Dear Paige,

You and I have been counting down to this day for quite some time!  But now that it is finally here, I can't help but feel a deep sadness inside of me as I say goodbye to your first phase of life here with us... 

I remember when we took you to the beach with us when you were just 6 weeks old, and how cute you looked in your little swimsuit and hat!  You were such an easy going infant - so content and happy just about all of the time!  You were a dream first baby.

And then when we had our adventure in Colorado you were our little buddy and we did everything together! That's where you learned how to crawl...

And where you had your first Halloween!  You were just about the cutest little flower that anyone ever did see.

You were constantly giving lovies to Daddy, just like you still do!

Then we moved to our little rental house in Mesa just a few weeks before your first birthday.  I remember you walked for the first time that night after everyone went home from your party -we were so excited!  And when I put you to sleep you laid down with your eyes closed but you had the biggest smile on your sleepy face.  You had a great 1st birthday for sure!  Loved by so many!

You were such a sweet and hilarious little one year old - always making us laugh!

Of course we couldn't forget your balloon obsessive phase - you LOVED balloons and would squeal every time you saw one!

You were convinced that Mr. Scarecrow was your best friend and insisted on giving him a big hug and kiss everyday that he stood watch by our door.

And we insisted on dressing you up as a chubby little chicken for Halloween that year...

 Daddy and I will never forget the day we took you to the little carnival.  You were so curious and adorable in your little boots.  You loved everything we did that day.  That will always be one of my favorite days with you.

Then you turned 2!  And you spent the whole year in the world of dress up - and there has been no stopping you since!

When you were 2 you became the best big sister this world has ever known.  You loved Calvin the moment you saw him and you two are still the best of friends (with a few interruptions of sibling battles).

 Then when you turned 3 you had your first haircut (finally, it took some time to get it growing!)!

And on your first day of swim class you did... not so great.  But you LOVED it by the end and were swimming like a champ!  You are such a great swimmer.

 You continued to be our little silly goose with the bright blue eyes and curly golden hair.

 And you would always come up with funny little poses every time we tried to get a picture of you - such a ham!

You wrote your name for the very first time and I remember being so shocked and so proud of you!  I had no idea you could do it!  You have always surprised me with what you are capable of!

When you turned 4, Daddy and I took you on a date out to dinner and you chose to ride the carousel all together afterwards.  It was so much fun to be with you that night!

Once you were 4 you started to become your own little women and began making friends anywhere you could! And you are so good at it - you are such a sweet loving girl to your friends and they love you so much!

You became a big sister again and I will never forget the howl you gave out when we called you from the hospital to tell you the news that the baby we were told was going to be your little sister came out to surprise us as a little brother!  You were so upset!  But once you got to the hospital to hold little Jack you have been his second mommy ever since and he lights up every time he sees you.

You got to go to Disneyland for the first time in your life and I have NEVER seen you SO HAPPY!  You got to stay out late with me and Daddy and went on all the big rides - you were so brave!  I will always remember you grabbing my hand as the ride was about to take off and telling me that it would be okay because you would hold my hand the whole time, and you did!  So glad to have my little buddy!

 Then before we knew it you were turning 5, graduating from preschool, and having the summer fly right by us, full of swimming and fun!

And now here I am, blubbering as I set our your uniform and your cute little panda backpack that you chose all by yourself for your first day of school.

 And as I give you one last kiss as you sleep this night, clutching your pink bunny, I can't help but be flooded with all those memories and how sad it is to say goodbye to my little girl... 

My sweetheart, I know you are going to love this whole new world of learning that lies ahead of you!  You have always had such a desire to learn!  You radiate with joy and happiness and people can't help but love you and that will make meeting new friends so much fun  There will be hard days, and there will be sad days, but never forget how much me, Daddy, Calvin and Jack love you and that we are always ALWAYS here for you.  I can't wait to hear all the stories you will have to tell us when we pick you up each day, and to get to see you blossom even more into the grown up girl that you are all too soon becoming.  I love you my little Paigey-pie.  Sleep tight sugar, and I will see you and your whole new world tomorrow.  All my love to you sweet girl,

Mommy

Cal's Big Day

Well, it finally came...

