*biggirl

Ben and I are in awe and in love with our ever-growing and changing little girl who dresses herself, goes to the bathroom by herself [we're trying underwear tonight!! fingers crossed] and is able to talk and reason more every day. My goodness she loves to remind us that she's a big girl.  She'll even tell me that I am - wow, Mom, you did the dishes??  That's a big girl!   

The last couple weeks she's starting going to the big kid Sunday school at church all by herself.  The pastor has the kids all sit on the steps for a mini sermon [really deep, of course] before they head off to their classes.  The first time she did it by herself was when there was a baptism - all the kids watched the new baby welcomed as part of the church.  I specifically remember when she was baptized, thinking how one day she would be big enough to sit there on those steps.  And now she is!!  It blows my mind.  Our hearts just swelled with adoration this morning as the pastor called the kids forward and she jumped up and ran down the aisle by herself, and then later on to class among all the older kids - looking a little lost and overwhelmed but confident at the same time.  A month ago she would be hysterical if I attempted to leave her in the nursery during church, now she does it all my by self.  Just a little moment I want to remember.

*dip

I keep wanting to share my hummus recipe because, well, I think it's pretty amazing :)  It's basically Ina Garten's with a few changes to my liking:

1 can garbanzo beans [don't buy yucky cheap ones, it makes a difference!]

3 Tbs water from the beans

1/3 cup tahini

1.5 tsp kosher salt

juice of 1 lemon

8 *dashes* tabasco or other hot sauce

2 cloves garlic [or more if you love it, I don't]

Blend all the above in a Cuisinart and then add a stream of olive oil with the machine on, like with pesto.   Add just as much as you want to make the consistency you like.  Yummmm...

...she loves it, I promise...

*little bead

I heard a little heartbeat loud and clear yesterday!
8 weeks along: due October 16

*cinderelly

Vera often lives in a bit of a fantasy world inspired by her books and movies - Cinderella being one of her favorites.  She's always talking about dancing with princes and her fairy godmother giving her a beauuuuu-ful new dress because her stepsisters 'grabbed' hers. This little scene was cuter/less show-offy the first time she did it, but of course I didn't have the camera handy.

*divertida

We're in such a fun, great stage right now.  The daily tantrums of January were I think her just getting used to not napping and now she *usually* makes it to her 7:30 bedtime without an out-of-nowhere meltdown.  Seriously it is so much fun having a little pal who I can talk and joke and reason and play with.  I love you sooo much Vera!

*inspirada

Sighhhh I just found another blog with totally amazing ideas: 

madebyjoel.com  

I have too many running lists both on paper and in my head of things I want to do - how do I organize it all and how do I remember before it's too late??  Anyone really good at this and want to share?

*silly faces

at breakfast:

and then at dinner:

...and one grumpy face:

*feliz!

Happy Birthday Stella!

We can't believe you're TWO! 

*tijeras

Playing with scissors is Vera's new favorite activity.  I like it because it keeps her occupied for a loooong time :)

*la biblioteca

We go to the library a lot.  It's a perfect walk a mile away, it's free, it's lively, there's people watching, it's cultured [ :) ], we come home with a load of new reading material and DVDs, and it's just a nice way to spend an hour or two.  

 

...she loves to give books back to the libary...

...the glass elevator is always a hit...

..."the attic" reading room...

...we always have to touch the water on our way out and...

...hug each and every pole.  she definitely exhibits some OCD behavior :)

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*postre

There's a new pinkberry inspired yogurt place near our house!  We got semi-addicted while in California over Christmas and just tried this one out tonight.  Mmmm I just love the plain tart with a couple blueberries on top.  I have a feeling we'll be going there quite a bit, especially as the weather warms up - which it hasn't.

*cantando

It's hard to get her to sing in front of the camera, but I got it tonight. It's crazy how much her speaking improves every day. Just here she says "Lord Jesus" instead of "more Jesus" for the first time and she's remembering more of the words every time. I wish I would have got videos of her singing earlier!

