Dear Cora, for your 5th birthday

Dear Cora,

Your 5th birthday came and went in a whirlwind of activity. Grandmothers coming to visit, parties, new jobs and new schools have had us so busy that, although I wrote this letter and chose these pictures about 9 months ago, they are only just now getting published. I apologize, but as your 6th birthday is imminent, I felt it necessary to put this one up sooner, rather than never.

Playing in the kitchen while singing a song.

The start of your 4th year was full of exploring and learning new things, particularly reading. We began working on simple words and sounding things out, and you have progressed so much! By now you are able to read some of your easy reader books all by yourself and can sound out more complicated words all on your own. As much as you enjoy reading, you still enjoy being read to more.

You and every other girl were Elsa for Halloween!

While your knowledge has increased, some things remain the same. Playing dolls and make believe, concocting "science experiments" or "cooking" in the kitchen are still high on the list of play, but you've also added in more complicated puzzles and board games, and some role playing, such as playing school or veterinarian. We also enrolled you in gymnastics over the summer, and although I don't see a career as an Olympic gymnast in your future, you really enjoyed the classes!

Great sense of fashion

And adorable no matter what you wear!

During the past year you were at preschool at least several days a week where you made some great friends that we have enjoyed having playdates with occasionally. It is really fun to see you develop real friendships and I look forward to hearing about all your new friends in kindergarten. It has also become apparent that with your friends, like with us, you enjoy directing the game play and coming up with whole worlds in which to play (everyone is a princess and has a castle, and you go visit each other's castles, for instance).

See? More "soup" making

Daddy and I are very lucky that you remain a generally sweet girl who still loves to hug and cuddle and shows a desire to take care of people. When one of us feels sick or is sad you like to bring us a toy or give us a hug to make us better. Oh sure, we have our rough moments, but even those are outweighed by your sweetness.

Sweet in your Easter dress

At some point this year you and your brother went from coexisting to becoming real friends and occasional compatriots in play. Although, like with most brother-sister pairs, the game play involves princesses and superheros, monsters and fairies, evil queens and dragons. It can be quite a riot in the house, especially when one of you is casting (very loud) spells and the other is being a fire-breathing dragon! But we love seeing you play together and develop a great friendship.

But Easter Egg hunting is way more fun in a costume, naturally

Never a quiet moment at our house!

Some things have remained the same, and some have changed. Without further ado, your current favorites:

Toys: Douglas, as always, remains a favorite, although you are becoming slightly less attached. And by slightly I mean a very minuscule bit.  My Little Ponies, dolls, any puppies, and legos have been big this year, and books (especially Pinkalicious and fairy tale stories). A lot of toys become ingredients in a cake that you're pretending to bake.

No, Cora, we can't keep it.

Movies/TV: My Little Pony (all the time, in any way possible), Strange Magic, Harry Potter, and the Tinkerbell movies. Usually a movie watching experience is followed by a round of pretend play, where we are all different characters from the movie and occasionally have to act out scenes. But every movie is followed by a dance party while the credits play!

You cried when we had to wash your face!

Food: Quesadillas, and pretty much anything that has cheese on it. Pasta carbonara, jambalaya, bananas and apples. You aren't too picky of an eater, thankfully, but we still have to coax you to try new things.

Douglas is still your best friend.

Activities: Reading, drawing, and playing make believe. This summer you loved swimming and began swimming without a floaty, plus jumping in all on your own (a major accomplishment for a girl who didn't want to get her face wet at the start of the summer)!

My little water baby!

You have grown so much from 4 to 5 and surprised us in many ways. I can only imagine how much different you will be next year, after a full year of kindergarten and all the new skills you will learn! I can't wait!

Love,

Mama

Dear Cora, on your 4th birthday

My dear Cora,

Hugging your pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.

You have taught me a lot this year - I learned that I have great patience for messes, but not for puzzles; that there is always time for one more hug; and that a snuggle can cure any wrongs, especially when the snuggle is with someone as loving as you.

