Let the countdown begin....

Omar and I celebrate our 10 year anniversary next spring, and in honor of that, we are going on the first vacation we have taken ALONE since our honeymoon.  I can't even begin to express how incredibly excited we are.  I cannot WAIT to be here, dipping my toes in that beautiful water:

Seriously counting down the days, this can't get here fast enough!

A huge THANK YOU to our wonderful family for offering to help take care of the girls so we can go on this amazing trip.  I may just sleep the entire time we are there!

Beach Bonanza 2014

Two years ago we rented a beach house with a bunch of our college friends and had such a blast we decided to do it again!

We joined five other families, for a total of 12 adults and 11 kids, 6yo and under in a single house. Yes, we brought plenty of adult beverages.  ;)

Watermelon mimosas? Yes please!

The weather was absolutely perfect and we had a blast. This just reaffirmed that both of my girls are complete water babies.

water baby

Helluva engineers

Baby engineers   =)

 We had a great time with all our friends and their kids. It is so much fun to watch all our kids become friends and have a great time playing together!

Jess and baby Caleb

Baby Lola

 The trip was another huge success, filled with days on the beach building sandcastles, playing in the waves, and even learning how to boogie board (EJ loves it!).  By the end we were all worn out.  =)

Nora P - 1 year old!

As her daddy said, "She looks like a little desert cake"

I can't believe it, but our baby is ONE. My how time flies (that seems to be a recurring theme in my blog, but it is SO TRUE).  This past year has flown by and yet been the best year yet. She has been a joy to parent and has completed our family in a way I didn't know was possible until she was here.  She is a sweet, chill, tough little girl who is quickly developing some strong opinions and starting to show hints of being a drama queen.  She is fast with a smile and loves to explore; she is more of a cuddler than her sister was and seems to have the same adventurous streak (lord help us). Mostly, she is growing up way too fast and quickly becoming more of a toddler and less of a baby, which in a way breaks my heart and in other ways brings even more joy.

Of course we celebrated the Big Day with a party, made up of just our family so we could focus entirely on the Birthday Girl.  It was a huge success.  =)

We got her amazing cakes from Cakes By Darcy - so cute!

The Birthday Girl was the hit of the party and had a blast with all of her family who traveled from far and near to celebrate with her. 

Cousin Ingrid had some words of wisdom
for the newest 1-year-old in the family

The Birthday Girl wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, but once we got her situated in her special seat and introduced her to her special treat (aka cake) she seemed to figure it out fast enough. 

Big Sis was happy to show her the amazingness of cake

EJ was such a great sport about it being Nora's big day

 Happy happy birthday, sweet girl. You are a delight, you make every day so much more fun and magical. We love your sweet spirit and beautiful smile. You have brought us such joy, and we can't wait to see what the future holds and the amazing child you are becoming.  We love you, to the moon and back.

ONE YEAR STATS

22lb 7oz (68th%)

30.75" (90th%)

18.9" head circ (98th%)

FIRSTS

- she started walking a few days after her 11th month

- she knows several signs now, her favorites of which are fan and light and she will happily point out every single fan and light (and do the sign for it) in every single room you walk into. Multiple times.

- she had her first sugar (in the form of her birthday cake) and seems to be a fan

Sweet girls growing up too fast.

A Gentle Reminder