Emily Paige Turns 1!

Happy First Birthday Emily! We've been blessed to have such a little angel in our family.
She has 8 teeth. She walks all over the place. She can say Mama, Daddy, Hi, Bye-Bye, Eye, Dog, and "iss" for fish. She can wave, blow kisses, and point to things she wants. Her favorite foods are: watermelon, applesauce, milk, ice cream and now birthday cake.
She's brought our family so much love and joy.

The girls started out their day by putting on their "princess" dresses and having both a tea party and a dance party.

Emily enjoyed a little extra frosting after I finished her cake. She has a little sweet tooth!
Em also got big birthday hugs from her big sis.



Yes, that's a black eye she has. The poor thing apparently has inherited her Mom's clumsy gene.

Em had a little help opening her gifts. She found the bows most interesting.

The bigger kids enjoyed the splash pad.
Carly, Allie, Mason, Em, and Auntie Shell enjoyed the train ride.

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Girl!!

Look Out World, Here She Comes!

Here is a shot of Emily strolling around. She took her first steps on Saturday. By Sunday, she was cruising the living room. Yesterday, she ventured a little further. Today, she's all over the house. We're in trouble now!!

The Great Spaghetti Debate

As we sat down to a big spaghetti and meatball dinner tonight, we decided it was a meal we should have more often. It's fairly quick and easy to prepare, which I always appreciate after a long day at work. There's no battle to get anyone to eat it. It's something everyone enjoys; in fact they were gobbling tonight as though we hadn't eaten in weeks. And, it's toddler friendly for Emily who is just getting into the table foods. Even the dog thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers that we were too stuffed to eat.

Then, comes clean up. The pots, the pans, the sauce splattered stove, the table, the high chair, the floor, the window by the table. And just when you think you got it all, there's every orifice of your children. How can two little people get spaghetti in so many places? And, I'm not even talking about the sauce! Those starchy noodles stick to EVERYTHING!

So, the big debate: what's better - a quick easy meal that everyone enjoys without tears or argument (even the green beans); or the meal that's easier to clean up? The jury is still out at our house.....but we did enjoy the good meal together as a family and that is priceless!

PS I Love You

We had a nice quiet weekend minus one child and the dog. Carly & Murphy went up North to the lake with Grandma and Grandpa, so we only had Emily for the weekend. Oddly enough Jeff and I almost wondered what to do with ourselves! It was pretty relaxing though. Em is a good sleeper, so we were able to sleep in two days in a row! By this afternoon, we were anxiously awaiting Carly's return, as we missed her dearly. She had a great time with Grandma & Grandpa, and can't wait to do it again!

On an exciting note - Emily took her first steps yesterday! She's now cruising all over the place. She only takes about 4-5 steps before she falls, but she's all over the place! I'll post video of it tomorrow, if I can figure out how to edit the video. (I had the camera turned side-ways; and have never edited video before so have to figure out how to turn it right side up! Or, I'll have to take new video; however, our girl became more uncooperative each time the camera was out, so I gave up trying.)

Jeff and I watched a couple movies this weekend. One of them was "P.S. I Love You". The move itself was really nothing special; but the storyline and message really got me. I've had a tear or two during movies, but haven't watched a movie that made me cry like a blubbering baby in a LONG time! I was literally crying every 10 minutes throughout the ENTIRE movie. I was laughing every 10 minutes too. I hate movies like that, but love them all the same. Anyway, the story is about a couple who is madly in love; he dies, but leaves her messages. If you need a good cry, I recommend it. (Maybe I was just too emotional from missing Carly, but I don't think so.)

As we get so busy in the crazy hustle and bustle of working and raising our kids, it was good to be reminded to live each day to it's fullest as you never know what tomorrow brings. It was also good to be reminded to tell and show the people you care about how much they mean to you. I make a point to tell Jeff and the girls how much I love them every day, but sometimes, I'll be honest in that it's part of the normal morning goodbyes or part of the bedtime routine and can be rather automatic. Let's not forget to always say it like we mean it and show it in all the little ways too.

1st Annual "B" Family Reunion

As kids, the B's were always close. We spent many weekends at Grandma and Grandpa's cottage at the lake. This allowed us to see our cousins frequently. It wasn't all of us all of the time, but we did see each other often. Now that we are all grown and married, and all but the most recent newlyweds with kids of our own, we don't get together as often, especially since there are no more weddings to bring us all together. Holidays are difficult as there are always families that have to take their turn at their in-laws; it's rare that everyone is there together. Yesterday, Eric and Sarah hosted the 1st Annual Reunion to get us all together again. Everyone was able to make it! I didn't get pictures of everyone, but here are a few: Grandma and her three boys

All of the "Grandma B's"
Grandma and her 7 grandchildren
Grandma and her 10 great-grandchildren. (Okay, they are not all looking in the same direction, but they are all in the picture and most of them are smiling - and NONE are crying! For those of you looking closely, it looks like Emily is just sitting on the arm of the chair; rest assured Mason is holding onto her!)

Grandma and her sister - Great Aunt Bernice
Bernice is practicing to be a Great-Grandma.
Grandma has the Great-Grandma role down pat - 10 times over!
A game of Boccie Ball is under way
Avery showed us all just how much a diaper can hold, and what happens when they explode! (This isn't the money shot showing the diaper as swollen as it can get; I missed that one. Every time you turned around to look at her, her diaper was bigger and bigger!)


Avery and Bear had a good game of tug of war.
Jen and Tyler; Happy 1st Birthday Little Guy!
Stacey, Chris, and Magnus

All of the kids had a blast! I'd be amazed if there were any that had any trouble sleeping last night!

Allie, Cy, Olivia, Caroline
Magnus - what a cutie!

A Visit to Grandma & Grandpa K's

Well, after over two weeks of intermittent internet connection problems, we finally are up and running normally again, and I can catch up on my posts.

Last weekend we took a couple of extra days off of work and made the 7 hour trek to visit Grandpa & Grandma K. The girls both did well on the long drive, but couldn't have been happier when we finally reached our destination.Emily enjoyed a ride on the tractor.
Our little flower picking fanatic enjoyed raiding Grandma's garden.
She proudly shows off her prize.
A Celebration of Shane: one of the reasons for making the trip last weekend was to celebrate Shane who is being deployed to Afghanistan. A lot of friends were able to make it to show their love and support for Shane. He had a better turn out for his party than their 20th class reunion last year.
Caroline enjoyed reading stories with Auntie Mindy.
Carter enjoyed introducing Carly to "Cookie", their bunny. By the end of the day, Carly was ready to add bunny to her list of pets she wishes she could have (along with a bird and kitty).
Uncle Shawn thought Em was the perfect fit for the shopping bag.
And, last but not least a few candids of Emily that are too cute not to share...