Queen(s) of Hearts

Celebrating Valentine's Day seems to come very naturally for our three little girls. Their closets are full of pink and red, heart shapes are their favorite, and they are always so full of love.

Ramona's nails

Mika's thumb

This year there were a total of three Valentine Parties to go to: Mika's preschool party, Ramona's first grade party, and a neighborhood party!

I was in charge of a little heart walk at the preschool party.

Preschool Valentine bags: Mika's is the fourth from the left

Mika's favorite party craft ever: a spy bottle with pink rice

Paula and Mika walking with me to Ramona's class party (Finally, Paula has started agreeing to wear coats again)

Ramona was kind enough to share some of her Valentine bounty with her sisters.

Valentine Jenga: Ramona's group got their tower the tallest before it fell with a huge crash!

Walking home from the neighborhood Valentine party on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon:

Valentine Sunday, before church:

My red velvet, sparkly girls.

Here they are wearing their new purses/scripture bags from Teresa.

Mealtime had some heart-themes that day--lunch was waffles with pink whipped cream and heart-shaped strawberries: 

Dinner was heart-shaped pizza (with some artichoke hearts as a topping)

More heart-shaped strawberries for dessert.

Between Paula's sugary face, Mika eagerly sharing chocolate with me, and sweet little notes from Ramona, these girls were decidedly the queens of Valentine's Day at our house!

Oh, Boy . . .

We had another ultrasound about a week ago. After Forest and I told the technician we have three daughters and would LOVE to know the baby's gender, she got to work and pulled some images up on the screen. "This one . . . looks like a boy," she said decidedly.

Well, hello baby boy! Ramona had mentioned earlier that she hoped it would be a boy. "We already have too many girls in this house!" she declared. Since she was the last one in our family to find out, I tried to make the news a little more special for her by surprising her with a balloon at the bus stop after school.

She was excited and triumphant, insisting she knew all along she would be getting a little brother.

The rest of us are thrilled, as well--I have to admit, after three baby girls it requires a significant mental shift to acknowledge that there really is a tiny boy inside of me. But I guess some part of me has always hoped I would have a son someday. At some point since I became a mother, I set aside a box and started filling it with all the gender-neutral baby clothes we collected:  green and yellow sleepers, orange, green, and white onesies, several pairs of socks--some of them never or hardly used. We always had so much pink baby attire, we didn't need to. It looks like they may be getting some good use in a few months.

I'm especially excited that Forest will get to have his own son. He has always been so close to his dad, I am looking forward to seeing a new father-son relationship form where he gets to be in the father role. Maybe this kid will even sit through an entire football game with him someday.

Final Montage for 2015

Some photos from the final weeks of 2015 that were too good to leave out:

Paula has been choosing entirely weather-inappropriate clothes to wear each day. She will have nothing to do with pants and long sleeves most of the time.

Rock Star Mika

Walking home from preschool with Mika is always a treat. She is smiley, sings to herself, and has a happy spring in her step.

 Paula likes the walk, too.

In early December, Forest took two of the girls to the Timnath Tree Lighting Festival. We were supposed to go as a whole family, but vomit got the best of me so I stayed home with Paula.

The girls did crafts, went on a carriage ride, and posed in a photo booth with Daddy.

We watched a lot of Star Wars and played with lots of Star Wars PEZ dispensers

An underwhelming photo with Santa (Paula wanted nothing to do with this guy):

This winter has been a snowy one

Paula's favorite outfit: Pink stripes and pink plaid

Mika's Preschool Party and book exchange:

"Jingle Bells"

Ramona's first grade party (I was in charge of Rudolf):

 "Gingerbread" polar express trains the girls got to bring home:

Mika had the best method for eating the candy off of them:

A little holiday cello party we hosted at our house:

Paca time:

I think this was the 17-week baby bump

Our family made it to the Denver Temple after Christmas, but the nativity display was still up:

More Paca time, + pizza:

Paula wouldn't take a single bite, but then started wolfing it down at the very end. It was probably her best meal in several days.

The girls playing restaurant with Paca:

New Years Eve (Thank you Windsor Library for the crafts and festivities!):

Balloon drop at noon:

Paula kept saying the sounds from the popping balloons were "scary."

At home, the girls got the rare privilege of making their own confetti and strewing it around the family room. Multiple times.

They also got to clink some glasses of sparkling cider, eat cake, and stay up until 10pm.

So long, 2015!