You Read to Me

Even though they are two years apart in age Isaac and Delia look more like fraternal twins.  I caught Isaac helping his sister with her homework- Delia is working on her reading, which has been coming along slowly in first grade.  Isaac, an extremely advanced reader, is working on not being so condescending.  I love seeing them together like this!

Miles' Mother's Day Program '15

Sweetest twenty minutes of the whole year: New Horizon Preschool's Mother's Day program!  I love seeing Miles sing these songs!

Avika at Three

Our newest three year old.  In Hindi three is teen, so we have our first teenager in the house. 

 

At three years old Avika is very fun, funny, energetic, silly, dramatic, affectionate, stubborn, sweet, and outgoing.  She loves to play with her siblings, but in their absence quickly finds ways to entertain herself (usually by getting into something that she shouldn't!)  She loves animals, especially her pets.  She loves to make noise with musical instruments and snuggle her baby dolls and stuffed animals.  She loves to jump and hop, swing around, and get thrown high into the air.  She is very charming and makes quick friends wherever we go!

We are so grateful that Avika is finally home with us and to be celebrating her birthday with her is truly a gift!  It's hard to imagine a year ago we were having a birthday party for her and she didn't even know we existed.  It feels like she had been part of our family for the past three years!  I thought a lot about her birth mom on her birthday and wondered if she was thinking about this amazing little girl.  Her birth mom gave us the very, very best birthday present we could ever dream of- the privilege of knowing, loving and raising Avika Ruby Priya.  We love you so much, baby!  Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Avika's Billie Birthday

This little girl just turned three!

 

On her birthday we all went to The Himalayan Kitchen for Indian food!  Delicious! 

They made her a special desert and sang Happy Birthday.  What a special treat!

Of course we had to have a big party the week of her birthday.  Since she's not really talking yet I got to choose everything for the party- this was probably my only time with full creative control over her birthday so I went to town.  We had sparkly, pink billie (kitty cat in Hindi) party!  I think she loved it.

Opening gifts was a little overwhelming at first, but she got the hang of it pretty quick.

Signing "Thank you."

Enthralled by a card that plays music.

Sporting her new kitty cat backpack to use at school next fall.

I read that in India they pop a balloon full of confetti over your head on your birthday.  Doesn't that sound fun?  We had to give it a try.  She was scared when the balloon popped, but she loved the glitter shower.

This girl loves sweets (just like her Mama!) so birthday cake was the highlight of the party.  She enjoyed having everyone sing to her!

She almost ate the whole cake!  This was the best billie party ever!

Delia's Amazing Art

This spring Delia received a very special honor!  Every year our school district has each school pick one piece of art to frame and hang in the district building.  Delia's piece inspired by Where the Wild Things Are was chosen for Park Elementary!  Here she is with her artwork at the school board meeting where she got to present her piece to the board.  She was the youngest artist there by four years and did an awesome job explaining her process to a pretty big crowd!  We are so proud of her!!

Camping with Pop

The boys joined Pop on the men's camping trip in Moab this year. 

 

Spring Soccer '15

My soccer stars!  This season Isaac's team is called The Iron Cleats, Delia's is The Soccer Sisters, and Miles plays for The Golden Eagles.  Delia and Miles are both aggressive players, and they love to score goals.  They are working on passing and playing with their teammates.  Isaac loves to play goalie and has had some great saves this season.

Daddy Daughter Dance '15

Pictures this year before the daddy daughter dance.  Avika was pretty overwhelmed- she lasted about 30 minutes.  Delia could have danced all night.  Thankfully Matt loves dancing as much as she does- they had a great time!

 

 

 

Avika at Eight Months

In April Avika had been home eight months!  We have all been so busy, and she keeps up every step of the way. 

 

She loves Maeve the Cat more than anything.  She pets her and hugs her any time the cat will let her.  She constantly keeps me apprised of all Maeve's activities by telling me, "Mama!  Ow!"  (ow is her way of saying meow).  I can usually get her to repeat the word "cat" when she is feeling cooperative.  Her vocabulary has grown a bit to include:  Mama, Dada, ba-nana! (always pronounced minion style), night-night, bye-bye, and hop.  When prompted she might say, "Hahn, Mama!" (Yes in Hindi) or "No Mama!"  We continue to work on her speech all the time.

 

Avika is growing in her fine motor skills, too, and loves to draw, especially with Delia and Miles.  We don't know for sure, but it looks like she is a lefty like Miles and both her grandfathers.

 

 

Silly sisters rocking out before bedtime.  Delia is the best big sister a girl could ask for. 

The boys like to keep everyone out of their room so they can play by themselves, but this night Avika convinced them to let her play too!

Mugging with Miles