Friday, December 21, 2012

Letters to Rini - 28 Months

Occasionally I will post letters that I have written to my daughter Rini. Usually they are a summary of the current things she is saying and doing and my thoughts about that particular stage of her development.

Dear Rini,

It has been a loooong time since I've done one of these letters. Life has a way of getting busy and Mama forgets to document things. I'll try to do better from now on! 

What can I say about 28 months? It is HARD, man. Really hard. You are very strong willed and very determined to do things your way. You don't have full on tantrums very regularly but when you do it is EPIC. A few weeks ago you had the mother of all tantrums in Walmart, while Mama was alone with you (of course!) You had woken up from a short car nap and you were not happy about it. You screamed pretty much from the time we walked in the store until the time we got home. There was kicking and crying and climbing out of the cart. I had to start laughing before I totally lost my mind and had a breakdown. I'm pretty sure the people in the parking lot thought I was trying to kidnap you. And trying to buckle you in the carseat?  It was like a WWE match. You did not want to sit back and let me strap you in. Let's just say I'm glad these tantrums are pretty few and far between because I might be selling you on the black market if they were an every day occurrence. 

It's not all bad though, not by a long shot. You have a new found love of singing and I know I'm biased but it is pretty much the most adorable thing I have ever heard. You are learning new songs everyday and will come up with your own little toddler rendition. Your favorites are The ABCs, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "You are My Sunshine" and my personal favorite "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley. We have been playing reggae for you since before you were born and it looks like the brainwashing has finally worked!

Dora the Explorer has become a full on obsession. You love watching Dora and Boots on all their adventures and have been picking up a ton of Spanish words. You can even count to six in Spanish (and 14 in English!) Pretend play is another one of your new found loves. You love to "cook", have tea parties, take care of your baby and boss your stuffed animals around. 

As always I feel blessed to be able to spend each day with you. Some days are easy and some days are hard but it is always so worth it. It is amazing to me how quickly you have become your own little person with very strong opinions, feelings, likes and dislikes. I look forward to all the days to come. Life with you is never boring, Catarina Maeve. I love you to the moon and back!

Love,

Mama

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Family Pictures: Fall 2012

It took almost 28 months but we finally had our family pictures taken by a professional photographer. I found Monie of Howson Wright Photography through a friend and she has been so great to work with. To say I am over the moon in love with the end result would be a severe understatment. Monie was able to capture who we are as a family even with our less than cooperative toddler. If you are in the RI/MA area I can not recommend her enough.










I'm so excited to order prints and a canvas or two to display in our house. Now I just need to narrow it down and decided which ones!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Catarina Maeve Turns TWO!

I know it is cliche and all parents say it, but where did the time go? Wasn't it just yesterday that I brought my tiny 6lb 7oz infant home from the hospital? Now she is a full blown, walking, talking little PERSON. Craziness, I tell you, craziness!


For her birthday we decided to go with a Butterfly and Flowers theme since they are both things she likes and it was easy to find items for decor. I did some digging on Etsy and found a gorgeous invitation from Belle Announcements. Liv was great to work with and I'm so happy with the way they turned out!


I wanted to keep things simple with the menu this year so I made almost everything the night before with my awesome sister-in-law. The day of the party we just had to assemble the sandwiches and finish decorating the cake. 

The Menu

Turkey and Italian Sandwiches on Ciabatta Bread
Homemade Potato Salad
Asian Style Coleslaw
Green Chile Cheesecake with Tortilla Chips
A Fruit Platter with Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
Butter Cake with Buttercream Frosting

I also kept the decorations simple. I made a few banners to hang throughout the house and I displayed monthly pictures from Rini's 2nd year in our sunroom. I grabbed some coordinating fabric from the clearance section at Wal-mart and made a runner for the food table and the gift table. A photo from each month of her second year was hung on bandanna banners behind the present table. 

The Food Table 




Yellow Cake with Buttercream Frosting and Chocolate Chips


DIY Bandanna Banners with Monthly Photos hanging above the gift table


Mommy and the Birthday Girl


The Best Family Photo of the day. Toddlers hate pictures!



Opening your presents in a diaper is entirely appropriate at 2