Happy Third Birthday, Sarah!

Three years ago today we welcomed our little Sarah into the world.

Sarah has grown a lot in the last year.

• While she has grown in abilities she is still a little peanut. She's still able to wear 2T clothes and even fits in her winter jacket (size 18-24 months).
• She has such a fun personality. She is definitely the life of the party. She makes all of us laugh-especially Abigail.
• She loves to ask questions, in particular (1) What's that? and (2) What are you doing?
• Sarah LOVES to dance and has quite the dance moves.
• She told me the other day, "Mommy, you are my best friend."
• She has added lots of words to her vocabulary and can carry on a conversation. There are some times, however, when I cannot for the life of me understand what she is trying to say.

We celebrated Sarah's birthday at Nonna and Papa's house after apple picking. She wanted a rainbow cake so that's what I made.

Dinner time and times of celebration around my Grandparents' dining table is such a special time for us. It can get quite loud, but it's the good kind accompanied by lots of laughter.

Happy birthday to you our sweet, sweet Sarah. We thank God for blessing our lives with you! Love, Mommy and Daddy.

Visiting the Dentist

What better way could you start off your birthday weekend than with your first trip to the Dentist! On Friday I took Abigail for her third check-up and Sarah for her first one. Oh, and Lily came along too to see what all the fuss was about.

Abigail went first and she looked so confused. She must have thought we were only there for Sarah because she wasn't interested in having her teeth cleaned. Plus, she noted, "I brushed my teeth already."

I was a little worried that Sarah would get anxious because Abigail didn't seem to enjoy her experience all that much. She was cute though. At one point she said, "It's gonna be fine, Ada [what she calls Abigail]."

Then it was Sarah's turn. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from her.

Sarah did great! The light bothered her a bit, so she got to wear cool shades. She looked so comfortable-almost like she was ready to take a nap.

I was anticipating an hour of craziness, but it was a stress-free hour of a wiggly Lily, a talkative Abigail, and a calm Sarah.

Getting in the Way

A few things have prevented me from posting in a while. I'll share them with you in an effort to keep you all up to date.

Boogers
Boogers get in the way of a lot of things, namely they get in the way of sleep, feeding (in the case of Lily), and blogging. Lily has been congested the last few days leading to more time spent trying to get her to sleep and eat. Hopefully things will clear up soon!

School
While we do not set aside a huge part of our day to school we are still going strong. We are in our sixth week of school. The girls and I have covered the first five letters of the alphabet and are spending this week reviewing. I hope to share more at the end of the week.

Technical Difficulties
We had the opportunity to join other homeschooling friends to Salem's Pioneer Village last Friday. Our trip had its share of highs and lows. One of the lows included our camera malfunctioning in a way that required repairs. In the end we decided to buy a newer model, which should arrive tomorrow!

Freedom!
I've joined a weekly group at church called Redemption Groups. I'm not going to get into it here, but it is easy to see that this will be a great investment of just a few hours of my next 7 or so Monday evenings.

More to Come
We've got a lot happening in the coming weeks including apple picking, Sarah's third birthday, and a visit to Virginia to celebrate the marriage of my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law. 

Because of camera issues I don't have any recent pictures. So, how about one of Sarah from back in the "olden days" in honor of her upcoming special day?

I hope to catch up with you all soon!

Another First - But Not for Lily

Sarah had her first trip to the Emergency Room last night. It was a normal crazy night of getting the girls cleaned up for bed. This time though, I hadn't made Abigail's bed (it was laundry day), so Jonathan took care of that while I tended to Lily and Abigail. 

Sarah was quietly minding her own business on the floor in her room when Jonathan moved the bunk beds, causing the unattached ladder to fall over, right onto Sarah's little head. I didn't think it was a big deal until I saw the wound, and then it started bleeding. I thought we'd need help, so our good friends came over to get Sarah to the ER (we didn't think she'd be into holding a towel on the wound to stop the bleeding). Thankfully, though, things were stable enough for Jonathan to take her on his own.

