Jennifer Woodbury

2012 Photos | Week 20 | May 13-20

Mother's Day.

It took me a few days of living in allergy hell before I realized, "Oh yeah, there's a pill for that." I'm not sure why, but I hardly ever take medication when I am sick, so it's not really surprising that it took me so long to consider allergy meds. But once I realized they were out there, I couldn't get to the drugstore fast enough. And it just figured that the lady in front of me in line at the pharmacy had decided it would be a good idea to purchase the equivalent of a week's worth of groceries along with her prescription. It took all of my willpower not to claw my way in front of her, jump over the counter, and take off running with the Zyrtec.

For when a face to face apology seems too daunting.

May showers bring June flowers? Claire is prepared for the rainy weather.

Well, it's been almost five and a half years, but I finally got a new camera this week (the Canon 5D Mark III). I was ready for an upgrade last year, but was waiting for Canon to release its Mark II upgrade, which didn't happen until this March of this year. Then I debated switching to the new Nikon D800, but in the end I decided to stay loyal to Canon. Of course by the time I made my decision, the Mark III was backordered for weeks. But on Tuesday my new baby finally made its way into my hands.

Afternoon reading.

"Mom, I'm going to sign my name so you know who the artist is. Because when you're a grandma, you'll forget."

Saturday was Matt's self-proclaimed "worst day of the year": the day he has to put in the window A/C units. This is the third year in a row he has declared it's the last year he'll have to perform this dreaded task. Hopefully the third time's the charm. His #1 priority when we eventually buy a new house? Central air. Exhibit A is this e-mail exchange between Matt, his sister Ashley, and her husband Anthony, who are moving to our area this summer. Matt forwarded them a real estate listing he thought they would be interested in:

Matt: Nice neighborhood, central air, and 4 bedrooms. Need I say more.

Anthony: Ashley and I considered this one, but it has one critical flaw that I am not sure I can live with. The front door is not centered on the front porch. Looks like they made a mistake building it. We'd have to either move the door 1 foot to the left, or leave the door and move the house right.

Matt: That's funny; I could see that bothering me too. Right up until I opened the door and cool central air smacked me in the face.

Ashley: I seem to be sensing a trend in your e-mails, Matt. Let me see if I get this straight: you would like central air?

Of course, swinging and eating frozen yogurt with Lucy makes everything better.

2012 Photos | Week 19 | May 6-12

Claire creates her own art gallery.

Ella relaxes in the bathtub.

On Thursday afternoon Claire had a dress rehearsal for her ballet recital, and there was no way Lucy was going to leave the house without wearing a Cinderella dress too. When she saw Claire's costume, she started crying and demanding a "Cin-rella dess" of her own. At the rehearsal itself, Lucy was absolutely mesmerized by the dancers on stage. I think somebody is ready for a ballet class of her own.

Claire before her recital on Saturday.

I was so stressed about getting this bun into Claire's hair. It took forever (thankfully Claire is amazingly patient) but I think it actually turned out okay. Never mind the fact that it started falling out halfway through her performance... I guess I'll start practicing now for next year.

Waiting for the show to start.

Claire was so excited to perform - she told me she loved being on stage - and she did an amazing job. Ella even leaned over to me during her performance and said, "Wow, Claire is actually really good!"

A bit of real life to end the week. Ella woke up sick Saturday night (I can't even remember the last time that happened). After I threw her sheets in the wash, this is what she had to sleep on for the rest of the night: a beach towel and her sleeping bag, with a bowl tucked into the corner of her bed just in case. Of course in true Ella fashion she was as good as new by morning, full of energy and annoyed that I wouldn't let her eat whatever she wanted. I'm just glad it was short-lived and didn't get passed on to anybody else!

2012 Photos | Week 18 | Apr 29-May 5

I ran my first race this week. It was a 5K/10K and I had originally signed up for the 10K, but I hurt my hamstring a few weeks ago and it has been very slow to heal. I wasn't going to run at all, but I started physical therapy and my leg was beginning to feel better so I decided to run but switched to the 5K. My leg felt great for the entire race but hurt worse than ever the next day. Back to the physical therapist I go...

My favorite part of the race was having my very own cheering section. Seriously, these kids are the best. They almost made me cry on the race course.

Fun in the backyard.

Mama Robin finished building her nest and laid some eggs. She dutifully sat like this in her nest day and night all week long. I got quite attached to her, checking on her every time I passed a window and saying hello whenever I got into or out of my car. She must have gotten used to me because she didn't even mind when I opened up the girls' bedroom window, lowered the screen, and hung my head and giant camera out the window in order to take this picture of her. As I mentioned last week, things did not end well, but I still see her and Papa Bird hanging out in the backyard so I am hopeful that they are rebuilding somewhere nearby.

