18 Months

Kensi,

Have I told you you're amazing? You are 18 going on 3. Everything anyone else does you have to do too (especially if it's your big sister). Whether it's climbing the ladder at the park, or eating Mom's salad, you have to try it. This summer you are especially loving parks, bouncing on beds and couches, swimming, water tables and anything else that involves being outside. You have started to dance, which usually involves "side-eye spinning" as we call it. You keep your eyes on one spot and then spin around in circles giving you side eyes. With your flexibility and coordination, I think you would make a great gymnast, but we'll see if you want to follow in your sister's footsteps and become a dancer too. 

Your big personality is really starting to show. You love to laugh and make everyone else follow. You are even starting to get humor. When you have a dirty diaper you'll say "Stinky" and hold your nose, followed by a fit of giggles. (Guess who taught you that one [Dad]) You've gotten really good at hiding. You'll find a spot and stay super quiet until we find you. Then you laugh and laugh. You've even had me worried a couple times when I couldn't find you. Luckily this was only at home and hasn't happened in public...yet. I foresee the day in a store when you are hiding between the racks and I'm panicking. Your personality is also full of determination and you always know exactly what you want. Lucky for us we can understand you a good half of the time. Mama is still your favorite person, but you have finally opened up to others! Nana has become your good friend and you warming up to friends much quicker.

You are learning new words everyday. You repeat everything and anything. You are even putting a few words together. Everything is "Iwant ____." To other people you call me "my Mama." Your favorite word is "sssshoe" and you are still obsessed with taking them on and off. You have also become obsessed with "teeth" aka your tooth brush. When I can't find you, the first place I look is the bathroom and usually I find you standing on the stool brushing them.

Already love to dress up with Sienna.

Those eye teeth are still working on coming through. One top one completely broke and 2 are very close. It has been a very long, and painful experience. We got your measurements and no surprise you are still off the charts. You held very consistent percentage wise as last time. Still long and lean. We are going to have a very hard time finding pants that will fit you this winter.

Height: 34.3 inches (98%)
Weight: 24 lbs 10 oz (76%)

You love your sister so much.

Dance Recital

Sienna had her 2nd dance recital!! She did so great and had so much fun being on the big stage. 2 weeks before the recital I was convinced she wasn't going to do it. She's going through an extremely clingy phase and refused to even dance at her weekly practice. For the next 2 weeks, Justin and I did our best to talk it up, showed her last years recital video, and had others help encourage her. I even talked to her teacher and we came up with a plan to get her on the stage. 

The night of the rehearsal came. Lucky for us we were allowed to sit with them backstage before they danced. When it was her turn to line up, she started to panic and cling to me but I was able to hand her over to her teacher and we were good to go! Once she was on the stage, she got the recital high and never wanted to leave it. Come actual recital night she hardly said goodbye to me when I dropped her off. 

We were able to take videos and pictures on rehearsal night. We also got to sit in the front row which gave a great view and she could see us to wave. On recital night we were in almost the back row. Sitting so far back made her look TINY on stage. I wish I would have taken a picture just for that perspective of it. When she got on the stage recital night she started waving/yelling Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!! while looking for us. It was pretty cute. In addition to her 2 dances, she also did the finale, where everyone walks on stage and takes a bow. She stood up there shaking her hips, clapping and dancing the whole time. I didn't think we'd be able to get her off the stage. 

My cuties.

Being their crazy selves. 

After the recital with Papa and her rose.

Here's the 2 videos from rehearsal night.

[10th??] Annual Memorial Day BBQ

We've been doing the Eid/Jovle annual Memorial Day Bbq for quite awhile now. No one can exactly remember how long it's been but someone thought this might be the 10th one! Either way it's been a great tradition that we started and it always so much fun. Every year it grows as more kids are added to the group. In honor of Cran's Mom we did some fun kid pictures. One by age and one by height.

Age Pictures

Mallory (8), Leslie (7), Ellie (5), Mikayla (4), Sienna (3), Josie (3), Ariana (3), Molly (2), Kensi (1), Christopher (10 months) (Baby Ben 1 month, not pictured)

Height Picture - not even close to the ages!!

I thought I tried really hard to take more than just kid pictures but I apparently only took one. Oops! Next year I'll do better.

