The party!

Took me a couple of days to get a moment to sit at the computer and sort through Ry's birthday pictures. It was really quite a magical day!

The three monkey's were waiting for the partygoers to arrive!

Friends started arriving and I had everyone wait inside while we waited for a very special guest... Cinderella! She rang the doorbell and I had Ry answer the door. She didn't quite know what to think or to say! Cinderella read a story, danced with the kids, made crowns, and played limbo. It was tons of fun!

They were doing magic spells singing "Bibbity Bobbity Boo" and they were all Dragons here. :)

Look at that smile on Ry!!!

Sweet...

Her "Glass Slippers"

So after Cinderella left to see Prince Charming, we all headed outside for pizza and swimming in a new inflatable pool we got. All was going great until Fire Ants made there way into the pool and the kids were getting bit - Eeek! So we did the pinata in the house - no pictures - I was holding the pinata and then onto the cake!

She took a deep breath to blow out her candles!

And we opened gifts too. She got lots of amazing presents. More than any 4 year old needs! The funniest part was that each of the kids who brought the presents didn't really want to give them up. Challenging age! I did take some pictures for this part, but the kids were so fast and moving in front of the camera that they aren't very good. I did get this one though. This is Ry's good friend, Ryan, who she calls "Boy Ryan". They are very good friends from preschool. And I love that both of them have such long eyelashes!

Everyone started going home and the party was winding down when Kai blew out his diaper all over the carpet. That sure cleared the room and ended the party!!

It was really such a wonderful day. I was completely and totally emotionally and physically exhausted afterward, but it was so worth it.

It's over!

Birthday weekend is over. Actually last night I was so tired that I crawled up the stairs to bed. Yep... crawled. I think if I had put my head down on one of the steps I would have fallen asleep right then and there! Luckily the kids slept well last night and I got a deep, much needed sleep.

This morning Ry tells me, "Mom, howcome you didn't say Happy Birthday this morning?" and my response was, "Cause it's not your birthday anymore! Now you're a regular 4 year old." and she walked away miffed. Good lesson for her that the world doesn't revolve around her (although she thinks it does).

I have some really wonderful pictures from the party - it was really awesome. But I'll get to them in a few days!!

Happy 4th Birthday Ryenne!!!

Four years ago today - June 5, 2006 at 6:21pm - I became a mother for the first time. It's amazing to think back and realize how much my life has changed. It's hard actually - imagining a world without my children in it - although that world did exist a short time ago.

Ryenne is such an important member of our family. Our first baby... our only little girl. Headstrong as she is, I love her to pieces. She definitely knows how to challenge me and push my buttons, but perhaps it's a learning lesson for us both!

Happy birthday my love. I love you so very much you amazing, amazing girl!

3 Months

WOW! How can Cruz be three months old already? Well... today is his 3 month birthday and I wanted to capture all his little rolly-polly-ness... the boy has some chubs and it's completely adorable!

These are from his photo shoot today. The light was PERFECT coming in from the window and he, of course, was the perfect model.

Mmmmm hmmm... look at that hand... posing!

Oh his hair... I am loving it. It's getting so long. And it's sticking straight up most of the time.

So this next one... it's more of his bits that I love to kiss. See those rolly polly thighs? And those little dimples on his hands? And his big, round belly? So sweet!

And his last image for the day... a nakey picture with daddy. I love the contrast between their skin colors. And I realized that I didn't have any nakey booty pictures with his giant Mongolian Spot. I often wonder if it will fade away or if it will stay. Ryenne's spots weren't as big and they faded away. Kai still has his on his bottom and one by his ankle. Only time will tell!

Aside from Cruz's photo shoot, we had a really great day. I had clients over this morning and they bought a really beautiful album. Then Auntie Nikki, Kaeli, and Makena came over with balloons and cake and a gift for Ry since they can't make it to the party. She was totally and completely thrilled. We had a really great time hanging out and the kids had a ball!