Calvin had his first day of preschool today and LOVED IT!!!  He was so cute and grown-up and I just wanted to squeeze him to death all the way to the door (happy squeeze that is).  He walked right in and whipped out his folder to show Miss Alli his papers and tell her all about them, kinda stinkin cute to see him as a little student.  They got to bring a bag of a few things to tell the class about themselves.  His included: fruit snacks (his favorite treat), Curious George Visits the Chocolate Factory (his favorite book), baby mickey (his favorite toy) and his angry bird (because my mom just got it for him and whenever anything is new it is automatically inseperable).  This cute kid was on cloud 9 for the rest of the day.  Don't you worry little one, you've got a whole lifetime ahead of you of school days - whopeeeeee!!! 



ps - Pete is currently downstairs demonstrating to Tigger (our newfound cat) how to scratch on the new pad we got him.  hahahahaha.  classic.

Week in Review

Having a girl first in the family means that we always do a lot of girly things.  You know, like play with princesses, dressing-up, painting nails, etc.  So it's been a little tough trying to be a man around here.  Thus, on Wednesday, after Calvin asked me for the millionth time for boy makeup, we decided to focus on how cool being a BOY is and did boy things all day.  We all piled in Calvin's room, put on some ties, and built rockets with K'nex.  Too bad the most popular K'nex item turned out to be fresh flowers, ha!! We're working on it...

Cousin Tate turned 8 this week!  So we had a big ol' Bluth swim party shin-dig, naturally.

 And this picture show perfectly our boys' attitude towards food.  Calvin couldn't give two whoops about it and would rather pick his nose, while Jack screams at the top of his lungs at the sight of anything edible until something gets in his mouth.  Lovely.

 We made a trip to Lowe's for some touch up paint to fix up all our dinged walls (mostly from thrown toys).  It was an adventure having all three ride in this monster truck.  No worries, it didn't last long. 

Pete's brother Kevin and his wife Aubrey just moved to the valley and had us over for some family fun times!  And they even busted out the old school Nintendo!!!  So many flashbacks of my youth flooded my mind:  watching my brothers play Zelda for HOURS, learning every secret passage of every single level of all the Mario's until our eyes burned, harmonizing with my sisters the music of Dr. Mario while we played (embarrassingly enough, but yes, I'll admit that), and on and on and on.  Oh the good times we had with you Mr. Nintendo!

And yes, another attempt at adding a pet to our family is underway.  And yes, it is a cat.  And no judging allowed.  He is this cute ol' orange chubbers named Tigger who lost his home and needed a family!!  How could I not?!?!  And on top of that, he is totally house trained, is used to kids, has all of his supplies, and practically looked me in the eyes and said, "Amy, you and your children need me in your lives."  And who am I to argue with that?!?  More pics to come.



The Pete Factor

The other night I thought Pete said to me, "You know what I really feel like watching???  Football!"

I was totally taken back.  Like thinking, 'What is he talking about?  Football??  Why would he want to watch football?  That is sooooo odd for him to say that.  We never watch football!' 

So I asked, "What did you say?"

"That I'm really in the mood to watch 'Pocahontas'!" 

Oh phew!  That's much more in character!  I was beginning to worry there...

The Trade-Off

This past weekend it was our turn to take Chel and Shane's kiddo Gus so that they could have their turn for a 24 hour date extravaganza.  Here's some highlights from Gussy's 24 hours in Forbis-land...

I decided to take them over to the splash pad for a bit.  Great fun was had by all. 

It was about this time last year that I was hugely pregnant with Jack and I would think to myself, "I'm just gonna take my big-ol' prego booty and sit RIGHT in the middle of all these kids and soak up this splash pad goodness for myself!"  We are all relieved that I never stooped that low.  But I am not too proud to admit that I still think about it every time I go...

 And what kind of Auntie would I be if I didn't take the kiddos for dipped cones afterwards???

Gus in mid demolition



Calvin scrutinizing the wonderment of dipped-cone-ness. 

Don't try to figure it out my child, just go with it...

Paige experiencing the pure magic that dipped cones have been known to cause

And Jack with his sneaky little smile in realizing that he has conned me out of yet another treat.

And only Gus could conjure up an outfit of this caliber in a matter of minutes. 

I see your time in California has served you well little laddy.  They're so ahead of the trends over there.



All in all we had a good time.  Three kids for the price of one?!?! 

Yah, I'm pretty sure we scored on this one.  Thanks for showin' us a good time Mr. Gustifer!