Day 341

I know this is Luciana's blog, but today was Penelope's 2nd birthday party, and since Lulu just adores her big sis, let's do a post about their day.

We woke at 7, and hit the ground running-- there was cleaning to do, decorating for the party, kids to get ready, and minimal grooming for us parents (always happens-- the kids will be immaculate, and I'll have matted hair and smell like yesterday's breakfast eggs :/ ) We arrived 15 minutes early to We Play Loud-- an indoor playground in Lake Forest, and early???? :) Holly & Lily and Anita & Bella met us there to play... We had a great time! 

We got home, and luckily the girls both napped, just as planned. It just never happens-- whatever we plan, never happens, so it was such a nice surprise. Gave us time to go to the grocery store for last minute things, pick up pizza, insight decorating and just get things in place for the party. Once everyone was there, we are pizza & cake, watched P open her gifts and visited for a while. Such a nice day!! Everything went off without a hitch, the girls were in good moods, and the cake wasn't disgusting!  (At least I don't think it was.... Or it was and nobody got sick.) 

Later, after everyone went home, we fed the girls, bathed them, got jammies on and went for a walk-- Lulu in her stroller and P in her new car.

It was a hectic day, lots of running around, but it was so much fun, and worth all the preparations and work. We saw our baby girl so very happy, both of them, and it was amazing. :)

We'll do it all again pretty soon for our sweet Luciana... One year old?! 24 more days.... Time to get the ball rolling again. :)

Night.

Day 340

Happy second birthday to Penelope! She decided to give Mama a gift-- she let me sleep until 7:30. :) What a treat, I'll take it over 6:00 am!! Lulu woke at 8:30... It's a great thing, the girls sleeping in more, but it isn't consistent. Still, nice. 

We surprised Penelope with two little gifts at breakfast:

She seemed to understand the whole birthday concept well enough. She kept saying, "birthday cake"! She got to open these gifts, but we are saving all the others (from us, and those sent from family) for tomorrow, at her party. :)

After naps (Lulu and I had to wake P up at 2:30, she would've kept sleeping!!) we went to the San Juan Capistrano Mission, a beautiful place with lots of pretty vegetation, plenty of walking space and a koi pond. P got to walk, not ride in the stroller, and that was such a treat to her!

Daddy came home later and took the girls out for a walk while Mom decorated P's birthday cake....

And finally, BEDTIME. It's been a long day, a long week-- for all of us. Here we are in P's room, where we four go to read bedtime stories and give each other hugs and kisses. What a good day, we had fun singing Happy Birthday to Penelope 20 times. :) Goodnight.

Oh, and since this is Luciana's blog, here's one more of her-- this morning in her pj's, playing her new favorite game: drag out all the toys. :) Little love bug. 

Day 339

Today is the last day that our Penelope will be one year old... She's a big two year old tomorrow when she wakes up.  Technically, not until noon, but that's okay. Since Daddy is working, I plan on a special little day for the three of us girls-- and I'll have pics tomorrow. :) We spent today sort of preparing for her party on Saturday, what I am doing for her tomorrow, and a baby shower Lulu and I are going to on Sunday. Busy ladies here in Casa Rindge. 

Lu is having a hard time with her teeth today-- her fangs. :/ She was happy all day until after bath time, she began holding her face, and cried out when I went to rub her gums over one of her Dracula teeth. :( Poor baby!!  But she's sleeping well so far, so I hope she's feeling better.

That's all for today. Mom is falling asleep!

Day 338

We loved spending time with Papa today-- he was home after the girls' naps, and we made a trip to Trader Joe's for groceries. Penelope did lots of shopping:

And we just hung out together, and took a walk after bathtime. Simple day, but definitely us girls' favorite kind. :) 

Here are a couple pics of the littles  playing with Daddy. Goodnight!

Day 337

What a day-- the girls and I prepared for the cleaning lady alllllllll morning, and then made great effort to stay out while she was doing her thing. By the time we got home, it was dinner time, and shortly after, baths. I will say this, though: all worth it for someone else to do the heavy scrubbing. :) Papa is a doll for suggesting her in the first place. I hope by the time you girls read this, and are older, YOU TWO are doing all the cleaning!! ;)

We have had a busy week preparing for Penelope's birthday party, and two baby shower gifts (two friends and Aunt Anita are all expecting at the moment-- it's a big baby year!) were thoughtfully chosen... We are at the beginning of a jam packed season of holidays, parties and events. The girls have been amazing through it all, and Luciana is progressing at lightening speed getting on her way to walking. In the last two days, she has figured out how to pull herself up to standing, and is now confident there. She'll be cruising by next week, mark my words. P is talking in sentences now, more and more-- it's awesome, she can totally communicate with us! Sometimes, though, we still need a baby translator. :/

One more thing Lu did-- she ate some big girl food at snack time today!! They are kind of like cereal bits, but dissolve easily in babies mouths. She LOVED them. Check her out:

Well, I hear Lu thrashing in her bed now, crying for Mama.. Gotta run!

Day 336

Nothing especially remarkable about today, other than we got to see Papa for a while, which was nice! It had been three days. The girls and I spent almost all day indoors, but only because of the nap situation, and my need to catch up on chores. When Daddy was rested (he had bad sleep the whole 3 days) we all went to the little park (we have two parks in close walking distance-- a big and a small) and played for a while. P loves it when we get on the jungle gym and play with her, and I know Lulu is now at a place where she wants so badly to play with is too! I feel so badly, knowing she may feel left out, my sweet little princess. :( But-- Daddy brought her up on the slide, and let her crawl around up on the play structure... It was sweet and she was absolutely beaming! :)

We girls will be on our own tomorrow and will have to clear out for a bit while our nice house cleaners do their magic, so we'll have a little outing. I'll try and think of somewhere fun while I fall asleep tonight. 

Here are a bunch of pics we got today.... Night.

Day 335

The girls and I had a good day today-- we got an old slide from an online OC Moms group I belong to (sort of an online garage sale). Penelope LOVES it, and I can see Luciana trying to figure out how she's gonna get her little pudgy self up that ladder! 

We are usually stuck at home until at least 1:30 due to naps, which aren't synchronized, making it so I am only dealing with one or the other at a time, but not really getting a break. :/ The upside to all this is that I know it won't last long, and that this baby time is so short in the grand scheme of things, and I'm going to love it all. Sigh.... That being said-- come 7:00 (bedtime) I am running upstairs to get these girls to bed and racing back down for a few hours of real "me time" (eating, bathing, cleaning the house, laundry, you know, fun stuff!;)) In all honesty, I really do get to relax and have been watching movies and making felt animals and cute things for a project I have going. It's so calming, stitching this or that, and once I'm done having my fun, the girls' rooms are going to look like an arts and crafts nightmare!!! ;)

Lulu is still teething, but isn't really really complaining about it. She is a suuuuuper picky eater (shocker), and is always smiling and happy. Seriously, she is the happiest baby ever, and it takes a good thump on the head or fall to make her cry. She's our little sweet angel! 

That's all. I'm rambling. We can't wait to have Papa home tomorrow and his waffles, yum! Goodnight.