Gabriella's 5th Birthday Party

Birthday Invitation

Gluten Free "Barbie Mermaid" Cupcakes

"Barbie Mermaid" Party Favors

Yummy Food

Almost everything was GF, except for the cinnamon rolls

Lots of Pressies!

The Birthday Girl!

Gabriella and her BFF Emily

Bracelet/Necklace Making Table

Coloring and Glitter Project Table

"Barbie Mermaid" Pinata!

Waiting patiently for her Birthday Cupcake

You can see the chocolate in her teeth. Ha!

I cant believe she'll be 5 soon!

Blowing out the Candles

Reagan, Gabriella, and Kate

The Whole Gang! 23 Kids!

Sophia and Gabriella

We met her parents at childbirth class!

It's awesome watching these guys grow up together.

Wow- the Birthday girl really made out!

Every year, since Gabriella has a summer birthday (June 28th), she gets to choose where she wants her birthday-- either in China or in Washington State. At Christmas time, she still wanted to have it in the States, which suits me fine. Much easier and it'd be just family. As with most four-year-olds, she changed her mind because she wanted her friends to be there. Fair enough. This typically isn't a big deal but I wasn't prepared and didn't bring any GF cupcake mix, party favors, etc. from the States. Luckily, my awesome friend Carolyn Kurtzig, was going back for a wedding and brought me back a bunch of stuff. Thank the Lord! Anyhoo, Gabby really wanted the theme Barbie Mermaid, so I got some pictures from the internet and had some students make me cupcake, pinata, and party favor decorations... We had the party at the PreK-4 playground at ISB. Travis made a mix of Barbie songs and other music Gabby loves (like Lady Gaga) and we had the cupcake/birthday song shin-dig in another room. Good thing we did that because it was SUPER hot and everything would have melted... All in all, a ton of work but the kiddies had fun so it was totally worth it!

Isabelle is 16 Months

"Oo, Oo, Oo" Face

We make this face to her all the time and she's copying yet

It totally cracks us up!

16 Months Old 

Close-up Shot

She LOVES playing with this camera lens cover

I cant believe I haven't lost it yet.

Daddy and his girls

Just a tad hot at the BIBA Spring Fair

If I didn't realize this already, I sure do now. We are in full blown toddler-mode. The best part is watching her language develop... She says, "Cheese," and "Xie Xie" (Thank you in Chinese). This is the age where they comprehend more then they can speak... the coolest part is watching her understand in two different languages. Chen ayi will tell her that it's time to go and to put her shows on (in Chinese) and she does this... the same when I talk to her in English. The more challenging part of this age is that we rarely go out to eat, unless there's a play area.

Some other developments:

- She's eating lost of different things and is becoming a master with biting, even though she doesn't have all her teeth. Cheese, bread, blueberries, and hotdogs seem to be her favorite. 

- Her hair is getting a little bit longer and there's a slight curl now.

- She loves being around kids and is very social, just like Gabriella was at her age

- When she wants something she goes for it... she literally pushed and shoved Gabriella on the way to get on my lap

Gabby's Field Day

Parachute

Playing on Parachute 

Waiting in line

JUMP!

Gabby is playing Soccer every Friday

It was SUPER hot this day!

Friday was field day and it was a good time... Travis watched her in the morning and I came by for about 45 minutes to play on the parachute and watch her do hurdles. I forgot to mention in previous blog entries that she's playing soccer every Friday, so I snuck in a picture of her taking a water break. Her choice was between ballet and soccer for a Spring activity, and the sport won out... She likes it enough but it looks like swimming is her ultimate favorite right now. She takes lessons every Thursday for 30 minutes but her coach said she's ready for one hour lessons. Something I've noticed recently... her speech is becoming so much more clearer and she's losing that baby talk... She can pronounce her "r's" now. I guess my lil' girl is growing up!

Isabelle is 15 Months Old

I emailed a little update already... but wanted to share that her doctor check-up went great. 99% in height and 50% in weight. I seriously breed some tall girls! The doctor said that everything looks great. We stopped giving her milk, since she has a hard time digesting it. He said with all the yogurt and cheese she east, that she's getting enough calcium.

It's a Girl!

Just call us Little House on the Prairie!

We're happy to announce that we're having another GIRL! Three Tebo girls! Yay! We'll definitely be taken care of in our old age. Ha!

If you were aware of the drama, the Chinese government wont allow expats to find out the gender of their baby now... Good thing one of the ultrasound technicians spoke at Career Day, so I knew her. Luckily, she did our 12 week ultrasound and said she would let us know the sex at our 20 week check-up. Unfortunately, her father-in-law passed away so she is moving back to the UK. I got a call last week (Thursday, April 26th) saying that her last day was tomorrow (Friday, April 27th) and asked if we could come in- code word for, "so you can find out the gender." Anyhoo, so we got to find out! Now I can invest in those expensive girl toys from Legos and Playmobil. Hint-hint!

We all cant wait for our new lil' Tebo gal to arrive... Gabriella is especially happy and talks to my tummy and Isabelle was kissing my tummy last night... Aah, I'm gonna love my girls!

Life is good. Someone pinch me ;).