Happy Birthday Reesa

My little girl is growing up! Reesa has been so excited to have a birthday for months now, I'm not sure it really hit her today's the day.

Chelsey & Brinley took us to Chucky E Cheese and my kids had a blast learning the rides take tokens, and how to put them in. NO ONE was there, so we had the place to ourselves, and I hardly watched my kids. It felt like the first time ever I wasn't stressed about being somewhere. Jansen had so much fun playing ALL the games with balls, and climbing on all the rides. AND Mitchell just slept in my MOBY Wrap.

I didn't make her cake because I scored!... Her primary teacher made Reesa the cutest Cinderella cake!

I didn't take a picture before it got torn apart... There was a big pink gumball on top, the wheels were connected, and Jansen wouldn't give back the other horse that should be pulling the carriage.

When we cut open the cake Reesa kept looking EVERYWHERE for Cinderella.
Her first friend party is tomorrow, how exciting. Here are the cute invites we made.
Reesa is just the sweetest thing, (if only I had more PATIENCE!) She loves PINK, and told me she has two favorite colors... dark pink, and light pink. She love to sing, & dance to her own pace. She loves having attention, and wants everyone to always be included. She'll always ask about "the whole family" eating, going somewhere, loving her, etc.
If I only have one girl Reesa, I'm glad it's you! Happy Birthday baby doll.

Thumb sucker

I've never had one of these before... is that why I think it is SO DANG CUTE???
Here's what Mitchy constantly looks like trying to find his thumb...


P.S. I forgot to mention, Mitchell has officially smiled! He was so happy yesterday and smiled several times!!! Now to capture that moment on film...

One is good, two is better

One is good, two is better. That's certainly our motto around here. We got these Jansen proof snow globes from CVS that Jansen can't stay away from. They play music and blow snow, just like a snow globe, but no water, and no glass, it's plastic. Perfect to add to my kid Christmas decorations.
After I got home with just one, I realized it was going to be a problem because Jansen WOULD NOT share. So we got one for Reesa, and things didn't change much!

what a ham!

Mitchell's 6 months!

Mr. Mitchell is now 6 months! He weighed in at 12 pounds 8 ounces making him in the 3% for weight. No one seems to be worried because he's got rolls! We saw the cardiologist and his aorta is hanging in there, but he'll need it monitored until he has his next heart surgery. We go back in March. The surgery is better the older Mitchell gets, so we hope it's awhile. (I was under the impression, get it over with and be done, nope! that's not best.)
We need to see the urologist now because we found he has a hypospadia. AND we saw the GI doctor last week to increase his transit time for food in his belly. (Ultrasound showed a full stomach after feeding 3 hours prior.) It's just a guessing game so we'll see how the meds work in 10 days!
So basically Mitchell's life is LOTS of doctor visits, lots of kisses and ALWAYS being held and loved! Reesa loves to be "in charge" of Mitchell when I go get a diaper, or something. And Jansen has started to acknowledge Mitchell's existence and will point to Mitchell's head when I ask him "where's the baby?'
And of course here's Whitney, loving my kiddies as usual.

Happy happy happy anniversary...

Like most things unplanned, our anniversary caught us off guard again! With so much going on we almost forgot... Since our anniversary was on a Sunday this year, we couldn't just do the nice dinner option. So the night before Jake asked me if we could just go "stag" this year! I couldn't stop laughing because I thought the whole idea of an anniversary was to celebrate being together? But deep down I thought it was a good idea.

If you want an anniversary to remember with extra money to spend, get married during a boring time of year, with nothing else going on... otherwise you'll just have to celebrate ALL YEAR to make everyday special. That's what we do around here. I Love you Jake!

BTW Jake told me he loves that we enjoy watching TV together. So we put our kids to bed, made chocolate lava cakes, and fell asleep within the first 20 minutes of our movie. (ever seen Shrek 3?)

Thanksgiving 2009

So much has happened, and I would LOVE to bore you with all the details, but I just don't have time right now. So I'll be as brief as I know how...

I turned 20,12 and had a wonderful lunch with girls from the ward. On my actual b-day Jake got home late and wanted the kids in bed on time, so we sang happy birthday, opened some gifts, put the kids to bed and ate cake without them. So we took ZERO pictures. Nick and Julie were here from Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving, so we got to celebrate with them. How lucky am I?
Aaron had back surgery (AGAIN, poor guy) so we got to host at our house. Julie came well prepared with lots of fun activities to keep the kids happy and involved.

Thumbprint place cards.

Turkey apples were a hit! (Brinley above, Rylee, Isaac, and Anica below)

Jansen

lots of crafts to spell Happy Thanksgiving
Isaac cutting leaves for our thankful tree.

Reesa and Anica making pies

The only picture I have of the tables...
Chelsey carving the turkey, we had 2. (the turkey I bought was still frozen after being in the fridge 4 days! Don't worry we still put it in the oven and had it for dessert that night! SO DELICIOUS! Thanks Nick for doing all of it.)
Julie and Nick, sorry Julie I had to post your photo...

Me and Jake

What a thankful year we've had. What a blessing to have little Mitchell in our lives, to live so close to my sister, all the new friends we've made here in Virginia, and all the ones old ones who just keep getting better! Here's a photo from Thanksgiving 2008. We talked Julie and her family into coming back and making it a tradition. It was so fun to have you. Thank you for coming!!!