Claire received this pink crown and wand at a birthday party on Friday, and as you can imagine she wore it religiously all weekend long. Matt called her "Princess Ceebs" at one point (Ceebs is one of his nicknames for her; it's short for C.B. aka Claire Bear) and Claire decided that everybody should be required to call her by that name. I almost died when she came downstairs to wake us up early Saturday morning already decked out in her royal attire.

We had some house guests this week in the form of Matt's sister Ashley, her husband Anthony, and their new baby girl Lily. They were here from London looking for a house (we are so excited that they will be moving here this summer!). We loved seeing Ashley and Anthony, but of course Lily was the main attraction. Ella especially loves babies and she just couldn't get enough of her newest cousin. After they left, Ella saw this picture on my computer screen and shouted, "LILY! I wish I could feel her head right now." She really has a bit of an obsession with petting babies on the head (Exhibit B: Ella petting Lily's big brother Will - then only 10 months old - on the head back in 2010).

Lucy isn't really a baby anymore - she'll be 2 at the end of the month! - but Ella still pets her on the head as well. I have to admit that I do it too. I just can't get enough of those blonde curls.

I may have given in to modern technology this year and sent out only an Evite for Ella's birthday party (after I swore I wouldn't last year), but thank you notes are still done the old-fashioned way. I had these thank you cards printed at Shutterfly with a picture of everyone at the party on the front. We hand delivered these along with each party guest's finished pottery piece a week after the party.

2012 Photos | Week 17 | Apr 22-28

Back to regular life this week, with one tame (compared to last year) birthday party to cap it off.

It was so fun to watch this robin building her nest literally right outside the window in Ella and Claire's room. Although it's a little depressing writing about it now after finding a smashed egg on the ground yesterday (almost two weeks later) and no Mama Bird in sight.

Lucy is not quite the clingy mama's girl she was as a baby, but she still insists on being held often... especially around dinner time. I have learned to do many things one handed. She reminds me of a baby koala bear clinging to a tree trunk the way she holds on to me (I can't even attempt to put her down).

Claire's favorite lunch: a cheese sandwich cut into tiny hearts.

Ella celebrated her birthday in school on Friday and she had a very specific request for the treat she wanted brought in to her class: red and blue Italian Ice. I was so relieved to find these at the grocery store.

She also had a very specific cupcake request for her party on Saturday: chocolate with orange and blue frosting. When she saw these she said, "Well, I didn't ask for sprinkles but I guess it still looks good that way." Phew.

Party favors.

Ella had her party at our local paint-your-own pottery studio. I almost convinced her to skip having a birthday party this year (I am still recovering from last year's bowling party... and heaven help me because Claire has already decided that she wants a Hello Kitty Princess Bowling Party - with rainbow cupcakes - for her 5th birthday next year), but this girl couldn't pass up an opportunity to be the center of attention... or to get all those gifts. We compromised on an all girl party just to make the size more manageable. It turned out to be a great party. The girls all seemed to love it and I told Matt and I could throw a birthday party like this every day of the week.

2012 Photos | Week 16 | Apr 15-21

This week was all about vacation, with Ella's 7th birthday thrown in the mix as well.

The kids never quite adjusted to Central time, so they were up extra early every morning. Claire loved all the sundresses I packed for her and so she would waltz into our room every morning at 6am fully dressed, even though she would inevitably just be changing into a swimsuit a few hours later. We started calling them her "morning dresses."

One day at the beach we caught a bunch of these tiny clams.

The best time to find them would be right as the water receded... you could see them trying to dig themselves back under the sand.

Ella and Claire observe the clams in the little habitat they created for them. Ella was disappointed that we couldn't bring them home with us to keep as pets.

Ella is very adventurous at the beach. She loves getting in the ocean as far as she can go and riding the waves. She spent a lot of time with Matt in the water.

Claire kept busy at the beach, but didn't really like to get very close to the water. That's why she was always absolutely covered in sand by the end of the day.

Claire spent a lot of time making various sand pastries, like this cake.

Due to her continued sand phobia, Lucy spent most of her beach time sitting in a chair and eating snacks. The first thing she said every day when we got to the beach was: "Want sit down. Want snacky!"

She did have a few brave moments when she ventured out onto the sand, with her shoes on of course.

Lunch break.

Sandcastles.

In the afternoons, we headed to the pool. Lucy insisted on carrying this thing with her to the pool every single day, but never actually used it. By the end of the trip it was completely mangled and deflated from being dragged on the cement.

Matt and Lucy took turns blowing bubbles in the pool.

