The Birthday Party

I asked Scarlett about a month ago what kind of party she wanted, she was quick to tell me, "a Bubble Guppy party" (it's a cute show, in fact the only show Scar ever was even remotely interested in when she was about 15 months- she wouldn't watch TV unless it was on).  Her wish was my command... We had an awesome birthday party with 12 of Scarlett's little buddies in our backyard.

Fruity Pebbles- "Fish Food"

Donut Holes- "The Grump Fish Special"

Grapes- "Bubble Bites"

Now, before you ask, YES, I did make this myself.  It looks professionally done, right?!  HA.  The idea I conceived in my head was much cuter, but when Scarlett saw her Deema cake she screamed and clapped and said "Mommy!  I love my cake!"  That's all I needed.

We had an ocean themed bounce house with slide combo, which Scarlett is still asking to have back at our house, again.

Maya, Scarlett and Blake having a ball.

Each kid took a turn swinging at the shark pinata.

Blake.

Pearl.

Ira.

Maya.

Emerson.

Kaden.

 I missed Chiara's turn- she swung fast and then got out of dodge.

 Bradley.

 Not pictured swinging: Ally, Addesyn and Maddie.

They loved when Rob finally opened the shark up and dumped the candy on the ground.  They each got a cute little Bubbly Guppy goodie bag to put their treats in. 

 Scarlett loved having everyone sing Happy Birthday to her.  When we were done, and she had blown out her candles, she turned around and clapped for them.

My Dad demonstrated to a few of the kids how to eat their cupcakes in just one bite.

Presents, presents galore!  Scarlett was beyond spoiled by all her friends.

Scarlett is always trying to eat Emerson's chips when they're together, so he got her a bag of her own Cheetos.  She was in heaven!

Giving Pearl a big thank you hug for the cute doll.

Baby Asher.  We love him and his squishiness.

What a day!  We had so much fun and are so grateful to all our family and friends who came to help Scarlett celebrate.  She kept telling us how much fun she had at her party.

After her (no) nap, we went back outside and played some more. 

Even preggo Mom got in on the action.

I just love my girl.

Best friends.

Grandma and Granddad took us out for pizza that night- our favorite!

Happy, happy birthday, baby girl!

XOXO

The Birthday Day

Two Year Stats:

28 pounds, just above 50th percentile

38 inches tall, so far off the chart, it's a bit ridiculous.

Height to weight ratio, again, below 5th percentile.  Scarlett is one lean, mean, fightin' machine.

Scarlett's birthday started out with her unsuccessful photo shoot, and after a quick wardrobe change we went to Gott's for lunch with my first cousin (once removed, I believe) and her two boys who were in town from Arizona.  The boys are 4 and 8 and Scarlett had way too much fun with them.  She loves playing with big kids.  It was great to see Shannon and spend a little time with them on their quick trip.  After lunch, and another wardrobe change (Scarlett's dress had pumpkin milkshake, mustard and ketchup all over it) I put her down for a nap and told her she needed to sleep so we could have a little party when she woke up.  She sang in her bed for about an hour before I heard her say, "I better go ni-night now so I can have my party".

We had to wake her up at 6 (she didn't fall asleep until 4) so she could have dinner with us and the Hisermans.  Scarlett doesn't really have a favorite food, so I made something she will at least eat, chicken and rice.

When it came to present time, Scarlett couldn't wait.  I gave in to the fit and allowed her to open one thing- which she and Maddie had a ball playing with.

More presents- this girl was so excited.  I thought she would get a little shy from all the attention, but no.  She was loving it.

Play-dough is her passion right now.  She loves "makin' it".

 Beyond thrilled about the cute cupcake birthday shirt Grandma and Granddad got her for her party on Saturday.

 We love "potatoes!"  (aka, Mrs. Potatohead).

 All the kids- minus Jack who was not interested in taking any pictures.

 Happy birthday, to youuuu...

 My camera blurred when I snapped the shot of her blowing out the candles, so I told my Mom to relight them real quick and have her do it again.  Scarlett started waving her hand, leading the music, and singing Happy Birthday again, trying to get everyone to sing along.  Too cute.

 Yummy Cold Stone ice cream cake.

 Play-dough, bowling, friends and cake... it's no wonder Scarlett was up until 11:30 that night!

What a fun birthday... and more to come.  The big party is on Saturday, and Scarlett has been talking about it for weeks!  Whenever she talks to my sister or brother she asks, "you comin' to my party?"  She expects everyone to be there.  Love that girl.

TWO

My little babe turned two years old today.  Time sure flies.  But I am not sad about that.  I love watching her grow and learn and outgrow certain phases... I think it is absolutely wonderful to watch, and be such a big part of.  We had a great day with family and friends, and attempted to do a little photo shoot, but were very, VERY unsuccessful.  Scarlett woke up at 9:15 this morning, only because I knocked a plate in to the bathroom sink and woke her up.  She probably would have slept another 45 minutes if I hadn't made so much noise.  When I went in her room she said, "mommy, you scared me!"  and then kept telling me how tired she was.  She was clearly not ready to wake up.  I rushed her out the door to our good friends house, the Wagners' have a beautiful yard, to snap some pictures, but she would not smile or cooperate.  When I asked her to do certain things she said, "oh mom, come on."  How dare I ask!

 My girl, who is usually all smiles, was nothing but serious this time.  But man, still so pretty.

She even tried hiding from me a few times... 

Even without beautiful two year photos- we had a really great day... which I will post about another time, since it is 10pm and she is still awake... currently having a dance party with Daddy upstairs.  I'm going to go join them.

