This year was the first year we had both girls in dance class. Luckily for us their classes were back-to-back every Saturday morning, though it would have been even better had they been at the same time. Two birds, one stone and all. Unfortunately for us their recitals were on separate days, so instead of having a single recital we had a recital weekend: Friday dress rehearsal, Stasa's turn on Saturday, and Lexi's on Sunday.
Now, Lexi wasn't the most patient ballerina during the year and hardly ever paid attention during their recital routine practices. I was fairly sure that she would break down crying when we left her backstage and then either refuse to come out on stage or just stand there. Well, she did neither. During the dress rehearsal on Friday night both girls were amazing. In fact, Lexi was the best in her class and did EVERY move. I was so proud of both girls and took them out to eat for a special dinner that night. The next day was Stasa's recital and she woke up so excited for STAGE DAY! This year I put a bit more makeup on her than I had in the previous years. She sat still the whole time and let me apply a little eyeliner, light eye shadow, mascara, blush and tinted lip gloss.
And look at that pose! The kid has it DOWN. She did a great job on stage, as always. Tom bought her a bouquet of flowers and gave them to her at the end of the recital.
The next day was Lexi's turn and since her recital was late afternoon we were able to get her to take a nap first. I should have planned better though because for some reason I thought we had to leave the house at 3:00, but really that's when she needed to be backstage. EEP. Thankfully I pulled everything together and was able to grab her and speed off to the school. Tom and the kids came after and got in their seats right before the recital began. And again Lexi made us so proud. She remembered every move (with a little help from her teacher in the stage curtains) and had the biggest smile on her face. Actually both girls had smiles that lit up the stage. After Lexi's recital Tom gave her a big bouquet of flowers, too.
The day Stasa's been waiting for finally arrived: recital day. Ever since she got fitted for her costume she's been asking when she's going to the stage. That's how she puts it. Going to the stage. So we've been mapping out our year since her birthday to help her understand when she's going to the stage. Mommy's birthday, Uncle Vince's birthday, Lexi's birthday, Easter Bunny comes, new baby comes, then STAGE. So with the passing of each occasion she would run through the list again. After the little man was born she started asking every Saturday on the way to and from dance class. When her costume came in she got even more excited. Rehearsal day arrived. And then The Day. Stage Day.
Last year we were rushing and ended up getting to the school with just enough time to throw Stasa into her costume, get her to the dressing room, and get to our seats before the show started. This year I was determined to have plenty of time to get Stasa ready, take a few pictures, and find decent seats. Tom wasn't too thrilled with my plan since it got us to the school an hour before Stasa needed to be there. BUT I did end up with plenty of time to get Stasa stage ready and take pictures.
Stasa was quite happy with her costume and hair and makeup. But really she would love anything that was pink and covered in sequins. And she loved that she got to wear makeup, even though it was only a little bit compared to what the other girls were wearing. They requested that they wear black eyeliner and mascara, brown eye shadow, blush, and dark pink lips. We opted for blush, light eye shadow, pink lip gloss, and clear mascara. Still Stasa was thrilled and felt special. I'm not the biggest fan of her crazy new smile. You really have to catch her unaware to get a genuine smile nowadays otherwise you end up with a cheeseball.
And now seeing this picture I'm kind of shocked at what I actually look like. Here I was thinking it wasn't totally obvious that I'm nursing, but then BAM in yo face.
Stasa did a great job on the stage. I warned Kelly that she might get up there and not do anything but smile, and there were definitely moments of OMG I'M ON THE STAGE smiling, but there was also some beautiful dancing. She's such a ham.
I managed to record about half of the recital rehearsal before my phone ran out of storage space. That's what I get for taking a bajillion pictures and forgetting to transfer them to my hard drive. Still I'm glad I captured what I did.
Tommy was a gem. He ate and ate again and then passed out on Kelly's shoulder for the rest of the show. Then there was Lexi. She was fine for a bit sitting on my lap and then having a few snacks with Tom, but then she started flipping out when there were only a few performances left. Tom ended up taking her out to calm down which apparently took quite some time.
It didn't help that she was up before dawn, didn't really eat, and the recital was during lunch and nap time. She was a little better once she got out of the auditorium and got some food, but was still a bit of a pill for the rest of the day.
And that concludes this year's dance class. Now we have to decide if we'll enroll Stasa in another year and if we'll have Lexi start. I'm thinking it'd be nice to have both girls in class at the same time and I'm pretty sure Stasa wants to keep dancing.
In other news the boy and I have been lounging around at home. We've gotten into somewhat of a routine. After the girls and Tom are ready and out the door, I have my coffee and Tommallama has a couple of nursing sessions. He seems to like cluster feeding in the early morning and then napping for an hour or so. Then rinse and repeat. Sometimes we venture out and run errands, but most days we hang around the house and I get a few things done...some days it's laundry, other days it's general household upkeep. And then there are days when we don't leave the couch.
But nearly every day around 3:00 or so I get started on dinner. I've been working on having dinner ready so we can eat as soon as Tom and the girls get home. It's been so nice to have so much time after dinner to play with the kids. If it can stay warm enough every day we'll start hitting up the pool after dinner to let the girls burn off some energy. It's funny, but even after a jam packed day at school, with tons of play time outside, they still come home full of energy and ready to go.
Last Saturday we went to Stasa's first dance recital. I was originally thinking that since her group was the second one on the program that we'd be able to see her dance, then grab her and go. Not so much. These dance companies are strict. They didn't really want anyone leaving mid-program unless it was an emergency. I guess they wanted everyone to stay so other dance routines wouldn't be interrupted. No big deal.
The recital was actually relatively short and quite entertaining. The little little girls were the absolute best. Hands down the best. There were a few older groups, but mostly it was the littles dancing. My favorite group, besides Stasa's, was this pseudo gymnastics tumbling group. They did some really awesome jumps and flips and kicks and were just so well coordinated.
They didn't allow any videography during the actual recital and things were so hectic backstage before and after the show I didn't get any pictures before Stasa decided to get out of her costume. I did, however, manage to get a video of the dress rehearsal the night before. Warning: you'll probably die from the cuteness.