Jumping in the leaves!

Somewhere in the course of this year you became a little girl, full of little girl opinions (princesses are the best), best friends, and favorites of all kinds (chocolate, princesses, and, like most other girls, anything Frozen). I am continually in awe of your imagination, which has only grown with each passing year. Every day you concoct some grand make believe game that we are all required to participate in, whether we want to or not. You have also discovered card games and board games, which gives us a chance to slow down and play something where the rules don't change every few seconds.

Sassy girl

Rhys is your biggest fan. He adores you so much - he always wants to play with you, and you are generally really good about including him in some way or another. Whenever we go to the park I usually see him tagging along after you, and I can hear you calling for him to "come this way!" or to "follow me!" And, like all siblings, there are times when you just don't see eye to eye, but I get it. I have a brother too.

Brrr, it was a cold winter!

In September we started you back to preschool 2 days a week. It was a rough transition - you had been home with me and your brother everyday for over a year, and you were not happy to be away from us. It took a long time, but you made some wonderful friends who made school fun for you. The switch to your new school after our most recent move went pretty well, and you've got a new best friend that you look forward to seeing. We have definitely noticed that preschool has been wonderful for you. Your social skills have greatly improved, you have really learned how to play by yourself, and you are very interested in learning how to read. It is also becoming apparent that you are a natural leader.

The height of fashion

These improved social skills are apparent at home, too. We have real conversations about how our day went, what you like and want to do, and how things are made/work/fit together. You have a pretty extensive vocabulary, which gets put to great use between all the questions and conversations. Best of all, your sense of humor has gotten bigger as you have learned to pick up on some really important things, like sarcasm. Occasionally you decide to tell us a joke, but they usually don't make a whole lot of sense.

Before the haircut

 

After the haircut!

So let's see what things played a big role in your life this year:

Books - the Disney Princess Collections and your big book of fairy tales.

Flower child

Food - Mac and cheese, jambalaya, pasta carbonara - you still aren't picky about most foods, except that you just aren't a fan of fruit. But you'll eat almost any vegetable.

This is what happens when we let you pick your own outfit.

Movies/TV - Frozen (We watched this so much that you actually managed to get tired of it for awhile. We don't watch it so much anymore, but you still insist on being called Elsa much of the time), Tangled, and Cinderella. Not surprisingly, you really enjoy the show Sophia the First (about a princess), but also Daniel Tiger, Paw Patrol, and Wallykazam.

Fun at the beach!

At the Monarch butterfly farm

Toys - Douglas, of course, continues to claim the biggest part of your heart. But also dolls! You have all these Disney princess dolls that you adore and play with each and every quiet time. They're always naked (what is it with little girls and taking off doll clothes?). Any puppy toy is immediately cherished, and lately Andre has become your snuggling companion during quiet time.

Activities - drawing and painting, playing with Play-doh, swimming, playing with the water table, any sort of pretend play. Recently we have started taking you on Daddy/Coco or Mama/Coco dates, to do things like see a movie or get some ice cream. We all really cherish these times together.

You still love painting

And you still love donuts.

Having you around has made the last 4 years terrific, and we look forward to all the years we have ahead. You are a wonderful and special girl, and I love every little part of you!

Love always,

Mama

P.S. Please forgive how late this letter was. I actually wrote it right before your birthday, but the pictures were on your Daddy's computer, and he really needed it to study for his board exams. I'm sure you'll understand.

Cora's first haircut

For the past month or so, Cora had been mentioning that she wants to cut her hair. She would tell us one day that she wants to cut it short, then a few days later she would change her mind and say she wanted to grow it "as long as Rapunzel's!"

Since I am of the long haired persuasion, I was a bit reluctant to cut her hair super short (read: chin length), but I have always said that I will not force her to keep her hair long. I will let her be her own person and make her own decisions.

Before, looking like a beach girl out in the sun!