I'm headed off to bed... tomorrow is Ryenne's fourth birthday. How can it be that my baby girl is going to be FOUR??? FOUR!!! Wow... She's excited. Daddy is getting her donuts and a giant balloon as a surprise in the morning.

Rustic

This is totally the wrong season for it... but I am really loving baking with Ryenne. We've been taking on baking projects together and I've been exploring new recipes to try.

We ate the black bean brownies before I could photograph them. We also ate the zucchini bread before I could photograph that. And we're continuing with our trend of normally savory foods in a sweet dish with a new recipe I found for Olive Rosemary Cake. This time I had the camera at the ready.

Mixing the eggs.

I'm not even going to apologize for my cluttered kitchen!

Deep in thought sifting the flour (I love this one!)

I love this one too...

Some of our ingredients... eggs, dark chocolate, and rosemary

She added the rosemary herself. We talked about how it smelled and she rolled the leaves between her fingers to release the aroma. She said it smelled good.

And then into the oven it went - only me for that part - and we waited for it to be done. I made spaghetti for dinner - a good vegetable filled 'sgetti followed by our rustic dessert. Here is the finished bread.

I put it under the broiler for the last minute of baking so the sugar on top would caramalize. It definitely gave it a nice crust! The kids were excited to try it. It definitely has a sweet/savory taste to it. Probably would have been more of a hit if the chocolate were milk chocolate. It isn't the sweetest cake so the kids were a little disappointed. I'm glad we tried it though. I was so intrigued! The zucchini bread and black bean brownies were definitely bigger hits. Next on the list is a carrot caked sweetened with only bananas and dates. I'll be sure to post that one. If you want to try the Olive Rosemary Cake, you can find the recipe here.

While the cake was baking, I snapped a few images of Cruz who is so huge. He is now officially in a size 3 diaper and size 12 month onesies. I can't believe it. He turns 3 months on Friday!

And I just love how he curls up his legs and feet. One of the sweetest things ever!!!

Sunshiny Day

It's getting warm outside! Popsicle weather for sure.

I think they love each other (most of the time).

We are growing a garden in the backyard. We have sweet potatoes, sunflowers, basil, yellow squash, carrots, stevia, and tomatoes growing. We are really enjoying watching everything grow!

And we made a new friend today! Meet Melissa... she came and played with the kids for 4 and a half hours so I could do photography work. Ryenne had a blast with her. Ry says she looks like Princess Jasmine. Kai was pretty smitten as well... you know what a flirt he is! Melissa will be back next Thursday to play. :)

Cruz Video

Meditation

I came upon this song recently by Priscilla Ahn - it's very soothing to my soul. Here are the lyrics to the first portion...

I was a little girl

Alone in my little world

Who dreamed of a little home for me

I played pretend between the trees

And fed my houseguests bark and leaves

And laughed in my pretty bed of green

I had a dream

That I could fly

From the highest swing

I had a dream

Long walks in the dark

Through woods grown behind the park

I asked God who I'm supposed to be

The stars smiled down at me

God answered in silent reverie

I said a prayer and fell asleep

I had a dream

That I could fly

From the highest tree

I had a dream

To the Rescue

I had a super rough night last night. I even found myself in the tub at 3am taking a bath with Cruz after he threw up everywhere. It just didn't end.

I had to call Gams to come rescue me this morning. I had the kids at the table with their breakfast and felt like I could barely function. Her and Pops came to my rescue and I passed out in my bed. Not just my average "sleep half awake just in case anyone needs me" sleep - but a true, hard, "lights out" type of sleep. I feel like an entirely new person.

Three little monkeys is a hard task for anyone, but then add to that nights alone, mornings alone, early afternoons alone... sometimes it feels like I'm a single parent! Not placing any blame here on Peter - AT ALL - it's just the way that it is.

So thanks Gams and Pops for coming to my rescue this morning. Seriously appreciated.