A little bubble blowing video. My favorite part is when Lucy pats Matt on the head and says "Good job Daddy!" You can also hear Ella giving Claire a swimming lesson in the background.

We didn't see many seashells at the beach except on the last day when it seemed like they all decided to wash up on shore at the same time. Matt, Ella and I had a great time seashell hunting...

... while Claire was in charge of carefully cleaning and organizing them.

I also managed to catch this crab on our last beach day. He was not pleased at all about being trapped in here. I let him go after just a few minutes when I was pretty sure he was going to jump right out of the bucket and claw my eyes out. The sea star that a fellow beachgoer found and gave to my girls was more our style.

A great way to end our final day at the beach.

Of course, our vacation would not have been complete for Ella without a trip to the go karts.

And here is the girls' favorite vacation restaurant. Apparently, they make the best spaghetti with butter around.

An evening walk on the beach... Lucy has to be carried the entire time.

Some family shots on our last night.

The day we flew home also happened to be Ella's birthday. The same thing happened last year and I was starting to feel a little bad that her birthday was being overshadowed by traveling for a second year in a row (even though she did have a birthday party planned for the following weekend), so I did my best to still make her day special. The night before, Matt and I blew up a bunch of balloons and put them in her room to surprise her when she woke up.

We also got birthday doughnuts from our favorite local bakery, The Donut Hole. We sang Happy Birthday (adding "cha cha chicken" after each line, as requested by the birthday girl) before she blew out her "7" candle. Then to top it off, we stopped off for one last go kart ride on our way to the airport. We got there right as the place was opening and we had the entire track to ourselves.

Then we got on a plane and reluctantly headed home (I was truly not ready to leave). Matt and I were really nervous about flying with Lucy after our experience flying to and from Disney last September. Matt will freely tell you that it was one of the most stressful experiences of his life - Lucy can put the fear of God into you when she decides to scream. But I have to give Lucy credit; she was a great little traveler this time around. Maybe we will attempt that West Coast trip this summer after all.

2012 Photos | Week 15 | Apr 8-14

This week started with Easter and ended with the start of our spring break trip to Florida.

For the third year in a row, we spent Easter with Matt's brother and his family in New Jersey.The Easter Bunny didn't deliver the baskets first thing in the morning since he (she?) knew the kids, ranging in age from 1 to 13, wouldn't all wake up at the same time, but he did leave a note. When everyone was awake the girls - all seven of them - went down to the basement to try to encourage the bunny to return more quickly with the baskets. While they were down there they worked hard on creating an Easter cheer. Their efforts paid off and the Easter Bunny did in fact return with baskets full of goodies.

Next it was time to head to the backyard to hunt for eggs.

After Easter the focus turned to preparations for spring break.

Packing for four people takes a great deal of planning and organization. Thankfully Matt knows how to fend for himself in that department.

Saturday was our first day at the beach.

I think this was the only time during our trip that Lucy voluntarily sat on the bare sand. It looks like she is playing in the sand but she actually never touched the sand with her hands; she is splashing in a giant bucket of ocean water here.

She asked Matt to stand at the ocean's edge while holding her, then promptly fell fast asleep.

A late lunch break back at the condo before heading down to the pool.

Claire and I during dinner in Seaside.

For better or worse, plenty more vacation photos are coming up in week 16...

2012 Photos | Week 14 | Apr 1-7

A few of Lucy's favorite sayings:

• "Ooooh, pwetty!" (She always notices when somebody is dressed up and/or wearing something new.)
• "I coming!" (Said as she is running in the opposite direction with absolutely no intention of coming.)
• "TOP IT!!" (As in, "STOP IT!!" She's always yelling at the top of her lungs for this one, of course.)
• "Mommy-ah" (Her pet name for me.)

Ella has decided it's finally time to learn how to ride a two-wheeler. A couple of weekends ago Matt took the training wheels off her bike and brought her to the school to practice on the grass field. She caught on really fast. On Tuesday after school I took her back to get in some more practice. I was so impressed with her determination. She fell down a few times (see the dirt on her elbow in the first picture?) but never gave up. By the end of the afternoon I told her I thought she was almost ready to try on the blacktop. Her response? "When we do, we should bring a whole box of Band-Aids!"

Something I love right now: the way Lucy reads sitting perfectly upright with a book on her lap and her legs sticking out straight in front of her.

Local Easter egg hunt. (Click through to this picture to see Ella and Claire at the same event - and on the same stone steps - two years ago.) Those scabs on and around Lucy's lips are from a tumble she took on our driveway this week. The poor thing managed to chip a small portion of her front tooth in the process; I'm just grateful it wasn't worse!

