Happy Birthday Sarah!

Happy birthday my sweet, sweet Sarah.

It's so hard to believe that your first year has come and gone so quickly! This last year with you has meant so much to me and our entire family. You have been the perfect addition to our family and I can't imagine what life would be like without you in it. Your spunky personality, your drive to reach all your milestones, your enthusiasm as you watch and play with your brothers, your contagious laugh, your precious face and those smiling eyes of yours melt my heart time and time again. You are a true, true joy and I love calling you my daughter.

This is my favorite picture of us together right after you were born. You were so alert and just stared and listened. (excuse the bare shoulder!)


Another favorite.


And another.


And another. Your brothers adored you from the beginning.


And here you are today...such a big girl.


Full of life, full of curiosity, full of fun. You are one busy girl, I must say. You started walking at 11 1/2 months and haven't stopped since. Daddy and I have recently been calling you our little firecracker. We are thinking you are definitely going to keep us on our toes.


You recently got your 9th tooth, your first molar. And I'm certain the next one is not too far behind. You have been drooling like crazy, chewing on your fingers, fussy and not sleeping well. (but that's another story, ha!) I wish I could take the pain away for you, I know you are so uncomfortable.


Another thing worth noting is over the past month you have really become a picky eater. You literally take 2-3 bites of your food at each meal and you are done. You love dropping your food over the side of your high chair when you are done. I'm not sure if you are just too busy focusing on your gross motor skills to eat but mommy is starting to get a little stressed. I'm gonna keep trying though, that's all I know to do. Hopefully this phase will pass soon...and very soon! :)


Here are some other fun facts:
*We have always called you Sarah-bear and a few other nicknames that have stuck are Miss Bear and your brothers like to call you B-Bear!
*You have decided you don't like the pacifier anymore. You want no part of it.
*You have definitely been showing your sensitive side these days. If I have to take something away from you or get something out of your mouth, you immediately start crying. Makes me sad!
*Your first words other than ma-ma and da-da have been your version of Jacob and doggie which really sounds like da-gie. Any furry friend is a doggie to you. And sometimes up.
*You love taking things in and out and you love to open and close things.
*You are wearing size 4 diapers.
*Some of your 12-18 month clothes are getting to small and you are easily fitting into 18-24 month size clothes.
*At your well check today you weighed 22lbs 7oz. (75%) and your length was 30.5 (95%)
*Your girlie side seems to be coming out-you know just what to do with the phone.


And just what to do with mommy's sunglasses. I think we are in trouble. :)


We decided instead of one big party, we would have two smaller ones. One with Mommy's family and one with Daddy's family, this weekend. More pictures to come later. I knew I wanted to get you something special for your 1st birthday. Something you will always have, a keepsake. So I decided on a jewelry box.




I also let Jacob and Luke pick out a little something for you. We decided on a pillow pet. They got to choose just the perfect one for you. It took awhile for them to agree but they finally agreed on the butterfly. You really seem to like it and carry it around with you quite a bit.






Happy birthday my sweet girl! Our family is complete with you and we love you dearly!

Fun with Friends

Last week, my good friend Lauri came into town from Houston with her two kiddos, Connor and Kaitlynn. We had a great visit and the kiddos had a great time all together. Our friend Dana and her two boys, Jackson and Ryan also joined in on the fun. In total, the kids out numbered the adults...7 to 3. Whew!



During their visit, we went swimming in our community pool, we visited two malls, we went to Pump It Up, ate lots of good food and desserts of course! It seemed like every time we turned around, it was time to eat again.




Sarah, Kaitlynn and Luke raiding the pantry.


My three angels!


Love my girls--just missing Amanda!


Gotta love the double strollers.


And of course, gotta have a comparison picture. Love these stroller shots! This is December '08. Jackson, Connor, Jacob and Luke. Look how little they were!


Getting some loves from Aunt Dana.




One of our nights went a little late at Dana's house, so the kids borrowed pj's from Jackson. It was too funny. Connor and Jacob were wearing size 3T pj's when they normally wear 5/6T. What a sight it was!


One last group shot!

Bathtime Babes and more

I especially love it when the kids have been bathed, are clean, soft and smell delicious. I love their sweet faces in their hooded towels.




I tried to get a picture of all three together...


but Sarah had her own plan in mind.


There is no denying it, Miss Sarah-bear is walking all over. She is all over the place. Still falling several times along the way, she just gets up and keeps on going. Crawling is a thing of the past.


She loves walking to the pantry and getting what she can reach. This time it was a package of peanut butter crackers that she made a royal mess with! But she loved every minute of it!


Strike a pose.


Can you tell her older brothers love playing with her?




On another note, my mom turned the big 6-0 last week. We had a great weekend of celebrating complete with a girl's day on Saturday. Which included Kristina, Mom, and myself getting a mani/pedi, lunch (and dessert) at Celebrity Cafe, and lots of shopping.


For dinner Saturday night, we ventured out to a Japanese Hibachi grill. We had never taken the kids to a place like this so it was fun to see them experience it all. And of course the food was excellent! Happy Birthday Mom! We love you!

A big move

My sister, Kyla and her husband Michael and baby Joseph will be making the big move back to Texas in August. Michael accepted a job in the Houston area that he will start August 22. We are thrilled they will be moving back to their roots and excited we will be able to see them more often. And we are so excited to be able to get little Joseph together with all the cousins here.


They came down to Houston a few weeks ago and stopped off at our house for a night before they flew back to Minneapolis. While they were here, we had a small gathering so we could all see them. By some miracle we were able to snap this picture...family complete!


And again this one. All 7 cousins together!


Papa with 7 of his 13 great-grandchildren.


Grandma and Grandpa with the youngest two.


Congratulations Kyla and Michael on your relocation back home! We are so excited for you guys to be back!

Summer swims

Jacob recently had a week of private swimming lessons. There is a 15 year old that lives in our neighborhood that teaches at our community pool. She has a really full schedule of lessons but we were able to take a child's spot that didn't show up. She was great and he learned a lot.


The first day started with Julianne telling Jacob to swim to her. After he declared he didn't know how to swim, he tried to swim to her by doggie paddling and barely holding his head above water. After a few instructions from her, he learned how to do the American Crawl the first day. I think mostly it was him just trying to stay afloat and surviving the water that got him going.








Going back the second day, he was scared. I think he knew what was ahead and was very nervous about having to swim again. After a few tears, he got in and did it. Julianne really pushed him which helped him but I think also scared him. He also practiced floating on his back, diving for rings and jumping in off the side. He did great all week but was VERY glad when Friday rolled around and it was his last day. :-)

While Jacob did his lessons, Luke, Sarah and I swam on the other side of the pool.


But first things first. Baby girl needed a snack!


In order for me to manage all the kids in the water, Luke has to wear his life jacket. And thankfully, he wears it without a fight. And Sarah usually floats in her baby float for awhile which helps. And now that Jacob is on his way to swimming independently, it should make taking them swimming a lot easier.


Daddy was even able to join us for the water fun one day!