Last Day

Today was the last day of school for Ryenne and Kai. They were each so excited to go to school today.

While they were away, I was hoping to catch up on some sleep. Cruz has his first cold and is a little miserable Opihi boy. (Opihi is a limpet that sticks to rocks for all you non-Hawaiian readers). Cruz had alternate plans and wouldn't sleep so I snagged a few pictures of him in his cute onesies for SuperSweetCreations.

He's in a relatively good mood here...

So then we went to pick up Kai at his school and he was still napping. It's a treat to get to see him nap. He likes to sleep at home in such solitude and such dark that I rarely get to see him sleep. He's the epitome of a sleeping angel...

And then he woke up. He was groggy, but I snagged a picture of him and Miss Jolee - his first ever teacher. Miss Jolee told me how much she enjoyed having him in her class and what a helper he is to the other kids. She gave me a bag full of cards that the other kids had "made" for him. And what really touched me is that she cried and hugged Kai before we left. VERY special.

After we left Kai's school, we got to Ry's and she had a full on pizza party today. Everyone was abuzz with talks of summer break and cubbies were being cleaned out.

Ry said goodbye to Miss Jenn...

And Miss Shawnda...

All of these teachers have been so awesome to my kids. I couldn't have asked for anything better. In the Fall, they will both be going to Manchaca UMC and I am excited to be driving to one school instead of two. I can't believe Ry will be in the 4's class. One more year till Kindergarten! WOW!

We headed home and played outside for just a little while. It was HOT! But then we heard music outside and new shave ice truck was rolling through our neighborhood. Peter bought the kids shave ice and they hopped in the stroller and we took a walk to get the mail. We were all hot and sweaty and came back into the AC t o cool off.

Something good must have been on TV!

Cruz was again in not such a great mood (look at that face!) so Kai tried to cheer him up.

But, then he gave up and decided he wanted to be goofy instead :)

It's officially the start of summertime in the Dagupion household!!! Oh boy! Please let me keep my sanity (or whatever is left of it!)

Stuff

A few days ago our neighbors from Maui flew in to Austin to check out Marble Falls for a possible upcoming move. Huge dork that I am... forgot to take a picture with them while they were here! But it was a great visit and they brought some beautiful hand made soaps for the kids, an E Komo Mai sign for our front door, and a special fish for Cruz. Here he is with his very first Humuhumunukunukuapua'a!

Thank you Karen and Phil!!

And this seems to be Cruz's favorite sleep spot lately... right on daddy on the couch.

So today I got a real treat... I got to get out of the house without the kids with Peter and we went to watch Iron Man 2 at Alamo Drafthouse. That was my first time there. The movie was really entertaining and it felt so nice to dress up. Here we are all excited! And we hadn't even left the driveway yet... haha

So when we were driving down our street I noticed that Pops' truck was at the house in addition to Mom's. I joked to Peter, "Oh boy! I hope she didn't have to call Pops for backup!" and sure enough she had. They both had a rough few hours... SORRY GUYS! But THANK YOU so much for giving me a few hours of freedom!!!!

Cruz got major snuggles when I got home.

His first fall :(

We were outside playing today and Kai had his first real fall. I feel terrible. I was so close to him and I just wasn't fast enough.

He was up in the little playhouse section of the swingset and I was talking to him and telling him to come down the slide and I was reaching for him. He looked out of the little window and he's so top heavy he tumbled right out, flipped, and landed face down on the grass. He has a double fat lip. I leaped over the slide and picked him up and inspected him. He wouldn't take ice on his lip so I gave him a popsicle instead. I WAS SO CLOSE. I keep telling myself that this is probably the first of many little boy "accidents" that will occur, but I still feel horrible. I was so close.

I watched him for any signs of a concussion, but he was his normal self (plus fat lips) all afternoon and ate his dinner. Oh... the emotions and traumas of being a mom!