Michaela: two

I had fun looking back to when she turned one year old, and of course, to my unbeliveable post about the day she was born.  This year the school Christmas program was the same day as Michaela's birthday.  We made cookies to take to the reception and plenty more for ourselves and we shared some ice-cream with family.  No pictures of that (I didn't put candles in the ice-cream for her to blow out - though we would have let her blow out the two candles on the Advent Wreath for the 2nd Sunday of Advent if unnamed children hadn't destroyed the wreath and broken the candles.) At least I did get a good one of Michaela with her Aunt Andrea, below.

The kids all chipped in a dollar to get her a new stuffed froggy - her favorite animal.  I'm bummed that I had the flash pointed the wrong way and this picture is overexposed.  It would have been great one with her oldest sibling, Catherine, who takes such good care of her.

Here is one I got the next morning of her grumpy face.  She used to do this only when she was upset, but now she does it to make me smile, too.  We make this face at each other then smile and laugh.

I want to remember the way she swings her hips when she dances.  She's graduated from BEANS by The String Beans to Save Your Life by the Newsboys.  I want to remember how she sings "Life...oo-ooh...oo-ooh" over and over again.  The one movie I had of her dancing this summer was accidentally deleted and I have not been able to get a second - she would rather be behind the camera watching me take a picture than in front of it so any pictures I get are on the first try or not at all.  She comes to sit in my lap and "help" as soon as she sees the camera.

She runs to dad to get a "big squeeze" (yes, she can say that) whenever he walks in the door and is still fond of pointing out and naming his facial features.  The main thing that I never want to forget is that after tucking her in on her birthday Sunday night I said, "Good night, Michaela."  and she responded, "Love.  You.  Mommy." *melt*

Teresa Rose

Teresa turned 8 yesterday.  It was the second day of school and she brought fruit snacks to share with the class.  She likes all things ocean-related but she picked the (store brand) Sharks! over the Kellogg Finding Nemo shapes because Nemo is kind of babyish.  Ah, yes.  She is growing up.  I am ashamed to say that we did not take any pictures of her blowing out candles on her birthday cookie or enjoying her Golden Corral birthday dinner.  I have gotten a few pictures of her recently, though.  She loves her patch of Black-eyed Susans. 

I have to remind Adam every spring that these are not weeds - they are Teresa's favorite flower - please don't mow them!  I also got a picture of her outside climbing "the tallest tree"  It is not actually the tallest tree on our property, but may be the tallest tree that she can climb (relatively) safely.  She says that she can see Jennie and Jesse's house from up there.  They live 3 miles north of us...I'll take her word for it.  

Catherine bought matching coloring/activity books with invisible ink pens so they could do something together that Teresa enjoys.  I bought her a Cranium Brain Breaks game for us to play together when she wants to spend some time with me.  I honestly feel like I neglect her because she is so responsible and independent and I wanted to make sure she has a way to get my attention in a positive way.  We love you, Teresa Rose!

NINE!

Here is Catherine - nine years old - after Mass.  She said her best birthday present was going to be receiving Jesus.

My parents visited the week before her birthday and left her this card with $9 for her 9th birthday, which she read all by herself.  Sister Loretta has helped her so much with her reading, but it is still a struggle and she does not enjoy it, yet.  They took her out to eat and went bowling - for the first time - when they were here.  She had fun, even though she had to two-hand the lightest ball they had.

Our friend, Kristi stuffed this Mermaid Ariel costume in my diaper bag last time we were visiting because her daughter had outgrown it and we knew Catherine would love it...she does!

Teresa and I went to the store on Saturday and she picked out this Mermaid Barbie because she knew it is what Catherine would want the most.  It was a little more than she had to spend so I helped out.  She loves that, too.  I also downloaded and printed out about 30 coloring pages of Rapunzel from the movie Tangled for her.

