Four and Fabulous

From wombmates to roommates, these two four-year-olds are still as close as can be! In between the constant arguing, tattle-telling, badgering, teasing and driving each other crazy, there are some sweet moments. Today, before bed, we were sitting on the couch and Amelia hugged Samantha saying, “I love you because you’re my sister.” Samantha repeated the same to Amelia and they both gave Meredith, who was feeling left out, a giant bear hug and “I love you’s.” Those heart-melting moments make up for all of the hair-pulling ones.

From becoming big sisters to starting preschool, these girls have really grown up over the past year!

Their big day began with a festive balloon drop… because who wouldn’t want to be showered with balloons on their birthday?

The girls chowed down on the traditional funfetti birthday pancakes, which, tragically, did not turn out as fluffy and pretty as in years’ past. The girls still gobbled them up just the same!

Funfetti birthday pancakes in their former glory:

  

After breakfast, the girls caught a frog on the patio! While I was shrieking and leaping back in fear, the girls were super calm and tried their best not to squeeze it to death.

The girls played with some of their fun crafts and gifts from their birthday celebration the day before, and opened some birthday packages that had come in the mail. We are loving this awesome Shakespeare for kids set from Marisa and Lori! I love it when I don’t have to be bored to tears during storytime!

Samantha and Harper went for a cruise to the park in their bday jeep from Katie and Jenny.

Won’t be long before they are driving their friends to the mall… I just had a minor heart attack.

Meredith LOVES this thing. She’ll hop in and start hitting the steering wheel and screeching for someone to start it for her.

Let the good times roll.

Samantha and Amelia had their ballet/yoga class while Meredith took her morning nap, and then we met up with Phi, Michael, Parker and Baby Maple for some pasta and foosball/bean bag tossing. Parker and Maple always have the most excellent audiobook recommendations and gave the girls Madeline and Cat in the Hat, which we’ve been enjoying in the car!

These two were hilarious toddling around with their signature baby zombie walks.

SQUEEZE. The girls wouldn’t take off their number 4 necklaces from Meredith until bedtime and randomly kissed Meredith and told her thank you throughout the day.

Hmmmm… I think it goes through this hole.

Eh. Close enough.

Struggling to hold wiggly babies!

I think it was time for a nap…

Later that day, Grammy and Grandpa drove in from Utah just in time for birthday cake with Great Grandpa.

Make a wish! We are apparently going to have an awesome Christmas this year, because every time the girls throw a coin in a pond or wish for something, they wish for a “Merry Christmas!”

Chocolate and milk YUM.

The only way I can get the girls to look at the camera and smile for pictures these days is to have them make a silly face first, and then tell them to switch to their princess smile faces.

Close enough.

Way to start off a year of four and fabulous!

Lots of love,

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S and A’s School Celebration of Life and Friend Birthday Celebrations

For their birthday celebration at preschool, it’s customary for the kids to bring in their own cake mix and help mix and bake a cake for the entire class at school. Samantha and Amelia couldn’t wait for their big day and were ecstatic to help bake their cake during class. Normally, I pick them up at recess right before lunch, but on their birthday celebration day, they stayed for lunch for the first time so they could celebrate with their classes and enjoy their brownie cake. The twins also helped write a “History of Samantha/Amelia” with photos which their teachers read to the class on their special day. I love that their preschool teachers take the time to make each kid feel special on his or her big day– the girls were beaming when I picked them up! Their preschool refers to it as a “Celebration of Life,” and it truly is; although, I’m sure the only thing the kids care about is the cake.

Miss Holly snapped some pictures for me of Samantha’s class being silly:

The History of Samantha, as written by Samantha and Mommy:

Samantha was born on March 11, 2013 in Irvine, California. She was born first and her twin, Amelia, was born two minutes later. Samantha was very loud when she was born and screamed for a long time! Samantha loved to be held and swaddled in her blankies and had to wear diapers and couldn’t talk or walk. She drank bottles and slept most of the time.

Samantha started to eat fruits and vegetables and sit up when she was six months old, and started crawling  when she was 8 months old.

By the time Samantha was one year old, she learned to walk, and could say “mama,” “dada,” “baba,” and “dog.” She loved to go on walks, sing Pat a Cake, swing and go down the slide.

At two years old, Samantha was sleeping in a big girl bed, learned to use the potty, learned to ride a scooter and was talking all the time. She loved to go to the beach, play at the park, visit Grammy’s house in Utah, and play with dolls.

At three years old, Samantha became a big sister when her little sister, Meredith, was born. She was a great helper with Meredith helping feed, dress and play with Meredith. Samantha started preschool for the first time and learned her letters, numbers, and had fun doing art projects. She loved to swim, go to Legoland, and build tall towers with magnatiles.

And now Samantha is four years old! She can get dressed and button her clothes all by herself! She helps Mommy at home with Meredith and by putting the dishes in the dishwasher and cleaning her room. Her favorite colors are pink and purple and her favorite movie is Frozen. She loves gymnastics and dance class, the beach, loves to do crafts and swim, and her favorite place is the cabin in the mountains in Utah. Her best friend is Amelia and she loves to play with mommy, daddy, Amelia, Meredith and her dog, Bandit.

