4th birthday party fun

For Hannah's 4th birthday this year she wanted a rainbow and unicorn themed party at a park. Fortunately for us Rohnert Park has over 10 parks and one of them is actually named "Rainbow Park". What we love about Rainbow park is it's secluded location, many people don't know of it's location so it's never crowded. Thankfully the weather held out for her party, with just a few light sprinkles earlier in the morning. We enjoyed lunch, games and cupcakes with family and friends. Hannah was beaming from ear to ear the entire time.  :)

Rainbow Park

favors

Per Hannah's request her dad and I created a tattoo parlor for the party and it was a big hit.  :)

Paloma waiting patiently for her tattoo

although it they were time consuming the look on Hannah's face when she saw her cupcakes was so worth it

what her cupcakes looked like from the inside

Jordyn with Nonni and Grandma

ready for a cupcake

attempting to light the candles (despite the wind)

being sung to  :)

enjoying her cupcake with her cousin

with grandma and papa

Hannah's favorite...the parachute!!

birthday girl in the middle

with her Nonni and Nonne

with her BFF Kenzie (5 days apart in age)

can't believe their both 4

Bike Riding

We were surprised and excited  with how quickly Hannah learned to ride a bike on her 4th birthday at the beginning of this month. Our intentions with starting her on a balance bike (last year) were that she'd skip over the whole "training wheel thing" and be able to ride a 2 wheel bike with (hopefully) little difficulty. The ease in her transition from balance bike to a 2 wheel pedal bike was flawless. Hannah is a pretty tentative girl, typically cautious when trying new things and always wanting to assess the situation first. :) She was so excited to receive a new bike for her 4th birthday; so of course we took her out to try it for the first time that evening. We purposely got her a bike that had the same tire size as her balance bike, hoping it would make it easier for her to manage on her own.  Josh gave her a few tips and then started her off (holding on to the back of the seat per her request). He'd occasionally let go showing her that she could do it by herself, however she'd insist he continue to hold on. Finally after 3 minutes of this he let go, but walked behind her as if he was still holding on. She didn't realize and continued to pedal with ease. He pointed out to her once again that she had just done it on her own, so at that point (after just a few minutes of instruction/guidance) she decided she could do it and began riding around the court as if she'd been doing it for weeks. Looking back we realize we could have probably made this transition months ago and she'll outgrow this bike in a very short time (she basically has already!). We couldn't be more proud of our big four year old!!!

Fabulous Four!

Today is Hannah's "Golden Birthday." She turned 4 on the 4th of April (4/4) and it also happens to be the year 2013...1+3=4.  :)   Josh and I had so much fun making this day special for our sweet girl. After she fell asleep last night we snuck in her room and decorated it with balloons, streamers and golden stars hanging from the ceiling. She was so surprised and excited when she woke up...it was too cute! Jordyn of course loved the decorations as well!!

 

Before we headed out the door we let her open her first birthday gift from mom and dad (new books, a little mermaid kickboard, a new dress and some art projects). With each gift she pulled out of the bag she let out a little gasp of excitement...so precious :)

 

 On our way to daycare we made a surprise stop at the doughnut shop. Like her mama, she loves doughnuts so she was thrilled (first time this has happened on a weekday).

Right after school I headed to pick her up and take her for a surprise pedi/mani. For about a year now she's been asking to go with me, she was just about speechless when I told her where we were going. From that point on she had a permanent smile on her face. She looked like such a big girl sitting next to me...it's crazy to think she's already 4 years old...I'm wanting to hit the "slow motion" button...I'm not ready for my little girl to grow up.

 She received her second birthday gift from mom and dad once we were all home. Her first 2-wheel bike with pedals (she's used a balance bike for the past year). She's a cautious girl, so Josh and I didn't have high expectations for her first time out on her new bike, however she shocked us by learning to ride her new bike within just a few minutes. We couldn't believe how quickly she started cruising down the block, made a turn and came right back to us. She made it look so effortless! (I strongly believe her riding a balance bike first and skipping the whole training wheels thing, played a major part in this.)

Tonight Hannah enjoyed one of her favorite meals for dinner...trip tip, mashed potatoes and corn-on-the-cob. She loved her special request birthday cake (funfetti with purple frosting, sprinkles and zebra print candles).  

She ended her evening with a final gift from mom and dad...her new "as seen on TV" light up pillow. She's been wanting one since she first saw an infomercial last November. She just kept saying, "thank you mom and dad! thank you so much!" over and over as she hugged her new pillow. :) Seeing that smile on her face as she lie in bed was the perfect way to end my day!

Happy Birthday Hannah Nicole Heald!. Mommy and Daddy love you to the moon and back times infinity!!! You have the most beautiful smile, hilarious sense of humor, and kind heart. You are a loving and patient big sister and amazing daughter. We are so proud of you! xoxo

January

Well here I am already into March with no posts about January or February. My attempt in this post is to summarize January the best I can considering it was two months ago...here we go! :)

January kicked off with ringing in the New Year in Fortuna at Sarah and Pat's wedding. The had a beautiful ceremony at the Catholic church in Ferndale, followed by a fun reception at the River Lodge.  Hannah was mesmerized by Sarah in her wedding dress. At the reception she loved being on the dance floor (no surprise!) and especially had fun dancing with daddy. We kept her up as much past her bed time as we could (10:00 pm) and then my parents took her for the rest of the night (thanks mom and dad!), so that we could stay and ring in the New Year with Nicole, Shaun and friends.

