Party Time

This past Sunday we had Lilah's First Birthday Party. I really had not wanted to host 50 of our nearest and dearest, but I knew Lilah deserved a big bash just like I had made for her big sister two years earlier. It was the fourth birthday party I have made, and it was by far the best. I was virtually stress free. Somehow, even though there were more people and more preparations, I managed not to freak out at all before, during, or after the party. I think I finally have these things down to a science. It was so nice just to enjoy the day with everyone.

A few days before the party I had two different photo shoots with Miss Lilah in the hopes of using one shot as a sign in board at the party. The first shoot consisted of pearls and a tutu (which I made myself!):




The second shoot was a cake smash and we used one of the photos as the sign in board:



Lilah had a great time at her party:









It still amazes me how much Lilah has grown and learned lately. In the past two weeks she has become an expert crawler, learned how to pull herself up consistently, and walk around while pushing the walker. She has learned some new words (most notably, "cheese," which I am obviously THRILLED about). She is down to one nursing a day, which saddens me tremendously, but I need to have her completely weaned before we go away for Memorial Day weekend. Where is that tiny little baby I used to snuggle against me all day long? Why do these kids keep growing up so fast? SIGH. At least as they do grow up we can have some pretty fun parties.

Pesach 2010

Things have been crazy lately. Today's saga alone has consisted of floor refinishing, projectile vomit, cleaning out the back seat of my car and car seat from said vomit, and an adamant refusal to nap or have quiet time from Sophie. Don't be too jealous.

However, I didn't want to pass over (ha ha ha!) a post about Pesach. We had a great time. We stayed at the Hotel Liberman again for a week and a half. Our stay included three meals a day that were cooked and cleaned up after by someone other than me. The hotel also provided free childcare from the time the kids woke up (I got up at my leisure) until they went to bed.

We decided to have a special seder for Sophie on the first afternoon (and the real one later that night) where we told the story of the haggadah, sang the songs she learned, talked about everything on the seder plate, hid the afikomen (4 times, as that was clearly her favorite part), and danced and sang some more. It worked out great. I've always struggled with the fact that the seder is supposed to be for the children, yet in order to let them be a part of it they have to stay up super late, be more patient than they are capable of, and eat dinner at an absurd hour. This was a great way to have the best of both worlds- mini seder for the kids, then after bedtime, real seder for us.

It wouldn't be Passover at the Hotel Liberman without a pre-yom tov family photo:




After which we attempted a Messing Family Photo:





Well, we tried.

Later that week we had a lot of fun. We met up with some blog buddies at the Children's Playseum in Bethesda:





We went downtown to the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which Shimmy and I have been doing since we were dating:







On the way home I stopped and took a pic of the Real World DC house, because I'm just a dork that way:



We also had fun playing at the park:



It was a lovely week and a half. Thank God for holidays, parents, and warm weather!

My Baby is One

Happy Birthday, Lilah!

In some ways I can't believe an entire year has passed since you were born. It seems like yesterday you were so tiny, covered in new baby smell and softness. In other ways it seems like you've always been here. I can't remember a time when your giggle didn't fill our home and our hearts. I remember vividly everything about the way you looked when I held you seconds after delivering you. Sometimes I see the exact same expression on your face as I did then. A tiny creature whose eyes were full of wonderment. Those eyes are reflections of my own- both in physical appearance and sentiment. I am full of wonder of you. You are my calm child. Always peaceful, serene, quietly observing and later implementing what you have learned. I hope you always have that sweet, peaceful energy about you. I love you for that and for so many other reasons. Happy Birthday, baby girl. Looking forward to a lifetime of love and memories!

Sales 101

All inspiring sales people please heed the subtle yet successful methods of Jordan at MAC (who is no more than five years younger than I am).

Yesterday my mom took us girls to the mall for a much needed wardrobe update. After pushing two antsy kids in two strollers around the mall for a few hours, during which is usually nap time, we were quite ready to call it a day. Except that I remembered that I had been out of my lipstick for about four months. The MAC store was right by the mall exit, so in we went, a caravan of fatigue and crankiness. I walked right up to the counter and said, "can I please get a tube of x and a tube of y."

Jordan: Oh! Those are my moms favorite colors!
Me: thank you
Jordan: That will be $__.
Me: Long pause. Actually, give me some eye makeup.
Jordan: Um, what kind?
Me: Whatever. Let me just sit in this chair and you make me look good and young again.

Five minutes and five times more than the original total later, I was on my way home.

Next in Project Make Me Feel More Like My Own Age: A haircut on Friday.

24*

*disclaimer- I have never once seen the show 24 and I am okay with that.