According to Daddy, Sarah was very brave. 

She now has three staples in her head. I'm hoping it isn't too hard to keep her from wanting to touch/scratch at it for the next 10 days. We'll see!

Mealtime Shenanigans

Mealtime with the Kapaldo family can be lots of fun. Mealtime with the Kapaldo's at Nonna and Papa's house can be tons of fun! Maybe two weeks ago we were having dinner with my parents and grandparents and Abigail felt the need to stand in her chair, look to Papa, spread out her arms and say, "Papa, are you out of your mind?!" Before we knew it Sarah was saying it too. Every time one of the girls would say it everyone roared with laughter. It got quite loud in that dining room!

Last night Sarah uttered the silly phrase a few more times, and we got it on camera this time. No one says it quite like Sarah, and she probably gets the most laughs out of it.

Sarah's New Hobby

Sarah recently discovered how to dress herself. Yes sometimes she'll put her pants on backwards and sometimes I have to help her pull her shirt over her head, but for the most part she can do it by herself. Now that she's developed this new skill she's decided to do it multiple times a day.

Here's what she wore today, as recorded by my phone's camera:

Outfit 1: The Inside-Out Bathing Suit

Outfit 2: Big Sister's Jammies

Outfit 3: Lunch Attire

Outfit 4: Afternoon Casual Wear

Outfit 5: Big Sister's Dress (the dress big sister wore earlier in the day)

Outfit 6: Bedtime Jammies

It can get frustrating having to pick up discarded pieces of clothing as the day goes on, but my Mom said it best, "At least she has clothes on."

Kind of, but not Really

Today has been a laid back day so far. I decided to have a little fun with Abigail's hair and gave her pigtails since it has been a while.

So Sarah wouldn't feel left out I thought I would attempt to give her pigtails as well. The hair in the back of her hair is growing nicely. The hair on the top though? Not so much. I managed two pigtails in the back, then Abigail suggested I put one on top. So, I can kind of put Sarah's hair up, but not really.

It's funny because when I was finally able to put Abigail's hair up I had to leave her hair in the back down because it wasn't long enough. I guess Sarah just wants to be different.

Our LIttle Gymnast

The other day there was a gymnast being interviewed on TV. I got the girls attention to watch footage of the gymnast doing her floor exercise and they were pretty impressed. The next thing I know, Sarah is doing her own gymnastics. Last night I got her to perform on camera so I could share with you all:

Bedtime Routine

We've had a pretty solid, consistent bedtime routine since Abigail went to sleep on her own. Over time we've tweaked it here and there. When Abigail started sleeping in a big girl bed it became apparent that we needed to lay down some ground rules. We reminded Abigail of the rules as part of our bedtime routine. It got to the point where she was able to recite them:

1. Cup on shelf (so we wouldn't have to search for it)
   
2. Stay in bed
3. Keep your jammies on (yes, we had to make this a rule)
   
4. Go to sleep
5. We love you (not really a rule, but something fun to say after all the rules)

Over time we didn't have to remind her anymore because she was actually following the rules. Well, now that Sarah has been in her big girl bed, we've found that the rules need to come back. The big rules she's challenging are numbers 2 and 3.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Tonight I went in to check on the girls and found that Sarah broke rule #2, but was quiet enough so we weren't aware of her offense until she obeyed rule #4. I didn't find her in her bed, but soon spotted her. I was reminded of a scene from The Wizard of Oz (when Dorothy discovers that her house ended up on the Wicked Witch of the East).

Sarah got out of bed and went into the little castle tent we bought the girls recently. She fell asleep on one of their Build-a-Bear beds. So funny and cute.

Who Do You Think She Looks Like?

We've got this question a lot-whether it be about Lily or the older girls. There are times when I see each of us in her. What do you think?

Lily at one month:

Abigail at one month:
Sarah at one month:

When Abigail answers the question, she hits the nail on the head, "She looks like Lily!"

