Between Meredith’s birthday and putting our beloved home on the market (it’s in escrow right now), the past few months have seemed like nothing but party prep, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, decluttering, packing, packing, packing and more cleaning. Keeping our house spotless for our Open House and showings amongst the constant chaos of three little tornadoes has been a full-time job and we’re completely exhausted. With house hunting and having to be out of our house for showings, it seems like we’ve hardly been home!

At preschool, the girls were excited about their Lunar New Year unit, with our dinner conversations being filled with talk of the Year of the Rooster and the girls boasting about being born the Year of the Snake. Meredith was born the Year of the Monkey, which makes so much sense!

One of the cool moms at school came and performed a traditional dragon dance, which I heard about for days.

Amelia (or Samantha?) trying the dragon on for size.

This mom even gave all the kids some “lucky money” folded into an elaborate shape. She is forever a hero in our girls’ eyes! Between that, and more lucky money and cool Vietnamese gifts/food from their friend, Parker, the girls have adopted this holiday as their own.

On a whim while Grammy and Grandpa were here for Meredith’s party, we stopped by the Lunar New Year festival at the OC Fair for some tasty Vietnamese food and the obligatory carnival rides/games.

Yummy freshly grilled lobster.

Samantha and Amelia’s favorite stuffed animals are always those they have “won” at carnivals… they could care less about anything we buy them.

Amelia and I put our lives on the line riding this sketchy roller coaster, which I still can’t believe I let them choose (let alone ANY carnival ride, for that matter). After one loop, one of the wood beams holding up the track slid off and the carnival worker had to hammer it back into place while all of us poor moms suckered into riding with our kids watched in horror and panicked. My mom said she took a video just in case we all crashed and needed evidence for a future lawsuit. Fortunately, we survived our daring carnival-quality ride!

Gathering water from the well.

Get to work, girls!

One Friday night, Jake took Samantha and Amelia on a Daddy Daughter date to a “princess ball” where they mingled with their favorite princesses, sang Disney songs to their hearts’ content and feasted on a princess tea of cookies and lemonade. Well, at least that was the idea. Although the twins had been talking about the ball for weeks, all the excitement, noise and characters were a little much for them and I was so disappointed when Jake returned, only to tell me they had left early because the girls had been crying to go home! Next time, we’ll just have the girls spend some Daddy Daughter time at Yogurtland with some cheap ice cream instead!

Samantha was a little starstruck meeting her favorite princesses, Elsa and Anna. 

Amelia’s favorite princess is Ariel

Meredith was protesting the fact that she was not invited to the ball.

This is how we get our “snow fix” in the OC… our local park had a Snow Day where they trucked in snow and let the beach bums have at it! Being from Utah, this was all pretty pathetic, but the kids loved it and I didn’t have to shovel or drive in it. I have to say I really don’t miss it!

I can’t even really call this “sledding,” but the girls were thrilled.

As I was was combing through photos, I had to include this one! I officially gave a goodbye hug to my pump the week of Meredith’s birthday. We’ve spent a lot of time together this year. Farewell, old friend!

All of my neighbors/friends make fun of me and call this Meredith’s “hazmat suit!” Although she started walking a few weeks ago, prior to that, she was crawling all over the park (and tearing holes/permanently staining the knees of every pair of leggings she owned). When it was damp outside but not cold enough for a ski jumper, my solution was this beauty (thanks, Amazon!) I just slip over her clothes. She absolutely hates it since it inhibits her ability to crawl very fast, but it keeps her dry and dirt-free, without her over-heating. I have approximately two pairs of leggings Meredith has not managed to ruin, and I intend to keep them that way.

Meredith is setting a new trend in babywear, straight from the runways of China!

Her little waterproof booties that cinch with a drawstring over her ankles complete her fashionable look and keep her dry!

The hazmat suit is great for sliding!

We’ve had record rain this winter, which has been awesome for our drought and for the twins, who race out the door in their raincoats, boots and Frozen umbrellas at the first drop of rain.

Daddy met us for lunch one morning for Meredith’s first time at the zoo. I’ve never seen her so mesmerized before. It was as if she recognized all the monkeys as her true family!

The many faces of Samantha on the train.

Wild ones!

It feels like the past few months have been nothing but the house, but looking back, it’s nice to see we’ve squeezed in some adventures as well!

Lots of love,