Four Reasons Why My Easter Was Great!

Ethan's First Birthday

This past Saturday my baby turned 1. I almost can't believe that a year has gone by. It is very bittersweet for me. I love it because he is so much fun at this age, but sad that he is growing up so fast. Ethan was a really good baby, very mellow and easy to calm down when he was fussy. He has brought a lot of joy into our home. The older kids were thrilled when they found out we were having another baby, and even more excited once he was actually here. They are great with him and love him more than I ever expected.


Ethan was born on March 22, 2007 at 2:39 pm. He weighed 8lbs and was 19 1/2 inches long. And today he is breaking my back at a whopping 24lbs 5oz and is 31 inches long. We had his 1 year well check today and am happy to say he is healthy, happy, and into everything!

ETHAN'S FIRST YEAR









For Ethan's first birthday we had a small family party. It was really nice to have everyone come celebrate with us. I decided since his birthday was the day before Easter that I would attempt to make an Easter bunny cake. My friend Trisha lent me her cake pans. It was two separate pans, one the front of the bunny and one the back side. Once they are baked you are supposed to be able to frost them, stick them together, and they stand up. The finished product is really cute, if you can accomplish this simple task. I won't go into all the long boring details, but after baking the cake and having my house fill with smoke because the batter is pouring out into the 350degree oven and then not having the cakes come out of the pans in one piece, I gave up. I took the pans back to Trish and thanked her for letting me borrow them and went on to complain about how I couldn't even cook a cake right. Well a while later I got a phone call from my wonderful sweet friend saying she had made me a new cake and had it baking in the oven and would bring it by once it was cool. I know you are all thinking what a great friend--and you are right--but it doesn't stop there. Trish came back over that night and stayed till midnight helping me decorate it. THANK YOU TRISH!! Take a look at our finished product!

But. . .did he enjoy the cake?

Of course, as long as it doesn't require too much effort!



Happy 1st Birthday Ethan! We love you!

Ethan's First Haircut

I took Ethan to get his first haircut a couple of days ago. I debated whether or not to cut his hair. He has a lot of hair in the back and it has some beautiful curls, but it gets crazy at times. I really wanted to keep the curls a while longer, since he still is a baby. I didn't want him to look to grown up to me, so I decided to just have him get his hair trimmed.
I wasn't sure how he would react to a haircut, but he did GREAT! He sat there the whole time and didn't cry once.
I just hope some of the curl will grow back and I can indulge in keeping him my baby for a few more months!

Feelin' The Love

So it's been about two weeks since my last post, and now I do two in the same day. Go figure. I have been really busy this last week and just haven't had the time to blog.
I just wanted to send out a HUGE thank-you to everyone who has helped me this past week. Andy has been gone to Ireland for the last 9 days and finally gets home late tonight. I already had a really busy week ahead of me and of course a few unexpected things always have to happen, just not the best time for him to be gone. I should have known it was going to be a crazy week when I woke up sick the day Andy had to leave. I just have to say I have the best mom, sister, in-laws, and friends.
My cute little sister helped me out big time at church one of my two Sunday's alone. I got a new calling and my first Sunday doing it Andy was gone. It kept me really busy, running around everywhere. She kept Ethan for me the whole time so I didn't have to worry about him at all. I ended up having to stay after church for about an hour or so. Laura brought my kids home, changed them, fed them, and cleaned up too. For those of you who have kids, you know what a big job this is!!
My mom babysat for me numerous times this past week so I could go to my class and also so I could go visit my neighbor and her new adorable baby boy in the hospital. She also ran Cassidy back and forth to piano for me, and of course kept me company in the little free time we had.
My in-laws checked on me almost everyday and told me if I needed anything they would be down ASAP. I didn't think I would have to take them up on it, but I did. I woke up in the middle of the night with a horrible pain in one of my teeth. I tried to wait till Andy got home this week to deal with it, but it got way to painful to handle. I figured I'd better get to the dentist before I overdosed on ibuprofen. Until you have had this, you don't realize how bad it can be. My father-in-law came and stayed with my kids for over 2 hours. They had a blast--at least the kids did! My mother-in-law even offered to come watch the kids on Saturday for a couple hours so I could get out. I will definitely take you up on that next time Pam!
As for all my friends/neighbors. I am so lucky to live in this neighborhood. We have the greatest friends ever! I can't even tell you how many people called and checked on me and offered to help in any way. I had one friend say to me that you know I would do anything to help you. And it's true, they all would.
This may be such a cheesy post and it may not seem like my week was that crazy(compared to most it wasn't) but this week just made me realize how blessed I am to have all these wonderful people in my life! THANKS!!

