We Are So Blessed!!!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

I Love My Boy!!

Ahh he just makes me so proud! He always knows how to behave like a perfect gentleman, even when other kids are acting out of control or just not being nice.
Today made me remember when we went to Toy Story On Ice and hundreds of kids were running around and acting crazy- kids were literally running through the halls of the arena, swinging swords, yelling, and I even had 2 kids crash (literally) ran into me so hard that they fell on the ground (and almost ripped my dress off)! Not one parent in the whole place was trying to stop the madness. I couldn't believe that nobody felt that they had to control their kids, it was almost as if, 'well if other kids are doing it, then it is ok for my kids'-- so crazy! It was to the point that all the children in the place had joined in, and you could not see a child anywhere in sight that was behaving... EXCEPT ours!
Maletch lit up when he saw a group of kids run by and he excitedly asked, "Mommy can I go run to?" I simply told him, "I know you see a lot of kids running around, but they are not supposed to be doing that. Their parents need to tell them to behave, and we are going to behave because we know what we are supposed to do." He did not complain, nor did he ask again, and just remained a perfect gentleman. When the next group of kids ran by, he said, "Mommy, they are not supposed to be doing that." He made John and I so proud because we know that took a lot of self control to not join in what looked like so much fun.

Well today we were in a store and a lady near us yelled, "Oh my God!" Maletch is very sensitive to this and he said very loudly and firmly, "Hey, she can't say that, she is supposed to say, 'Oh my GOSH! Mommy we need to tell her she can't say that!" He was so outraged, that he spun around looking at me like what are you going to do? I had to think quick on my feet because he WAS right, but of course I wasn't going to confront the lady. The funny thing was he said it so loud that I know she and everyone else around us heard him anyway. So, I told him he was right, nobody is supposed to say that. Later after we got home, he wanted to talk about it more so he asked,  "Mommy, God said he doesn't want us to say that right? HE said we should say Oh my Gosh, right?" We had a long talk about it and at the end of the talk, Maletch was so happy when I told him that God was very proud of him. This is something that comes up almost daily in our house, I can't believe how many "family shows" will be on in the background where somebody says that, and Maletch has ALWAYS responded by saying, "Hey, he/she can't say that, mommy this is not a nice show, we need to change it." He also knows the shows we aren't allowed to watch like "Sponge Bob", "Phineas & Ferb" and many others... and if one of those come on after something else he comes to get me to say, "Uh oh mommy, this is not a nice show, we need to change it, hurry, quick, where is the remote?"

Later same day, we were at Jamba Juice and Maletch was leaned over the water fountain and this kid came over and climbed on Maletch's back and was trying to push Maletch in the water pool. I said, "Hey, what the heck?!" and the boy's mom came running over and made up an excuse or tried playing it off by telling her kid, "Oh Hayden, he is not going to fall in, you don't have to try to save him." So I was thinking, "What?!?!?!" Maletch just turned and gave me the same look, 'trying to save me-- what??' So we let that go, UNTIL the boy started swinging his arms (like punching) all crazy- aiming towards Maletch, but not really hitting him, but like stopping right in front of his face (like within an inch of punching him) and then just when I was about to say something to the boy AND his mom, Maletch asks in such a curious and innocent tone, "Mommy is that kid, (pause), is he kind of a brat?" To be clear, he wasn't name-calling, just asking an innocent question. Ahhhhh, I just love him!! I wanted to say, yep honey, that is exactly what he is, LOL! So I just said, "Well he is not being nice, and he certainly needs to behave."
I've got to hand it to Maletch, because it wasn't until immediately after his question, that the boy's mom finally pulled him aside for a 'talk'. Not that the talk was very effective because...
Then Sariah woke from her nap (she had been in the stroller for the first part of that kid's crap) BUT the boy came back for more once Sariah started toddling around. He came over and touched Sariah and acted like he was going to push her down-- Maletch got VERY protective and stood right by her staring that kid down, he made sure he was between her and the kid. I did eventually have to say something to the kid AND the parents, but I was proud of how Maletch was nice the whole time but also got very serious when she was concerned.
The boy's mom continued to shock me with how she reacted to her kid-- she even asked me how old Maletch was, when I told her, she said, "Oh yeah 4 year olds seem like such big kids, my kid is 3, and sometimes he does things like a baby, that one year (between 3-4) makes such a difference, ya know?" It took all I had NOT to say, "What? 3 year olds don't act like that, babies don't even act like that, your kid is a brat, hello, be a parent." Hahahaha! Since I couldn't say that, but I couldn't lie and agree with her, I gave her a raised eyebrow look and walked away- point taken? I'm not sure.