I know, it might sound strange to talk about letting an almost-4 year old make her own hairstyle choices, but Cora is very strong willed and definitely knows what she wants! So on Saturday we took her to get her very first real haircut. I say real, because although I have trimmed it a couple of times and once cut some bangs for her, she had never been to a professional.

In preparation we looked through some pictures of her cousins and of her when she was younger to try and decide how she wanted it. Then we compromised, because I insist that we keep it long enough to put in a ponytail. Mama really does know best about some things, and with summer just around the corner, a ponytail will be essential very soon!

Sitting nice and still for the stylist.

Cora sat very still the whole time, and did a great job! We started just taking off a couple of inches, but Cora wanted it shorter, so we cut off about 4 or 5 inches total. Then she said she wanted bangs (another thing she had wavered on throughout the day), so bangs were cut!

Oh, she was so happy!

Cheese!

A little braiding from the stylist and some spray-in glitter made her even happier!

So excited she could hardly stand still.

Of course, every day of pampering at the salon needs to be followed by frozen yogurt.

Post-pampering frozen yogurt.

As you can see, she is thrilled with her new 'do. She requested to wear it down for school today so that she could show it off to all her friends and teachers. Several of them commented on it as soon as they saw her, which made Cora even happier!

The next day, with her hair down, being super silly.

Does she look older now to you too?

As a side note, Rhys had a haircut on Saturday as well. I believe it was his 6th.

Growing up

I personally don't think I will ever be a "grownup"—not sure I want to be one to be honest—but today we feel more grown up than ever. We signed a contract on our very first house!

Our soon-to-be new home! Door will match the shutters, and posts will match the white trim.

Corn maze!

Now, I know we are way behind on posting about all our travels and family visits this summer. Maybe one day I will put up some pictures from this summer, but this is not that post. This is actually a post about something we did recently. Like, less than a month ago. I know, it's a miracle.

So a few weekends ago we went to a local farm for a corn maze/pumpkin patch/kids free for all play area. It was a blast! There was so much to do and I think we wound up spending almost 3 hours there playing all the games, going down the slides, jumping on the bounce houses, and picking our pumpkins.

Pumpkin heads

Happy (extremely late) birthday, Cora!

Dear Cora,

Ok. I know. Your birthday was over 2 weeks ago, and I am just getting around to writing you. I can't help it. I procrastinate. You probably inherited this quality. Sorry about that.

Say cheese? No, say Cupcake!

Gena's fourth Mother's Day

It's hard to believe this is Gena's fourth Mother's Day! I know Cora's not yet 3, but I believe women become mothers long before their baby is born. I don't think I was a Dad until Coco actually entered the world, but I know Gena was there long before.

Over the last year, Gena has completely redefined her role as "Mom", and I could not be more grateful for, impressed with, and proud of all she has done! Our baby girl is smarter than either of us already, absolutely LOVES to read, regularly states that she "loves science and music", has a penchant for composing beautiful music and lyrics at the drop of a hat, and occasionally amazes us with the love she has for her brother. Rhys is a crawling fool, pulls up on everything, has started "walking" along the edge of the couch or with the walker toy Cora lets him use from time to time, and will most likely be walking before Father's Day. Thank you, Gena, for being such an amazing Mother to our children. Here is Cora and Rhys's Mother's Day song for your listening pleasure.

Before I leave you with the apparently traditional Mama Collage, I want to wish a very happy Mother's Day to all the other Mothers in our lives: Mom, Leta, Stephanie, Alison, Janna, and anyone else reading this post!

Christmas, yes Christmas, 2012

Yes, it's May. Yes, I'm just now blogging about Christmas. Please don't judge me. In case you haven't noticed, the last time I actually posted a blog was to announce Rhys's birth day! That gives you an idea of how this residency has been going. Busy, busy, busy. I try my best to spend as much of the weekend with the kids, and on the few days when they both nap at the same time, we're either cleaning, working in the yard, or sleeping ourselves! Gena has truly been truly amazing staying home with our little monsters this year, I don't know how she does it. I try to let her get out of the house alone (or leave her alone in the house) for a couple hours on the weekend, and I'm barely left standing by the time she comes back. She really is incredible. Enough gushing about her though, Mother's Day is next weekend (thanks Alison for clearing that up for me!). On to Christmas.

