Big 4 Year Old...

We have another big girl now... SJ turned 4 and had a little family party on her actual birthday and a Dora party a few days later with a treasure map and pinata! Happy Birthday big girl!

State Fair

We went to the Fair with our good friends on our street... corndogs, funnel cake, rides, games, fried oreos, chili pie, warm pretzels, and cotton candy. Just remembering all we ate makes my stomach hurt all over again. Thanks PW for the great pics and to Nana for watching little N so the big girls could have so much fun!

Adventure Princess!

SA is now an Adventure Princess (long ago known as Indian Princess) with a group of girls from school. It is a daddy-daughter thing where they collect badges for their vests from various accomplishments and community projects. Here are some pics from the induction ceremony where they got war paint on their noses and the first daddy-daughter camp out. Activities were bb gun shooting, horseback riding, rowing in canoes, and shooting bow and arrows!

First Day of Kindergarten!

Today was our big girl's first day of Kindergarten. She did great and was absolutely beaming after we picked her up. She's got some friends in her class, and some she sees in the halls/playground/lunch, which makes it all that much more fun. She's starting to read and she has always liked working on workbooks for reading and math, so I think she's going to be a good student and enjoy herself this year as they dive into more of that.

I have to admit I cried a little when I dropped her off and left her behind in her class. She seems so big at home, but she looked so little sitting there in that class. I know she is in good hands... just one of those small steps toward budding independence that are sometimes harder on parents than on the kids.

Also all on the first day of school, our younger sister had her very first day of ballet. She has been counting down the days (for 2 years). It was a doubly momentous day because of this. So along with dropping off and picking up big sister from school, baby brother was also toted to two ballet classes all on the same day. We were all very exhausted but very satisfied with how the big day went. ... and there was no resistance at bedtime!

Finished Kitchen

It has been exactly one year as of today, July 28th, that V started hurling a sledgehammer at our old kitchen. The 45 year old cabinets, wallpaper, and linoleum took a few days to get down and out of the house, and the majority of the kitchen was complete by Thanksgiving last year. Our wedding anniversary last year was spent picking out new cabinets. This was all while he was working a full time job, and worked into the wee hours of the morning building this new kitchen. The finishing touches took a hiatus with the arrival of our son in March. Just last week, he finished the backsplash. What a project, and what a kitchen we have now. We hired an electrician, plumber, and texture guy, but everything else was all V. Walls came down, walls went up, appliances, ventahood, cabinets, pocket doors, hardwood flooring, and structural supports above and below the house were all installed by him. Oh yeah, and he turned our half bath off the kitchen into a full bath at the same time. Words cannot describe the transformation and the hard work that went into it. What can I say, he is awesome. We just had another anniversary, this time we're going out! Happy anniversary and happy new kitchen, honey. Thank you for all your hard work on this. I love you.

4 month check up

We went to N's 4 month check up on Friday, and confirmed what we could already see, he is long and lean like his oldest sister. He checked out at 25.5 in long (75%) and 13 lbs even (12%). He got his 4 month shots, and he did about as expected, cried for a minute, then smiled at the nurses on the way out "eh, it was nothing."

He also started cereal and likes it pretty well. He's smiling and talking (squeals) all the time and loves when he's the center of attention. He's definitely working on getting his two lower teeth in, with drool, fierce chewing, and puffy gums as the signals (and restless nights lately... sigh). He's getting good with grabbing things and putting them in his mouth, and rolling to one side. He's starting to wonder about his feet, checking them out, but every time he tries to grab one, they kick away, those pesky feet! We've also already experienced an all out crying spell after something was taken away from him, with lower lip out and all. Oh boy.

Here are a few new pics...

Lakehouse trip 2009

We've been making a tradition of visiting our friends, the Kings, at their family lake house the past couple of years. They have 5 year old twin girls that our girls have an absolute blast playing with. It's hard to find other little girls with as much spunk as our girls, and alas, we've found them - just like their mommies. We had a great time catching up and wearing the kiddos out. Thank you for the fun time Kings!