by christine victoria alexander

Saturday, February 27, 2021

A PURIM TEA PARTY

Yesterday was Purim, the holiday that celebrates the Jewish people being saved by the heroism of Queen Esther! It is tradition to dress up, eat hamantaschen (a funny triangle shaped cookie), and read the whole Megillah (the story of Esther). This year I wasn't quite up to hosting my nieces and nephews for our annual hamantaschen/dress up fete, so I set up a little tea party for the girls instead. They dressed up like Queen Esther and ate cucumber sandwiches and hamantaschen while I told them the story of Purim! It was just the low key celebration we needed this year. 💛



I found this set of tea cups on Offer Up last year really cheap and it's been perfect for tea parties with the girls. It's not sentimental to me so if something breaks it's fine, and the girls feel so special getting to use "real tea cups" instead of their toy tea set. (It's also great practice for taking care of nice dishes!) 




I don't know why but it's just my nature to want to make every birthday & holiday feel really special for my girls. Last year I hosted or attended a party for every single holiday on the calendar and it started to feel like I just couldn't keep up. Or sometimes I would have really big ideas of a way to celebrate something and then it wouldn't happen and I would feel like a failure for not celebrating to the max - I mean, you don't get those birthdays back so if you miss the opportunity it's gone! My nature is to make things exciting and fun for everything and if it's not exciting and fun then it's a dud. Are you like that too?
Over the last couple of weeks I've been thinking about what the next few years will look like for us and I realized this: it is okay to make things special in a small way. It still counts. I am still making memories with my girls even if it's not the big colorful celebration that I have planned in my head. I am still making memories with my girls even if we are celebrating at home. I know that with a new baby I won't be able to do all the things for all the birthdays and holidays the way I would might like to, but I'm giving myself grace and planning to celebrate things in a small way this year with my girls. And it will be amazing and so, so special. Yesterday was proof of that. 💛 Chag Purim, sameach! Happy Purim, friends! 
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Saturday, February 20, 2021

INTRODUCING VIOLET SERENA

 Hello world, meet our fourth baby girl, Violet Serena! 

We are all completely smitten with this sweet baby. Her features are so teeny tiny and delicate and she has the most beautiful head of fluffy blonde hair that the girls can't keep rubbing and kissing. Birthing her was the hardest thing I have ever done. It was strenuous and exhausting, and not really like my other births at all. I am so grateful to my incredibly knowledgable and caring birth team for helping me birth her in the comfort of my home. And to my amazing husband for being my rock through all the emotional and physical ups and downs of this pregnancy and birth. I am sooooo happy to be on the other side of this pregnancy snuggling my sweet girl!

She weighed in at 8 lbs 11 oz, my biggest baby yet (though you wouldn't know it because she is so long and lean)! We just had our 2 week checkup and she is healthy and strong and nursing beautifully! 

I was laughing with my midwife at our checkup saying that while the birth was very difficult, Violet is a very easy baby and I think I'd rather have it that way than the other way around! She wakes up for her feedings every 3 hours like clockwork and goes back to sleep as soon as she is done feeding. She is rarely fussy and doesn't mind being bumped, poked, squished and squeezed by her adoring fans all day! 

Enjoy this photo dump of our first 2 weeks together!  

the prettiest flowers from my Poppop & a cozy hand knit sweater from Aunt Julianna




socks for mittens because I never remember to buy mittens before a baby comes




first bath and she loved it until it was time to get out...


(still warming up to) the cutest little animal friend from Aunt Morgan...



daddy & mommy love you so much

I will share more pictures of the girls with Violet soon - we had to keep them apart a lot the last couple weeks due to a cold circulating through the family but now everyone is healthy and I can't wait for all the sister pictures! I have four daughters!!! I could cry (I have, several times! haha postpartum hormones)! God is so good and I feel like the happiest wife and mother in the world! 
Sending big hugs to you all (and especially to family and friends that live too far to visit our cutie! We miss you!) xo
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