We started looking at flights in the fall and realized we would have to take out a 2nd mortgage on someone else's home to afford to fly home for Christmas, so we made the decision to travel in early January (cutting travel expenses by about 60%). This also meant we would be celebrating Christmas with just the four of us for the first time, AND celebrating Christmas with just US for the first time. The closer we got to the big day, the more we realized how uncharacteristically excited we were! Once we removed the stress of travel, we were like little kids looking forward to Christmas morning!

Big girl bed

About a month back we went crazy. We did the sleep training with Rhys and decided in the middle of it that it was a good time to change Cora from a crib to a toddler bed. Now, I had been holding off making this switch for one simple reason: naps.

See, Cora stopped really taking a nap sometime around Thanksgiving. I kept putting her in her crib and letting her play during nap time with the intense hope she would actually sleep. Alas, most times she just yelled loudly from her crib. I was afraid that if she wasn't contained in her crib she wouldn't stay in her room and I would never get a moment's peace! Finally, though, Geoff and I gave in and decided naps are a thing of the past for our girl.

So we started quiet time. Cora didn't know what to do. She would lay down on the floor with a blanket over her because she couldn't lay in her crib. She even fell asleep on the floor once or twice. Finally, I gave in. If she isn't going to nap then why not put her in a toddler bed? At least that way she has a place to sit during quiet time and she can fall asleep on her bed rather than the floor.

Not a baby anymore.

Hunting Easter Eggs

Easter Sunday started out rainy and gross around here. We had an egg hunt planned with the little boy across the street who is just a few weeks older than Cora. Fortunately the rain stopped and was replaced by humidity, mugginess, and mud. Pretty awesome, huh?

So, as the kids are both only 2 and not so adept at finding things right in front of them, the Dads didn't work too hard to hide the eggs. Even in plain sight we had to explain, and then demonstrate, the purpose of the egg hunt to the kids. Took awhile to get started, as we repeatedly had to encourage them to pick up more eggs and spend less time shaking each one and asking "What's in it?" Really, who knew egg hunts were so complicated?

Finally getting the hang of it.

Thanksgiving 2012 Recap

When you host a whole bunch of family, Thanksgiving moves past a single day of celebration and becomes more of a week long event. The celebration started before anyone even arrived, because Monday was my birthday! (And also my mother-in-law's birthday, so I'm sure there was celebrating there as well). I am now officially in my 30's, but still act and feel somewhere around 22.

Once people arrived we spent most of our time playing with cute babies, eating, and laughing. Rhys is about 6 weeks older than his newest cousin Colin, and those 6 weeks were pretty obvious in weight! Colin is just as long as Rhys, but quite a few pounds lighter. They had fun laying around and getting tickled.

Babies! Rhys on the left, Colin on the right.

Freak out!

This is the email I sent to Geoff about or catastrophic trip to the pediatrician yesterday. It was so bad I had to call my own Mama for comfort. 

Oh, man. it was bad.

First, someone messed up the order of appointments, so instead of us being seen at 10:30 (they're usually really prompt), the dr didn't come in until 11. By then Cora was already getting fussy and asking to go home. Good sign there.

So they offered to go ahead and give Cora her flu vaccine, which I would have taken her in for at some point anyway, so I said yes since we were already there. The Dr said the nurses prefer to give the flu mist to children instead of the shot. Whatever, no big deal to me.

Faces

Happy face

Nose Picker

You need to know 2 things about this video. The first is that she starts out saying "no cheese" because she didn't want her picture taken. The second is that she ends by saying "that's better." Everything else is self explanatory.

P.S. Let me know if you can't see this video. I really have no clue what I'm doing with this whole fancy video blogging thing. Sometimes technology escapes me.

