Happy Birthday, Memere!!

This weekend we celebrated Memere's birthday! We took her out to a movie, cooked her a delicious (if I do say so myself) dinner and made her a fantastically decorated birthday cake! Here is the birthday girl with Sadie!

And she had a little help blowing out her candles! The cake was COVERED (and by covered, I mean an inch thick in places) with sprinkles.  The kids were so proud they decorated the cake all by themselves!

Cheese!

Happy Birthday Memere! We love you so much!!

Deja Vu

This is John and Bess. About 25 years ago.

This is Andy and Veda. About 3 months ago.

Amazing. Two sweet little boys with adorable little girls they love so much.  Thanks Anne for sharing.  These made my day!!

7 Months

It's true. Sadie is 7 months old. She is growing too fast. I would love for her to slow down a little. I say things like, "she is too big for her britches" and "she has no idea how old she is!"

But honestly, I would not change a thing about her. She is an amazing baby. Always happy, smiling and cooing (or SCREAMING) with joy.

She likes to try to stand up.  Sometimes I help her and she becomes so proud of herself! It cracks me up.  Here she is standing up at gymnastics. She is making eyes at the man sitting next to us.  She has also started hiding her face and peaking back out at people, taking flirting to a whole new level.

With all of our adorable babies, we have taught them the game.... "How big is (insert name)?? So big!!" and the baby is supposed to raise their arms over their heads.

Sadie started totally getting the game yesterday. It is so funny because a lot of the time she doesn't get her hands all the way above her head and this happens......yeah. Notice her peaking out?  She just can't stand it and ends up with a big smile on her face!

Oh yes, and she is minutes away from clapping. 

Nothing is safe around this one. She will lunge, roll and scoot until she gets her little fingers on whatever she is after. Tonight at dinner she ended up covered in tomato sauce after rolling through Julie's plate.  (we were having a picnic outside, she wasn't sitting on the table)

One of my favorite things about Sadie is that she LOVES her big brother and sister.  And the feeling is mutual.  The big kids are there to love on her the second she wakes up and she is all smiles to greet them.  She wants everything they have and they would give her anything if we didn't tell them no (think ice cream and meatballs).

Sadie is one cool baby and we love loving on her every day!!

What the Silliness??

When Julie is perplexed by something Andy (or one of us) does, she will say, "What the silliness??" Well, she says it a lot but sometimes, we say it to her too! All 3 kids have many silly moments every day. I wish I could get pictures of more of them.

 Here is Sadie ripping apart a magazine and screaming!

Yup. That's a funny boy.

Kissy/frog face?

Sadie screaming for avacado.  You can tell she is using her whole body!

Wow.

Goobers.

Weekends

Weekends around these parts are pretty fun. John works in the mornings so it's just me and the kids for the first half of the days. Most of the time before John gets off work, we hang out at home, play with our awesome neighbors, ride bikes, and just play, play, play. Sometimes we go to the park or meet up with friends at the zoo for puppet shows.

Last weekend we were going to go to the beach when Daddy got home.  The kids were so excited. As soon as we got bathing suits on they went out and waited for him.

And it was really fun at the beach.

They dug, played in the water, looked at tide pools and ran back and forth to the water about a hundred times.

Sadie thought it was fantastic!

She has been playing outside with us a lot. Most of the time we plop her on a blanket in the grass and she plays with her toys and soaks it all in. The big kids stop by and say hello to her as they are playing, riding bikes, whatever.  She is mostly a happy camper.

And gets pretty worn out. She is completely asleep here, still holding her own bottle.

Yesterday we took the kids on a 2 mile hike! They had so much fun! We didn't have to carry anyone, well, except Sadie, and there was minimal whining. We saw a snake and answered about a million questions about the area and animal habitats. It was really fun and we can't wait to go again. Andy was upset when we got back to the car. He was ready to turn around and do it again.

Since we wore the kids out on the hike yesterday, we moved a little slower this morning.  We played a lot indoors before going out to play with our neighbor friends.  The kids built a tower of blocks.  They were not even holding it here! They were so proud of themselves!

When John got home, we went off and got all the stuff to plant a garden.  Andy was dragging his wagon all over the place, he was so funny. Not particularly helpful, but funny.

The girls relaxed while John and I got everything ready for the planting.  Then, Julie popped up to help plant the plants and water.

And here is our fun little garden.  It's about 4'x4'.  We'll see if we actually get anything out of it.  We haven't always been great at the whole watering thing.

Yeah, weekends around here are pretty fantastic. There are always friends involved. Fun outings. Yummy food. This is the good life.

Cute Cousins

These were taken a few months ago, and I should have put them up sooner, but we have had so much other stuff going on! Better late than never, right?? This could totally be John and Bess when they were babes!

Bananas in Pajamas!! Ok, cousins in pajamas, but still adorable.

Oh Veda, how sweet you are!  I love the look on her face. "Yes Auntie Rachel? Did you say something?"

The Girls!!!!

And the goofballs! Andie, Elliot, Julie and Andy. Squeezed onto the hearth.

Pre-School Graduation

The kids school had an adorable little "graduation" ceremony for the kids moving up into kindergarten.  It was pretty amusing.

Julie was so excited when it was her turn.

They asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said, "A police officer, teacher, singer, nurse and princess."  Can't tie a girl down to just ONE profession!

They sang a few songs. "Wheels on the Bus" "There's a Little Wheel Turning in my Heart" "Shake the Sillies Out" and "Kindergarten Here We Come"  They were all equally fantastic.

After, there was cake. And we took a few pictures with friends. Here are Kaitlyn, Manny and Julie. They played t-ball together and are some cute little buddies.

The girls. These two are going to be in the same kindergarten class next year. They are already great friends. 

Andy did good through the whole thing. But as soon as those kids were off the stage, he was off to the trikes!At one point, Julie was sitting on the back eating cake while he rode.

Sadie was content to snuggle with Grammy.  Daddy, Pop-pop, Memere and Uncle Justin were also there. They just escaped my camera!

We know Julie is ready for kindergarten and will be amazing. The only question is, is kindergarten ready for her???