Mommy's Ant

Last month I was diagnosed with a small patch of BASAL CELL CARCINOMA (aka. skin cancer) on my forehead. It was a lesion that would not heal for months and months, so finally I went to the dermatologist, who did a biopsy and confirmed the cancer diagnosis. I was assured it is the *best* kind of cancer to have- it won't spread to other parts of your body and will not affect your health etc. The treatment included MOHS SURGERY and, since it was on my face, a visit to the plastic surgeon to close up the wound. The surgery was on Thursday, took 2 rounds of MOHS to extract all the cancer cells, and then about an hour for the plastic surgeon to do the suturing- our best estimate is about 16 stitches. Lexi calls them my "ant." In this photo, can you sort of see the likeness to an ant with all it's many legs?!?! Recovery is going well- better than I expected, actually.

St. Patrick's Day

So, I'm not sure how accurate this is, but we think that Lexi is about 1/8th Irish. My mother is 1/4 Irish (her father is 1/2 Irish), which makes me 1/8th, right? And Matt is also 1/8th (he thinks), so that makes Lexi 1/8th...

Anyway- we many not be full blooded Irish, but we still like to have fun on the *greenest* day of the year. We went down to the Scholastic Store in SoHo and participated in a little St. Patty's Party there- complete with a treasure hunt, storytime, and a hat craft. Clifford also made an appearance, but Lexi just wanted to see him from afar- something about those big, red dogs can be a little intimidating, don't you think?

Happy Birthday, Relief Society

Whew! Glad this activity is over... I've been the enrichment counselor in the RS presidency in my ward for 2 1/2 years now. I have really enjoyed it, but every once in a while we have a really big activity that totally stresses me out! I'm always afraid I will forget an important detail or something. Every March, we have a commemoration/celebration of the organization of the Relief Society. So this year, we teamed up with 2 other wards and had a big ol' party. One of the wards is a "family" ward (mine), one is a "singles" ward, and one is the Spanish ward. We decided to ask a few sisters to give a little presentation about their home country so that we could learn about the wonderful diversity that exists in RS and especially in our area of New York City- we had reps from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Honduras, Peru, Canada, France & Korea. We were originally intending on a kind of cultural potluck (we have a lot of returned missionaries etc and hoped to have lots of different treats from different countries), but in true Latino fashion, the Spanish ward showered us with lots and lots of incredible food! They did an amazing job and it was more like a dinner feast than just "refreshments." We don't really get many chances to interact with the other wards, and for many of the sisters there is an english/spanish language barrier. But this event was really a success, I think, in bringing us together despite our communication differences. There were about 80 sisters in attendance, which was great!

Just a couple of shoutouts: To Marci for making the awesome cake! To the men in the 1st & 3rd wards for taking care of our kids! And to the sisters who presented for their amazing preparations!!

Green Thumb

The first Sunday of 2007, Lexi became a Sunbeam in Primary at church. Part of the activities that day included planting a bean between 2 cotton balls in a paper cup as part of a lesson on Faith (see Alma 32:27-43). She took it home and carefully watered it every few days, and put it on the windowsill in her room where it got plenty of sunlight. Soon, it had sprouted! And then a couple of days later, 2 huge leaves appeared. It was amazing! Now, a little over 2 months have passed and this is what her beanstalk looks like!

Prego Kendra

Just a photo for those who are wondering what a 29-weeks pregnant Kendra looks like.

Blanket

While we were visiting my in-laws last summer, my MIL showed me this really cute baby blanket she had made for a new baby in the extended family. It was so adorable, but I was a little intimidated by it because it looked a little tricky. Fast forward a few months and I receive a package chock full of great fabric that my MIL had found on a great sale at Joann's. So I decide to attempt the same kind of blanket. I take it easy and find an easy pattern somewhere on the internet (actually, HERE) and I get to work. Turns out, it is pretty easy, and super fast! I was a little unsure how it would all turn out, but here is the result. I am quite pleased with it. Thanks, Joan C!

Family History Primary Activity

Yesterday the primary had a Family History activity for all the primary kids. They played some games, made little albums (the older kids made bigger albums) and filled out some papers for their albums- all about their families.

ABOUT ME...
I am 3 years old
I have 0 brothers and 1 sister (on the way)
My favorite color is red
I like to learn about people
My favorite foods are apples, pizza, & chicken nuggets
I like to play with toys
I am happy when I go to preschool & when I am with Allie
I like to help my mom put away dishes
I like to help my dad play guitar

Lexi-isms

While eating pasta & tomato sauce at my mother's house I was a little concerned because Lexi was being a bit more careless than usual. I was afraid with each bite that the saucy noodle would fall on the rug or, worse, the upholstered chair she was sitting on. I said, "You're stressing me out, Lexi." To which she responded, "I know, Mama. Just calm down. Calm down."

