larkie lou turns three!

Lark turned three-years old earlier this month and we celebrated as a family with a simple breakfast birthday party before daddy had to go to work. She blew out her candles on a stack of pancakes that we all shared, and then opened her presents - a little shopping cart and a wooden cash register. This girl is obsessed with the grocery store area at any children's museum, so we knew this would be the perfect gift for her - yep, she loved it!

One of my sisters (thanks, Amy!) had given us that puppet theater/store front piece of play furniture (does it have a name? I'm not sure what to call it, ha) that Lark is pushing the cart next to in the picture above, so the night before we got it all set up as a little grocery store for her to go shopping. We already had all of the play food from the girl's play kitchen. Lark grabbed her doll and set her in the cart, found a little purse to keep her new play money and credit card in, and spent the good part of the day switching off being the shopper or the checker.

After I rang up all of her food once she said, "Thanks for checkering me out, mom!" I love this age.

And now, I present unto you the many faces of Lark...

This is what she does when confronted with a camera. We sure love this spunky little three-year old!

See her first birthday and second birthday. That hair was worth the wait! :)

expectations

I was going through some pictures and came across these photos of Lark I snapped one afternoon about six months ago. She was singing and dancing on my bed in the vintage tutu her sister once wore almost every day, and I remember thinking, "How does she fit into that already?" These little girls of mine are growing up before my eyes. 

When Lark was born I was expecting a carbon copy of LM to come out (or at least close to it), but when I held her for the first time she looked totally different with all of her own tiny features for me to memorize. And then when her hair finally grew in I was shocked and delighted that it was a beautiful red, just as I was shocked and delighted to discover LM had beautiful curls. 

As Lark has grown every aspect of her spunky and sweet personality has been so fun to watch unfold and compare against her sister. Not in any sort of competitive way, but just as us parents marveling at how our girls are their own little wonderful selves, and finding it funny that in most areas they are complete opposites. So different from each other and yet so alike. 

I can't help but wonder who is coming to join our family now. All of my expectations have been wiped clean since I now know we don't make carbon copy children. I do know we make pretty amazing ones though, and every day they make us smile and keep us on our toes.

I guess I am expecting to, yet again, be surprised.

larkie lou turned two

Last Monday we celebrated Lark's second birthday. It was a simple low-key affair since we threw it all together after preschool that afternoon, and it was just perfect that way. I unearthed the bunting I made for LM's first birthday and put that up around the house for decor. I remember how long it took me to cut out all those shapes and sew it together so I am glad it got more mileage. Then LM helped me wrap the presents. I didn't have any birthday-appropriate wrapping paper so I just pulled out brown kraft paper. LM, however, insisted birthday presents needed to be bright and colorful, so we decided to merge craft time with party prep by wrapping yarn around the packages and gluing on some triangles for a fun festive bunting.

Lark was occupied this whole time by the giant pink balloon she chose at the party store we stopped by on our way home, and the golden birthday crown I quickly made in hopes it would make her feel special on her big day.

When daddy got home from work we ate dinner - noodles and broccoli per Lark's request - and then it was time to make dessert! As is tradition daddy makes the birthday cake, or cookie dough in this case, so the girls helped him mix up the ingredients and place the dough in some baking cups. We added a scoop of ice cream on top and each had our own little individual pizookie. It was so easy and good I think I will see if we can make it a special birthday tradition for Lark. We'll see what she says next year ;)

Then Lark opened her presents from us and some from family who had been so thoughtful to mail them in time. She loved it all - thank you family!!

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl! You are so loved.

See how bald she was at her 1st birthday party! :)

a perfect match

I hereby officially declare this the summer of watermelon!