Cooking Club XVII

Cran & Brent hosted the latest cooking club. Yes, Brent is back! Lucky for us he has Saturday nights off again. Cran has a friend who is from Korea, so they decided to plan a Korean themed menu with her help. She even gave us authentic seaweed sent from her family for our soup! They thought they'd be funny and send us the menu in Korean characters. Good thing for the Internet so we could translate. 

The menu was very unique. We started with an appetizer and soup course.
Korean Pancakes Duo
Miso Soup

Everything in this course was delicious. One of the pancakes was very spicy with lots of peppers. It was more of a traditional pancake base. The other had more of an egg base and we added in veggies and sausage. The soup (fresh seaweed included) was the best Miso soup I've tried. I'm not a big tofu fan but I was able to stomach it in this. 

For the main course we had:
Bulgogi over Rice Provides
Crispy Sweet Potatoes in Caramel Sauce

The Bulgogi was awesome. Such a good flavor in the meat. We all decided the red lettuce was a bit bitter for the dish and would be better with regular lettuce. The sweet potatoes were very caramely and paired great with the bitter lettuce.

For dessert we had:
Red Bean Cake
Korean Coffee

We were all a little skeptical of this cake to start with. Who puts red beans in a cake? I will say the red bean paste you buy is sweetened. I tasted it raw and it was alright. This picture makes it look good right? The top of it actually was edible. But then you get to the inside...

Sticky, ewwy, gooey mess. It was awful. (I made it, I can say that) There was a little mishaps with the mixer and some of the ingredients flying all over the room. I'm not sure that was the reason for the texture. We don't know if it's supposed to be like that or if it's cause we had to make it dairy free. Either way, we won't be making it again. But always fun to try! The coffee made up for the dessert. It was wonderful especially for being instant. 

Treading Water...

I'm here. It's been so long since I've blogged I don't even know where to start. We've had a very full couple of months. Life seems to just be flying by. Most weeks I feel like we're just treading water trying to keep our heads above so we can survive. Not to say that it's bad. We've had many fun events that I'd love to get up here. We celebrated Easter, Mother's Day, and a few birthdays, visited my Mom and Ron in Arizona, saw the WI family, went to FL, ate a great Korean themed cooking club, had our annual Memorial Day BBQ, dealt with sick kids, got another Stitch Fix, and most recently had a garage sale which sold off all the baby stuff! (I love purging and a clean house) So we're alive and doing well. To my 3 loyal fans - I hope to get more up soon. Don't give up on me. :)

I'll leave you with this.

Stitch Fix Review

I've had numerous people asking me about Stitch Fix and wanting more details, so I decided this was the easiest way to do it. I have been struggling with my wardrobe for awhile. I want new pieces but never have time to go out and really shop around. When I do, I'm always in a hurry and seem to gravitate to the same old styles. I had high hopes that Stitch Fix would be an easy way to get some new and fun pieces.

A little about Stitch Fix. You fill out a profile of yourself online. You tell about your body, sizes, what you tend to like, rate some clothes collections, give price ranges for spending, and how out of your comfort zone you want to go. I think it auto signs you up for getting a fix every month but it looks very easy to skip months you don't want.

Each fix gives you 5 items to choose from. You can keep all, some, or none. It costs $20 to get the fix sent to you, which is applied to your order. If you decide to keep nothing you are out the $20. If you keep all the items you get 25% off your order (enticement!!) Shipping is free for returns. They even included a return bag for my items. Here's what I got in my first fix (sorry for the horrible selfie pics. They are not my thing)

Navy and green polka dot top. Loose fitting and very cute! It's a silky material.

High waist cropped pants. They are black with a pattern overlay. This was my big surprise of the box. I thought I would hate the high waist but they are very comfortable and stretchy. No zipper or buttons on the pants.

Chevron patterned, multi-colored shirt. Has a unique neckline and is very comfortable. The sleeves gather at the bottom and scrunch up. 

A fairly basic fuschia tee, with a fun, low dipping back. I like this because it is a thicker fabric than most tees you find - no cami required!

With my fix came this sheet with style ideas for each piece. 

My 5th piece was a pair of silver, dangly earrings. I forgot to take a pic. They were cute but nothing super special. I decided to keep everything which came to just under $200. I really liked the first 3 pieces and the cost of those 3 alone was $200. Since you get the discount for buying all 5, I got all 5 for the same price. I'm very happy with this so far. I'm curious to see with my next months fix if they will add pieces to go with what I kept, or if it'll be completely different stuff. If anyone is interested I can post it again!