On the way home, he asked, "Mommy what is a brat?" A good question, and when I explained what a brat is, he asked again about that kid. So I told him, "Yes that boy was behaving like a brat, and his mommy and daddy need to tell him to be nice." Then he asked me, "Why was that boy acting like that?" He wasn't satisfied with, "I don't know," so I further explained, that "I think that his mommy and daddy aren't doing a good job teaching him to be a nice boy like you."
Then he said, "Only nice kids get to go to Disneyland, the train station, and the concert and fun places like that. He isn't allowed to go because he is not nice, huh?" Then he added 3 other not nice kids we encountered in the past week, and said 'they, and that boy' can't go, huh? He correlates this because we have always told him that he has to behave or we won't go to the places. Maletch is "The boy who loves rules" and I need to do another post about that, because it is so funny, but I won't get side-tracked from this post. So I told him, "You are exactly right, they can't go because they aren't nice, but you sure can because mommy and daddy love taking you places because you are a nice boy and you always know how to behave. We are proud of you!" Then he added, "Sariah is nice too, so she gets to go too, right mommy?" He just put the cherry on top with his sweetness always looking out for his sister!!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Happy Birthday Sariah!!



The baker told me that the "Dress Shop Sign" can be used as a stand-up picture frame on a future cake! I thought that was pretty cool!


Her First Cake:
We started off with her "Minnie Mouse Dress Shop" cake, and she dug right in before we could sing Happy Birthday or light the candle! She helped herself to the plenty of frosting and even pulled Minnie right off the cake- it was so cute and funny how fast she tore that cake up! Of course as soon as she started taste-testing it, Maletch came over to help! I busted up laughing when I saw him standing with his tongue out licking the corner of the cake!


Busted! HaHa!

"Green Light! Its OK kids, go nuts!"....




When we actually gave Sariah a piece she immediately got rid of the plate, haha, she just dumped the cake right onto her high chair tray- apparently she thought the plate was unnecessary :) Actually, we think she wanted to get the cake off the plate so she could look at the picture of Minnie (on the Minnie plate), hehe!







She had a few 'hat changes' (you know I love my hats)! She wore the tiara above...


... and although this princess one was my favorite on her, she did not care for it (at least while she was eating)- the veil was bothering her, I guess it was in the way!
That Minnie cake was served to everyone and although she went nuts with that cake: squishing it and wearing as much of it as she ate (it was all over her hair, clothes, and everything around her) - we ALSO ordered a 2nd cake (with chocolate frosting so it would be extra messy) for her to go completely nuts with and that was SO fun (and yes, messy)!!!

The Second Cake:
I don't know if it is obvious in the photo, but we had a little mishap with Sariah's second cake- well daddy did- on the way home from the bakery. Apparently, he stopped too fast and that cake almost fell in the car, he caught it... but when he got home, I quickly found it was damaged. The top layer had slid off the cake and smashed against the side of the box. At least the main cake was unscathed and I just did a little repair job on this one (but I wasn't able to make it perfect- it was pretty jacked up, LOL).



Cake Photo Shoot:
She demolished the cake and had a lot of fun making a huge mess! She definitely wore more than she ate! Once the cake was obliterated, she began running around getting cake and chocolate frosting all over the place. The goal was to keep her in the "photo area" and 2 of us were running zone defense, but baby was smarter and quicker with her plays!
Of course big brother could hardly stand by watching all the fun, he was itching to get in and play with her! So we were also running brother defense. Even daddy and I were covered in frosting by the end of the shoot from having to pick her up and put her back, plus she flicked a lot of it, and chunks were flying everywhere! It will undoubtedly take me several days to find it and clean it all!