On your second birthday

I actually wrote this post on Coco's birthday, but didn't get around to adding pictures to it until today. Better late than never!

Dear Cora,

Today was your second birthday. I can't believe that my chubby little baby is now a strong-willed toddler, very opinionated yet still full of love and hugs. In the past year you have really become your own person, and I am so proud of the little girl you are.

Newborn Coco

Moving day come and gone

Updates first: We have the house mostly under control. We still have some unpacking and setting up to do, but there are always those few little things that get forgotten or aren't pressing so get put off until later. But we are in a fully livable set up now, and we are really happy with the place. 

My phone interview on Friday went really well! So well that they called and asked me to come in for an in person interview on next Monday! I'm excited because I think it would be a great job, but a bit worried that they will want someone to start immediately. And I'm 8 months pregnant. Starting immediately would be kind of a waste of time. All I can do is hope they like me enough to wait for me to be ready to start!

Now, on to the trip from Louisiana to North Carolina!

We got the moving truck all loaded up over a weekend and spent the next few nights sleeping on air mattresses. Mom came in to help us with Co4q while we packed and to help share the driving burden. She was great! Mom (Nana, as the grandkids call her) and Coco went to the park and played while we did most of the truck loading, freeing up our hands and keeping Coco from needing to be held or right by our sides every minute. 

On Monday we headed out! Mom, Cora, the cat and I loaded into my car with all the little things that we couldn't cram into the moving truck (that thing was packed tighter than, well, I dunno, something else packed really tight). Geoff and the dog hopped in the truck, and we were on our way!

Cora was great for both days of the drive. Oh, we had a few cranky moments, and naps were either short or non-existent, but with the help of the iPad (a generous parting gift from my boss) and some movies, most of the time was pleasantly passed like this:

I was a bit more worried about how Soup would do. He's usually really great on car rides, but he's never ridden with Cora before. Fortunately he did great as well, and spent most of his time sleeping in the floor.

We all took some naps in the car. Sadly for Geoff, Clark wasn't much help with the driving, since he lacks opposable thumbs and can't reach the pedals. Also, he's a dog.

Cora wanted to help out, but there were some obvious issues with this. First and foremost, she was just too cute to be behind the wheel for long.

So GP wound up driving the entire way all by his lonesome. We had walkie talkies to keep in touch and made lots of stops (hello, 8 months pregnant here!) so sleepiness never became an issue for him. For us gals, yes.

We stopped just past Atlanta for the night and started out around 10:00 the next morning. The majority of the driving was behind us, and we were looking forward to being really home by the early evening. Things went smoothly up until the last hour or so, when Cora realized she'd been strapped in a car for 2 days and decided watching Movie Puppies (101 Dalmations, which we watched about 3 times) was no longer cutting it. In a last ditch effort to keep her happy and Mom and me sane, I let her play with my hair. 

It may have hurt some, and definitely needed brushing, but it beat listening to a screaming 22 month old for an hour!

Finally, we arrived, got out of the car, assessed the place, and ordered pizza. We got Cora off to bed and were about to crash ourselves when we noticed the roach infestation. Which is a story for another day. 

Mother's Day 2012

In keeping with last year's Mother's Day tradition, I decided to share some of my favorite pictures of Cora with her Mama (don't forget to click it to see it in full-size). Cora truly loves her Mama, especially now that I'm home with her during the day—nothing is more exciting (for the both of us) than when Gena gets home from work in the evening! This will be Gena's last Mother's Day as a Mom-to-One, but I know she'll be just as amazing with two. To all the Mother's out there, especially my Mom, Wife, and Mother-in-Law: Happy Mother's Day, Coco and I love you!

Family photos

I think it was way overdo—much like this post—but we finally took the plunge and had family pictures taken! I'm not sure if this would have happened without Groupon, but nonetheless, it happened. We met the photographer at Jambalaya park only to find out there was a free concert in session, and hundreds of people were there, making a photo session out of the question. We did get a couple shots taken here though, which I think may actually the best of the three of us. Here is my favorite.