Going Green

Every St. Patrick's Day for the last couple years, a leprechaun comes to our house and leaves the kids a surprise "green" breakfast. The kids had been talking all week whether he would show this year or not. This leprechaun did not disappoint the kids this year. When they went down to breakfast this morning they had green scrambled eggs, toast with green butter, green yogurt, and a new four leaf clover cup with green milk and a green straw. He even thought to serve the food on green plates!! Too bad he didn't stay long enough to do the dishes!!



It tastes better than it looks, but what do you expect with green food!


Despite the color they ate it all!

Cassidy's Birthday Weekend

We had a really busy, but fun weekend celebrating Cassidy's birthday. We started it off on Saturday morning with a visit from Andy's parents and also Andy's Aunt Connie and Cousin Donna who were here visiting from North Carolina. Connie and Donna have only met Cassidy once when she was about 7 months old. It was nice for them to be able to meet the rest of the kids. We had a good time visiting with each other and it was so nice to see them.
I decided to simplify things so I only throw a big birthday party with friends every other year. This year was the off year so Cassidy got to choose an activity and a restaurant for our family to do together. She decided on bowling. We had a really good time. The kids actually did better than I thought. After bowling we headed to pizza factory for dinner. It was a fun night together.


Even Ethan wanted in on the bowling action!

This is what Cassidy's pins looked like after one of her turns. We thought that was so wierd the way they ended up. Never seen that before!


On Sunday, her actual birthday, we had just invited her grandparents over for cake and ice cream and to watch her open her gifts. I decided to surprise Cassidy and had the house decorated in High School Musical theme when she woke up Sunday morning. I even made her a High School Musical cake. I had a good time doing it and she was really surprised when she woke up and saw it all.






Happy 9th Birthday Cassidy!

Why I Love Cass. . .

I can't believe my Cass is 9! I have started to dread her birthday each year because that means that she is another year older, which means she is another year further away from being my baby. Cassidy was such a good baby and a perfect toddler. She was always so obedient. If she ever got into something I didn't want her to or did something she shouldn't, all I had to do was say no and she wouldn't do it again. Cassidy was just barely two years old when I was pregnant with my twins. I was really sick for the first 16 weeks and spent a lot of time in bed. I was not sure how I was going to take care of Cassidy every day. We decided to move a lot of her toys into our bedroom so I could keep an eye on her. She was so good, she would just entertain herself all day and never did anything she shouldn't. Cassidy was really smart as a little girl and still is. Cassidy learned to read fairly early. Once she learned she never wanted to stop reading. When she graduated from preschool her teacher gave each student an award. Cassidy received the award for the best reader. Her teacher said she was reading on a 4th grade level--at least. I am so glad her love for reading has continued to this day. She does really well in school. She is also a little social butterfly. She loves her friends and they love her. I have gone to eat lunch with her a few times at school and every time I do all her friends want to sit by her and play with her at recess. Probably my favorite thing about Cassidy is that she is so loving, forgiving, and genuinely cares about people and their feelings. She brings so many wonderful attributes into our family and we are definitely blessed to have her in our lives. We love you Cass!

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of Cassidy. Enjoy!