Happy birthday to me!

Am I really 31? It seems so much older than 30--I feel like I'm officially "in" my thirties now. We celebrated with the Lundahl clan at the Royal Thai Bistro in Fircrest. The food was to die for--I had the mango fried rice and I'm still dreaming about it. Can't wait to go back!

Grandma and Mia with her new binkie clip--a serious lifestyle upgrade for me, I'm not constantly searching the floor for a nearly-invisible clear pacifier

Goofy B and daddy

Is and Laura--soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Ledesma!

Me and my best girls. My mom got me a "birthday queen" crown and placemat. Queen of the Week is a running joke in our fam--my mom used to allow one of us to be Queen for the week when we were younger. Highlights of being queen included riding in the front seat of the car all week, and getting the most choice plastic cup with dinner. She originally did this to help quell fights among the sisters, but I think it probably caused more fights than it prevented. Anyway, the birthday queen hat made us smile!

Aunt Kendra and Mia--minus a sock!

Blowing out my candle--B likes to be front and center whenever any candle-blowing is taking place.

My vegan sugar-free cake, courtesy of Kendra! It's from the babycakes NYC cookbook--a great option for gluten free, low sugar, healthy goodies. It was delicious and we happily ate the leftovers for breakfast the next morning!

Mia with soon-t0-be Uncle Tyler. Mia's wearing a dress that Kora got for Bianca. I'm glad we get to use it again!

Kendra chatting with smiley Mia.

Thanks, family, for a great evening! Cheers!

Kendra and Ty

Whew--busy weekend! We enjoyed our "April in February" weather so much. I'm not looking forward to going back to real February weather any day now.

After a fun birthday party for Bianca's buddy Oliver, I headed out to Wright Park and downtown Tacoma to snap some pics of Kendra and Ty for their wedding website. I am so not, nor do I have any desire to be, a professional photog, but we have a nice camera and the weather was good so we gave it a shot (pun intended!) The bright sunshine actually worked against us. They were squinting in a lot of the pics--hard not to when it's so bright! Here are a few of my faves, hope I'm not stealing their thunder by posting them! :)

We were on the bridge of glass at the glass museum, and the sun was illuminating all the glass. Gorgeous eye candy.

On the bridge.



Definitely one of my faves--so sweet! Awwww.

Funny girl

Bianca has been cracking me up lately. Yesterday she asked me if we could have two Mias. Then, after a bit of reflection, she decided that she wanted a little brother. Where she comes up with this stuff, I have no idea. She's really a "the more the merrier" type of kid. I think she'd love for me to have as many babies as I could possibly make. (Sorry, Biancs. Mia's it for now!)


Why is my child walking the streets of Tacoma, pantless? Well, on Wednesday we were blowing bubbles in the front yard, enjoying the sunshine, and we decided to take a spontaneous walk around the block. A little ways from our house, she discovered some bubble soap on one of her pant legs. She hates the feeling of wet clothing, so she hiked up her pants as far as they could go (she had to do both, she wasn't satisfied with one) and she walked like this for the rest of the way, with her skinny legs poking out from underneath her jacket. Fortunately, it was pretty warm. What a goofball.

My funny Valentines

I love Valentine's Day! We keep things pretty low-key--we usually put a $5 or $10 spending limit on gifts to spark our creativity--this year I found Steve some pink and red sunflower seeds, his favorite snack. We celebrated with a special breakfast prepared by Steve, and a themed dinner complete with heart-shaped pizza and red velvet cupcakes. Yum! Oh, and we got to go out to a fun birthday lunch with Farmor and Papa--Indian food!
Our little sweeties:

All I really wanted was a photo of the two of them together. Preferably looking at the camera. That doesn't happen too often--when they're side-by-side they're usually staring at each other.


Bianca loves to make her laugh.

Looking at sissy.

Mia: three months

chatty :: giggly :: pouty :: squishy :: wiggly :: extremeley kissable ::

Happy 1/4 of a year birthday little one!

Chatterbox

Bianca chatter...
"Mommy, it's polky-dot cereal!" (A very accurate description of Kix)
"No, Mom, I'm gonna have an accident. I'm gonna have an accident soon". (After I asked her if she needed to go potty)
"Can Mia wear earrings?" (examining Mia's ears up close...I'm pretty sure she was trying to figure out how to put earrings on her)
"Look, mom, it's a hospital baby!" (when she saw a tiny newborn)


Our little beauty...her 2-morning a week preschool takes photos of the kiddos in action and sends them home every so often. I love seeing what she gets into there. They always have something going on!

Every time I pick her up she makes nearly everyone look at her sister (but she won't let them touch her). She's so proud of Mia. Three is a tough age, but oh, the cuteness...

Mia and her Sophie

Mia can kinda-sorta play with toys now! If we put it in her vicinity she can sometimes grasp it, and if she can work it up to her mouth she can chew on it (aka slobber all over it). Sometimes she just LOOKS at something so intently, I can tell she's thinking "get over here toy so I can chew you!" but she can't quite grab it on her own yet. Her favorite thing to reach out for is my watch, when I'm changing her diaper. She also loves Sophie the giraffe.

Happy Birthday Sarah + TBL 2010

I cannot believe my baby sister Sarah is 18! I still remember her as a tiny baby. Time really flies. We are all so proud of the person Sarah has become! The fam came over to our place yesterday for some cake and gifts.

I love this pic--Bianca is thinking she is sneaky and getting ready to peek at the gifts. Little imp. :)



Bianca wanted us to do ring around the rosie. :)

Here Laura is trying to get Mia to laugh--she loves it when we touch her cheeks and chin. She laughs a ton in her sleep--apparently whatever she dreams about is WAY funnier than any of us (we do get some cute chuckles out of her, though).

AND...the Biggest Loser 2010 crew (minus Bianca). My mom and sisters and I are doing a biggest loser challenge, from now until May 1. Here is our "before" photo. We were laughing that we should try and look as chunked out as possible. I need to get into shape to fit into the many bridesmaid dresses I have to wear this year, starting with Laura's in four months! After one month of zero sugar and yeast I am down about 15 lbs but it feels like I have SO far to go. Hopefully this challenge will help us all to stay motivated and have some fun together.