Pretending with Gabriela

If Gabriela is ready for school early, I take her to play on the playground before the day starts.

This morning, as usual, she wanted to play restaurant.

Her restaurant is called "Caliseña's"

When I asked what she cooked at her restaurant, her immediate reply was tamales...with beans and cheese and meat and sauce.  When I ordered two, she went upstairs to get her granddaughter (who is also named Caliseña), and promptly brought me my tamales.

And the bill. Three hundred dollars for two tamales. 

Wow.

Meltdown

Not for the three year old, for me.

Last night I burst into tears when I went to put the dinner dishes by the sink and saw the mountain of dishes, even though  I did a bunch of them earlier that day. I just feel like there's always so much to do and I can't do it, and I can't even imagine how much harder it is going to be splitting my attention between Gabriela and a new baby AND trying to keep our house in order.

Gabriela came up to me and told me she was worried about me when she saw me crying. I explained to her that I felt frustrated because there's just so much to do, and I can't do it all.

She tilted her head, put her hand on my belly and sweetly said, "I know, Mommy. It's okay, it's because you have a baby growing in your tummy."

...

Then this morning we had this conversation:

G (minutes after opening her eyes in the morning): Mommy, why did you have tears last night?
Me: Oh honey, sometimes Mommy gets frustrated when there's lots of work to do and I can't do it all.
G (smiling, knowingly): Yeah, that's because you have a big belly with a baby growing inside.


She is the sweetest.

Banana Bread

Today Gabriela and I baked Banana Bread. yum. She was such a great helper in the kitchen with her apron on the step stool.  Gabriela loves watching how things watching how our recipes transform while in the oven. After we enjoyed nearly all the loaf (with the help of some friends who came over for the afternoon), I asked Gabriela to dictate the recipe to me.  Here it is. 

Banana Bread According to Gabriela

FIRST WE "hit the dough and then we put bits of spices sprinkles on them like chia seed."

"Put some sugar and a little bit of spices and mush up bananas in the mixer"

DON'T FORGET TO "put it in the oven"

"It takes a long time to be ready"

IT'S READY "in September"

BEFORE YOU PUT IT IN THE OVEN IT LOOKS "fancy and small"

WHEN YOU TAKE IT OUT, IT LOOKS "like a loaf of bread"

Banana bread tastes "YUMMY!"

Busy, Busy

In the past few weeks we have been as busy as a super pregnant lady can be.  We've been to Fairyland, to Little Farm, to a couple different park picnic lunches with friends, to the beach, to a couple birthday parties, we've had friends and family over, and I haven't documented any of it.  Take a camera with me? Please, I can barely handle carrying a bag with the essentials.  I've also been busy doing all those other normal things like laundry and cooking dinner and washing dishes.

Trying to get as much done as we can before this baby arrives and not get completely worn out in the process. 

First Day of Preschool

Gabriela has been talking about preschool for ages now.  She has been so excited, telling me every day that she will listen to her teachers and share and not grab from other kids. We've spent a lot of time talking about how she'll be a big girl, and I will drop her off. How she'll make new friends, and have special time at school, and then I will pick her up and she can tell me all about it. 

Tuesday finally arrived and as soon as I woke Gabriela up and told her it was the big day, she hopped out of bed.  We have also been talking about how she'll need to go potty by herself like a big girl at preschool.  So, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised when she refused to go potty at home in the morning.  "No, Mom! I'm going to do it at preschool!!!"  We had to talk about how you go potty at home AND at preschool.  She agreed.

I was instructed to take good care of Crazy Hair Baby, to bring her to school when I pick up Gabriela, AND to bring Crazy Hair Baby's milk bottle.  Gabriela said I was the babysitter and asked that I make sure Crazy Hair Baby got a play date with her friend while she was away at school.  She also told me, "remember to follow the rules, Mom." 

As we were walking up the path to preschool and throughout the whole morning, Gabriela would say things like, "Isn't this so exciting?!?!  It's my first day of skew-well!!!"


Then we got there.

We arrived to a little kid with a ninja death grip on the door jam, screaming bloody murder, completely horrified that his parents were leaving him. Uh, this was traumatizing me, I can't imagine how Gabriela must have felt.  Like I was keeping some big preschool secret from her?  Poor baby. I totally didn't think to prep her about how other kids might be nervous. whoopsies.

She timidly put her new bag on the hook, got her name tag and told me she didn't want me to leave.  I gave her a big hug and a kiss and told her I'd be back to pick her up soon.

Well, I got there a little too soon.  I arrived a few minutes early and the kids were still playing outside on the playground.  Gabriela spotted me and tried walking over to me.  The teachers redirected her and reminded her to stay with her class.  Then she burst into tears, only for a few moments but long enough to break my heart.

A couple minutes later, she came out of her classroom with a project she made, very excited that she got to use glue! And her first words when she came out of class were, "I had fun playing with Charlotte!" Gabriela made some other little friends too.

I keep hearing little tidbits about her day, like how the soap was magical, and she played with a toy clock, and the teacher said they couldn't go on the big playground yet, and how one kid was grumpy.  We discussed these details over first day of school frozen yogurt.

A lady walked into the yogurt shop and Gabriela asked her if it was HER first day of school too, because why else would she be allowed to get a special treat like that in the middle of the day?

Over all, I think it was a success. It will be easier for her after she makes better friends with some of the kids and the other kids aren't so nervous about being dropped off. 

