Happy 4th Birthday Stella!

Wow, our little baby girl turned 4 years old today!!! We CANNOT believe she is 4 years old already. How time flies.

Stella's big birthday present this year was a bedroom makeover complete with a new twin bed, new bedding, an upholstered headboard (made by Mama & Dada), a little sling chair and table for Stella to read and lounge on. While Stella was playing games on the computer, Dada set up her new room. He then waited inside her room with the camera to take pictures of her reaction to the big surprise.

As you can see by the pix above and below, Stella LOVED her surprise and her girlie room!!!!

Stella then tested out her new bed...

At the time we surprised Stella, we hadn't put up her upholstered headboard or curtains up yet, (b/c the headboard wasn't finished). So this is what Stella's room likes like now.

We still have to get a few more items to complete her room, like a dresser and nightstand and put up some pictures, so it's still a work in progress. But in the meantime, Stella absolutely loves her new room and that's all that matters.

After Stella's big surprise was revealed, we all went to Olive Garden for dinner and then came back home to cut the cake.

Mama made Stella a butterfly cake which she just loved.

The Gup had to check out the cake as well...

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Stella.

Stella then blew out the candles and we all enjoyed some cake.

Since her big gift this year was not something that was wrapped up, we decided to get Stella one other gift that could be wrapped up so that she would have something to open.

It was a digital camera. In the pix below, Mama was able to capture Stella's sheer delight in getting a digital camera.


Stella testing out her new camera.

We had a great time celebrating our baby girl's 4th birthday. Stella...Mama, Dada, and Desmond love you so much!!! We hope you enjoyed your special day!

A Trip to the Playground

Mama took Stella and Des to the nearby playground near our subdivision's clubhouse and pool this morning. The kids had fun playing, despite the heat. Des just loved picking up and dumping the gravel that was on the playground.

Stella liked swinging and climbing up the rock wall.



After playing, we met Dada for lunch near campus.

Just Chillaxin'

Mama just loves this picture of Des relaxing on top of his Dada while watching a cartoon with Stella prior to getting ready for their bedtime routine.

Oh, those sweet lips and those cheeks...

Another Visit to Chuck E. Cheese

We all went to Chuck E. Cheese today and as you can see from the smiles in these pics, Stella loved it as usual. This time, Stella ventured out of the toddler zone and played a lot of adult games like, esp racing games with motion simulation.

Des, on the other hand, was not feeling the love for Chuck E. today! He was rather clingy and wanted to be held by Mama most of the time we were there.

At one point, while Dada was holding Des, Chuck E. Cheese walked by and Des was about to cry, but luckily, Chuck E. realized that Des was not a fan and he politely scurried off. Dada said that as soon as Des saw Chuck E., his grip on Dada's shoulder got very strong and very tight and stayed that way until Chuck E was out of Desmond's sight! Too funny!

At the end of our visit, Des walked away with a plastic grasshopper and Stella with a puzzle.

Happy 4th of July 2009

After a delicious cookout at home, we headed over to the ball park to see the county's annual fireworks. The fireworks were beautiful and we are happy to report that Des didn't cry and even seemed to enjoy it despite his scare from the previous night.

Early Fireworks

We started off the 4th of July weekend by setting off fireworks of our own in our backyard yesterday. It was lots of fun!

Des really liked it at first. At one point, Des just loudly exclaimed "Wow!" It was sooo cute to hear him say that which such genuine awe and delight at the fireworks! But then one of the firecracker was too loud for his liking and, bless his little heart, it scared him to death...so much so that he started crying and just wanted to go inside the house. Aunt Sil was kind enough to go inside with him and poor little Des didn't even want to watch the fireworks from the window!

Stella, on the other hand, was more brave than we expected her to be. She stayed outside to watch her Dada set off all of the fireworks. She even held sparklers, which she wasn't willing to do at the beach a month ago.

Stella really enjoyed the fireworks this year and kept asking us to do more for the rest of the night even though we explained to her that we finished them all.

Yeah! Aunt Sil is here

Aunt Sil came for a visit today and she will be here til next Tues. The kids are really excited to have her here and they are fighting over who gets to play with her.
Stella wants to show her how well she can read (she is currently on the 2nd grade Hooked on Phonics and is doing great with it)....

...and Gup just wants to sit in her lap.

Aunt Sil also brought the bangles that Amamma bought for Stella on her recent trip to India. Here she is modeling two of the pink bangles. Stella put the rest of the bangles in a container for safekeeping!