Three in One

It's been a year since we did Kalissa's first model comp card and since a lot happens over the course of a year with toddlers, Kali's agency requested a new one.  I knew I was going to include my favorite picture from our recent trip to Lake Miramar but what about the other 3 pictures??  Surely, I had some pictures in the archives that would work.  But after a thorough check, I realized that I didn't really have any good recent photos that I could use.  Ohhhh nooo!  Well, that only left one option -- having to come up with 3 different looks in one day!  Could we do it?  You bet we could and we did!

First I washed her hair and gave her a quick blow out for a casual look:

Then I twisted her hair and after it was dry, gave her a quick twist out for beauty pics:

And lastly, I fluffed up her hair and pulled it off her face for a playful look:

This last look was the hardest to get...which is to be expected after doing 3 mini photoshoots in one day!  At one point she was done and she was NOT taking one mo picture.  In fact, the last picture I took of her was this:

That was all she could muster up for a smile!  *LOL* 

When she asked me why I was taking so many pictures, I told her it's so she can be in the magazine.  Then she said, "But Mommy, I want to be on the TV too!!"  Awww...well hopefully the pictures I chose for this composite will be enough to get Disney to call me asap!!  : )

Working the System!

I'm a softy.  There, I said it.  I am a softy.  Daddy is not.
We both work really hard on keeping Kalissa in check and in line both at home and away from home.  It's not easy.  Kalissa knows how to work the system.  When she acts up at school, her teacher will usually write a note and put it in Kalissa's cubby to inform us of her dastardly deeds.  But sometimes the teacher is too busy to write a note and we get informed of her behavior the next morning at drop off.  My not-quite-4-year-old has learned to look in her cubby for the note.  If there is none, she tells us she had a FABULOUS day at school!  But for whatever reason, Kalissa hasn't managed to connect the dots that eventually we will learn of her badness and she will not only be punished for acting up, but more importantly, for lying to us about having a fabulous day.  This is precisely what occurred earlier this week.  I came home from work and walked in on Daddy's lecture to her.  As he was explaining why he was going to discipline her, she kept interrupting with these great one liners:
"But Daddy, you said you love me!"
"Daddy, you said you love me this much!" (arms stretched out wide) and for the grand finale:
"Daddy, you said you missed me all the day when you're at work!"

Oh my heart couldn't take it!  I was in the next room with my hand to my heart.  I couldn't have continued...it was a good thing that he was the one in there!  Great tactic babygirl!  ...just used it on the wrong parent!  *LOL*

In addition to working the system, she continues to work the camera!  These pictures were taken at Lake Miramar today.  She's showing off her twist-out hairdo.  I can't believe that this time last year I thought her hair would never grow!  I still love styling it and she patiently waits for me to do all I need to do because she LOVES looking at herself in the mirror at the finished product!  aye yi yi!  Daddy get your shotgun ready!!

And my favorite shot of the day:



He is Alive in My Heart!

I often get asked about our participation in the commercial aspects of ‘religious’ holidays.  Example, people look at me crazy at Christmas because we don’t put a gazillion gifts under the tree or perpetuate Santa Claus.  We are not anti-Santa…we sing songs about Santa, we’ve taken pictures with Santa, and we watch the classic Santa cartoons.  But only as a backdrop.  We are careful to put the focus on the reason for the season: The birth of Jesus Christ!

Same thing with Easter.  I can’t tell you how many people looked at me with a sour face when I answered their questions: no, we aren’t coloring eggs or buying Easter baskets.  It’s  hard to explain that no, we are not anti-Easter Bunny but that at Kali’s age we want her to first learn the true meaning of Easter: to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ!  Later on, sure we’ll color eggs and put together a basket for her...because it's just fun.  This year we had a small Easter Egg hunt in our home – we recycled the plastic eggs that she collected at the preschool’s hunt on Thursday, dumped out most of the candy and refilled them with money (candy is still not big in our home).  But this was only after coming home from church on Sunday.

And evidently, she is taking it all in!  Last night, she started to tell us all of the things she knows about “Jejus”…without any solicitation from us.  Here are some of the highlights that she told us:

• “Jejus is going to make me sixteen and then twenty-one-forty and then forty-one pounds and I’m going to grow up and be big!  Jejus is going to do all of that for me!”
• “Jejus is not in the cave anymore.  He is alive in our hearts!” (places 2 hands over her heart)
• “Jejus carries us when our knees hurt.”
• “Jejus loves all of us!”
• *singing* “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty…there’s nothing my God cannot do!” (a song that she learned at preschool)

How cute is that!  Moments like this is exactly why I blog!  Gotta keep a diary of all this cuteness! 

After church services we took some photos since we were all matching and looking like a family!  *lol*   I didn’t realize that my hair had puffed up like a Q-Tip though!! *sigh*  Oh well, at least our girls looked gorgeous!