Our little Larkie Lou has fallen hard for the fruit and if it is anywhere in sight she will LET YOU KNOW THAT SHE WANTS IT IN HER MOUTH. I am telling you, the girl has found her soul mate food in those juicy red triangles. Of course, I know what comes out the other end when she downs half a melon, so I am not the one constantly indulging this love affair - Grandpa is the one to blame (or I'm sure in Lark's mind applause and deem him her favorite person ever ever) for keeping the house consistently stocked. But, really, I don't mind a bit. Watermelon and this girl were made for each other, so I'll let her enjoy this summer fling while it lasts...

Do you have a soul mate food?

lark's 1st birthday!

We threw Lark's first birthday party on St. Patrick's Day (even though her actual birthday was last week) with a 'Gold At the End of the Rainbow' theme. It was so nice and we really appreciate all of our family coming out to celebrate this little cutie's life with us. She really is a lucky girl to be loved by so many wonderful people!

For the decor, I cut out 'Lucky Birthday Girl!' from gold sparkle paper using this font and simply taped it to the wall, then made a rainbow with balloons. The utensils and straws were held in gold glitter dipped mason jars I made that morning, and chocolate gold coins were strewn about the cake. 

We kept the menu light with pasta salad, french country bread, and green grapes. I took a chance on the pasta trying out a recipe I had never made before and it was a hit! I would definitely make it again for a large crowd since it was so easy (although I would love to tweak the dressing a bit and use fresh herbs instead of a ranch dressing packet).

When it came time to blow out the candle, we had to hold Lark back because she kept trying to grab the flame, completely opposite of her older sister who shied away from the candle when she turned one. It is so fun to start noticing these little differences in personality between them - lately, Lark is really starting to show us that she is her own little person!

As has become tradition, Husband made her birthday cake from scratch and it was definitely the highlight of the party! He used this recipe using all natural dyes and the colors turned out so vibrant and beautiful. LM was so excited for the cake to be cut saying it was magical - I think she was right. 

Lark, on the other hand looked at the cake admiringly for a moment, then signed 'All done!' and attempted to shove it off the edge of her highchair. That makes two for two kids in this family not interested in eating any birthday cake at their first party. Oh well, at least I caught the plate before it fell.

At the end, we gave all of her cousins party favors consisting of watercolors and chocolate gold coins. My sister gave me this idea and I thought it was so clever - some gold at the end of the rainbow to take home! 

(These pictures are a mish-mash from my camera, my iphone, and my SIL Heather. Thank you Heather for saving me when my camera battery died!)

little vintage style: one year old

Lark's birthday fell on Sunday this year, so we didn't need an excuse to dress up for the occasion. The weather was so nice we stopped by the park after church and managed to capture our little Lark the day she turned one before our visit was cut short to avoid a potty emergency. Can't wait for the park bathrooms to be open again now that the weather is warming up!

She still looks pretty bald in pictures, but in real life you can see she is finally growing some hair. And, not only is she growing hair but so far it is coming in RED! I must now publicly apologize to my mother who has said from the beginning she was going to be a redhead and we never believed her - a mother really does know best!

At first, LM said she didn't want to be in any pictures, but the inner child model in her couldn't resist pulling out a pose or two, ha! I swear I only told her to "go over by Lark."

I am going to miss the fun pop of color a pair of tights adds to an outfit, but it will feel so nice to have some sunshine on my legs. I have been dabbling in the world of lipstick however, so I suppose I can still get a bright pop of color that way. Are you a lipstick wearer? I never wore it until recently. I decided I wanted to feel confident wearing lipstick if I so chose and it has been really fun!

I just got this skirt on sale (it seems to be gone now) and even though it's knit, I think the light colors will translate well into Spring. You've seen LM's dress before almost one year ago here (she looks so much older now!).

LM wore: dress, vintage//cardigan and tights, Old Navy//shoes, Nordstrom Rack

Lark wore: dress, vintage//tights, Old Navy// shoes, Target

Mama wore: shirt, Layers Clothing//skirt, Anthropologie//tights, Target//belt, Nordstrom//shoes, Anthropologie

And, here is Lark doing a happy dance for turning one! Yay!