May, June Update

Sorry if this is a little long. It's been a while, and we've apparently been busy, if the last month-and-a-half worth of photos is any indication. Plus, we've got another birthday coming up (believe it or not, someone turns 4 next week!) so I need to cram a bunch of stuff together before that excitement and its associated photos hit us.
We ended April by celebrating Allison's first birthday.

The birthday princess.

And with her daddy.

When if came to opening presents, Ally was, like most 1-year-olds, puzzled but obliging.

Hey, this one has my name on it!

Fortunately, Anthony was only too happy to "help" (by opening Ally's presents for her).

So I sit here, and people give me toys?  I can get into this.

When present-opening ended and it was time for cake, Allison remained - surprise, surprise - puzzled but obliging.

So what's up next? (yes, I gave her fake lipstick for her birthday. This should surprise nobody.) 

Seriously. Let's get this party started.

Of course, as is generally the case with the obligatory "1-year-old stuffing cake in face" photo, things got off to a slow start.

But given enough time and urging, most of us end up dipping a toe in the water, or a finger in the frosting, and learn an important life lesson... 

...that cake...is good! I'm sure that knowledge will serve her well in the years to come.

Allison's birthday wasn't the only big fun as April closed.  Anthony's school put on their annual circus production, with all the kids dressed in costumes and singing songs. It was very cute, though I'm not sure a stage career is in Anthony's future...

What are we doing here again?

Hey! Look! I'm wearing a tail!

Uh, guys? My ears are falling down...

He may not have been the most focused puppy dog, but I dare say he was the cutest.

Anthony also hit a friend's birthday party, this one with a make-your-own pizza theme. I thought it was a super cute idea. And proof that other parents are way more ambitious than me!

He seemed to enjoy making the pizza.

Of course, Anthony being Anthony, his reaction to actually eating his pizza wasn't too positive. So I ate it. It was delicious.

He was a little more impressed with the Spiderman cake...look how intently he's eyeing  it.  I guess it made an impression...his cake choices this year are dinosaur and Spiderman.

After pizza and cake, the parents did a very smart thing by putting on one of the Cars movies.

Chick Hicks is NOT faster than Lightning McQueen, you take that back!

That takes us up to more recent weeks. With May coming to an end and June beginning, we've been focused on the end of the school year. Anthony's last week in PreK-3 was "Wacky Week," with pajama/crazy hair day, crazy socks day and Prince or Princess Day, in which the kids dress in their fanciest clothes.

Crazy hair/pajama day. We called it his dinosaur hair.

Crazy socks day. Our socks tend toward the tame, so I did the best I could with fabric paint.

Prince or Princess Day. Wasn't really sure what to do for this one, as fancy clothes aren't really our thing. I have a feeling I'll have more fun with it when it's Ally's turn... Anyway, his expression says otherwise, but he was actually really excited about wearing the tie. For the record, this is a tie that Brandon took from my dad, so it has now served three generations in a sense!

And of course, the end of the school year also means the start of a new one, so Anthony had his "promotion ceremony" from the PreK-3 room to the PreK-4 room. Usually the mere suggestion of Pomp and Circumstance gets the tears flowing for me, so I was sure I didn't stand a chance at this one, but actually I made it through without tissues. Maybe because my cynical side that thinks it's funny to graduate from the 3-year-old room to the 4-year-old room overruled my emotional side that realizes this means my little guy is growing up!


The graduate with his wonderful teachers, Miss Annette and Miss Melissa.

Proud of my boy!

We have ourselves a 1-year-old!

And here she is!

She's certainly come a long way from Day 1.

Here she is modeling her birthday shirt.

As of just after 1 p.m. April 26, Allison has been with us for a full year.

I can't imagine a sweeter, happier baby, although she has been asserting herself a little more of late. And climbing...I could definitely do without climbing.

But other than that, there's very little one can complain about when it comes to Allison. She's been such a good little girl who has brought us so much happiness.

Although we're keeping it low-key for the actual birthday celebration, Ally has been busy in recent weeks.

First, now that she's almost 1, we decided we'd let her dye her hair blond.

Just kidding...but Ally's first professional haircut did shear off all the brunette "baby hair," revealing the new growth and rendering her as blond as big bro. So, here we have our blond-haired, blue-eyed little sweetheart. If you need to find Brandon, he'll be busy polishing his shotgun for the next 30-some years.



Ally also enjoyed her first Easter. While Anthony asked for his "Easter toys" for every single day of the two weeks between the time he sniffed them out and the day of the actual holiday, the proceedings were a little less exciting for Ally, whose celebration mostly amounted to wearing cute dresses and an Easter bonnet.


Brandon dared to say he doesn't think this Easter hat is cute.

Ally begs to differ.





I think Javier approves, too.



What exactly am I supposed to do with there?









Not sure why, but this is one of my favorite pictures of Allison.

We also took a trip to the zoo in recent weeks.


Ally was mostly confined to her stroller, but didn't seem to mind too much.



We let her out to drive this old truck...

...get eaten by a dragon...

...and enjoy the relative safety of Daddy's arms.

Now, she's looking forward to year two of adventures. While she may not quite be the complacent, super-easy, always accommodating baby of old - and that climbing...ugh! - she's still as sweet as can be, and we can't wait to join her on those adventures.

Besides, we like her to have a little spunk!

I am woman, hear me roar!









Allison is 11 months old!

Allison hit the 11-month milestone last weekend, the last time her birthday will be measured in mere months. I really feel like she's looking more and more like a little girl rather than a baby, and she's following in her brother's footsteps to become a little blondie.

She's still a little sweetheart, though she is letting her opinion be known more forcefully these days. Things she likes - her brother, the cat, eating - get a big smile; things she doesn't like - being left alone in a room, being kicked by her brother, not eating when she wants to - get loud screams and tears.

And it's hard to know if it's intentional or not, but she could be saying a few words. Brandon has been on the receiving end of a few "dada's," I got a "mama" the other day, and she says "hi" when she waves her little Miss America-style wave:

We've had some fun times this past month.

The kids are taking advantage of the YMCA swimming pool while the weather is nice...

Anthony has also been taking swimming lessons. This is an adventure for all involved...one time he SCREAMED the entire 30 minutes; today he did a lot better and announced "I didn't cry!" when we were done. It was more or less the truth.

Ally doesn't get in the water quite as much, but she does rock a bikini:

Work it!

We also hit Hollywood's St. Patrick's Day parade earlier in the month:

This photo just screams, "Awwwww, mom!"

Happier faces:

We also went to Brandon's cousin's wedding in Orlando. The weekend was dampened by the fact that everyone got sick - a planned day at Disney was nixed, and three of four didn't even get to the wedding - but we did have some fun at the children's museum.

Anthony was scared of this odd-looking lizard...Ally, not so much:

Ally also liked playing in the garden...an early version of "he loves me, he loves me not"?
And the highlight for Anthony was "working" on this car:

We're all looking forward to the big birthday party next month - it's almost impossible to believe our little baby is almost 1.