Here's what I have accomplished over the past 24 hours (see also: why I have no time for intelligent blog posts, calling friends and their fetuses, or anything else really):

-I sketched out the entire mural in the playroom. Next comes painting!

-I painted an old chandelier. What was once old and brass is now chic and black.

-I unpacked Shimmy's office even though it meant carrying empty boxes up to the attic to distribute the weight of the boxes of books better and taking twice as many trips down with boxes as it would have taken Shimmy.

-I shlepped both cranky kids to the store after picking Sophie up from school and then shlepped them and huge boxes of diapers back home (yay for lots of coupons and sales).

- I made a dent in the ever-present and ever-growing pile of laundry.

Oh and I took care of the kids all day long, including during the witching hour while Shimmy works late, aka, is at the CAPS game.

This is my new norm since the move. I exist at a break-neck pace. I do not stop to eat or sleep. I have lost 5 lbs. I fit into my skinny clothes. I am hungry. I am tired. But I am thrilled. Stay tuned for more pics as soon as I get a chance.

Purim 2010

You may remember last year's Purim debacle. So even though we moved into our new house exactly one week before Purim, all I could hear echoing in my head were last year's famous last words "Next year the party is back on. I don't care what else is going on in my life- the party is BACK ON." And I meant it. I invited everyone over a month ahead of time and assured them it was not too much to handle and I was very excited and I had it all under control! I made a few things (mostly dough to bake later) ahead of time. I also assembled all of our mishloach manot ahead of time (with non-perishables of course) and packed them in a big bin to be brought to the new house. I worked like a madwoman unpacking this house as soon as we moved in. And I pulled it off! And had an awesome Purim! WOOT!

Our Mishloach Manot were Beatled-themed, complete with photo-shopped pics of us as the "Fab 4," everything written in a Beatle font I downloaded, filled with food items inspired by Beatles songs, with a vinyl listing those songs. Yes I am a Beatles freak. No, I did not go into nearly as much detail as I could have because I knew most people do not appreciate this stuff as much as I do.




I had found a peace sign costume on clearance at BRU for Lilah right after Purim and I thought it fit our Beatles theme well enough so I bought it. I knew I'd be lucky if I could get Sophie to wear a Beatles t-shirt on Purim, so I did not bother buying her any type of costume. A few days before Purim she informed me that she would like to be matching with Lilah. I found the same costume online in Sophie's size, ordered it, and prayed it would arrive in time. It came in the mail Saturday afternoon just in time for her to wear it Saturday night! BUT she changed her mind at the last minute, insisting she wear her ratty old cupcake dress that she takes naps in (which she coincidentally wore as her costume last year), and some make-shift ballerina gear. She is going through a camera-hating phase, so this was the best shot I could get of her.
On Sunday we hosted a party. The food was off the hook.
Wipe up that saliva.
And the company was awesome as well.



By the end of the day the girls were exhausted. "Stop taking pics, mom. Just give us some peace!" (ironic pun intended)
The next day was Shimmy's birthday. I fired up the grill part of my new oven and grilled us some thick juicy burgers. Then we all had birthday cake!

So this year's awesome Purim totally made up for last year's sucky one. Can't wait for next year! Time to start brainstorming themes...

Moving

Old house when we bought it in August 2004

New house when we first looked at it in October 2008

I wanted to get in one last post before the Big Move (on Sunday), and I wasn't sure how long it would take me to finish writing it, so I'm starting it today (Tuesday). The snow set us back about a week in terms of the construction, but we are keeping our moving date and will just deal with the construction for the first week we're in. The things they are finishing up are not major things, so I think we'll be able to deal with it. Most annoying will be the mess. The floors will have just been refinished and I won't have time to clean up whatever dust is floating around. This is really stressing me out. Who wants to move into a dusty house? I guess I'll try to get to our bedrooms the night before we move, and everything else will have to wait.

I am so excited to move into the "new" house. It's a better house for us. It will be a nice new beginning. The beginning of no clutter (I am serious about this one- no excuses people! There are 2 coat closets in the foyer alone! Pick up your stuff!). The beginning of opening kitchen cabinets without having pots fall on my head. The beginning of letting the kids run free in the yard and ride bikes on the driveway. But I will miss this house. It was our first house. We stayed up nights painting its walls and making it our home. We found out that we were pregnant three times in this house. We lost one of those pregnancies in this house. We brought two beautiful babies home to this house. They said their first words in this house. They learned (and are learning) to walk in this house. I wonder if they will even remember this house at all...

ETA: Over a week later, and I never got to finish this post. Next one will be about the joys of moving and settling into the new house! We're on our way! Sorry for the abrupt ending, but there are boxes to unpack!