15 Months

Kensi,

I wish I could take this age, bottle it up, and keep it forever. Everything you do is new and exciting. You change by the day and it's so fun to watch it unfold. I was really hoping by this post I could say you are walking and you are! You've been steady on your feet for months, but haven't had the desire to stand up and do it. Instead you enjoyed walking/running on your knees. It was much more efficient for you - and you still do it, but every day you walk more on your feet. I love how you first decided to walk. I got a new app on my phone called 7 Minute Workout. I wanted to get your Daddy and Sienna to do it with me. We were all running around, being crazy doing this workout. You were trying to join in, but no one was really paying attention. As we are all laying on the ground doing our crunches, I look over and see you stand up and start walking to us. Big smiles and all proud. I think you either wanted more attention or wanted to join in. Either way it worked and I started yelling for everyone to look at you. Besides being a new walker, you are also a climber. There are many times I find you sitting on top of the play table looking out the window. You are also just tall enough to get up on the couch, which leads to bouncing and delight.

You want to be just like your big sister and do everything she does.

Your girly side is starting to show. You are obsessed with shoes. If Sienna leaves any of her dress shoes laying around, you immediately try to put them on. Took you awhile but you now have enough coordination to get them on most of the time. I will also find you in the laundry where we keep all the kid shoes and you'll have them all pulled out, trying on as many as you can. If I ever have my slippers or a pair of shoes off but close to me, you will grab them and try to put them on my feet.

Dress shoe obsession.

It looks like we have another chatter box in the house. Like your sister, you are an early talker. You have a solid 15-20 words that you use. Your favorite is "Doggeeeeeeeee", which you also sign while saying it. Mama has now become "Mommeeeeeeeee." A few others are hi, bye bye, book, ahhh done, Boo Boo (for Sienna), and Mi Mi (for Minnie).

With Sienna's Mi Mi - you do have your own smaller version to cuddle.

You broke your 4 molars and now appear to be working on the eye teeth. I can't wait until this is all done! Hopefully by 18 months you will give us a break until the 2 year molars come in.

Lots of teeth.

We got official measurements and no surprise your height is still off the charts. Dr said you are as tall as the average 2 year old
Height: 33 inches (98%)
Weight: 23.5 lbs (79%)
Head: 19.3 (99%)

Can't wait to see what you bring us next. Love you so much my baby!

She's Off!

More Dancing

We had parents watch night at Sienna's dance studio last week. She was so excited to have Mom, Dad and Kensi watch her dance. The class showed us how they stretched, tumbled, followed the leader and most importantly the dances they are working on for the recital.

Vacation Bliss

This year, February in Minnesota was miserable. I have never seen such cold weather. While the temps were setting record lows, we were so lucky to have 2 vacations planned that made the month go quick. Our first one was the annual trip to WI Dells with the Eids. Everyone had a blast getting away and playing in the water. It took Kensi awhile to realize that she loved being a water baby, but she got there. And then she was game for it all. She might have gone down more slides than Sienna.

"Hands up Mom!"

Like every other little girl, they are obsessed with the movie Frozen. Lucky for us it was on pay per view at the hotel!

And this game. The weekend was not complete until each family got to bring home a ball.

2 weeks after the Dells, the real vacation came. 5 nights, 6 days in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. 4 adults, no children and SUN!! It was everything we could ask for...after we got over a little scare. I came down with a weird bug Friday night before we were supposed to leave (flying out Sunday) Luckily it was only a 24 hour thing and by Sunday morning I was ready to go. Big sigh of relief as we stepped onto the air plane. Less than 5 hours later we landed and felt the sun warming our faces. 

The week was filled with laziness. Every morning we'd claim our beds and chairs by the pool and take a walk on the beach. The rest of the day was filled with food, drinks, games, laughter, and of course naps. The resort was beautiful and beaches were endless.

Beds by the pools...and a lovely pedicure.

Success with the self timer.

Beautiful beaches.

Yes, the parrots are real. They even nibbled on our hair a few times.

Lots of Catan time! And dirty monkies. Best drink EVER.

