We Survived...With Joy of Course!

On Saturday Avery turned two! It was like Christmas morning for Mark and I-we woke up early and got everything ready for her special day! It was full of family time and opening presents. The excitement didn't stop on Saturday, Mack celebrated his birthday on Wednesday. Again, the day was filled with giving him all the love we could (he had no idea what was happening, but loved every second). This weekend we will celebrate even more at their monster birthday party down at the lake with family and a few friends. I CAN'T WAIT!!!! Just come back to view the 3D cakes we will be creating.

She was so excited

They are starting to get the idea

Can you see the excitement?No better way to get down the stairs...We met up with Heidi, Scott, and Cohan to go to CHUCK-E-CHEESE! I think the adults were more excited than the kids. We had so much fun hanging out and eating pizza

The three of them again, but never can they all be looking

The boysHere is the big two year old

Mack was excited to enjoy his sister's day!Mark's Aunt Molly sent gifts as well-this lion is one thing that Mack just can't get enough of

Avery also got an easel-we made one of daddy's shirts into an art smock and she had a blast!

This is a glimpse of our living room...this doesn't include the chairs from Jane and the kitchen Avery got from my parents. Needless to say, I have been selling furniture upstairs to make room for everything-I can't stand the clutter downstairs!

Nanny and Papa H got Avery and Mack their own chairs...oh my do they love them!

My parents came into town to go out to dinner with us. Jane and Hiram joined us as well! This restaurant is perfect to go with young children because you can get a little room all to yourself-that way we didn't bother anyone

Mack and Papa

How lucky are these kids to have both sets of grandparents around! They were so excited to look everywhere and see a grandparent

Mack could hardly wait for his cupcake...

YEAH!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mack and Avery!

What Happened?

The next week is going to be huge for our family. Avery turns 2 on Saturday and Mack turns 1 on Wednesday! I tear up just writing this. What has happened? They have grown in many ways-not just age, but as a whole child. I didn't know it could be this great!

Yesterday we took them to a local place here in town to "attempt" their one and two year photos. We had fun trying to get some pictures. Below I have included a few of my favorite, but the rest are located on our Shutterfly account. There will be many more photos due to our plans next week: Chuck-E-Cheese with their cousin Cohan, grilling out at home, and their monster birthday party at the lake next weekend. I know there will be many times that I ask myself what has happened and when did they get to be so big, but really how can this be real? I can't wait for all the years to come! Happy birthday beautiful babies!!!!!!

I think they turned out just as good had we gone somewhere to do them!

Two Little Pumpkins

Today was my first day back to work-it was so much fun to see everyone! I am re-inspired and excited to jump in. I thought it would be hard-and I am sure it will get hard with time-but I think being away a little bit makes me a better mom. I have the best of both worlds since I will be part time this year. I get to be with my kiddos in the morning and then be with other adults and have fun doing my job in the afternoons.

When I got home today, I had so much more energy for Avery and Mack. We played outside with Mack's new water table (for his birthday), made dinner and then Avery and I made cookies while Mack and Mark played on the swing set.

Who knew the hose could be so fun! He played with this for about 20 minutes

He let Avery only borrow it to fill the dog bowl

She sat through the whole thing and waited until they were done to enjoy one (or maybe two if you ask Mark)

This is from last week, but has become and new fun event. They get all the Tupperware out and put it on the coffee table. Then they play with it. Mark and I figure it's free entertainment!

Maybe being a working mom won't be so bad...

Saying Goodbye to Many Memories

Abra (my cousin), her husband and two little girls came down to the lake this past weekend. We haven't spent much time together since we both have babies and are very busy! We were talking about the Breakers (where my parents place have a condo) and how many years of memories we have there. Abra's parents had a place there from the time she was 3 years old until about high school. My parents got their place when I was in high school until this year. That equals about 27 years of memories at the lake!

WOW!

I still remember being a little girl and swimming in the same pool my babies get to swim. Having all four of kids together in the pool was neat to see. Looking at the ladders we used to do back dives off of (never letting my kids do that), the stairs where we would sit and the same furniture, I am reminded about how lucky I am to have had those opportunities and how lucky I am to have such an amazing family mixed with a variety of different people!

My memories are not only with Abra, but with all my Cousins, Aunts, and Uncles. This was always called "Hell Week" due to the amount of people that would come. I would never have had those great times with my cousins without that "Hell Week". So, it is sad to say goodbye to this place, but as I posted before we will gain new memories at the new house and Mark and I hope to start our own "Hell Week" with cousins and their kids!

Avery loved to "take care" of Khloe

These two were so fun to watch! Reminds me of Abra and I as little girls

This is what I call the life!

Lunch Date

Summer is coming to end for me! I go back to work on Monday and will be a working mom again. I am ready for a new school year and have so many ideas, but it will be a transition. This is our last week together, so I am trying to fit in any activities we didn't get to or want more of. One being cousin Cohan. We were with him yesterday at the water park (and Aunt Heidi of course) and then today we went over to Nanny's house to have a lunch date. It's pretty funny to hear Avery start to clap as we pull into the neighborhood! Heidi had to go in for meetings today so Cohan was over at Nanny's house as well. We played and then had a feast for lunch. I will miss this, but know it will be something I get to do every summer!

She started by hugging him...then it turned into a something else

Cohan showed Mack the salad spinner-he loved it

They all have their own chairs

This slide was a hit!

Here is the hug! lucky for them they only live about 10 minutes away from each other. I can't wait until they figure out how to call each other! Another good day!

New Beginnings

Not only is our family growing, but so is my brother's family. Between the two of us we will have six kids total. We are together a lot-whenever we go to St. Louis or the lake. It gets crazy and we were beginning to run out of room at the lake. This past weekend our family had a new exciting thing happen. My parents got a new place at the lake! They want it to be a place where we can all be together and not be crowed as well as let our kids grow up together. We are blessed to have Mark's family's place and now this place to let our kids enjoy the lake. I can't wait to give them the memories! Here are a few pictures from their first day at the new house. We can't wait to get back down there next weekend!

And soon there will be Greta and baby #3 sitting there with them. Love it!