While sitting on a VERY crowded bus, the young man next to us flashed Lexi a big grin. She turned to me and said, "He has a smile."

Lexi removed her gloves and took a look at her nails and then commented, "My nails are getting scratchy."

L: "Gla gla. Klo klo."
Me: "What does that mean?"
L: "It's Spanish."
(I guess she thinks Spanish just sounds like a lot of gibberish?)

"My heel is hurting because I ate too much dinner last morning."

--"How old are you?"
--"3! I'm a sunbeam!"

"Laura moved to Florida? But she's my aunt! She belongs to me!"

A conversation with Dad about a character on the Curious George PBS show:
L: "That's Compass."
Dad: "What's a compass?"
L: "Compass is a bird. He's a homing pigeon."
(we were floored when we heard her say *homing pigeon*)

After Lexi had calmed down from a fit of crying:
"I have another tear coming out."

First Snow!!

HOORAY! It is the middle of February, and New York City has FINALLY gotten its first real snowstorm of the season! Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of freezing rain in the mix as well (we could hear the ice actually hitting our windows as it fell from the sky), but we did get several inches of snow. Lexi could hardly wait to put on her snowpants (which happen to be last year's pants... since we still haven't had snow, I just could not break down and spend the money on pants we might not even use) and get out in that snow! The minute we walked out the door, she ran over to the snow that had not yet been shoveled and fell right down in it!

 

The slides were extra slippery today...

 

...but a large accumulation of snow on this slide made it difficult to make it to the bottom.

 

This slide proved to be nice & slippery!

La Artista

Today I sat down next to Lexi while she was spending her daily time at her little desk. We decided to draw some people, so we talked a little bit about what a person has: a head, some legs, arms, eyes, mouth etc. I told her I wanted to see her draw... so she did - all by herself! I just lovelovelove the cute little people she drew- bodyless heads with legs & shoes (she had to run into the other room to get one of her shoes before she actually added them to the picture). She has spent an awful lot of time today filling up page after page of her little people- with no adult help at all.

Another Birthday!

Today is Aunt Laura's 25th birthday! We were happy to be able to be with her! We all made the trek to Borders Books to meet Strawberry Shortcake, and then headed to one of our favorite restaurants Sosa Borella in Midtown for a delicious lunch. Later in the evening at home we had some brownie sundaes and sang Happy Birthday. We love you, Laura!

Strawberry Shortcake

One of the joys of having a daughter is being able to revisit my own childhood and its happy memories. It seems as though many of the toys I grew up with are making a comeback of sorts: My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch Kids and Strawberry Shortcake, just to name a few. Today, Borders at Columbus Circle was holding a "release party" for the new Strawberry Shortcake movie. We decided to stop by, expecting to wait in a long line to meet Strawberry and Friends. When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised with a full blown PAR-TAH! There was virtually no line to meet Strawberry, where they took a Polaroid and gave you a frame craft kit, little tables and chairs set up for the kids to make their frames & color pictures, yummy cupcakes from Crumbs bakery accompanied by milk in spill-proof cups, hosts from Radio Disney emceeing the event, and a HUGE pink carpet laid out with a plethora of soft Strawberry decorated pillows. They also gave away some free t-shirts, and, if you bought the movie (thanks, Grandma Susan!) you got another big goodie bag of fun treats. At noon they screened the movie, but we decided to leave by then.

Aunt Laura & Lexi with Strawberry Shortcake & Orange Blossom

Aunt Allie & Lexi working on a picture frame

Lexi & her aunts dutifully coloring their pictures for a free t-shirt

Happy times!

Feliz Cumpleanos

 

 

My wonderful husband.... today he is 30. Tonight we went out with some friends to an exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum that we have been wanting to see for some time: From El Greco to Picasso, which was a wonderful collection of Spanish paintings... and since we both served missions in Spain (no, we were NOT in the same mission), we have been wanting to visit the museum for sometime. We followed that up with dinner at a yummy burrito place. Matt's not one for a huge group gathering, so, no, I did not plan any big thing to celebrate the end of his third decade.

However, last week, the women of my family were all able to gather at our home. Great-Grandma, Aunt Barbara & Cousin Liz, Nanny Susan, and Aunts Laura & Allie, me, Lexi & baby-girl-in-utero...... and Matt. It is my personal opinion that since he grew up with 8 brothers he is now getting a dose of life with women (albeit, a very LARGE dose!). The ladies picked up some pizza and a cake on their way to our apartment, and so we were able to have a little birthday celebration for him. He (and I!) was pleasantly surprised by the thoughtful gesture.

