"I can't find my hair!"

Today, I was at the store with the girls, and as I was putting the groceries in the trunk of the car, I noticed that a piece of Annabelle's hair had come out of her french braid. I said to her, "Uh oh. Some of your hair came out." She looked at me, then put her hand up to head as if to try and find where on her head it had fallen out, then looked at the ground and started bawling. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "My hair fell out and I can't find it". I started laughing and explained to her that all of her hair was still on her head and that only a little piece had come out of the braid. Sometimes I forget that she's only three and doesn't think quite like an adult yet. Plus, I had no idea that she would get so upset about losing a little hair.

A new toy!

One of the things that first attracted Michael to me was the fact that I grew up in a home with a ping pong table. He grew up playing intense and competitive ping pong and as a result is extremely good. Once we got engaged, there was no question in either of our minds that we would be acquiring a ping pong table at some point after our marriage. Now here we are, 5 years later, finally making that purchase. We are the proud owners of a Killerspin ping pong table. It's too bad we waited until the last few months of winter to get it. We've been stuck inside the house due to the long, cold winter since October and cabin fever has been going on around the house for several months now. Playing ping pong at night would have been a good way to be active and have something to do. We set the table up in the basement and Michael spent quite a bit of time down there, reorganizing the stuff we keep stored down there, as well as trying to get as much of the dust and dirt off the floor as possible. He also put up a fluorescent light for proper lighting at night. Annabelle has had a blast trying to play and is always demanding that she "do it myself". And here's Annabelle showing some love for her sister.

Running

We've had a few sunny days lately and I decided to take advantage of them and of the free double jogging stroller I got. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the run. It was very cold and extremely windy. I needed both hands to push the stroller, which by the way added over 40 extra pounds, and not being able to swing my arms when running made things a little difficult and extra tiring, not to mention the fact that the stroller kept veering to the left big time because that's the side Annabelle was sitting on and she's like 4 times heavier than Jillian. However, I am glad that I actually went out and ran. Jillian slept the whole time, snuggled between 5 blankets. I went in the morning, thank goodness, because by the afternoon, it was snowing, with the wind blowing it everywhere.

Spring, Spring, Spring

Although it's still cold outside, the sun was shining this morning and we've reached March, so I decided to dress the girls in some cute spring dresses for church. They both looked so cute, I had to get some pictures. But before you go scrolling through the rest of this entry looking at the photos, take a look at these two pictures of Annabelle and Jillian side by side wearing the same dress and tell me if you can tell who is who (and don't cheat by looking at pictures of Jillian from this entry to see the difference).

A major cut

After I wrote the last entry, I was looking at the pictures of Annabelle and thought that her hair might be looking a little bit unkempt. I decided it was time to cut her beloved hair. I have really enjoyed coming up with new, cool do's that can only be done on long hair and also think her hair color is so gorgeous. For those very reasons, I have put off giving her a hair cut. Since her birth, I have only given Annabelle two very minor hair cuts. One was to trim her bangs before they grew out and the other was to make the back of her hair even. On both of those occasions, I cut off no more than 1/2 inch total. So this was to be her first real haircut.
Now I'm no hair stylist and Annabelle's hair is definitely not perfect. But overall I'm satisfied with the outcome. I probably cut off about 4 inches. Her hair already looks fuller and she even looks a little older to me now that I've gotten rid of a lot of her baby hair. I'm going to have to start talking to my mom (who cut all 6 of her kids hair as we grew up) to get tips for next time.

Before: After: Annabelle didn't seem to mind seeing tons of her hair all over the floor.

Time really flies

I have a theory about time. It gets faster as you get older. Or perhaps what happens is as you get older, you begin to appreciate life a little more. But then, you have kids and you start tracking time by them and realize how fast they are growing up. That's when time seems to be flying past at an alarmingly past pace. You start thinking about how they're beginning to not need you for everything anymore (which could actually be a good thing sometimes), and pretty soon, they won't need you for anything (other than the obvious needs, such as shelter, food, etc). For example, last week Annabelle turned 3 years old and now everything is "I do it, I do it!" and Jillian was born 5 weeks ago today. How in the world has that much time passed since Annabelle was born and since I was complaining to Michael about how I was so big with Jillian that I couldn't sleep? And yet, here it is March already. Jillian is looking much more like a baby and less like a newborn. She is so calm. She loves to be held and just look around at everything and everyone. Annabelle is still being a great big sister, no signs of jealously yet. She loves to hold her (although as you can see in the picture, Jillian doesn't always like the way Annabelle is holding her) and is constantly saying that Jillian is beautiful and how much she loves her sister. I started teaching piano again this week. I'm excited to see my students and so far, they seem to enjoy being back at their lessons. I also have plans to begin a running regime as well once the weather gets better. I have a double jogging stroller, so I can't use the excuse that I have nowhere to leave my kids while I run. I'll just take them with me. It would be nice if Jillian started sleeping through the night before I start running. I'm already exhausted by the end of the day and adding a run to the day might be too much.

"Happy Birthday to me!"

Annabelle's birthday celebration this year was a little bit unorthodox. We celebrated it as a family the day before because Michael had church responsibilities on her real birthday and wouldn't be home til after Annabelle went to bed. We started the birthday celebration by going to the store and getting some balloons. Annabelle had been waiting and waiting to get some birthday balloons. The only problem was that in less than 24 hours after we got them, 2 of the 3 balloons popped. One of them popped less than 2 minutes after we came home with them. Annabelle was so upset that Michael brought home 3 more balloons the next day. After dinner, we opened presents. Annabelle was so excited for this part. I'm amazed that she didn't sneak into the room where we'd been keeping the presents and open them early. We didn't have a cake (we didn't want any leftovers), so instead we made chocolate chip cookies and put candles in a cookie for Annabelle to blow out, then we enjoyed birthday cookies and ice cream.
One gift has been a particularly fun gift for Annabelle (and Michael). We can't wait to play "baseball", as Annabelle calls it, outside in the summer. Here's a video of Annabelle and Michal playing together.

The next day on her actual birthday, we made cupcakes (another thing that Annabelle demanded for her birthday) and we took them around to her friends in the neighborhood (in place of a party). It worked out well because she got to see her friends and we got rid of almost all of the cupcakes. And of course Annabelle had to enjoy one of her birthday cupcakes as well.Annabelle has become a big fan of Mickey Mouse and here she is using her new catching pads as Mickey Mouse ears.

Meanwhile, Jillian was just hanging out and resting during the celebration. Overall, it was a great birthday and finally, Annabelle could say, "Happy birthday to me" and have it actually be her birthday.