Catherine's 9th birthday coincided with Father's Day and we decided to go to the zoo.  She wanted to see the flamingos, first:

Catherine by the PINK flamingos

All the kids at the zoo

...and then she wanted to go to the Wild Kingdom Pavilion, which she discovered on her school field trip to the zoo a few months ago.  It wasn't too crowded, so Adam and I got to sit and rest a bit as the kids explored. 

Driving the jeep in the Wild Kingdom Pavilion

Since it was Father's Day, too, dad had picked the Scott Aquarium as the exhibit he wanted to visit.  This is also Teresa's favorite exhibit, so she was happy, too. 

Catherine and Adam

Michaela

We walked through the Gorilla Valley and Orangutan Forest on the way (mom's favorite), where we had to stop and eat our fill of delicious Juneberries that grow nearby.  We have one of these trees in our yard and NEED to plant more. 

juneberry trees by the orangutans

We also went to the IMAX movie: Tornado Alley before going out for Catherine's birthday dinner (Chinese Buffet - she is my girl!).  We wanted to meet up with some friends at the pool on Monday (Adam won't go to the pool - even for Catherine's birthday) but the weather outlook prevented that - it has just been too cold and rainy.

looking back - Anthony's birthday

Anthony's birthday fell on a Friday of Lent this year.

The weather was beautiful and rather unseasonably warm for early March, so we spent some time outside.


I can usually get better pictures outside in natural light, but my subject was being a goofball and I had butchered his hair a day or two earlier.  (It was so long - I just couldn't stand it - and I knew if I messed it up, Adam would fix it...eventually).

This is his signature "stinky face".

He tried really hard to convince me that dad had taught him how to drive the cart and that he was allowed to do it by himself.

This was the best picture I was able to get.

This was not a great picture, but it reminds me that Anthony made himself a tuna sandwich for his birthday lunch. He opened the can by himself and everything...now that I think of it, this must have been on a Saturday.  I dont' know why he'd have been home from school otherwise.

Here he is with his birthday cake (chocolate/chocolate) and siblings.  See Michaela's  had on the table at the bottom of the picture?  I made a two layer, which I thought would be a disaster as pretty much every birthday cake, cookie, or pie I've made has been, but it actually looked and tasted pretty good.



Uncle David, Anthony's godfather, came over to celebrate. It was the Sunday after his birthday, which is why the birthday boy is still in his church clothes.

Happy 6th Birthday, Anthony

happy four year old

Oh my, can it be - Stephen is no longer three!

Stephen's self-inflicted haircut.

For his birthday, I decided to interview him at lunch.  We sat down with sandwiches and he said, "I don't like sandwiches".  I told him to please take a bite.  I told him that I made it with daddy's favorite meat and cheese and ranch dressing on his favorite bread.  He tasted it and said, "Huh.  Not bad at all."  This is the the kind of stuff I get from him all day long.  For simplicity, what I said is 'normal' and his responses are italicized:

Today is your birthday, Stephen.

Oh

How old are you?

Four!

Do you feel different now that you're four?

Nah.  When it's my next birthday I'm going to be five.
What is your favorite color?
Blue.  Blue still.  When I'm bigger my favorite color is green.  Right now my favorite color is blue.
What is your favorite animal?
I'll tell you in a minute.  (takes a bite of sandwich).  My favorite animal is elephants.  Gray elephants at the zoo.  The zoo is closed.

I don't think it is.  Do you want to go to the zoo?

Only with the kids.  Not just with one kid. 

I know how to sing happy birthday to you.

Can you sing it, now?

Only if someone has a birthday.

Well, today is your birthday.

Someone has to sing happy birhtday to ME.  For my cake.

What kind of cake do you want this year?

A blue cake!  With yellow frost.  A yellow moon and a yellow star and some blue sky.

That sounds like what you had last year.

This year I want the moon and the star together.  Together on the cake. 

We have cupcakes.  Can I put a moon and a star together on each cupcake?

Uh huh.  I actually like cupcakes.  And cakes.

Well, before we have cupcakes, what do you want for dinner?

Steak.  Steak.