Here she is saying, "It's my first day of school!!!!!"

Andrew's Pool Party

Earlier this month we celebrated Andrew's 6th birthday with a pool party at my parents' house. Here is Gabriela all ready for the party! 

 Uncle Tim deep in the heat of battle

 Look how cute Caetlin is with her toesies up in the air! She loved the pool.

 Taking a break from the water to warm up

 The birthday boy makes an appearance!!

 Here's the super mama who organized the whole shebang!

 Next up after swimming - personal pizza making. Or, if you're Gabriela... just munching on the crust (that Theresa baked ahead of time)

 Skyler is very proud of her cheese pizza

 Nana helping Andrew with his pizza

 Then there were the pizzas for the grown ups. I may or may not have sampled all of them. ahem.

 After pizza, it was water balloon time!  A huge hit with the kiddos.

 Time to play Pass the Present.

 Andrew was such a ham opening his presents, just a sampling of what about every present opening shot looked like...

 Then it was time to tie-dye some shirts. Seriously, Theresa went all out!

 Since she wasn't really that busy prepping dozens of personal sized pizzas and activities for the kids, Theresa had time to whip up a homemade sheet cake.  One layer of chocolate, chocolate ganache filling, vanilla top cake layer and whipped cream frosting, hand decorated and all. 

 Make a wish!

 I think Caetlin enjoyed her cake most!

To Boston, To Boston

My Baby Sister, Cynthia had a pretty big weekend at the beginning of September.  For starters, it was her birthday.  On her birthday, she defended her dissertation and got her Ph.D. from Harvard.  We are so proud of her.  We wanted so badly to be there for the graduation and party, but didn't think it was possible.  But then she decided to really go for the gold and get married that weekend too.  

Even after that, I wasn't sure we could go out there - I was 30 weeks pregnant and all. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew I'd regret not being there for her special day.  Especially after all the time we had spent video chatting about all the details.  So, I talked to the midwife and she gave me the okay to travel. Boston, here we come.  Pirate baby had to come too, obviously.

We chose a flight that I normally would have avoided like the plague.  2 layovers, at least 12 hours of traveling. BUT I figured the stops would be a good break so I could walk around and so Gabriela could get her crazies out.  Although she's traveled by plane a lot before, this was the first time she could remember (and her first flight since moving to CA).  She couldn't have behaved better!  It helped that I had a giant bag full of activities, snacks, books, dolls, and even some movies and special treats.  I couldn't have asked for a better behaved kiddo on the plane!!!

Now, I couldn't just choose a couple photos so please enjoy the tons of pics from (one of) Cynthia's big day(s).

The first night we stayed at the neighbors in the "pretty pink room". Gabriela was in heaven. I called her and she said, "I'm in my room getting ready!" This is where I found her brushing her hair. Such a princess sometimes.

Aww, look at my sweet sisters!

 

Excuse me, when did my little niece become all grown up? She's taller than all of us, a total beauty, and has the sweetest, biggest heart. It was wonderful to spend time with her. We had the most fun while having girl talk and getting our makeup done.  And maybe leaving the car keys in the boys bathroom. whoops.

My mom and Theresa.  My mom wore this same suit to MY wedding, 11 years ago. Rock it, mom!

Sisters! Okay, so we look kind of goofy in this pic, but as soon as my mom finished taking the photo, she announced that she cut all our heads off. Whoops.  You did okay, Mom :)

Christianne and her dad, looking good

Uncle Matthew and Banu.  They came from Wisconsin. So great to see them!

Cynthia, of course, was all smiles and happy go lucky.  I, on the other hand, was a sobbing mess the whole ceremony. I usually get pretty teary eyed at weddings, but this took the cake.  Maybe it was a baby sister plus pregnancy combo. Gabriela was getting a little worried about me and all my crying.

I had to correct Cynthia - this is not a booty shot, it's a hand holding picture. duh.

Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Purington!

Let me just say, the kids loved these mirrored walls. They were a hit. See for yourself!

What a sweet daddy :)

When Cynthia told me how much bouquets cost, I selflessly offered up Theresa's skillz to make her a bouquet.  It turned out perfectly. Yay Theresa!

My brother doing some sort of football move on my giant belly.

New bros

Tim almost didn't make it. We took him to the airport and then turned around to pick him back up because his flight was actually the day before. whoops. It was a nightmare, but we fixed the problem and made sure he got to Boston with the rest of us.

Can you believe all six of us kids were there in Boston and I didn't capture a picture of us all together? Lame.  Next time.  It will probably be a while, since Cynthia is moving to Switzerland for a new research job.

We had a great time in Boston and at Cynthia's wedding.  She had a very intimate ceremony, with just immediate family - about 30 people from both her side and Dan's. Then we went to this amazing restaurant for a wonderful dinner. The only thing that would have made it better was skipping the part when Gabriela rammed her head into the marble steps on the way in. 

We also got the chance to visit some of our DC peeps who recently moved to Boston. So great to catch up with them and see the kiddos playing together.

And if you haven't seen enough photos, or just want to see some professional ones, check these babies out: http://dianelouisephotography.com/cynthia-dan-wedding/

 And then we went home. This is how Gabriela traveled through the airport terminals, quite possibly her favorite part of the whole trip.  Daddy saved the day by handling all those bags, as I was pretty much useless.  Gabriela was an angel on all the flights home as well.  Such a sweet little traveler! So glad we went for it and made the trip out.