51 Weeks Old

March 12 - March 18

This week was Spring Break, and I had SO much fun hanging out with Sarah all week!  It makes me really excited for summer, and I'm already planning all kinds of fun things to do with her!

On Monday, we hung out on the baby-proofed deck and enjoyed the warm weather.  Temperatures hovered around 80 all week, and we had sunshine almost every day, too.  Sarah loves her Little Tykes racing car (thanks again, Uncle Adam!), so we spent lots of time learning to climb on and off.  We also spent lots of time with Sarah riding while I pushed her in circles on the deck until I got too dizzy to keep going!  She also enjoyed the spring flowers from Grammie and lounging in the sun...

 

 

 

We also took the next-to-last weekly photo of Sarah on Monday.  I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that she'll be one next week!  She's getting harder and harder to photograph, though, so maybe the end of the weekly photo is a good thing...

On Tuesday morning, we met the Eastlands (Julie, Margo, Adam and Jake) and the Gregorys (Becca, Luke, Isaac and Eric) at the zoo.  It was so fun to see everyone, and we had a blast watching the polar bear swim around and exploring Africa with all 7 kids!  Sarah also took her first tram ride on Tuesday - she seemed to have a great time!

After a quick nap in the stroller at the end of our zoo adventure, Tuesday afternoon was spent out on the deck again - it was just too gorgeous to stay inside!  Sarah had a great time trying to figure out how to carry her pink monkey AND her ball at the same time...

 

 

 

 

Success!!!

 

 

On Wednesday, Sarah and I babysat Jack for the day.  We had a great time playing with him, and he was so super sweet to Sarah all day!  We also made fruity playdough together - I really recommend this recipe if you have kids! 

 

 

 

Fruity Playdough

1 cup flour

1 package Kool-Aid (any flavor - we used cherry)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup salt

2/3 to 3/4 cup boiling water

 

Mix all dry ingredients in bowl and add oil. Pour boiling water into flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Start with 2/3 cup water and add more if your playdough is too dry.  If it seems too wet, you may need to add a few more spoonfuls of flour to get it to the right consistency. After it has cooled a little, knead it with your hands until smooth. Store in an air tight container and keep in the refrigerator. (The play dough should last a few months.) It smells great and doesn't crumble all over the place the way store-bought playdough does!

Thursday was probably the most fun we had during Spring Break!  That afternoon was a group 1st birthday party for the three babies born last year to teachers at Santa Fe Trail!  Everett turned one March 16, and Brooklyn and Sarah turn one March 21 (Brooklyn is exactly 2 hours older than Sarah and was born at the same hospital and delivered by the same doctor!).  We all got together at Katie's house for an SFT birthday rodeo!

Katie's house was gorgeous, and the snacks were quite tasty!  Check it out:

 

 

 

 While the grown-ups chatted and snacked, the kids enjoyed playing with each other.  It was so fun to see how much they've all grown in the last year!

 

 

Instead of gifts, we asked people to bring diapers to donate to Happy Bottoms.  Happy Bottoms is an organization that provides diapers to low-income families.  We felt good because we were giving to others, and Sarah and Everett felt good because they had something to climb on!

 

We tried to get a group shot of the three birthday kiddos, but this is the best we could do:

 

Sarah also got her first cupcake on Thursday.  We had delicious cupcakes from Gigi's Cupcakes, and she LOVED pulling the frosting off the cupcake! (That's how I eat cupcakes, too - scrape all the icing off and eat the cake!)  We dropped the kids on a blanket and let them go to town...

 

 

Everett won for most frosting smeared on himself!

On Friday, Sarah and I hung out with Grammie.  We went shopping in Downtown Lee's Summit and had a very yummy lunch at Waldo Pizza.  When we got home, Sarah played on the deck with the new car Grammie got her.  Hope she doesn't think that a real car will just appear like that when she turns 16!

She's really being kind to Pickle these days, and there hasn't been any hair-pulling in almost a month!  She IS trying to climb on the dog, though, so it's kind of a trade-off for Pickle.  Luckily, she left the dog alone on Friday and spent her time trying to reach the flowers on our deck!

 

And who can blame her???  Look how gorgeous the neighborhood looks right now!  I can't remember a single Spring Break that has been this beautiful.  I'm so glad that we had a gorgeous week to play together!

 

Saturday and Sunday were spent cleaning the house, doing laundry, putting down grass seed, and getting ready for Sarah's birthday!  I'm so excited (and a little sad!)!!!

 Here's a little sneak peek of the birthday party prep - more to come next week!