 

 

 

Kalissa being a comedienne caused a sudden burst of laughter!  Perfect for some candid shots!

 

 

Beyond Her Years

Kalissa is a great communicator...and I'm not just saying that because she's mine.  For her to be just a bit over 3.5 years old she's able to take things in, process them, store them in her little brain, and then let it out at just the right time.

Case and point:
The other day, Daddy and I were having a conversation that I guess lasted a bit too long for her taste.  So what does say to us?  Well, what any 3.5 year old genius would say:

 "Mommy, is this any of my concern?"

 

Insert rolling on the floor laughter here!!! Of course she didn't just pull that phrase out of thin air but it was just funny that she understands it and used it appropriately at her age.  I've heard her teachers use the phrase, "Billy, this is not any of your concern" when a child is being disciplined and other kids are standing around watching it go down. 

 

So she was just wondering if she should continue to be up in grown folks' business or go back to daydreaming about My Little Pony.  *LOL*

 

Reason #1,034,295 why I LOVE THIS GIRL!!!!

 



Baby's 1st Bowl

Yesterday, we took a family trip to the bowling alley....this would be Kalissa's first bowling trip so we weren't quite sure how it would be.  When I told her that we were going bowling she was soooo excited!  She was jumping up and down, squealing and telling me that I'm the best mother ever for letting her bowl.  Then she went over to the t.v. and picked up the Wii remote controls!  *LOL*  She thought we were bowling in the house on the Wii and was excited because she thought she was finally getting permission to play with it!  I tried to explain that we were going to a real bowling alley but since she's never been to one, she was not happy!  She kept saying she wanted to bowl on the t.v.

Her tune changed as soon as we got to the bowling alley and she saw all of the lanes.  We ordered up a bunch of fried, unhealthy bowling alley food:  popcorn chicken, fried calamari, chicken wings, fried mushrooms, etc. while we waited for a lane.  When it was our turn, she couldn't wait to pick a ball and insisted on having a pink one.   Unfortunately, we couldn't find a kids' pink ball so she ended up with a watermelon colored 6 pounder.  She also got a kick out of her bowling shoes.  Daddy and I took turns helping her roll the ball and she was super excited each time it made it down the lane (even if it didn't knock down any pins)!  Here she is on her first try:

It took forevvvver for that ball to make it down the lane and when it finally did, it didn't knock over a single pin!  *LOL*  Not to worry, she knocked down 3 on her 2nd ball and she was thrilled.  We had the bumper lanes up which was a blessing for the kids but a curse for Daddy and me.  Having the bumpers up meant not being able to "hug the edge" and our balls ended up bouncing all over the place.  However, it did allow the girls to get several spares and even a few strikes (including Kalissa!).  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get many pictures of our outting because a worker told me the flash was disturbing the league bowlers.  uhhh, okay.

The final score was:

I suppose there's no need to mention that I won with 126 (but I will since that NEVER happens), Daddy was 2nd with respectable 116, Candy (aka Devyn) came in 3rd with 106 points, Kalissa brought home 4th place with 81 points (we ran out of time on our prepaid game but she picked up the spare on her 2nd ball which gave her a 3rd ball and she knocked down another 8 pins)! and Qiana rounded us out with 78.  Good times, good times!

One more "first" down...countless more to conquer!

Spring Break 2013

So umm...where exactly is the "break" in "Spring Break"?  This year's Spring Break meant a house full of chir'rn for the Whitaker household.  Nine glorious days of all three Whitaker girls giggling and laughing non stop and me trying to keep the fridge stocked!  *lol*  But, I guess if the only thing I can complain about is extra grocery trips, then I'm actually doing alright!

Qiana's 14th birthday was 3/9 but I was in Las Vegas that weekend so we had to postpone the celebration until last Saturday.  We all went down to Red Lobster for dinner and then came home and had cake and ice cream.

On Sunday, we went to our local street fair and shopped, ate, and just had a great time.  The girls rode the rides...including Kalissa riding her very 1st ferris wheel all by herself! 



Kalissa is having a blast having both her sisters at home...I just hope she doesn't have an epic meltdown when Qiana has to go home tomorrow : (  But until then, we'll just bask in their happiness!

Sisterly Love

I don't have a sister...but if I did, I'd hope that our love would shine through like the pictures on this post.  Kalissa and Candy have the cutest relationship that grows more and more each day.  And so here's yet another installment of "a picture is worth a thousand words".

Today was a fabulous day. Kali and I started it off with a yoga class together while Daddy and Candy did some strength training.  Then Candy and I worked up a sweat in an hour-long Zumba class.  After Kali's nap, we headed to her ballet class and then we all went to Balboa Park where I captured the above sweet moments on film.  

Days don't get much better than this....