Yeah some people think I'm nuts for doing this, but the pictures are so worth it, and the crazier and messier it got, the funnier it got! John thought the photo shoot was over when her hat wouldn't stay on anymore (the string was all stretched out), and the cake was completely gone (well smashed completely to pieces), and she was basically running around- BUT that is when I thought it was getting good! He was at work when I did the same photo shoot for Maletch's first birthday. I told him, "I know its nuts, but we'll get some good shots." He said, "This is nuckin' futs!" Hahaha!
I'll admit, once it did get completely crazy, I was chasing her more than I was shooting since I had to TRY to protect my photo equipment: like the umbrella lights and other things. Despite my best efforts, almost everything did get attacked by "King Kong Chocolate Baby!"

I took some video clips in between pictures, and I will upload a few of those too!

Costumes:
You know I love costumes, so of course my baby girl just HAD to get decked out for her first birthday party! Minnie Mouse has a few different dresses she wears, and my favorite is the pink/white polka dot dress from the Disney Clubhouse show, so I found a BEAUTIFUL one at the Disney Store. I love their costumes, they are a bit pricey, but they are very nice quality and gorgeous in person! It is so bling, fluffy, and even has the cutest bloomers. Probably a lot of people don't care about costume quality, "its just a costume," but I can't stand poor quality/cheap costumes- one of my weird pet peeves I guess!
Of course Maletch wanted to wear a costume too (he LOVES costumes), so we found him a Mickey one and he couldn't wait for the party so he could wear it! Even though he has at least 20 costumes for dress up play, he asked everyday if he could 'try on' his Mickey costume :) He reminded me everyday, "I can't really wear my Mickey costume until the party because I don't want to get it dirty, but I can just try it on, right?"
Why TWO Minnie costumes you ask? Well I also got Sariah a traditional red/black Minnie dress (in addition to the pink/white one) so she would match her brother, you know me with my 'family should be color coordinated thing'- gosh- I am so weird, LOL!

Presents:
First off, we goofed that up! We had set the wrapped presents (from us) on top of the gift table a few days before. I had caught Sariah climbing up and pulling them down a few times, so I don't know why I thought they would be OK there?? Well, they weren't! The day before her party, daddy left for work while I was in the shower. He put her in her high chair so she couldn't get into mischief while I was upstairs (or so he thought).
I came downstairs to find her NOT in her high chair and all of the presents were opened- wrapping paper everywhere AND she was playing with the toys that were still in their boxes!!
I asked a few questions all at once, "What the heck happened?" "How did Sariah get out of her chair?" etc...
Maletch told me, "She was trying to climb out, so he helped her."
Me: "How did you do that when she was strapped in?"
Maletch: "She got out of the straps by herself, and she was like this (he imitated leaning out of the chair) so I gave her a hug and pulled her down."
Me: "Who opened all the presents?"
Maletch: "Well Sariah and I did."
Me: "Didn't you know that we were supposed to wait until her party?"
Maletch: "I'm sorry mommy, are you mad?"

Uggh, the little stinkers!! I do think that Sariah was the 'main culprit' because I found her 'stack of toys' she built as her 'step stool' to reach the presents (so at least it was pre-meditated by her, LOL) since Maletch could have reached without a stack of toys/ step stool. Based on the evidence (and statement by one of the perpetrators), I believe she pulled them down and started opening and he assisted in the opening. Plus, she was on a mission with her "Houdini move" with the straps haha!
She turned over her 'ride-on lion' on it's side as the base of her ladder. That is one of the things she does, she climbs basically as high as she wants and plans it out by stacking things to get to whatever/wherever she wants. It scares me because she has no fear, and a lot of strength- and we've seen her get up pretty dang high!! I am constantly having to pull her off of things, the problem is she is determined, quick, and so dang proud of herself when she gets up on things! She stands there and makes a big verbal announcement and gestures (like a look at me gesture) and beams the hugest smile of pride- and she gets so mad when I take her down from things too! She is so much like her brother was at this age- it is crazy! I will never forget when I caught him literally swinging from the chandelier (at 18 months)- remember that? As funny as that is to look back on now, it wasn't funny at the time- I really don't want a repeat of that- and she could do it too!!