Happy Birthday Lovey!

Liz Visits the Big Apple

 

 

My cousin Liz had a few days off from school (she didn't have any Regents to take), so she came down to stay with us for a few days. We didn't really do any big sight-seeing things, but mostly just enjoyed our time together. Lexi loves Liz, and considers her one of her aunts... Lexi is really blessed with so many great women in her life! In these photos, Liz is demonstrating how she was able to cast a spell on Lexi so that she would sit still to get her hair braided. Lexi looked absolutely adorable- now I have to step it up and figure out the french braid thing since her hair really is long enough to style now. I have to embarrassingly admit that most days we let her hair go wild- but it really is getting to be a bit TOO wild.

Great-Grandpa Elliott made a little desk for Lexi for her birthday this year. Liz's mom and my grandmother came down to pick Liz up at the end of the week and delivered the desk along with lots of great art supplies. Lexi just loves it and the artwork is really beginning to pile up!

Snuggle Time

I am jealous of the snuggle time my sisters get with my daughter, but somehow they woo her into cuddling! Aunt Laura just moved to New York from Florida and since she has not secured a job yet, she has been able to spend lots of time with us! Here is the result of a lazy afternoon during movie time.

Mom of Twins

Lexi received a new baby doll for Christmas, whom she named Allie (presumably after her beloved Aunt Allie). Grandma Cope made her some little blankets for her dolls, and Lexi has been taking very good care of them- feeding and burping and swaddling (just as her mama does!). Good prep for her introduction into big sisterhood?

All Caught Up

I have just spent the past 2 1/2 hours (while Lexi is at preschool) updating the blog... took a while to upload some photos and videos, and actually I was not able to get all of them done. Now that the holiday rush is over (and, it appears, my bout with morning sickness may have finally ended), I hope to be able to keep the blog a bit more current. Happy New Year everyone!

Batter Up!

The sign on Yankee Stadium says "39 Days til Pitchers & Catchers". Lexi has been inspired to do some of her own pre-spring training work.

Lexi's Birthday Party #2 (aka The Train Party)

Lexi's Birthday Party

Click on the photo above to view all the photos from Lexi's train party.

So I definitely did not plan on throwing Lexi a *friend* party for her birthday this year, but she went to a party back in October and has been talking about what her party would be like ever since. She would draw a picture and state, "I'm drawing this for my party, mom!" or make something with her playdoh and say, "This is for my party." So I just did not want to let her down. We talked about it together and she decided she wanted to have a train party- which was a good decision considering most of her friends are boys! So we went downtown and bought a special stamp to make invitations, went to the party store and bought plates, napkins, cups, a pinata, and balloons and I figured out a few things to do to pass the time.

It turned out really well, I think. Our *mixer* activity while everyone was arriving was to set up the train tracks and play with the trains... that kept everyone very occupied and happy for quite some time. I was a little nervous to ask them to clean it up, but Lexi was anxious to get on to other activities that she knew we had planned. To my utter astonishment, there was not a single word of complaint when we asked the kids to clean up! Thomas even started singing the "Clean Up Song" that they sing in Nursery at church- those Nursery leaders are stupendous!

After cleaning up, we read "The Little Engine That Could" and I could not believe how enraptured they all were with the story. Side note: Hats off to all those elementary teachers who can read upside down & backwards! I found myself kind of making it up as I went along because I was having a hard time reading...

Then we had everyone decorate a box which we then made a train with- everyone in their own car, and Porter as the Engineer! Thanks to Sheridan, Jessica & Julia who really came through for me and provided the boxes on one day's notice!


After the train, we had cake (also following the train theme) but I have had some trouble uploading that video so stay tuned, and then a pinata in the shape of Thomas The Tank Engine. Sorry about the candy moms and dads... I couldn't find a pinata filler set of plastic toys, which was actually my preference.

And then it was time to go- we sent everyone home with candy, a train whistle, bouncy ball and helium balloon. Lexi was a wonderful hostess, greeting everyone at the door with an engineer's hat and then saying 'Thank you for coming" as each friend left. After the party she said, "Mom, I wasn't shy!" What a big girl she is!

Lexi's Birthday Party #1

January 1st- Lexi's birthday

Lexi was born on New Year's Day... And today she is 3!!! So we went to Nanny's house to have a little party- just mom & dad, Nanny & Allie. We decided to buy a store cake, since she is having a special cake at her kids party on Saturday...