Scarlett, I love you more than words can say.  You really are my best little friend.  I am so grateful you came in to my life two years ago.

And I am so glad you enjoyed your happy, happy day.

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

Scarlett and I went shoe shopping yesterday and she LOVED trying on all different types of shoes.  Her absolute favorite were all the boots (and she did get an adorable pair of rain boots).  When we got home I was doing a few things in the office while she played in the toy room and then I heard the distinct "click, click" of my boots on the marble floor...

 The cheesiest cheese face of all time.

 She has recently begun to love having her picture taken... which I am very excited about.

Scarlett walked around in my boots for a while, then we got her new boots out.  She has told every person she sees for the last day to "look at my new boots!"  She loves them.  And I love them.  And I taught her one of my favorite songs when I was little- "these boots were made for walkin'. And that's just what they'll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you."

Speaking of walking all over someone- I have to share this story.  We went shopping at Nordstrom in Corte Madera so we could have lunch with Rob on his break.  After purchasing the boots, I was a little nervous about what Rob would say about their price.  We ordered at Boudin and started eating our food before Rob met up with us.  When he did, Scarlett was so elated to see him- she has NEVER been that excited.  She was kissing his cheeks and his lips and hugging him and saying "My Daddy" over and over again.  While Rob was relishing in the loving affection she was showering him with, I said "since Daddy is in such a good mood, let's tell him about the boots we bought!"  I showed him the boots, and the price tag, and when he said "Are you serious?" Scarlett went at it again, kissing, hugging, petting, "My Daddy"-ing him.  It was hilarious!  She knew all she had to do was butter him up with some lovin' and she could have whatever she wanted.  Rob looked at me and said "she's not even two and she has already mastered your art of manipulation".  Yes, we are in serious t.r.o.u.b.l.e.

But really, they are such cute boots.

September 9: Oahu, Day Seven

Friday was our last full day in Hawaii.  I always get a little sad when a trip is coming to an end.  You spend months planning and looking forward to your vacation, and then in the blink of an eye, it's over.

We spent the morning snorkeling around our little lagoon.  We didn't see a whole lot, but we saw a few pretty fishes.  Scarlett came out with us in her little inner-tube.  She really loved riding the waves.

Here's my baby bump.  In swim suits or gym clothes, I am very obviously pregnant.  In my regular clothes I can still kind of hide it... If I wear a loose enough shirt.

 My family headed to La'ie early in the afternoon to go shopping and get Kyle set up in his apartment.  We hung back and spent a few hours at the pool.  We had sent our rental car back with my Aunt Pam when she left the day before, and then realized we really did need another car.  We picked another one up Friday afternoon.

Scarlett ordered a grilled cheese and fries poolside and enjoyed teasing Daddy with her french fries.

 We headed up to the room to get ready to meet everyone in La'ie and while I was showering and getting ready, Scarlett fell asleep watching Disney Channel with Dad.

 She is just so adorable.  And look how tan her arm is compared to her face- I'm kind of a sunscreen Nazi when it comes to the face.

We met my family at Kyle's apartment as they were finishing setting him up.  Our cousin, Ryan also attends BYU-H and had just flown in from Sacramento so we met up with him and went to dinner at a yummy burger stand owned and operated by seven LDS brothers.  We hung out a little while, and were planning to leave Kyle there since we flew out the next morning, and La'ie is an hour away from where we were staying.  However, since we had two cars again, Rob offered to take Kyle back in the morning if he wanted to spend the last night with us.  I think he was more than happy to take Rob up on the offer (OK, so really, I offered Rob to drive him back, but Rob was happy to oblige).

I am really bummed I didn't take any pictures of Kyle's apartment, or of HIM on the last day or two.  But we were so sad to leave him.  My family is kind of weirdishly close, and having him so far away is strange for us.  But we love him and know he is having a blast living on the beach, oh, and going to school, of course.

Saturday morning we said good-bye to KyKy.  Scarlett wanted nothing to do with it- I think she was mad Kyle was staying without her.  She talks about going to "Awaii" to see him all the time.  While Rob drove the two hour round trip drive to La'ie and back, we packed, checked out, hung out with Nama and Al (she still calls my Dad by his first name) and Ashee, hit up the ABC Store one last time, and then finally headed to the airport.  Scarlett was a champ on the flight home and actually fell asleep in my Mom's lap for a little over an hour.  We got home around 11pm CA time, and couldn't get Scarlett to bed before 12:30am- but she adjusted back to our time within a day.  It was a great trip- and Rob's first time in Hawaii.  He has decided he is a fan.  

September 8: Oahu, Day Six

Thursday morning Pam and Marcelle were heading home, so we all got up early and headed down to the new Disney's Aulani Resort lagoon and rented paddle boards.  None of us had done it before- and it was a lot of fun.

 You can see Rob way out there.

 Certainly not a good angle- what pregnant person wants to post a picture of their butt?  But it is the only proof I have of being there and participating in the activity.  I did stand up- this was just me paddling out.

 There was a floating raft we all swam out to after.

 We spent the rest of the day at the beach and pool- and then headed to La'ie on the other side of the island to see where Kyle would be living while attending Brigham Young University Hawaii.

 His new home is pretty close to the Temple so we walked around the grounds and took a few family photos.

Scarlett was just not the easiest person to get family photos with this trip.

 The Temple is beautiful.

I realized after getting home and going through pictures that I didn't take any of Kyle's new place, or while we were on campus.  I'm kind of bummed about that.  But we had fun, and I guess I don't need pictures to remember that.