OK, so even though the presents were already opened (and they already saw everything), we decided that we would re-wrap them and do it right! So I took away all the presents that were opened and re-wrapped everything! Hahahaha!

Funny thing is that Maletch was so excited for her to open her presents (before and after their little shin-dig)! I think he was more excited than when it was his birthday! Before it was time to open them, he took one over to her, "Here Sariah this is for you, open it!" and he was jumping around all excited, it was so cute! Then when it was time, he kept trying to help her, "Here Sariah you open it like this..." No matter how many times we said, "She can do it, let's let her open them"-- he just couldn't help himself, he was too excited, and he just had to help!
Sariah enjoyed playing with the paper just as much as her new toys, so she had all kinds of fun! She certainly likes all of her new toys, especially the ones her big brother got her!

Decorations:
I will also post a couple photos of the decorations- we had fun going all out for Sariah's FIRST birthday bash! Maletch helped me pick them out and helped arrange where they would go too, hehe- but we had daddy hang the ceiling stuff, since we are not tall enough (turns out, we got a LOT of ceiling stuff)!

*Note: Bare with me, as uploading and sorting photos and videos takes a LOT of time. I have only really played with the cake photos so far and I have a LOT more to go. I posted 2 slideshows and 3 videos below, so you can get a peek of what I've done so far, but all the photos of her opening presents and the kids' costumes will be coming next...

................Scroll down to see (be sure to pause the music player for the videos)- but I am adding lots more photos...
**SAVING the BEST for LAST**............ can't wait to post pics of the COSTUMES!!!

Happy Birthday Sariah!! Slideshow!

Sariah's First Birthday- Messy Cake Photo Shoot! Slideshow!

Sariah's First Birthday! Cake Photo Shoot! VIDEO 1

Sariah's First Birthday! Cake Photo Shoot! VIDEO 2

Sariah's First Birthday! Messy Baby Cake Photo Shoot! VIDEO 3

Friday, May 11, 2012

Our Baby Girl is ONE Today!!

Can you believe it, Sariah is one year old today?!?! This year went way too fast! We will be having our official celebration this weekend, since John had to work today (Friday).
She will have SEVERAL costume changes, including TWO different Minnie Mouse costumes- LOL, PLUS we ordered TWO cakes, one to serve to everyone, and one for her to go nuts with! I'll be posting LOTS of pics....
until then, here are a few pics I took today, (This photo shoot didn't go quite as planned- we had a lot of distractions with all of the neighbors coming outside and going bananas. Her big brother was right by her side as always. He gets really nervous and protective when people get too close to her) ........
ALSO keep scrolling to see the post: "What Sariah Does All Day!"

Happy Birthday Sariah!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

"What Sariah Does All Day!"

I just realized that I haven't posted in a long time the activities and events of the kids' day.
Most of you get a chance to talk to Maletch on the phone and you know that we do 'school', and that we talk ALL day, and that our all-time favorite thing to do together (at home) is dance, but I am overdue for a post about what Sariah is up to all day!

