one year old!

Who me? Yes!

Happy #8, Harrison!

Today my first born turns 8! Happy birthday, Harrison. You are a light in our lives every single day. xoxoxoxoxo

the party was a success

Here is a quick post about Charlie's party that we had today at home. There's my mom holding Audrey, who was a real trooper today. She fell asleep on my mom's lap not long after that picture was taken. Charlie is opening his wished for Playmobil Vacation House. He was so excited, I'm sure he wanted everyone to go home right then and there so that he could open it up and start playing. Robert and I remembered to take pictures with the birthday boy. :)

Robert's sister got him this really neat magnifying toy called the EyeClops. It looks like a lot of fun. you can read about it here.

I am tired and looking forward to an uneventful day tomorrow. :)

6 years old today

Our sweet Charlie turned six today. Here he is last night "helping" me with the cupcakes for his little party at the park. And here he is right before he blew the candle out today.
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. He is a funny, shy, stubborn and wonderful little boy. He makes us laugh almost daily, he really is a comedian. Just don't ask him to perform in front of anyone, I think he would rather stick a fork in his eye. Once you get to know him, you can't help but notice his sweet little nature. He loves to be tucked in at night, is full of questions, and is as smart as a whip. We all are crazy for Charlie. Love you!

happy birthday, kiddo

Happiest of birthdays to my sweet niece Maddie who turned thirteen today. Holy cow. A teenager. I don't know how that happened because I am not thirteen years older. Hmm. :) I am lucky to be Auntie to this wonderful girl. She has a good head on her shoulders and is very bright. She has brought a lot of love and laughter into our lives. Her cousins absolutely adore and look up to her. I got to see her yesterday right after her braces were taken off. The top picture is from Audrey's baptism. I hope you have a great day!
Love, Aunt Jenny

happy birthday mom/grammie goose! :)

Love, Jenny, Robert, Harrison, Charlie & Audrey

happy birthday dad :)

Happy birthday to you, dad. I love you very much. I have the best memories from childhood because of you and mom. I treasure my memories of our tea parties the most, and it makes me smile to see you do the same with the boys. You taking a "drink" of tea that is way too hot and pretending to burn your tongue never gets old. I'm sorry we didn't get to see you today, and this is so late. As you know, I've got my hands full. ;) We hope to see you soon and celebrate your birthday properly. Love, Jenny

*Here is my dad (Papa) with his newest love, Audrey.

a little party, a little overdue

You may recall that Harrison turned 7 on the 30th of Dec. You also may recall that the little family party for him was cancelled because I got sick and thought I might cough this baby out. I was hoping that we would be able to have his party before the baby arrived and today we succeeded. I had our family over for cake and ice cream, and the most important part-the presents! I even told Harrison last night that just in case the baby decided to come ( I know, who am I kidding?) that I would have daddy still go ahead and have the party without me, provided that the timing worked. You know what he said? He told me, "I would make sure that we saved a piece of cake for you, mom. " Spoken like a true kid. We had a good time, it was nice and relaxing. Harrison got some neat stuff. The new Lego Police Station is already built, thanks to auntie. Harrison even managed to get in a couple of laps around the pool on the new electric Mini Cooper that Santa got for him and Charlie and delivered at Grammie and Papa's house. :)

Nothing to report baby wise. I am so excited to see what the doctor says tomorrow. I have a feeling they will be talking to me about inducing and right now I am tempted. I just want to meet this baby. Seriously, I can't wait. We are all excited and ready. I had a couple of Braxton Hicks contractions, but just like before, they never turn into anything else.

I watched a great movie last night. My parents got me the movie Waitress for Christmas. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but watch out. You will have a serious hankering for some pie when it's over. :)

So tomorrow after the doctor's visit I have to go to Target for some necessities. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, no? They are having their dollar days sale now and have a good deal on wipes and diapers. Can you tell that I am ready? This baby is going to be like every other member of Robert's family and be late. Really, it's true.

We still don't have any names picked out that are official contenders. We are a sorry set of parents. I keep thinking of my cousin Les and her husband taking the baby names book to the hospital and the nurse asked them, "What is wrong with you people?" Yea, that's us too. But I won't be taking the baby name book with us. I have a few suggestions up my sleeve, but nothing that Robert and I can agree upon. It's like pulling teeth with him. He has even suggested names that he doesn't necessarily like, just to say that he gave me a suggestion. That's a big help, honey!

I will let you know what happens tomorrow. My home school group has their monthly meeting tomorrow night and last Friday at school I told them that I plan on being at the meeting. Why miss it?

And lastly, I have figured out a fantastic way to turn forty and not really even realize it. Have a baby around your birthday. I'll be forty on Friday and really haven't given it a second thought. I've got bigger fish to fry right now, you know what I mean? :)

Have a good one!

Happy #7, Harrison!

Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet, Harrison. I can't believe I have a seven year old. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital on New Year's Day. What a way to start a year off right! I can't begin to name all of the ways he has blessed our lives and the lives of those around him. He is a great kid. He makes me proud to be his mom. Pure and simple. :)

We went to Rubys tonight for dinner. That seems to be the spot for birthdays for us. You might recall that we went for Charlie's birthday too. It was nothing fancy. I felt bad about calling off the little party we had planned on having, but I really don't think that anyone would have wanted to come and listen to me cough. Plus, I am exhausted. I ache from coughing so hard, it's a wonder my coughing hasn't kicked into labor. Harrison was a trooper though, he didn't mind at all because he still got to open his presents from us. And just look at him, does he look unhappy? I asked him tonight if he had a good birthday and he said yes, so I'm happy. :)

Legoland recap

For the birthday boy, my mom transported these cupcakes and frosted them there while we ate lunch. Now if that isn't love then I don't know what is.

Harrison had to be bribed to go on this roller coaster, and as you can see, he LOVED it. My sister, Robert and Maddie loved it too. Rather than pay $12.95 for the photo, I took a picture of the monitor. Cheap, I know.

My 3 lovelies.

The Las Vegas Lego Miniland was unbelievable!

I have no idea what my dad was thinking when he agreed to go on a ride called, "The Claw". This is not unusual for Mark, my brother in law, I was surprised my dad went on it too. What is really fun, is that for the people watching they have these water shooters that you can spray the riders with. Yes, you know we got them good.

We had a great time, we stayed far too long and were exhausted by the end of the day. :)

I have a doctor's appt. tomorrow. I am anxious to see how everything is going. I do feel good for the most part.

Swim lessons are on going. I couldn't pass up signing the boys up again, they did so well the first time around.

I am in a constant state of clean-up. Even though I have five months before the baby, (holy cow! only 5 months!?) I am nesting now I guess.

It is hot and humid here, not a good combination.

happy birthday, Charlie!

My baby turned 5 today, at 1:39 this morning to be exact. :) Thankfully, he slept in. We had a busy morning. After he woke up, he opened his presents from us then my sister and Maddie came over and gave him gifts too. And in the middle of all of this, I go into the bathroom to dry my hair. I just get started when the lights flicker for a second, then the power goes out completely. I felt kind of funny going to swim lessons with half of my hair dried, and the other half wet. At least we were at a pool, I wasn't the only one with wet hair, just the only one with half wet/half dry hair. It was so hot, it dried fast. Harrison had his swim class yell, "Happy birthday, Charlie!" from across the pool. My parents came to watch them both swim. Harrison jumped off the low dive into the deep end. I'm still amazed at what he has accomplished. After swimming the three of us drove to McDonalds for lunch, where the drive thru attendant upon hearing it was Charlie's birthday, gave him an extra toy. (Just what we needed.) This afternoon my parents came over and gave him their gifts. Boy, this kid is having a great day. He got his beloved Lego hospital this morning from my sister, and I think that he is in heaven now. It's good to be 5, right?
And tonight we are going to shooby dooby down to Rubys for dinner. The big party is this coming Sat., when a whole gang of us heads out to Legoland.

37 reasons on his 37th birthday

1. I love him

2. he loves me

3. he makes me laugh all the time

4. Harrison

5. Charlie

6. #3 due 1-15-08

7. he is kind to my family

8. he is such a kid at heart

9. he works darn hard for us

10. he is very particular about some things, much in the same way I am

11. he put a desk in his office for me to craft at

12. he knows my insecurities and puts up with them

13. he is so handsome!

14. I love the way his eyes crinkle when he laughs

15. he loves his mom

16. he downloads my favorite music for me

17. his love of Ben Shermans

18. he still asks for fashion advice that he clearly doesn't need

19. he was all for my homeschooling the boys

20. he doesn't freak out if I go to Target and spend a couple of bucks

21. he understands my need for stamps

22. he is passionate

23. he is doing what he loves

24. his family is the most important thing to him

25. he likes my friends

26. I like his friends

27. he taught me how to play Texas Hold 'Em

28. he is competitve

29. he takes care of himself

30. he gets along with most everyone

31. he is my best friend

32. he makes up silly songs for us

33. he plays Legos with his boys

34. Vegas and Frankie are like children to him too

35. he stands up for me

36. his hugs are the best

37. his kisses too

happy birthday, Robert
xoxoxo

Charlie's 4th Birthday 7-29-06

So, my baby is four. He actually turned four on the 17th, but I promised Maddie that we would wait until she got back to have his party. All of our immediate family came over. I had fun, but I honestly couldn't wait for everyone to leave. That sounds so bad, I know. It's impossible for me to relax and enjoy myself with a house full of people.

Let me tell you what Charlie did. He has been so excited about the party. He even helpeld me with the Piston Cup-cakes. I light the candles for him, turn around to put the matches down, and when I turned back around he had already blown the candles out! Well, everybody thought that was hilarious. He didn't want me to light them again, so we sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed the cupcakes. He got some pretty neat toys and books. We are going to be busy going through it all. I don't know who is more excited at this point, Charlie or Harrison. :)