The Fab Foxes

Y has finally reached an age where we thought was appropriate for her to have a few friends over for a birthday party.  Truth is, that was probably last year but since I had only recently given birth to Q, there was no way that was going to happen!

The worst part about Y's birthday is that if falls at the very beginning of September which is also when Labor Day occurs each year and then school begins right after that and the life of parents gets a lot more crazy!  So in dealing with those 2 events we decided to have Y's birthday party on August 25th.

Though we have a decent sized home, I didn't feel it was large enough to hold 12 children (including Y) and a parent of each child so we decided we would have the party in our garage which worked out perfectly since it was really a pool party and we planned to just walk them all over to the pool as the main event.

I was extremely nervous about the party as I'd never thrown a party for children before and because I have this annoying tendency to over-analyze everything.  Fortunately it turned out to be a beautiful, hot day - perfect for swimming - and the kids all really enjoyed themselves.

We went with a Princess & Knight theme so I bought each girl a tiara and made them a satin sash that said Princess followed by their name.  They then got to decorate their sash with all different types of jewels and stickers.  For the boys I bought them foam swords and made them shields from cardboard which I then spray painted silver - each shield was personalized with "Sir" followed by their name and they also got to decorate those.  Both were a big hit!

Unfortunately, I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked but that's what happens when you're in the middle of hosting a party!


The before photo, you sort of get the idea.

They started decorating their sashes and shields as they arrived and waiting for the others.

Nana B. made the cake, she did an awesome job!

There's a big change coming to our family very soon.  As much as I'd love to go into specifics, I am bound by my dear husband to keep my mouth shut! ;)  It's not something I do very well so you'd better believe as soon as I'm given the all clear, I'll be here to write all about it!!!

Well over a year ago, B's cousin asked us if Y would be the flower girl in his wedding.  Y had no clue what a flower girl was at the time but I was through the roof with excitement and once I explained to her what a flower girl was and what they do, she was thrilled as well.

We were asked in Spring of 2011 if she could do it and the wedding wasn't until late summer 2012 so we waited until February of this year to go and try on dresses.  We tried a couple, took some photos and then sent them on to the bride and groom for approval.  They were satisfied with them all and we were told we could pick whichever one we wanted.  With that, we let Y choose which she liked the best. 

Fast foward to May 2012 and we went in to order the dress!  Y didn't really understand that we wouldn't be taking home the dress she tried on that day.  I had to explain that we were just trying on two of them (a size 3 and size 4) to see which one would be the best fit for her in a few months - we went with the size 4.  The dress came in several weeks earlier than expected, we had been told mid-late July but it was in about a week or 2 after we ordered it.  As happy as I was with the quick service I was not happy to have to tell Y over and over again that she couldn't wear it yet.

The wedding day, August 11, finally arrived and I've never seen a little girl so excited.  She loved every moment in that dress and every moment of the wedding.  She had a little hiccup with throwing the flowers and getting down the aisle quick enough but once that was over she was all ready for the reception.  She pretty much stayed on the dance floor the entire night, yes, even during dinner!  It seemed as if everyone at the wedding was taken by her, when time came for everyone to start dancing she was right there in the middle of them having a blast.

Unfortunately we weren't staying in Toronto for a second night so we ended up leaving the wedding right around 10pm.  Y was exhausted, she had had a full and very fun day.  When we asked her what her favorite part of the wedding was, she replied, "dancing!"



It had been raining all day and suddenly 5 minutes before the ceremony was due to start the sky cleared!

 

Y posing with the Birch arch that Uncle R built for the wedding.



On the dance floor during dinner.

Still there...

The life of the party!



She was a big hit, everyone loved her and she loved every minute of it!



I had completely forgotten just how much fun it is to have a 1 year old in the house!  Q is really a little ball of fun now that she's crawling around.  She loves to follow her big sister around or even just crawl around on her own.  I'm never surprised to find her in a room alone playing, she's fairly good at entertaining herself but she is still very much a mommy's baby.

Over the past few weeks she has really begun to start trying to mimic words and sounds, they can be words or sounds from us or even from her toys.  It's too early to tell but I wouldn't be surprised if we have another early, clear speaking baby.  From a very young age we always heard comments about how clearly Y was able to speak.