It might or might not have taken a few tries to make this. And maybe one that had the wrong year too.

I am still reliving all of it as I sit inside not wanting to leave the house in this bitter cold. Come on spring, you can do it!

3 1/2 years

Sienna,
You are growing up so fast and are learning so much at school. You love to soak up every ounce of it. Right after Christmas you moved up to the next room: Pre-2. You were so proud of the accomplishment and already talk about moving onto Pre-K. I am amazed by all you are learning. You can write your name quite well all on your own. One weekend, the only thing you did was practice writing your name over and over until you got it. You claim you had your first boyfriend, Jackson, who would kiss you everyday. You tend to make up stories, so I have no idea if that was true or not. He's now moved up to the next class so we will never know!

A couple versions of your name writing.

You love doing anything with art and crafts. Markers, crayons, colored pencils, water colors, dobbers, stickers, scissors, or glue are all you want to play with. At school the coloring station is your favorite and where I always find you when I pick you up. We have stacks and stacks of art projects. You can't get enough. When you aren't doing art, you are usually signing and dancing. The Frozen soundtrack is your current obsession and you love to say, "Mom, watch me. I can shake my butt." Then you'll turn around and give us a booty shake. Your imagination is growing bigger. You and I had our first round of playing barbies the other night. We took them to the hair salon, home for a sleepover, and for a ride in the car (which was a picnic basket). Playing pretend family or princesses is also occurring more and more. You love to be the Mom and boss everyone around. I am always the "sweetie" and Kensi gets to be the baby.

Coloring as usual.

You are very articulate but there are still some words that you say that crack me up:
Pasketti for spaghetti
Alona for Leona
Mall-Ameriga for Mall of America
Fruit Cottontail for fruit cocktail

You have always been our cautious child. You like to feel out a situation with Mom or Dad until you are comfortable with it, although many times you surprise me with your confidence. You have a definite fear of heights and would prefer to have 2 feet on the ground instead of climbing.

Big girl, proud on the dentist chair. Don't be fooled by the sweet, confident smile, you were terrified when it came to the actual exam.

You have such a big personality which swings from the sweetest, move lovable kid to some pretty high drama crying. :) Very typical for your age. You and I have very similar personalities which sometimes leads to major clashing. I assume this will continue for the rest of our lives. But no matter what happens you are always full of lots of hugs, kisses, and I love yous. You crack your Dad and I up everyday with your ideas and expressions. We love to hear what will come out of your mouth next!

Still Famous

Remember years ago when I posted that my Mom and I were famous at the rec center? Over the past couple years, they built an all new ginormous rec center that was completed last summer. It's so big that until recently I hadn't even been on all of the levels. A few weeks ago a coworker came up to me and told me he thought there was a picture of me on the third floor where the track is. Sure enough I went up there and as I rounded the final corner of the track there's a HUGE poster of my Mom and I. Same one as before but it looks like they reversed it. This picture doesn't do the size of it justice. That wall spans 2 stories to give you some perspective. Pretty cool! 

First Birthday

Planning a birthday party for a 1 year old is challenging. We tried to do everything keeping Kensi in mind since it's supposed to be all about her. She gets overwhelmed with too many people, so the party was kept small to close family. Since she's such a Mama's girl I wasn't sure how she was going to do, but she proved to be a party girl. Loved all the attention (as long as no one got too close). She even attempted to open her gifts. Lucky for her she's got a great older sister and cousin to help her out. We made all her favorite foods - meatball subs, french fries, and a fruit salad. I have never seen her be so quiet while eating and eat so much food. Success!

She was not having the head band.

Much happier with her favorite.

This girl was all about the cake. She asked all day when it was cake time and as soon as dinner was done she ran around cheering for cake.

Such good buddies.

Again not having the hat. Apparently she doesn't like things on her head.

Grammy with the older girls and hats.

Grandma Deb & Nana in their hats.

Even the Grandpas wore hats. Kids can make anyone do anything.

And finally it was cake time. She dug into the frosting right away.

Mmmmmmmmmm

Frosting all over the face and arms. This was right before she started the actual cake smash, which flew cake crumbs all over the kitchen. Conner loved being on cleanup duty.

My loves.

I had to make one special decoration. Thanks to pinterest, I made a poster of pictures from Kensi's first year and arrange them in the shape of a 1!