Sammy’s pictures she passed around class:

   Amelia’s favorite part was the singing candle Miss Becky gave her.

The History of Amelia, as written by Amelia and Mommy:

Amelia was born on March 11, 2013 in Irvine, California. Amelia was born two minutes after her twin, Samantha. Amelia was quiet when she was born and only cried a little bit. She loved to be held and swaddled in her blankies and had to wear diapers and couldn’t talk or walk. She drank bottles and slept most of the time.

Amelia started to eat fruits and vegetables and sit up when she was six months old, and started crawling  when she was 8 months old.

By the time Amelia was one year old, she learned to walk, and could say “mama,” “dada,” “baba,” and “dog.” She loved to go on walks, sing Pat a Cake, swing and go down the slide.

At two years old, Amelia was sleeping in a big girl bed, learned to use the potty, learned to ride a scooter and was talking all the time. She loved to go to the beach, play at the park, visit Grammy’s house in Utah, and play with dolls.

At three years old, Amelia became a big sister when her little sister, Meredith, was born. She was a great helper with Meredith helping feed, dress and play with Meredith. Amelia started preschool for the first time and learned her letters, numbers, and had fun doing art projects. She loved to swim, go to the zoo, go to the beach and take care of her dolls.

And now Amelia is four years old! She can get dressed and button her clothes all by herself! She helps Mommy at home with Meredith and by putting the dishes in the dishwasher and cleaning her room. Her favorite colors are pink and red and her favorite movie is The Little Mermaid. She loves gymnastics and dance class, the beach, swimming, riding her bike and scooter, baking cookies, and loves to do crafts. When she grows up, Amelia wants to be a veterinarian or a princess. Her best friend is Samantha and she loves to play with mommy, daddy, Samantha, Meredith and her dog, Bandit.

Amelia’s photos for sharing time:

 

 

Samantha and Amelia are four! Almost… their preschool birthday celebration was a few days before their actual birthday over the weekend.

The girls didn’t have preschool on Friday before their birthday, so we played at the park with Maliyah and Allie and celebrated with princess cupcakes I made, but should have outsourced since making five different batches of buttercream in different colors for the dresses took forever. All the big girls burned off their cupcake-induced energy playing tag/pretending Meredith was a monster and running away from her.

Amelia’s favorite princess is… you guessed it! I don’t think she’s ever even seen all of A Little Mermaid, but she still claims it’s her favorite movie? She’s obsessed with mermaids in general.

Samantha and Elsa are best buds.

Friday afternoon it was birthday celebration #3 with our neighborhood friends. It ended up being hot that day, so we busted out some water balloons leftover from last summer and invited everyone to the park for a water balloon fight and cupcakes.

The kids have never really gotten into the whole “fight” thing. They mostly squished and stomped on the balloons instead of trying to throw them at one another.

  

Meredith thought it was all very exciting!

Cupcake time before the princess dresses melted in the sun!

Addison and Camdyn obliged the birthday girls with a round of their favorite game– Duck Duck Goose.

We were totally surprised when Jenny arrived in style with a Barbie Jeep she gifted to the twins! Talk about an awesome birthday present! Thanks, Jenny and Katie!

Cruisin’ with my besties.

So terrified to fast-forward 12 years when these girls will be driving for real! Stay off the roads!

They may have gone off roading and killed all the plants at the park, but eventually they got the hang of it.

Hop in, girls! Let’s cruise to the beach!

Friday night it was time for birthday celebration #4, in case you’re counting, where we had dinner and even more cupcakes with Natalie, the Nguyens and the Erpeldings. Meredith toddled all over the play structure trying to keep up with the big kids and everyone was either running around if they were kids, or chasing kids if they were adults, that we didn’t even notice it was getting dark and hadn’t even had dessert yet. We lit the girls’ candles in the dark and they enjoyed yet another birthday song before digging into their treats.

Todd and Owen brought along a science demonstration for our entertainment… the classic mentos in soda trick.

Mesmerized by the soda fountain.

So much excitement and it wasn’t even their real birthday yet! Although I missed putting together an official party this year, it was relaxing and fun to hang out with our friends and have a casual celebration instead. We may have to do this again next year!

Lots of love,

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She’s a Toddler!

Meredith had been zooming around on her hands and knees, or cruising from furniture to furniture for months, without seeming too care much about taking the plunge and walking solo. I had been begging her to start walking since virtually every pair of her leggings had holes in them (even with her trusty “hazmat suit” on) and her hands and knees had been rubbed raw from all that crawling!

Like most milestones, Meredith was on her own time table and finally decided to take her first steps on February 15, a few weeks after her 1st birthday and, coincidentally, the same day we accepted an offer on our house (an emotional day all around!) After a few weeks in escrow, the deal with our original buyers fell through and our house is now back on the market, so it’s been back to my job as full-time maid, but at least some things are still moving forward– like Meredith’s walking! She’s practically running around this place and is absolutely terrifying trying to walk down the stairs!

