Happy Birthday to our Abigirl!

6th Birthday

5th Birthday

4th Birthday

3rd Birthday

2nd Birthday

1st Birthday

1st BDay Party

Happy Birthday Michael!

Happy 8th Birthday to Michael!

(8 years ago you made us parents...thank you!)

July 4, 2003 - 10:56pm

7lbs 15oz - 22in

Ghosts of birthdays past:

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

7 years old

(I took lots of picture from his 7th birthday in So. Carolina but they never made it to the blog - here is one)

Mommy and Daddy feel so fortunate to call you son! You are a smart, compassionate, funny guy and we could not be more proud of you!

cousins!

We were lucky enough to have my SIL and her children visit us at the beginning of February while my brother was on a business trip. They were here overnight and there was much fun had by all!

Having a birthday dinner for Abby. Homemade Mac n Cheese and Ceaser salad with homemade dressing - complete with anchovies (shhh! don't tell the kids - they LOVED it).

My Anna Banana - She and Damien had a couple go arounds. Once I went to the bonus room and she was saying "No baby, no no baby" and Damien was sitting on her. He looked at me like "what?" She is an absolute delight! She is also my phone buddy. She calls me on her moms cell phone and we talk...her mom did NOT know she was doing that by the way...she thought Anna was playing 'calling Aunt Mimi."

Jack Attack! My Godson. Love him. He had so much fun playing with Michael (whom he worships). Being an only boy he needs that quality male cousin lego time!

Lexi is such sweetness. Damien adores her. There is a picture of her on my phone and Damien likes to find it and smile at it and talk to it and then show it to anyone that is around...including strangers at the store.
Kaitlyn...is 10...how on EARTH did that happen? Her mom was pregnant with her at our wedding! It was nice to spend time with her and listen to all the wonderful things rolling around in her head.

mmmmmmm cake

The birthday girl - she was so excited to share it with cousins.

The kids thought it was awesome that it is so windy here. They were pretending they were going to blow over (or not pretending...it was pretty windy that night).

We all went back inside and someone was upset he wasn't in the picture. So we went back out....can you guess who it was?

There was much playing with cell phones. It was quickly determined that Aunt Susan's iphone was WAY cooler than mommy's LG phone...I agree...I agree...

The 4 older kids had a camp out on the floor of the bonus room. We really can't wait for them to come back to visit. :)

Our Baby Girl is 6!

Happy 2nd Birthday Damien!

from this...

Damien - 2008 (moments after birth)

to this...

2009 - 1 year

to this....

2010 - 2 years

Life with you is full of joy and never dull! We love you Lolek!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 5th Birthday Abigirl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

Our birthday present to Ben. The kids and I had so much fun putting them together.

Fairy Princess Party!

At 1pm we had 3 of Abby's friends (Sara, Livie & Mia) over for a fairy princess party. It was a lot of fun and the girls really enjoyed themselves.

Our big 4 year old!
Birthday cupcakes...thanks Krista for the cupcake stand (I really want one now - they are cool!)

Each girl received a crown, wings and a magic wand.

from left to right: Livie, Abby, Mia & Sara.

Damien got lots of attention from both the little girls and their mommies.

Abby received lots of nice presents. She was particularly excited about her big girl booster seat.

She tried very hard not to be shy when we were singing to her.

--Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this a special day for Abby.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!

So for my birthday (the BIG 30) Ben took me to Portland for the night. On the way we stopped and did some shopping (yey!) at the outlet stores. I was able to get some additional winter maternity clothes. We stayed at a very cool, very funky little hotel in downtown Portland called Hotel Lucia. It was very nice (we had a suite) and my favorite part was the pillow menu (a selection of pillows you could get in your room). Being 8+ months pregnant the body pillow was quickly ordered! We would definantely stay there again.


We had dinner at the Melting Pot. The entrance looked like a subway entrance and the resturaunt was under ground. The pictures are dark because...well it was dark in there! We had SO much fun. We sat in a cute little booth behind a curtain, very private. It took us nearly 3 hours to eat but it was so nice to relax and not be rushed through our meal. We had the traditional swiss fondue, a selection of meat/seafood/vegetables and the yin and yang chocolate dessert. It was SO good.

Thank you Dad, Kristen and Rebekah for watching the kids while we were gone...it makes it so much more relaxing knowing they are in good hands and having fun!

Off Nana and DziaDzia's house we go...

At the end of June we flew out to South Carolina to visit our Nana and Dziadzia. We had lots of fun playing in their pool and celebrating Michael's 5th birthday and Abby's 3 1/2 birthday.

Dziadzia brought Abby a beautiful gardinia from his garden to wear in her hair for her birthday party and Nana let Abby wear her kitty cat brooch.


Nana made Abby her favorite foods for her birthday lunch.

(see the gazelles on the wall behind the table? Abby called them ghosts and named them Uncle Pat and Joe)

Abby LOVED the Madam Alexander doll that looked like her and came with a little lamb (just like her).

"Happy 1/2 birthday to Abby!"

I'm a princess!

Nana and Dziadzia's neighborhood had a 4th of July parade and picnic. Nana led the parade and Michael and Abby walked behind her. I walked with them until Abby got tired and then I carried her back to the club house. After the parade we had yummy food...we really liked the watermelon. It was a very hot and humid day so we were ready to go home and jump in the pool.

"Happy 5th Birthday to Michael"

(Michael handled the singing better than in years past, 3rd and
4th)

Then it was out to the pool for more fun. Abby was very independent and didn't want any help in the water. Michael was more cautious and stayed on the step or with Daddy and Dziadzia.

That night we celebrated more with sparklers - the kids really enjoyed those (once they got the hang of it).

Unfortunately the week went by really fast and we had to go back home. Thank you Nana and Dziadzia for such a wonderful visit!