A little about Sariah's day:
Well she is a busy little toddler, and she is into everything! Her daily rounds of mischief include: turning on the dishwasher (too bad it isn't when we want it on). We also try our best to never do the dishes (load or unload the dishwasher) with her around because when it is open, she climbs onto the door (and sits on the open door) and reaches in to pull out every dish and throws them on the floor-- You put one in and she pulls it out and throws it on the floor-- yeah, not exactly helping! :) She also knows how to open the dishwasher when it is latched/locked!
I remember when Maletch was her age, he liked to open drawers throughout the house and pull everything out (almost like a cartoon: wildly throwing things above and behind his head)-- well, she loves to open drawers too-- BUT-  she loves to climb in- you can find her sitting and playing inside different drawers quite often! She will only empty it to the point she thinks she can fit, and she'll just sit on whatever else is in there (toys, clothes, pots pans, whatever it is) and just play with whatever is under and around her, hehe!
She also finds any excuse to get into the bathroom (she's sneaky and quick and will slip right in with anyone she can get past) and LOVES to play with the toilet- loves to reach in and splash, throw things in, and flush it.
She has been dancing since before she could even walk and she is quite a dancer. I am not just saying that to be funny or because I am her mom- she has always had rhythm, but she also actually has a lot of moves.  She cannot resist, when any song comes on, she drops whatever she is doing, and starts dancing!!
She is also a chatterbox like her brother! Even though she only knows how to say a few things in English, she has her own language with complicated sounds- I often wish I could understand her, because whatever she is saying sounds so important! She speaks with a lot of animation and also conviction- and boy she just talks and talks and talks! She is also a smart little bugger and has figured out things like opening a taped up shipping box (there isn't a box that she can't open)- to countless other things like how to operate her big brother's advanced toys- if it has a switch, button, or any operable parts- she knows what it does and how to do it!
Wherever Maletch goes, she follows and I just love watching them play together. One of her favorite things to do is to build and disassemble train tracks with her brother and play trains with him. He loves to put her in toy bins and push the bins all around the house- giving her 'rides'. He usually pretends she is on specific Disneyland rides, "Hey Sariah, do you want to ride the Snow White ride? Hop in and let's go!" If she doesn't climb in on her own, he picks her up and puts her inside.
One of the funniest things she does is when she plays the piano, she stops playing, then starts clapping (for her own performance) and turns around and looks at everyone to make sure they clap for her-- as soon as she is sure everybody has clapped (and said, "Yay"), then she starts playing again- then stops, claps, and turns around again, and on and on. She can put on a piano show for 30 minutes straight- but you better clap in between every song or random pauses!
As far as some of her likes: she LOVES the Fresh Beat Band- she actually knows all their songs, she tries to sing, and when you watch her dance- she knows when the tempo will change- something you probably have to see to really understand. She also loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, when that comes on- she drops everything and runs to the TV and talks to the TV the WHOLE time.  She also lights up and starts talking excitedly if she sees any toy, photo, or image of any of the Mickey friends (Minnie, Goofy, Donald, etc). I actually can't think of a Disney character that she doesn't recognize (Princesses, Fairies, Toy Story, etc)- and she loves them all!

She will be having a Minnie Mouse themed birthday. Her thoughtful brother picked out some of her presents. Days before we even went shopping, Maletch said, "Mommy I was thinking, we should get Sariah the Talking Jessie Doll- you know the BIG one. Can we get that for her?"
I said, "Well you guys already have a small Talking Jessie Doll, do you think we should really get another Talking Jessie?"
Maletch, "Yeah, I think she would really like the big Talking Jessie, because it is like my big Talking Woody."
So I said, "I think that is really sweet that you thought of such a nice present for her, so yeah we can get it and it can be from you, OK?" He got so excited! Then (same day) he said, "I think Sariah would also like a Minnie Car. Can we get that for her too?" Then he added, "She really likes my Mickey Train and she likes all my cars, so I think she would like a Minnie car."
His 'Mickey Train' came with a mickey figure that rides inside a train (and drives around a track) and he is right- Sariah does love that toy- so I just thought that was such a great idea- so we will be looking for Minnie Mouse's car- she WILL love that! I was impressed that he had 2 thoughtful ideas without even being in a store or looking through a catalog (these were off the top of his head)- what a sweet big brother he is!!
Days later, when we went to Toys R Us to shop for her birthday gifts, he never asked for a single thing for himself (he never does- even when he sees something he LOVES- he will ask if he can look at it, then he always just puts it back afterward, NEVER: "I want this" or "can I get this?")- but this trip he asked if we could buy MANY toys for Sariah. He asked to see things that he liked, then put them back, but when he saw something 'girly', he said, "Hey Sariah would LOVE this, can we get this for her?" He impressed me so much, by being so thoughtful, mature, and selfless. I'm super proud of you Maletch!

Last night:
Maletch: "I want to give Sariah a flower and we can get married."
Me (unsure I heard correctly): "What?"
Maletch: "Tomorrow, I want to give Sariah a flower and she and I can get married. She will be a princess and I can be her prince and I will always protect her."
I melted and thought, I wish one day she does marry a boy like her brother!
Then this morning he asked, "Mommy can I marry Sariah today?"

....still working on this post..... lots more to add!!