The Life of the Party

I love each of my daughters equally. I just thought I'd share a bit about Sarah. Sarah is the life of our little party. At the dinner table she is often the source of entertainment. She seems to like to get a laugh out of the whole family-especially Mommy and Abigail.

Sarah's been "dressing" herself lately. Sometimes she'll try on Build a Bear shoes (which are a tad on the small side). Other times she'll put on a hat. A few days ago she decided to be a super-hero. I have a few nursing covers which Abigail (and later Sarah) started using as capes. Here is Sarah in her get-up. She'll go around the room saying "Super Ada!" (which is Super Abigail in Sarah's language). I try to get her to say "Super Sarah!" but she insists on saying what Abigail says when she runs around with the cape.

Another day this week she was all dressed and ready for the day, but then decided to accessorize with another shirt. She came to us and did a nice pose to show off her completed outfit.

I love Sarah's facial expressions. I also love how she's randomly sings songs. Another cute thing she's been doing is changing her baby doll's diapers. She has mastered her technique and even will grab both her doll's legs with one hand like we do with Lily (ok, you have to see her do this to appreciate its cuteness). She's just an all-around cutie!

Big Girls!

Grandma and Papa K drove up to spend the weekend with us as we celebrated Sarah's second birthday. They came bearing gifts-a beautiful set of bunk beds!

Now that Sarah is two and Lily is due so soon we decided we were ready to get Sarah transitioned to a big girl bed. She was showing signs of being ready too.

Grandma and Papa did such a great job refinishing the sturdy set of beads, complete with custom-made pink bed rails and a sky blue board with pink slats (so Sarah has something pretty to look at from the bottom bunk).

The girls were so excited to see their new set up. Abigail was sure to let us know ALL DAY LONG that she was to sleep in the top bunk and Sarah's was the bottom. Also, I think their bedroom has fast become Abigail's favorite.

Thank you Grandma and Papa K for the bunk beds! And thank you Nonna for the spreads and afghans!

Sarah is Two!

I just cannot believe that Sarah is two. There is so much to love about our little Sarah. I love to see her personality continue to develop.

• I love how Sarah is so entertaining at the dinner table. Whether she starts singing a tune, or makes faces to get us to laugh, she has me smiling or laughing at every dinner.
• I love how she finishes a lot of her sentences with the name of the person she is addressing. Like "tank yoo, Dada" or "your turn, Ada" (Ada is how she says Abigail).
• I love how she loves to dance with her dolls and her Daddy. Both of the girls have taken to dancing with Jonathan when our Friday night movie ends and the end credits play with fun music. If you catch her dancing, you should tell her to shake her tail feather-it is so cute!
• I also love how she tries to sing along with people and even sings on her own. I caught her the other day with her Little People playset. She set up the prince and princess at their table, complete with a plastic candelabra. She sang a short version of "Happy Birthday" and blew the candle out.
• I love how she gets so excited about the big and little things. When we went to look at pumpkins while apple picking she raised both of her hands and jumped up and down because she was just so excited. She also gets excited when she sees some of her favorite people and runs to them for a good hug. This is pretty remarkable because she used to be terribly shy.

These are just a few things that we love about our sweet little two year old. Happy Birthday Sarah! We look forward to seeing what the future holds for you!

Here are a few pictures from Sarah's birthday celebration.

We made a Care Bear cake (though, Abigail will tell you she made it):

Here's Sarah talking to Papa M on the phone:

Cake and presents!

The Aquarium!

We went to the aquarium for a special family outing today. The last time we went was two years ago. Sarah tagged along, but this time she actually got to see the fish (since the last time she was a month shy of her due date ;-)

I tried to make our experience sort of like a field trip, so I made each of the girls an "Aquarium Scavenger Hunt" book. I picked 10 animals I knew the girls would see, jotted a few basic facts about them, and then had a check box for them to mark when we saw each one.

The girls had a blast. It was so fun to see them point and get excited with each new fish they saw. It was also cool because we happened to be there during feeding time for the giant main tank. The girls got to see a diver swim with the fish to feed them. They also got to see the giant sea turtle eat at the tank's surface.