She has more teeth coming in, the top two front teeth and that's been affecting her napping but she's still a great sleeper at night.  She's still a great eater, she loves to eat her baby food but she also wants to eat whatever food we happen to be eating as well.  She absolutely adores her big sister but she is also beginning to let Y know what she doesn't like.  She also likes to play with whatever toy Y happens to be playing with at the time, I like to explain to Y that it's what I like to call payback.  All-in-all they get along extremely well, but that can always change as Q grows older and even more strong willed and independent.

As for me looking back over the past year, I can't believe how fast it all has gone.  I know everyone says it and I know it's a cliche but it's still so very true.  Sometimes as I think about my baby growing up I get a bit emotional.  I know I've been through all these emotions before with Y and I'm sure I'll go through them again but each child is different and I can't help but want to hold on to them as long as I can.  I'm also having a hard time giving up breastfeeding.  When my babies are first born I really, really dread it but I do it because it's what's best for them (and what's cheapest) but by the time they are a year old and I can wean them I have a really hard time giving it up.  I guess I can chalk that up to trying to hold on to my baby as long as I can.

We aren't big fans of throwing big elaborate first birthday parties for our kids, for us it's more of a family event - we like to save the parties for when they're old enough to remember them and enjoy them.  With Q's birthday falling on a Wednesday we decided to head to Canada and celebrate it with family the weekend before her big day.

We drove up on Friday after B came home from work.  On Saturday we spent most of the day relaxing and after dinner we all sang happy birthday, ate cake and let Q open her gifts.  It was interesting to watch her eat the cake, she was all about the icing but didn't like the cake at all.  Her reaction to the cake was the same as her reaction to her birthday cake in North Carolina, I think she doesn't like the texture because both times, even though the flavor was different, she spit the cake out of her mouth.

On Sunday we were able to go to church, have dinner and drive to the bridge for a lovely walk all before coming back home.  It was the perfect way to celebrate our youngest princess, quiet and with family.

It's been a long time coming, but we've finally purchased a second car!!!  It's been something that we've desired for a long time but we 1.) wanted to save up a substantial down payment and 2.) wanted to wait until B was earning more money at work.  We don't like to spread ourselves too thin and with his work schedule previously being 8am-4pm and then 6am-2pm we were able to make it work with only one vehicle.

When he received his promotion and his hours changed from 8am-5pm things became a lot more difficult.  We began having to cram all of our errands into Saturday and it really was becoming quite frustrating.  All the while B had been keeping his eyes out, via the internet, for the "right" car.  Well, on Friday, July 21st he found it!  By the time we decided to go look at it on Saturday afternoon, it had been sold.  They had several other similar models in stock but none of them had the second row bench seat that B really wanted, they were all captain's chairs.  I wasn't really sure what my preference was between the two so I happened to ask the salesman if they had anything on the lot with a bench seat so I could compare it.  He said we could drive around and check so all of us hopped on the golf cart and went looking around at the different Ford Flexes they had on the lot. 

Turns out the only one they had with the bench hadn't been cleaned, detailed, priced, etc.  We knew we liked it but didn't know what price it would be so we asked if we could take it for a test drive even though it still wasn't officially in their inventory yet.  The salesman agreed and while we were out he found out what the price would be, got us a copy of the carfax report, etc.  After we drove it we were pretty much sold but the price was a bit higher than we wanted to pay.  After a little negotiating we were able to talk the price down a bit, not exactly where we wanted but they agreed to put on new brakes and  new tires so we made a deal!

We finally brought it home the following Thursday and I named him Cruz.  Cruz because if we are ever blessed with a little boy, I'd love to name him Cruz but B (so far) will not agree to it.  So I told him if I couldn't name our future son Cruz then I'd name my car Cruz!  As far as details about him, he's a 2010 Ford Flex with just over 29,000 miles on him. He truly is in perfect condition and by reading the carfax we know that his previous owner took care of him in the same manner that we take care of our car(s).  He always had an oil change on time, took him in for all scheduled maintenance and never had an accident!

Oh, and can I say just how liberating it is to be able to jump in the car at any time and take the girls out if I need/want to?!?  I'm loving it!