We spent Easter weekend in New Jersey and the girls (all 7 of them) spent most of their time outside on the hammock. Claire was too scared to actually get on the hammock so she ended up being the unofficial "hammock pusher" for most of the weekend instead.

2012 Photos | Week 13 | Mar 25-31

After looking through my pictures for this week I noticed a disproportionate amount of photos of Claire. Sometimes this happens - when I focus on one child more than the others during a certain time period - and when it does I try not to worry about it too much. I generally find that it all tends to even out in subsequent days and weeks. When I do notice a disparity, it's a good reminder to make a conscious effort to focus on capturing more diverse moments that include the other girls (and me and Matt too). It also makes me really grateful for Ella's teacher, who shared some photos this week of Ella in the classroom during "Bear Days" that I plan on using in my Project Life layout for the week. 

Onto the photos for Week 13:

Reading together before bedtime. I just happened to capture the moment right after Lucy scooted over and laid her head on Claire's shoulder.

Afternoon itinerary according to Claire: "First we will read two books. I will read them to you and then you will read them to me. Then we will color."

It's been a while since I captured a picture of Claire sleeping. They never get old. In this case I walked out of the room for two minutes and saw this when I came back. Like father like daughter... Matt falls asleep on the couch like this just about every night!

"Mom, when you love your blanket, it gets holes in it."

Springtime blossoms.

A couple of iPhone snaps: (1) Claire at her 4 year well check. Few people could pull off a Cat in the Hat gown like she can. She is growing perfectly and weighing in at 35.5 pounds (50th percentile) and 41 inches tall (75th percentile). She took her shots like a champ, redeeming herself for the breakdown she had over her flu shot last fall. (2) I have developed a minor Pinkberry addiction (my drug of choice is Original with strawberries, mangoes, dark chocolate crisps, and honey). The kids think Matt and I are the coolest parents ever because we keep taking them there, but what they don't realize is that these outings are completely selfish on our parts. We just can't get enough.

2012 Photos | Week 12 | Mar 18-24

After our unusually mild winter, we could not have had a more glorious start to spring. The weather was warm and almost summer-like this week. I cannot believe the forsythia is already in bloom. I normally associate these yellow flowers with Ella's birthday, not Claire's!

Claire playing with the new American Girl doll, McKenna, that she got for her birthday. Aside from the doll, one of the only other things she asked for was a crown.

On the actual day of Claire's birthday, I took her out on a special mommy/daughter date. We got our nails done and then went out for lunch, just the two of us.

Lucy absolutely loves dogs. She always sleeps with this stuffed dog tucked under one arm, she will kiss pictures of dogs that she sees in books, and if she sees a real dog? Forget about it. Our babysitter Diana took her to a pet shop this week where they let Lucy play with one of their puppies. She was in heaven.

Fun at the playground. I absolutely love Lucy's face when she laughs.

Some of the work Ella brings home from school is priceless, like this particular word study sentence (#6). For the record, Matt does not have an ear wax problem. She was just trying to figure out how to incorporate her spelling word into a sentence, and it just so happens that she likes to use Dad at the beginning of the majority of her sentences (6 out of 10 on this sheet).

2012 Photos | Week 11 | Mar 11-17

Ella attempts to teach Lucy how to write. She takes her big sister role very seriously. On another ocassion she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, it's hard work teaching a baby to count!"

The one snack we always have on hand. Goldfish crackers were one of my favorite snacks as a kid too.

Claire & Lucy's kitchen fort. My favorite part is the collection of knick knacks lined up in the corner of the wrapping paper "room": Pez dispensers, colorful rocks, a plastic doughnut, and a Hello Kitty figure, among other things.

A few iPhone shots: 1) My rainbow cake helper. 2) On Thursdays Ella has her Mad Science program after school, so Claire, Lucy, and I pick her up afterward and we all walk home together. 3) Elementary school bingo night. I *may* have gotten just a little overly competitive. Thankfully Ella is still too young to be embarrassed by me. And besides, that competitive spirit managed to win her a prize!

Our week was capped off by Claire's birthday celebration.

Ella helped Matt put together the rainbow fruit skewers.

I was just trying to get a picture of Claire with her balloons, but Lucy saw the camera and immediately came over and put her arm around Claire so she could be included too.

Blowing out the candles. (Note that I am usually never in "blowing out candles" birthday photos with my kids beause I am always the one behind the camera, but this time I purposefully turned the camera over to Matt.) I especially love the photo on the bottom right. Even after everybody else was done with their cake, Claire just sat quietly at the table by herself and kept on eating her giant piece of cake. I honestly don't know how she fit all the cake into her little body, but I'm just happy she enjoyed it so much.

Claire and her party guests. (Note the outfit change into her new "princess" leotard.)

I can't believe she's turning 4!