Bottom Bunk

About a week ago, we put the top bunk back on Julie's bed. Julie had been anxious to put it back up, in hopes of getting the crib out of their room and a little more space to play.  We told her we would "try" to have Sadie sleep in the bottom bunk, with a bed rail, but it might take some time, she is still very young. Both Julie and Andy were about 22 months when we put them into big kid beds. Sadie is 14 months. So we thought it would take some work.

The first nap time, this happened.

And since then, she has only slept in her crib once, and that was because her sheets were in the wash! Sadie has taken to being a big girl. And since she goes to bed about 30 minutes before Julie, she is asleep by the time Julie climbs up her ladder.  One night, Julie had a bad dream and ended up snuggling up on the bottom bunk with her. My heart completely melted when I found them.

She has not woken once during the night (knocking on wood) and in the morning, she wakes up, climbs down the stool (it is hard to tell in the picture, but the rail only goes half way down the bed) and pounds on the bedroom door to be let out.

We are taking the crib down this weekend. When did our baby get so big!?!

Julie's FIRST Birthday!!

When we were preparing for Sadie's first birthday, Julie and Andy started asking questions about their own first birthdays. They both wanted to know if they shoved the cake in their faces. I was easily able to pull up the blog for Andy, showing him how he hugged the cake into his body and covered himself with cake.

But I didn't start this blog until Julie was about 16 months, so I pulled her pictures off of our hard drive to show her. Of course she loved seeing herself as a little munchkin.

 And I decided it absolutely deserved it's own blog, especially with her 6th birthday looming on the horizon!

So the party was decorated in pink and purple. Since her birthday is close to Valentines, there were a lot of hearts!

Even though Uncle Justin and Aunt Audrey still lived in Louisville, they were at her birthday! That meant so much to me.

I love this picture of baby Julie and sweet little Anabelle!  I also remember that Heather and Joe were their with baby Lina, who was playing on the floor the whole time, not yet walking.  

Baby Julie showing Aunt Audrey the chalk.

I kept trying to put the cute party hat on her, but she wasn't into it.

Grandpa Mel was there, of course, front and center. Along with Uncle Ted, Memere, Grandma Hazel, Aunt Sharon....Grammy and Pop-pop, Christina and Brian, Chris and Kayla were all there as well, I think they mostly escaped pictures. I am not sure who took these pictures since I am in most of them!

Already enjoying her new gifts. Sadie is now playing with both toys in this picture!

Little tiny Dawson helped Julie open her gifts.

 

The best part was coming! And she didn't even know it!

 

She loved the singing, she clapped for us the whole time! And look at her handsome Daddy! So young!!

She was super smiley...even back then, she always had a smile on her face. I am hoping that is an attribute she keeps always.

Love the confusion on her face!

And there you go! All over her face.

And the pig tail shot! She had BARELY enough hair for pig tails, hard to believe considering her hair is already thicker than mine.

And there she is, my baby Julie, with crazy hair after pulling her shirt over her head.

This blog is only about 5 years over due. But I am glad I did it, now it will be in the book for 2013, and she will have it to look back on when she is older. This party was also a great time for John and I because we found out the day before that Andy was on the way!


Looking at these pictures, I seriously can not believe she will be 6 in a week, and is now reading, writing, and the best big sister in the entire world!

Happy Retirement Memere!

On Saturday night, Justin, Audrey, John and I put together a retirement party for Mom. We went over early and got the hall all set up. I think it turned out pretty festive.

The kids were beyond excited about the party. They loved helping set up the chairs and tables. They loved putting out the tablecloths. Lauren loved playing with the kitty that basically lives at the hall. Sadie was just excited to be there in general.

There were people from the Mom's former Department there, people from my department and many friends and family.

Lauren strutting her stuff through a line of people.

Love this picture of Mom and her best friend Sue!

The food was amazing, thanks to our friends Erin and Charlie and everyone who attended brought a dish. There was plenty of food that was all delicious.

More pictures of food....it was just so good!

It was a great turn out. As with every party, there were people that weren't able to make it and they were missed.  But there were plenty of well wishers to help Mom celebrate this big step!

We were able to get a few family pictures! Everyone in one spot at one time...its a miracle!

The Police Association gave Mom a badge with the Centennial Logo on it. Since the City is having their Centennial Celebration this year, they are all having new badges made. The one given to Mom was beautiful!

I didn't get a picture at the party but Mom's friends Naomi and Keith (along with their son David) made the trip from up North. I hadn't seen this since Julie was a baby so we went out to breakfast the next morning. It was so nice of them to come all the way down to help us celebrate.

So happy retirement Mom! Enjoy every minute. You have earned it!

What We've Been Up To

Now that the Christmas Holiday is done, we have been lounging around kicking back, doing nothing.....

No, that's not true at all.  Right after Christmas Sadie got sick. So we nursed her back to health while keeping the big kids entertained.

We stomped around outside a lot. It has been raining and Andy is obsessed with the "Ditch Tunnels" that are now full of water. Every time we go outside he has to make sure they are clear and flowing properly. Not sure what he would do if they weren't.....

Luckily it didn't take Sadie too much time to get back to her normal silly self. She always walks up to this footstool, takes the top off (there is a smaller one inside) and sits in it. She won't sit on it with the top on it. That would just be craziness!

Another silly shot. This was the first time out of the house for her in 4 days! She was going stir crazy as she loves to be outdoors wondering around.

The kids got a few puzzles for Christmas so we have been doing lots of puzzles. Andy is really into the USA puzzle right now. Always cracks me up hearing him say things like, "Next I need Michigan....where is Michigan?"

This stinker is already pushing her sister's buttons. She always climbs into her bed, steals her books, etc. I have a feeling she will be in a big girl bed VERY soon. She is trying really hard to climb out of her crib. Soon we will put the top bed back up and the crib will be out of here! And Sadie won't have to steal Julie's bed anymore!

While Sadie was sick the big kids and I made a TON of orange juice. For a whole day, Andy's upper lip was stained orange!

This year I asked the kids to help me with the Christmas thank you cards. They were SO excited about them. Julie wrote "Thank you" and signer her and Sadie's names. Then she handed it off to Andy who signed his own name. They did all of them! There were 12 total. So proud of them!

Got this picture tonight...this is pretty much the face I get whenever I try to get a picture of Julie. She is excitedly planning her 6th birthday party (with our help and reasoning of course).  So far, it's gymnastics and My Little Pony....we'll see what happens.

So there you go! We are hanging out, having fun, enjoying these kiddos, oh yeah, and working, doing laundry, all the unexciting stuff.  Happy New Year everyone!