What else?

I want steak for my dinner and cake for my dessert.  Write steak and cake.

OK.

Which one says steak and which one says cake?
(I point at each as I ask) Are we going to have ice-cream with your steak or with your cake?
CAKE!

Let's take a picture of you on your birthday.  (he follows me to the family room to get the camera).  Smile:

Daddy did his best to fix his hair on Sunday.

Take a picture of my gum like this.

The "Birthday Bear" gave him gum this morning.  He's been chewing it all day.

Take a picture of my foot now.  Just teasing.  I'm just teasing, mom.

I love this kid.

STATS:  Height = 41" (75%) Weight = 32.6lbs (15%)  So...all his pants are either too short or falling down.

ETA: The birthday cake.  Cupcakes were leftover from Brennan's birthday party (thanks, Katie) updated with some blue frosting I whipped up and topped with white-chocolate covered star pretzels leftover from Ruzenka's Christmas Tea (thanks Kristi).  They're arranged in a star on a yellow "moon".  PLUS we got a picture of Stephen giving us a REAL smile!

Michaela Jean

One year ago today no one believed you were on your way.  We were at the hospital a mere hour before you made your appearance.  You didn't give me much grief in labor or delivery or in the ensuing days, weeks, and months that have made up this first year of your life.  You have such a calm temperament and give such sweet hugs and kisses.  Here you are hugging the dolly Teresa gave you for your birthday.  You love to open and close her eyes.

Everyone says you look like Stephen or that you're a cross between Stephen and Teresa.  Developmentally, you remind me of Catherine in so many ways.  You've been making the same impish grin that she did lately and you like to sit in the plastic bins with the toys.

 

Your sweet little mouth reminds me of Teresa's and you have been nodding your head the way she did with a "da" at the end. 

You cross your fingers and your toes, which reminds me of the way Anthony used to cross his ankles and you have a "stinky face" that makes me laugh like his did.

 

Your dark, expressive eyes, long lashes, and contagious laugh remind me of Stephen. 

Yes - I see a little of everyone in you, but at the same time have a distinct awareness of your unique personality.  I have enjoyed so much this year of watching you grow - you didn't crawl much, but you walk beautifully and you are mastering your climbing ability since you've discovered the art of getting back down in the last few weeks.  You love to knock down towers and tear up train tracks.  I'm so excited to get to know you in the coming year as you learn to talk.  Happy Birthday, Michaela!

Posted late due to internet difficulties.  For anyone who's interested, She is now 29" (45%); 17lb 13.5oz (5%) and has eight teeth!

family and friends

Adam's 30th birthday party (+my belated 32nd and Jesse's belated 35th) was fun and successful. Everyone we've talked to had a great time. It was a fun mix of old and new friends and a lot of kids. I didn't have much time to take pictures. I grabbed the camera to get a few shots of people hanging out inside:

outside:

the bonfire:

after everyone had eaten - these tables were full:

Adam took some of the kids on a ride on the Jacobsen (even though some of them were old enough and knew how to drive it themselves). They chased ducks, held chicks, and played on the swingset in its new location - outside the kitchen window. Some of the boys even played baseball in the backyard. I didn't have time to count kids, but they went through 5 bags of marshmallows pretty quickly.

Our good friend Anand was at a wedding the day of our party, but he did come up to hang out with us later. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Bill, Sarah, and their kids...who stayed with us at the end of their road trip adventure from Texas to Colorado to Nebraska...but we all had a good visit and were up WAY past our bedtime catching up with each other.


Uncle David and Aunt Andrea and cousin Eliza have been around more since they bought some land and are building a house 8 miles from us. Eliza is much bigger than Michaela, now. I don't think our girls will be sharing clothes. ;)

isn't she beautiful?


Stephen thinks so

so does Anthony

Adam will be helping David build the house..so while the foundations and basement walls were being poured, Adam asked him to help him finish up the dormers on our house. Uncle Alex came up to help, too.

Brothers: