got to go home and open all her presents!   It was a fun party and I think everyone had a good time.  I know Lily did and that is all that matters.