Samantha, (and then, Amelia a week later), started walking a few weeks ahead of Meredith, which I find funny considering Meredith has two examples/motivations around her at all times. Looking back at what was going on around the time the twins started walking, Meredith has been up to the same shenanigans, having a harder time going down for naps and bedtime, and crying randomly at night. She loves to practice her new skills in her sleep and it’s been keeping her up. At least I can take comfort in looking back to this milestone with the twins that an end is in sight and hopefully it’s just temporary.

The twins were just as excited as we were when Meredith started walking and have been encouraging her along the way. There is a class of toddlers in their preschool that the girls always point to and say, “When Meredith starts walking, she will be a toddler, like them!” So when Meredith took her first steps, the twins exclaimed, excitedly, “MOMMY, SHE’S A TODDLER NOW!!!” Whenever we refer to “Baby Meredith” now, the girls correct us: “NO, she’s TODDLER Meredith!”

Meredith’s first steps 2/15/17:

Let it go!

The first few weeks of walking, Meredith felt like she had entered a new, exciting world of possibilities!

She loves to go down the tube and the slide by herself (she will go down the big slides at the bigger parks as well).

Meredith has the best of both worlds… she loves to toddle around and then gets a free ride home.

Meredith practicing her new skills (gotta love that zombie toddler walk):

Our baby is officially a toddler!
Lots of love,

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Meredith’s 12 Month Photos

Thanks to Aunt Sarah for taking some of my all-time favorite photos of Meredith for her one year birthday shoot! I just want to freeze Meredith in time right here in this moment forever and ever:

From Meredith’s surprise entry into the world 3 weeks ahead of schedule (and the crazy birth that caused the doctor to exclaim she had never seen worse tearing… thanks, Meredith!), to her learning to eat, sleep, smile, giggle, roll, sit up, eat solids, crawl, stand, and cruise, it’s been quite the year! I’ve blocked out memories of the traumatic parts of her birth mostly because she has such a sweet and fun loving spirit that it’s hard to believe she ever gave me a rough time! I would do it over again for her.

At her 12 month check-up, our ped’s first comment was, “You are obviously starving her.” Weighing in at 27 pounds and standing tall at 32.5 inches, she’s literally off the charts at over the 98th percentile in height and weight. Not surprising considering I’ve never seen a baby eat so much food! She puts the twins to shame (and that’s saying something considering their typical breakfast is two bowls of oatmeal, toast, eggs, and a green smoothie… and then an hour later, they are usually complaining of hunger and begging for a snack).

Meredith was NOT happy about posing with these letters and kept throwing them in protest. By letter E, she was completely fed up, as you can see from that glaring grump face.

Yes, I’m a stinker.

Everything is a grand adventure for Meredith and I feel like I need to take some life advice from her! She’s a social butterfly, interacting and engaging with everyone she meets, can figure out how to do things in a snap (she imitates putting on clothes, putting caps on water bottles, and brushing her teeth, just like her sisters), and is highly inquisitive, energetic, feisty and playful. She loves to play peekaboo with us by hiding behind the mirrored sliding door of our closet and popping out with a grin, anticipating our gushing reaction. We fall for it every time.

I will never forget seeing her for the first time and noticing the delicate little curl on the corners of her lips. It’s still the same and I just adore that little mouth!

One of Meredith’s favorite parts of our routine is when the kids at preschool pickup/dropoff flock to Meredith for hugs and games of peekaboo. She eats it up and is never one to disappoint her audience. One of the teachers calls her “her little Pebbles” from the Flintstones because her signature ‘do is usually straight up with a bow. After hugs and kisses goodbye to her sisters, wrangling her back in her carseat is a full body workout for me… she twists and flails and goes limp; ANYTHING to escape and join her sisters at school! They are her best playmates and she misses them terribly when they’re gone.

Samantha and Amelia are smitten with their little sis and their teachers tell me the twins are constantly recounting stories of Meredith’s latest escapades during their sharing time. Lately, Meredith has figured out it’s hilarious to knock down, tear up, stomp on, and pretty much destroy anything the twins are building, playing or working on. Occassionally, as in the case of their beloved art projects they bring home from school that Meredith will swipe and rip in half at an opportune moment, tears are shed, but most of the time, the twins deal with Meredith’s shenanigans with sister sweetness, saying, “That’s ok, Meredith. You didn’t know any better.”  Meredith couldn’t ask for more loving big sisters.

Standing tall and proud.

Love those ocean blue eyes.

Picnic in the park with teddy.

The amount of helium in the balloons we brought for the shoot was insane, so we decided to tie one around Meredith’s waist to see if she would levitate. She was not amused with our experiment.

Per my union contract, I was done 15 minutes ago.

That’s it. I’m out.

We tried to get some letter pics on the swings, but Meredith knew what we were up to and quickly tossed them.

So free spirited.

Grump face.

Wild ONE.

Come and get me!

Before Meredith was born, we weren’t sure how our hearts could possibly grow big enough to fit one more into the mix, but now it’s hard to imagine what life was like without her. She’s made our hearts burst and we just LOVE this girl!

Lots of love,

 

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