For months, Claire has been telling anyone who would listen (grocery store clerks, her doctor, grandpa's poker buddies) that when she turned three, she was going to start ballet. Well the anticipation finally came to an end since Claire had her first official ballet class this morning. We've always taken her to a variety of activities but now that she's three, activities suddenly go from parent/child participation to Claire riding solo. It's a totally bizarre concept for me but she took it in stride. As soon as her ballet teacher introduced herself, Claire follow suite and lined up with the other little ballerinas and flashed me a confident thumbs up before walking into the studio. Parents wait in the hallway while class is being held but before the doors were closed, I watched her raise her hand when the teacher called her name and got one more cool-as-a-cucumber-thumbs-up shot my way. She told me that her favorite part was "dancing" and doing "tip-toes". To top it all off, she gets to be in the Spring recital. Get ready for that cuteness.

I didn't get any shots of class since the doors were closed but luckily I took some "first day of class" pics before we went in.

For Valentines Day, Kyle printed out my blog posts from the beginning of my blog until Holden's birth, dubbing it "Sparkles to Spare, The First Years". Not only was it an amazing gift (I didn't even realize this could be done!) but it was also an excellent reminder of why I blog and why I need to start doing more of it again.

With this in mind, I remembered that I had taken quite a few pictures on the snow day that we had several weeks ago and realized that if I didn't put them here, I likely wouldn't do anything with them...and that would obviously be a shame. So here it goes.

This year, we had one day of significant snow. Luckily, our snow day happened on a Saturday evening when we were already holed up at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the weekend. Not only do they have way more room to roam but they also tend to get a lot more snow than we do so it turned out to be perfect timing. Aunt Jin was visiting when it began to fall and by the time we realized that this was some legit snow, it was too late for her to get her little car up the hill to her parent's house. This was fine by us though since it turned into a old school slumber party at my parents house.

We started out just enjoying the snow as it fell (and eating it of course) and when it had accumulated a bit, we went back outside for some nighttime frolicking (the only time I frolic is when it snows). We had a great time that included snowball fights, a snow ramp, an igloo and lots of hot chocolate. The snow day has solidified a theory that I've been developing over months of observing that my daughter prefers to be naked (even in the winter months) and refuses to sleep with any blankets. I think I've discovered a redhead genetic mutation that makes her run hot all the time...or not feel cold. Another reason why readheads will eventually take over (she recently told me "I want to take over everyday."...believe her.

I have no idea what this face is but I like it. 

The little guy was obviously too little of a guy to participate but he sure looked cute in his snow suit. Unfortunately it was too bright for him to open his eyes so I don't think the actually saw any snow.

Holden wasn't big on the snowball fight this year but he was all about a sink bath that day.

Since we weren't home during the snow day and missed the neighborhood fun, our neighbors left us a little (big) surprise.

Claire wasn't so sure about it. First she gave it a good kick.

Then she stared it down.

And when that didn't have the effect she was hoping for, she went for her standby...the curtsey.

Here's hoping we get another great snow day next year.

We have weathered the storm of having a newborn. Our sweet little guy is two months old and in my book, that's no longer newborn. I'll be the first to admit that our "newborn storm" was a bit stormier than most. We had a scary birth, I had a slower than anticipated recovery, our little guy spent several nights in the hospital with RSV, and subsequently we had to quarantine ourselves against cold/flu season until baby boy was 2 months old and had built up a little more resilience. Oh yeah, and our dog has cancer. Seriously, a tough season for our family.

That said, we are cruising along. I suspect that our resilience is based on the that fact that anything seems doable when you are faced with extra scary possibilities early on. Plus we are head over heals in love with our sweet boy. Through all of the tough stuff, he puts a smile on our faces with his big bright eyes and goofy grin. He's seriously the nicest baby ever. That's really the only way I can describe his little spirit. He's nice. It's a totally lame descriptor (as opposed to a mean baby?) but it's completely true. He loves to be held and cuddled but doesn't fight it when I lay him down. He adores his sister and doesn't protest in the least when she gives him her extra special hugs and kisses (think Elmyra from Looney Tunes). He wakes up a lot still (every two hours for the first 8 weeks-now we get a 4 hour stretch and then a 3) but when he wakes up, he almost never cries and just makes little noises, which I interpret as a baby's version of saying "Excuse me, I hate to wake you but I could really use some milk." When I get up and peek into his crib, all I see is two giant dark eyes staring up at me and I feel a little ache of love that I never knew existed before babies. When his eyes land on mine, 3 out of 4 times, he cracks a sweet little smile and I wonder how there was ever a time that we didn't have him. Like I said, nice.

So, two months. We are out of full-blown quarantine and we are finally able let the rest of the world meet our special boy. One by one, he's been meeting friends and family and I've discovered that not only is he a total charmer, he's also a bit of a flirt...and it doesn't hurt that he might be one of the most handsome boys in the history of boys.

One of the highlights of ending our quarantine was our Sunday at Grandma Susie and Papa's house. The girls were ridiculously excited to see each other and were more than happy to pose for some pictures. Jack was a little less enthusiastic about pictures but just as adorable.

I love that the girls are holding hands in this one.

Yes, they are posing on an Oly Beer crate...that's how we roll.

Like I said, they missed each other.

One of my new favorite pictures...

Then the girls did some egg gathering. Have to earn your keep at Grandma Susie's farm!

During my pregnancy with Holden, Claire, without hesitation welcomed the idea of having her own baby. She would snuggle my belly and talk about the things she would do with her brother once he was "out of mom's belly". She's a ridiculously loving child so I was fairly confident that she would embrace having a new baby in the house but the concept of a belly baby versus a actually-here-and-taking-a-whole-lot-of-attention baby is pretty tough for a sub three year old to grasp. But she stuck to her guns during my pregnancy and her baby enthusiasm never wavered.

Then came the introduction. Without missing a beat, my sweet girl ran through the door, saw her baby brother and lit up. One of the most important moments of all of our lives. Our family complete. She eagerly climbed onto the bed next to me and got her first look. Then, we all watched her fall in love. Pure happiness, with the signature dimples to prove it. She wanted to see his feet and gave them a soft tickle...which she thought was hilarious. Then she listed all of the things that she was going to do with him, which included taking him to swimming lessons.

Since bringing him home, her love and adoration for him has only grown. She tells people "look at him" "you have to wash your hands to hold him" "isn't he cute". He's basically the best gift she ever could've gotten. Before we decided that we were ready for baby #2, I remember telling one of my mom-friends that I had anxieties about having another child and not being able to give as much of myself to two kids as I was able to give to one. This wise mama told me that what I was forgetting, was that my girl would become a sister. Now I understand what that means.

Thank you to my dear friend, Nicole, for taking these.