Hannah doing one of her silly smiles

I love watching the two of them together

watching the mother/son dance

So happy to ring in the New Year with two of our favorite people

staying warm by the fire outside

With the beautiful bride Sarah (friends since preschool!)

After returning home from Fortuna we still had a week of Christmas break left. We enjoyed relaxing at home, doing art projects, enjoying some beautiful weather outside and of course Hannah had a blast playing in her new room with all her Christmas gifts.

Loves her new light up Hello Kitty tooth brush

vacuuming her room like a big girl

playing disc golf with mom and dad

reading stories to dad

We headed back up to Fortuna  the second weekend of January for a baby shower that I threw for my sis. It was held at the Scotia Inn (where she and Shaun got married). I'm bummed I didn't take more pictures. Being the hostess I got a little distracted, however I made sure one of her friends got lots of shots. We enjoyed a delicious brunch, gave Nicole some helpful (and entertaining) mothering advice and enjoyed watching her open all her gifts (my favorite part!!) I am so excited for my niece (Lilly Claire) to arrive. I'm really hoping it will be before I travel up to see my family on the 17th. (fingers crossed!!!)

My sis as a baby (so cute!!) Even though the calla lilies didn't bloom in time for the shower, they still looked beautiful and bloomed the next day for Nicole and Shaun to enjoy at home

centerpieces were precious outfits for Lilly (this one from my mom)

party favors...Personalized suckers by Polly Lops

Big Girl Bed

For a few months leading up to Christmas Hannah had been asking about getting a big girl bed. Most of her friends had transitioned out of their cribs and had told her about it. We decided that we wanted to time her getting a new bed with Christmas (making it a gift from Santa) and having her switch rooms in December also gave her plenty of time to get used to it before her sister arrived. On her Christmas list she of course asked Santa for a big girl bed, along with a pink vacuum. :) Because decided to have her move bedrooms, we were able to set up her new room the week before Christmas without her knowing about it.  Hannah had been saying forever that she waned a pink room with pink everything. Josh and I knew we couldn't handle an over the top pink room, however pink with accents of greens (her other favorite color), yellows, etc...we felt would be perfect. We decided to get her a day bed with a trundle. I loved having one of these growing up because they don't take up as much room as a full or queen size bed and whenever I had a friend come over I was able to pull out the trundle for them to sleep on. She will also fit into this bed for a long time. :) I had a lot of fun shopping for bedding and accessories for her new room. It was fun yet challenging searching for things that were both cute and inexpensive. One of my favorite buys was her pink flower light from Ikea that we placed on the wall above her bed as a reading light.

Christmas morning we put a big bow on the door to her new room. She didn't pay much attention to it when she first walked past because she was looking at gifts under the Christmas tree. However after checking out her new vacuum and then insisting on putting it in the hall closet with our big vacuum, she noticed it yet again and this time asked about it.  We asked her if she thought Santa gave her a door, she replied no, but suggested there might be something for her behind the door. Upon opening her new bedroom door, she just stood there, completely still for a minute, taking it all in. She then turned to us and asked if this was her big girl bed. When we said yes, she could barely contain her excitement. :) She quickly went into her room and asked if she could sit on it. Once on her bed she started wiggling around with excitement and then asked to get under the covers. She then proceeded to tell Josh and I that she was sleepy and that we should head back to our room and go back to sleep and that she was going to sleep in her bed. :)  It was too cute!

She loves sitting and reading in her little yellow  leather chair

Josh decided to make Hannah a toy box for her new room. He spent a couple days working on it and it turned out great (plus it holds a ton of toys!) Hannah absolutely loves it and I love that she has something her dad made for her. After he finished making Hannah's he started brainstorming about the style of toy box that he'll make for Jordyn  someday. :)



To the right of her door is her vanity, baby doll crib and dresser drawers



It is so much fun to see how much Hannah loves her new bedroom. She wants to be in there all the time! She loves playing on her new bed, setting up tea parties for mom & dad and takes pride in vacuuming her room to keep it clean.  Have I mentioned how awesome it is that we got her a vacuum that actually vacuums!?! I didn't want her to have just a toy one because I wanted her to see the results of her hard work, and let's face it she's saving us some vacuuming time. :)

busily cleaning her bedroom

I was surprised at how easily she transitioned into her new bed. Our biggest struggle was getting her to stop reading before bed. After switching to her new room we continued our nightly routine of bath & then books, however once she moved to her new bed  she wanted to continue reading books on her own after we were done. We love that she loves to read, however we'd look at the video monitor an hour later and she'd still be awake reading to herself. :) After a couple weeks of this we made up a new rule of 10 minutes of reading, then lights out. She's ok with this as long as we tickle her back for a minute before leaving the room.  :)

our sleeping beauty