Lately

*The girls decided to dress like princesses together and completed their look with "pet purses".

We're still working on smiling for the camera...LOL!

*We barbecued at the neighbors and enjoyed a beautiful day!

*The whole family celebrated with Bianca at her Friendship Party at school. We also said good-bye to her teachers and friends as the school year ended.

Giving Mrs. Auz one last hug...she is sooo much bigger and more mature now than she was when she started!

*Bianca has been asking to wear dresses and requesting princess toothpaste, shoes, etc. She's not fooling me, she's still my little tomboy.

But, here is what she decided to wear to Costco and the library recently...

*Papa Teddy and Zarin-joon are in town for a visit an the girls coudn't be happier!

*Bianca has been working on writing her letters (when she feels like it, of course!). I am so proud of her!

The Little Princess is 18 Months Old

...and what a wonderful 18 months is has been! We went to the doctor's office on Friday and here are her officical stats:

Weight: 24 lbs. 6 ounces (50th percentile)
Height: 33 inches (almost 90th percentile)

Ellia can still be found with her left thumb in her mouth at all times and usually that pink bear rattle blanket is not too far away either. She is currently a total Mama's girl. I was out of the house this weekend running errands by myself (a rare occasion) and Mark said that when they came into the empty house from the park she threw a fit because I wasn't home. She is a happy little girl who loves to be chased by her big sister and even swipes Bianca's blankets sometimes just to induce a chase. She appears to be a little more girly than Bianca even at this age as she often loads herself up with bracelets and necklaces without any help. She is currently chatting up a storm with some of her favorite words being, "bye-bye, ball, mama, dada, uh-oh, no, sit, shoe, baby, and bubble". She repeats quite a lot of what I say back to me without me even asking her to do so. Her pronunciation may not be the best but, she is working on it. Ellia is also still pretty obsessed with animals, especially cats. Her "Furr-Real" kitty cat is one of her favorite toys.
I can't wait to see what the next 18 months has in store for us all!

Bianca's Mother's Day Tea and Performance

This was truly one of the sweetest things I have ever seen and is definitely going down in history as one of my favorite Bianca moments. She melted my heart from the moment that she walked in the chapel. I think of her as being so big lately, I guess in part because I compare her to Ellia now. But, as soon as I saw her walk through those doors, I realized just how small and innocent she still is. She looked all over for me until she found me, and when she did, her whole face lit up. Even though she has been extremely friendly lately with strangers or any one who will listen to her, she is still the shy little girl that she used to be when the spotlight is on her. So I was so proud when I saw her sing the songs in front of a room full of other Mommies. Of course, there were some comic moments as well with her yawning, rubbing her eyes, looking at the other children, and pulling her dress up.

Not a great picture of either of us but, the only one that was on my camera...

Kelsey, Bianca and Abigail at the tea after their performance.

This made me laugh out loud! I guess we need to start talking to Bianca about our ages. I, of course, am 29 - NOT 45! The broccoli comment tells me that I must be doing a great job of pretending to like my veggies in front of her - yuck! Finally, I am the color blue in the picture because it is still her favorite color and isn't everything supposed to be colored blue?

Unfortunately, the angle that I was recording at wasn't the best...it is hard to see her mouth moving and singing the songs.

A Week with Mimi and Poppy

Bianca had a week off for Spring Break so I packed up the girls (and Carrera) and drove to Jacksonville to spend the time with Mimi and Poppy. The girls had such a fun time up there splashing in the baby pool, playing with MESSY colored bubbles (hence the green water in the baby pool), feeding the fish and turtles in the pond out back, going to an Alligator Farm, playing at the park complete with a carousel, and of course, digging at the beach. Bianca cried the morning that we had to leave...enough said!

One of the albino alligators at the Alligator Farm.

Ellia and the Komodo Dragon.

There was a snake in this tank. If we left it up to Bianca she would have stayed at this little snake house all day!

Ellia LOVED this slide...she kept running up the steps to go down again and again and again!

The girls keep themselves very busy at the beach...so nice for me!