Aloha!

Aloha! from our neighborhood summer's end Luau! We hosted our neighborhood Luau this past weekend and as the girls say ..."it was the best party ever!" Probably because they stayed up WAY past their bed time and had too many sweet treats to count. It's always fun to celebrate anything with nice friends, food and little rum punch : )

The big girls came in their not so traditional muu muus but very festive grass skirts and leis!

Madison and Alexandra

Micheal, Adam, Maanav, Liam, Heath and Alex

Clara and Alexandra can never get enough of Jerry. While Rachel is anything but camera shy and loves to pose!

Mr. LeBrun always ready for some laughs with the girls : )

2 first days of school

Though Sophia's been going to preschool for a while now, this year seems a little different. Probably because it's her first day of Pre-K and therefore her last year of preschool. Next year she'll be heading off to "big girl" school, which I'm trying not think about quite yet. How time flies!

Anyway, we decided this year, even though Sophia was "ready" for five days, we would only send her four. Mostly for selfish reasons, I won't have this option next year. So since Sophia will be going M-Th, Alexandra will only be going T-TH. I figured, there's no need to make an extra trip to school on a Friday. So this year, every week in the Micca house will be a long weekend : )

We started by meeting the teachers at Open House the Friday before school started. First we went to Sophia's class to meet Ms. Mary and Mrs. Elizabeth. As expected, Sophia seemed very comfortable in her new setting and was excited to see some familiar faces. Addison, Parker and Ryan from her class last year, as well as Lila, Reese, and Jack from two years ago. Zachary and Riley were also in her toddler class so it was nice for both of us to have a little history with some of her new classmates.

Monday morning, she was like an old pro, no tears or hesitation. She just walked right in with a smile on her face and was ready to go! However, though pick up went great too, I noticed she wasn't quite as enthusiastic about wanting to tell me about her day. She seemed a little sad and negative about the experience which is completely not how she typically reacts to anything, especially school. So I was worried! All she would tell me is her "new teachers have grumpy faces." I tried to make light of it and kept telling myself it was probably just all the changes from last year. I figured, they're trying to set the boundaries early on and are probably going to be more strict in preparation for the next year. So for the rest of the week she walked right in and seemed to be excited for the day but when it was time to tell me how things went I just kept getting the same response...."grumpy faces". Finally, Thursday afternoon, while we were skyping with Abu, Sophia told her "school was getting happier". That's all i needed to hear! Sophia was going to have a great year!

Alexandra's Open House was the same Friday and had been scheduled at the same time. Luckily, I was able to make a few changes but juggling two schedules is already exhausting and the year has just begun!

Unlike Sophia's teachers whom I knew nothing about, I had requested Alexandra's. Since both Sophia and I had such a wonderful experience with Ms. Inge, I asked that Alexandra have her too. Luckily, my request was granted! However, one factor that never crossed my mind was age. Ms. Inge typically took the younger (spring/summer) birthdays, so Alexandra was going to be the oldest in her class and she wouldn't have any of her old friends with her. Honestly, I wasn't too thrilled about that at first, but the more i thought about it, it'll probably be good for her. Afterall, she does get bossed around a lot by Sophia so this would give her the opportunity to be a leader. And I can already see she's enjoying that role!

Just like big sister, we've had no tears, no worries or hesitations, just tons and tons of smiles! She's so proud of her "school class" and "nice teachers" and can't wait to tell me every little detail about her day.

Alexandra and I are also both enjoying our two hours together every Monday and Wednesday while Lucas is napping and Sophia's in school. Then there's my two mornings with just Lucas and of course, our family fun filled Fridays! Yeah! It's going to be busy, but I know we have a great year ahead! Can't wait!

One Little Fishy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCAS!!!!

Lucas turned one today! So what better way to celebrated my summer baby's 1st birthday than with a pool party! I decided on an orange and aqua goldfish theme. Mainly for my party favor idea but I must say, once everything was done, it all ended up looking quite fishtastic!

The invitations ... once out, I just prayed for nice weather and thank you God for hearing me! It was a little overcast but no rain which was perfect. Too much sunshine would have been miserable for all our little swimmer guests!

Pinwheels, goldfish, pom poms, a ballon wreath and plenty of orange and blue for all the decor.

Gobbling down some blueberries and orange with grandma before it's time for dessert.

And some of the items on the menu: pinwheel topped oranges, blueberries, mini fish cookies and blue jello. I even over heard one little fishy say it was the "best jello" he's ever had! It must have been the Swedish fish treat swimming around inside : )

The girls even had aqua and orange swim suits to coordinate with the theme!

As you can see my little fishy was tired and ready for nap so ...

... as a huge THANK YOU to all our friends for coming to celebrate our little fishy's first birthday, we gave out a live goldfish to take home. All set and ready to go with his (or her) very own bowl, aqua rocks, and fish food!

1 year later ...

Yes, it's true! After taking an entire year off from posting I've decided to try and keep up with it again. The truth is I got too behind after Lucas' arrival and the thought of catching everyone up just seemed to overwhelming to me. Why? Well, Lucas, has been the most difficult and challenging of the three. Honestly, it's probably my fault since I set such high exceptions for the little guy. I assumed he would be easy, afterall he is my third! Not only would he have to be patient by default, but I should have some idea of what i'm doing, or so i thought!

Since the moment he came out and everyday after, he's been a complete mystery and definitely keeps me on my toes! Just hours before my scheduled induction (and much anticipated epidural), he pushed his way out blessing me (as some would say) with another natural and VERY painful delivery! All I can say is at least it was quick! He then had: colic, thrush, reflux and an umbilical hernia, to name a few of our unexpected "challenges". I didn't experience any, yet alone all, with either girl so you can imagine how totally clueless I felt. And though he's definitely grown out of most of his issues, he still continues to be an ongoing mystery. A wonderful, lovable, temperamental, extraordinary, adorable, fantastic, cuddly, sensitive, sweet, fascinating (... on and on and on) mystery!

So sorry to those of you who checked in regularly. I'll post a few pictures from the last year and promise to do my best to keep up from here on out!

August 2010-August 2011 at a glance ...

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