*amiguito

Vera's new imaginary friend is "little mousie" - and sometimes his whole family too. It started one day when we noticed a little house formed out of blocks and I put my finger in and said "hi Vera" in a little voice. It is so funny and bizarre - we don't even have to use a different voice, just give her our attention. It's definitely odd and hopefully short-lived :) Sometimes you just have to tell her mousie went to sleep or is outside or something.

*eggy soup

[they "improved" the exterior which I find a pity - I loved this old kitschy one]

I can imagine how much we'll miss this place when we move.  We've been regulars since our first months here and they know us - such a good feeling in a place that we have struggled to really love.  It's always been one of Vera's favorites too - eggy soup [egg drop soup] was at one time her primary topic of conversation.

  

*la visita

It was a wonderful, special, great, fun, comforting,

exciting and much-needed visit from an old friend!

(Make new friends, but keep the o-old: one is silver and the other gold :)

*♥

♥♥♥

♥♥♥

We had a little pink tea party yesterday afternoon - curled our hair, put on pink lipstick and everything. I had thought she'd be a little more into it, but she was a little grumpy all weekend with a bad cold or something. On a normal day she'd love to pretend to be Fancy Nancy and practice her manners. Instead....

here she is stuffing her face with cookie while eyeing the rest of mine:

and here she is drinking her tea straight from the pot:

She also belched and slouched in her chair and hardly said a word.

Anyway, Sarah and I had a lovely time.

♥♥♥

*el pan

I was looking at the recipe for last night's dinner and it called for 3 slices of bread which we didn't have and I'd already gone to the store.  Isn't that the worst?  One ingredient.  I finally decided to just make some.  It seems like I always make such a big deal about it, like it's going to take up my whole day or something, but I really need/want to make it part of our daily lives.  Not like, ok next Tuesday I am going to need to set aside the whole afternoon and have Ben take Vera to the park and bake some bread.  Seriously it was so easy!  I mixed the ingredients in 10 minutes before our friends arrived, it rose while we played and I put it in the oven when they left.  I need to take some lessons from my mom and just do it.  This recipe is the Light Wheat Bread from Smitten Kitchen - it's not the most amazingly tasty bread, but it's good, decent sandwich or toast bread.  There you go.

*

We had a mini snow day today [nowhere near DC's 3' but enough so we weren't up for playing outside like we'd planned] so Jenny, Sam and Amelia came over to play.  Oh my goodness they had so much fun!!   As much as Vera loves princesses and dancing and dressing up, she also loves to run and jump and be crazy.   It was so cute to see how she and Sam get along so well in this way - which they always have.  Cutie pie Amelia joins in on the running or jumping for a minute or so, but is usually content to do her own thing :)

*el lunes

I got this idea for "Muffin Tin Monday" from this blog. It's a fun little diversion and gets them to a variety of things - Stella even thought her dried apricot was candy :)

I can't resist the temptation to sarcastically remark on how exciting my life is :)

*el sábado

We kind of like the regular days around here, getting things done and just hanging out. Yesterday was one of those:

:ready for a trip to the grocery store with mom:

:washing the big car:

:and the little car too:

:and then a fun dinner with our neighbors! we got her to eat her whole plate of spinach lasagne by having Tia pretend like she was going to eat it:

*el baño!

We are so excited this project is over!!! Ben did an amazing job and we are so happy to have a clean, pretty, new bathroom. In case you're wondering, it cost about $3,000 for everything - new tub, tile, toilet, sink, walls, fixtures, etc. Thank you Mom and Dad for the loan! and thank you Ben for working so hard :) and thank you Bryan (and Jen!) for helping a lot.

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I love my towels and made sure the paint would match :)

my favorite: the doorknob, a Christmas present from Ben

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*

It's been really fun to see Vera interacting more with her friends, initiating and participating in little games, conversations, holding hands, sharing, etc. on her own.

Little princesses making their little horsies talk to each other:

Mimi's pony: Hi. What's your name?

Vera's pony: Ummm Vera.

The conversation here was something like, this is nice... yeah real nice... look, mud!

walking back from watching the trains. then Thomas went away! yeah, he went away!