Photo Fridays 04.27.12

Here comes the Elephant Safari outfit again. It's pretty remarkable that we've managed to keep track of the hat.

Lily, Sarah, and Abigail

Time for Solids!

Lily had her first experience with solid food this week. She had a modest helping of rice cereal. I'm not sure what she thought was more strange: the taste, the consistency, or four crazy people hovering over her while she ate. It was quite the event!

She did a great job. Towards the end though she started playing with her food by blowing raspberries. I'm looking forward to trying things with a little more flavor in the weeks to come.

Oh, and I just wanted to let you all in on a little secret. Really, I just want to dispel a myth that I have known to be false since Abigail. Rice cereal (or any solids for that matter) does NOT equal better or longer stretches of sleep. I'll leave it at that.

Five Months!

Lily is a whopping five months old now! She recently became an expert in rolling over from her back to her belly. She now just needs to master rolling from belly to back because after being on her belly for just a short while she'll get bored and fuss until I turn her back over.

Our beautiful blessing is still struggling in the sleep arena. Part of me wishes that she hadn't teased us back around 3 months when she slept like an angel. If she was a consistently crummy sleeper I wouldn't expect anything different. But I know she is capable of great sleep! She just doesn't do it.

Jonathan and I plan on doing the sleep training thing in the next few days. With Abigail and Sarah we noticed great sleeping improvements when we helped them to learn to fall asleep on their own. Experts say babies are best able to do this around 4-6 months. Stay tuned!

What's Cooking: Stealthy Veggies Edition - Part II

Around the same time I saw a recipe for cauliflower soup I also saw a friend of mine pin a recipe for Carrot Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting.

Modifications/Substitutions: I didn't have a lemon, so I omitted the rind from the frosting. Also, I used a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose flour instead of just all-purpose flour.

Ease: This recipe was very easy to make. The most time-consuming step was shredding the zucchini and carrot. I'll go with 4 stars for ease.

Affordability: This recipe is very affordable to make - 4.5 stars.

Taste: Jonathan and I really enjoyed this recipe. It wasn't overly sweet and the cake was nice and moist. I'll go with 4 stars here.

Family Friendly: The girls asked for seconds, though they didn't finish their second pieces. I'm still going with a high score-4.5 stars.

What's Cooking Rating: 4.25 stars. Also, I had more zucchini than I needed, so if you wanted another bread recipe, you can check out this one for Chocolate Zucchini Bread (the girls loved this one).

Easter Sunday

We had a pretty crazy Easter Sunday. It started pretty early for three of us. Lily has not been sleeping well at night lately and Saturday night into Sunday morning was no exception. I had breakfast pretty much ready before both of the older girls were even up.

Our church recently started having two services, but we were there for both because we were on nursery duty for the second service. Between the two services all of the kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt.

After church we headed to Nonna and Papa's only to find out that Nonna was at the hospital for what appeared to be a sinus infection gone bad (she's home today and resting). My sister and I made Easter dinner. I think we made a good team!

Sarah fell asleep maybe two minutes before we got home, which was just enough to give her a boost of energy to fight sleep in bed for another 30 minutes or so. Jonathan and I had a time getting Lily to commit to sleeping for the night as well. I guess all three girls were pretty hyped up after a fun-filled day.

Easter Eggs!

The girls had fun coloring eggs this morning.

Geography Fair!

Abigail's time of preschool at Co-op is coming to a close. Abigail has really enjoyed learning her ABC's and spending time with her friends and teachers.

These past few weeks Abigail and I have been working on a project for our co-op's Geography Fair. I was actually going to opt out considering Abigail can't read or write (which meant I'd be doing most of the leg work). I ended up deciding it might be fun, and it was (well, maybe until the last minute rush of preparations).

We studied Indonesia. Abigail can quickly point out Indonesia on the map and can identify the country's flag.

We also learned a few simple phrases in Bahasa Indonesia, learned about the food Indonesians like to eat, and also learned lots about the Komodo Dragon. I learned that the girls really like starfruit, which we had on display and for students to sample.

The girls were a little crazy the night of the fair. Jonathan and I took turns representing our country while kids went around the world having their passports stamped. It was a great opportunity for me to see older kids and the hard work they put into learning about their countries. A pair of sisters in particular impressed me as they excitedly told Abigail and I about India.

In a way this geography fair made me a little more excited about the possibility of homeschooling "for real". We still haven't officially decided whether we will or not yet. Thankfully we have more time to think and pray about it!

Visit with Grandma

Grandma came up this weekend to celebrate Abigail's birthday with us. We had a fun visit. The girls were spoiled with new coloring books, reading books, and fun place mats they can color on with washable markers. Before leaving on Sunday Grandma also gave the girls Easter dresses. I'm glad Easter is just next weekend because Abigail has asked me quite a few times already if she can wear her Easter dress again.

We had a fun time just hanging out and the girls loved playing with Grandma. When it was time to go Abigail kept saying, "Grandma, you don't want to go." We are already looking forward to her next visit.

Abigail's Party!

This weekend we celebrated Abigail's birthday. It was a small family affair that started with a visit to Build a Bear. I was careful not to let Abigail in on our plans until we got there, otherwise we would not hear the end of it. Grandma Kapaldo came up for the weekend and got to experience Build a Bear for the first time.

Abigail named her new friend "Birthday Bear" and selected a birthday song sound for her bear that we've heard a few hundred times since Saturday morning.

Sarah named her new friend "Cat".

Jonathan helped Lily pick out her dog, "Patch".

After Build a Bear we went back to Nonna and Papa's for cake. About nine months ago Abigail decided she wanted a princess birthday cake. I had settled on that and decided to do something new (new for me anyway). I found directions for making marshmallow fondant (Pinterest!). It was surprisingly easy and I was happy with the result. Abigail was too.

We had a lot of fun celebrating Abigail's birthday!