My very own dancing princesses

Last weekend, the girls and I went to see the Twelve Dancing Princesses at a local theater; for everyone in the DC area, I highly recommend Imagination Stage (we are season ticket holders and LOVE going there!!).


Our performance happened to be followed by a pirate and princess parade, which gave all the little theater-goers a chance to walk across the stage for their moment in the spotlight.


Although her closet is FULL (read overflowing) with incredible princess costumes and Disney gear, Lily now claims that she's "over" princesses and refused to wear any of them. Right before we left for the show, though, she changed her mind and decided to create her own costume. One Tinkerbell nightgown + one tutu + one feather boa + one sequined headpiece + one pair of sparkly shoes. Hey, watch out Broadway...my daughter may have a future in costume design!


Anna, on the other hand, has yet to be bit by the princess bug and flat-out refused to wear anything (including her shoes). I was, however, still able to sneak a few photos!



Princess-clad or not, I loved the outing with my girls!

Plain old fun

I have two aunts who have said on many occassions, "a dirty child is sign of a child who has had a lot of fun."

To that I say, fun is good but I. HATE. DIRT.

I know, I know, dirt and kids go hand in hand. It was one of the hardest things for me to reconcile when I became a parent. For the most part I have come to terms with it. With just a few exceptions, that is. Playdough, which is totally banned from my house, and sand, which seems to be in every nook and cranny (and between each of the girls' toes at night) at my house.

Sigh...

A dear high school friend of mine -- yes, we've now officially been friends for more than half our lives! -- came over last weekend with her son. Justin has been closely following the house project via the blog and Facebook, so we thought it would be fun for him to see it in person. Afterwards we took the kids across the street to the park where they immediately snubbed the amazing slides, jungle gyms and swings in favor of...you guessed it....SAND.







Do you know how hard it was for me to bite my tongue and just let them roll around in the sand? Fear not... I DID bite my tongue, and they did have tons of fun!

It really IS a house!

Thanks in large part to Noah, project manager extraordinaire, progress (by contractor standards) continues at a breakneck pace.

Our roof has shingles... Our windows have trim (well, most of them do)... Our walls have plumbing (done) and wiring (in progress)... Our family room has a fireplace... Our foyer has a STAIRCASE (a huge improvement since we have been using a ladder to get from the first floor to the second for the past few weeks)... Next up is insulation and then, OMG, drywall!

Front porch foundation should be poured this week (I think/hope!)

NO. MORE. LADDER!

View from family room out to what will be the terrace

My fingers are crossed that we'll be in some time in June. Please cross your fingers too!!

Totally (but not yet terribly) two

I just don't even know what to say. Look at those eyes. The curls. That sweet, sweet little girl...

She's wonderfully loving, fiercely independent. She's feisty yet sensitive. She silly and serious...and sometimes, esp. when she pretends to fall asleep (even mid-bite), she's seriously silly.

She speaks English and Spanish. She's a dancer. She's a runner. And boy oh boy she's a screamer. She's practically potty trained -- yee ha!


She loves her thumb. And her silky "la la" blanket. She loves her "Tru-ee" (Truman). She adores -- she idolizes -- her Lily.

She's her own little person. She's wonderfully Anna. She's also my baby, for which I'm so grateful. It's hard to remember our family without her in it.

Saturday she turned two. And yesterday we celebrated. Family. Friends. Lots of friends. Together we cheered for our dear, sweet Anna.

It's still hard to believe that it's been two years... Happy birthday Anna Lake!!

We had a major Yo Gabba Gabba party, complete with DJ Lance Rock (you know, the tall white Jewish version!)

The very handsome Will (aka Willie), beau #1 from school.

Lauren sporting her Foofa headband -- you too can get your own if you go see Yo Gabba Gabba Live!

Beau #2 from school (one for each arm!), Ryan

I swear we didn't plan on having a very yellow day...

MY birthday buddy -- 35 years later!

If Peter and Anna married...holy blue eyed babies!

Will 1, Cupcake 0

She may be little, but boy can Claire-bear party!!

Brobee headbands -- thanks Aunt Sara!!

There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy...

Our sweet Caroline -- next one in line to turn two!

Three of the six GWU MBA "babies"...

Under roof

It's hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago there was just a slab of cement on our lot. Now we have a house.

With windows! LOTS. OF. WINDOWS.

And Tyvek.

And duct work (although decidedly less exciting than those pretty red windows)!!

Coming soon -- doors and wiring and plumbing. Yee-ha!

Look, it's the Passover bunny!!

I know, I know, I know... What can I say, but I'm a sucker for certain holidays. Not the religious side of them. But the traditions. And Easter is one of those that I just can't pass up. So we celebrated it. Twice.

First with our neighbors on Saturday, when the weather was supposed to be nice...

At not quite two, Anna has a serious chocolate addiction. Perhaps that's why potty training is going so darn well...

Although she still hates group photos. Darn baby!

Lily, on the other hand, accepts brides quite nicely!

And then with our cousins on Sunday, when the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

Can you believe I have a child with such (relatively) straight hair? I'm hoping that her curls will come back, as did mine, when she hits puberty.

Yes, my diet started today. Seriously.

Attempting to take a nice cousins photo (we were sad to miss you in the photo, Miranda!) until I realized...

...that little Anna was picking her nose while sucking her thumb!

And then the rest of the group figured it out too...big Anna (the bride to be) tried to prevent little Anna from doing something G.R.O.S.S.! The attempt was largely in vain.

That devil baby...!!