Spaghetti

Someone FINALLY tried spaghetti for the first time. She was a fan. Her messy face reminds me of another spaghetti fan...

Equally messy and equally cute.

Bucket

Someone got a bucket. Which is a good thing because she likes to put things on/over her head.
Took her a little while to master this one...

But eventually she nailed it!

Exhausting

You may recall that Rock is a no naps kind of guy these days.

Except when he does nap. At church. At the evening Service. Which may or may not be when his father preaches.

Walking with our Wagon

Check out Louisa's birthday gift from Rocket and Juju! It's a super cool wagon!
Rock loves it just as much as Louisa so it has become our new means of travel when going to local hot spots like...
The park! Although she's doing her 'tights-destroyer' move here, Louisa is actually QUITE the walker these days.

She has turned the corner and prefers to walk on her own everywhere. I know some parents loathe this transition as it means they will be chasing their children around. But we Fixes LOVE when our kids start walking 'cause our arms can finally get a break!

Here they are - cruising back home!

p.s. Who wears dress shoes to the park?!

Polkadotsie Party

Polka-dots in the air...

Polka-dots on the tablecloth...

Polka-dots on the cupcakes...

Polka-dots on the dot art paper to keep the older kids entertained. And polka-dots of candy buttons for the kids to take home as favors. All these polka-dots can only mean one thing...
Louisa "Polkadotsie" was having her first birthday party!!!

And we had quite the crowd with us to celebrate!
I think there were around 30 guests. I don't know what we will do if the weather is ever bad on a birthday party day. We always rely on the space in the backyard to keep our house from busting at the seams.

Big brother Rock was very helpful when it came time to blow out the candle although I'm not sure why he needed a saw and a hammer to get the job done.

Unlike her older brother who did not eat a BITE of his first birthday cake, Louisa went to town on her home-made-dairy-free-but-still-quite-tasty-if-I-do-say-so-myself-cupcake.
(Those of you who know how we like to party might also notice the absence of the traditional cheeseball. That was an intentional omission in honor of the birthday girl's dairy intolerance.)

Almost all of her gifts were polka-dotted. And super cute. Thank you fantastic guests!

This one wasn't polka-dotted and yet it was still QUITE appropriate.

This last picture is included for you to see her adorable shoes. I bought them for her before she was born. Little did I know how PERFECT they would prove to be for her big day! Happy Birthday to our sweet Polkadotsie! We love you ever so much!

Happy Birthday Beautiful!

Look who is one year old!

She was super excited to get presents (all clothes!) at breakfast!

And even more excited to get tissue paper.

Rock likes her new jeans.

We spent the afternoon at the park with a few friends...

Until the birthday girl's brother had a HUGE HUGE HUGE meltdown over not being able to swing in the baby swings. I told him that at 3.5 years old (and 40+ lbs.) he was no longer allowed to be a baby.

St. Patty Story Time

Thank you to Eliana (that's her arm on the left above) and her mom for inviting us to Story Time at Pigtails and Crewcuts in Annapolis. Listening to the fabulous Crystalooney was the perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

Not only did she read good books, and do fun magic tricks, Crystalooney did awesome facepaint for the kids. Rock requested a green dinosaur...

And Louisa sat still (sorta -- that's why it's so pointy!) for a shamrock.

Pigtails... Almost

Someone's daddy thought she was ready for pigtails.

Not quite yet. But getting close!

Natural History

After we got the kids in their new carseats, we headed down to the National Mall for a little Monday Funday fun.
This new (to us at least) tree sculpture in the Sculpture Garden is super cool. While Rock posed for this picture...
Louisa chilled in the stroller and a bunch of random tourists took Rock's picture too.
Inside the Natural History museum, we saw lots of cool animals and bones. Rock requested a pic with the penguin.
I requested a pic of the boys and Louisa by the hippo. Louisa was too busy eating food off the floor (or getting into some other sort of mischief) to pose.
I requested the picture 'cause I wanted to see how much Rock has changed since the last time we were there. In October 2009, he was a lot littler. And blonder!

After the Museum, Rock and I rode on the carousel. He picked the coolest horse by far.

Carseats

I don't know what we did wrong, but both of our kids HATED the infant car seat we picked out. Perhaps it's because the lining is made of polyester and they sweat like pigs.

For some odd reason, I kept Lou in the carrier for a long time! She was way too big for it when five days before her birthday, we finally moved her up to the big girl carseat and moved Rock into a new Booster seat.

They are both much happier in their new seats!

And seeing them side by side makes them suddenly seem really old!

Dentist

Rock was so excited to go to his first dentist appointment.
They gave him some kickin' GIJoe glasses (circa 1984) to protect his eyes from the bright light while polishing his pearly whites.

I love the kid-friendly attitude at our dentist's office. Rock was so comfortable with the friendly staff, he sat by himself for the entire procedure and did a great job!

Cheetah

Would've looked even more awesome if the subject wasn't so wriggly.

Retreaterrific!

The weekend of March 6th, we dropped Rock off with the grandparents and Fix, Louisa and I drove to Charter Hall in Jessup, MD. Fix was the speaker at the Spring Charge Retreat for Liberty Church.

And how did he get this gig? Because of our connections to this guy. Or more importantly, his dad, Nick.

It was so nice to get away to a place by the water...
With just one (super cute) kid and get a break from our regular lives.
Fix's talks were on Christ's offices of Prophet, Priest and King. It was really insightful and engaging and God-glorifying, in my completely unbiased opinion!

In addition to great teaching, there was also fun with toilet paper...

The most hilarious skit I've ever seen...
Canoe racing...
Car pulling...
Water carrying races...
Baby cuddling...

And 100% fantastic food. Each meal was modeled after a different restaurant and the team responsible for serving the meal also decorated the dining room to match the theme restaurant (above it was red and white for Chick-fil-A).

Thank you Nick for planning a wonderful retreat. It was a delight to be there!