My birthday, the girls tea party and frolicking in the front yard!

My wonderful husband made my birthday very special - he even managed to get a few people together down at the beach house to celebrate - like anyone really wants to celebrate a 37 year olds birthday. Either way I had a great day - the kids remembered things I had said months ago and got me very thoughtful gifts and my husband managed to get me a 2 hour nap - with my pregnancy with Annie I used to nap one or two times a week - not as easy with an 11 month old toddling around so it was HEAVEN! I also got lots of phone calls - including my goddaughter, Julia, who left me a very sweet message telling me how much she loved me!

Peter got Abby giggling while he twirled her around!
Everyone around the TV watching the opening ceremony of the olympics - it was amazing!
Auntie Beth and KK stalked Daisy (the kids missed her while on a walk to the secret road!) - and managed to get all the kids an ice cream for a treat - that was after cake, ice cream and strawberries! Molly was thrilled with her pb cup ice cream.
Peter enjoying his favorite - a sno cone!
TPH with his choco taco!

By the time I reached Abaigeal hers was gone!

Even Annie and Papa got in on the fun with a chocolate banana popsicle.And here's Abby getting changed into her pajamas - I love that smile.

Cake time!
Everyone singing happy birthday to me!
All the kids blowing out the candles with me!
Pat and KK hanging out!
Auntie, Papa and the babies!

Our beautiful girls dressed up for their tea party - they were shaking because they were all so excited to be going! AJ rocks - she even brought the girls flowers when she came to pick them up!
I'm blown away by how cute these girls are all dressed up!

I took a few pictures of Molly before everyone got there - she looked so little but so grown up at the same time. She loves her tiara because it looks like the one I wore at my wedding and today was the first time she ever told me that - she's such a sweet baby girl.
Showing off her entire ensemble - Gabriella dress (from the last song in HSM 2), heels and tiara and jewels - and we can't forget her favorite - pearl earrings from KK.
How can you not be in love with this kid - even with that awful tatoo on her arm she is gorgeous!
Peter and Molly posing for Mommy - Peter told Molly she looked "absolutely beautiful - like a princess on Ella Enchanted".
Another cute shot of the big kids - this is the most peaceful they were with each other all day!

We took Annie outside to hang with the kids and try to get the hang of walking - I couldn't stop taking pictures of her because she was SO excited to have free run out there!
One of my favorite Annie smiles - she is pure joy!
Waving to Daddy while she tries to walk!
Concentrating on walking and looking beautiful!

The Dannahey kids came over tonight so Kelly and Frank could go out to dinner - here they are all tackling Uncle Bob/Daddy.
Piggy back rides for Sean.
Now Korin gets her turn with Peter!

All the kids hanging out and looking cute - what a beautiful summer night!
Sean getting a piggy back ride form his big sister!
Annie eventually lost her clothes and her cool while trying to take a picture with her brother and sister - she was too anxious to be moving to sit and pose at this point!

The kids are settled in front of the Olympics eating popsicles and the Wii is off for the night - Alleluiah! I'm not sure who is more addicted Peter or Bob. Molly and I have been doing alot of eye rolling at their competetiveness!

As you can tell I LOVE my new camera and it has improved my picture taking immensely! MY computer is going to crash eventually with all of the pictures I am downloading - just be happy that I don't post all of them!

GNM - ILY!

A Fun day!

Peter's birthday is on MOnday - hard to believe that he is 8 already. We are having a family party on Sunday and Monday Pete starts camp for the week so we decided to give him his big present on Friday. He could not have been more excited with his Nintendo Wii. Uncle Rob got him started on the Wii over a year ago and we've been hearing about it ever since. I'm not big on video games - I actually hate them - but my sister in law gave me some sage advice and so we decided to get one anyways. (Her advice was that anything in moderation was not going to fry their little brains - she has so much common sense!)

Peter went to work with Bob for a few hours on Friday and came home to find that Mommy had set up his birthday present (all by myself) - his Wii! He jumped all over the house and yelled that he must be dreaming. He posed for a picture and then set out to figure the game out.
I'm not sure who is enjoying the Wii more - Peter or his father who spent much of the afternoon obsessing over getting to 100 points on ping pong. Bob thinks his form looks great in this picture - he's pathetic.
More father - son fun! Molly and I stayed out of their way!
ON Thursday night my cousin Eileen came over to give me my birthday present. It is extravagant beyond words and will get more use than anything else in my house. A little backstory........Eileen got a new camera a few months ago and I am in love with it - literally! It has no delay and takes pictures that are amazing. Everyone knows how much I love to take pictures and I happen to have the perfect subjects so it makes sense. Well, Eileen blew me out of the water by giving me the same camera she has for my birthday. I am SO excited and never stopped clicking away. The pictures self correct and the focus and light options make the pictures come out amazing - which is not to say that there is not some skill involved.
These are a few of my practice pictures - how cute is my girl!

Banana - our little caged animal!
I love this picture of Annie and Auntie Eileen - look at that sweet smile on my girls face!
Auntie Eileen and Ann bonding! Every time Eileen picked Annie up she would wave goodbye to me because she wanted to leave with Eileen - not sure what that says about me but......

Bob and the kids surprised me yesterday with thoughtful gifts and lots of spoiling - I'll post some pictures of that later! For now I'm going to snap some more pictures!

Auntie Beth's birthday - a few days late!

Auntie Beth's birthday was on MOnday but I am very slow about getting pictures up - you can tell that I also didn't feel great that night because I took 5 pictures!

Auntie Beth getting ready to blow out her candles with all of the kids.
Auntie Beth and Molly Girl celebrate her birthday! They are out right now getting mani /pedi's for a girls day we planned for Auntie Beth's birthday - Molly could not be happier!
Abby waiting for cake.
Peter and Auntie Beth after her song!
Bob and his goddaughter getting some snuggle time.
Banana teaching herself how to walk.

Don't look at the mess in our house just concentrate on those chubby legs working so hard to get steady and learn how to walk.

That's all for now!
GNM - ILY!

Little updates on all four kids!

We took the kids to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner last night at Molly's request. Peter asked if he could get up and go to the bathroom all by himself so - like a good mother - I felt the need to give him instructions. Go in, do your business, wash your hands and come back out immediately - don't talk to anyone or touch anything. Pretty simple right? So he comes back to the table in 2 minutes and I ask if he washed his hands good. His response, "I didn't wash my hands - there was a sign that says only employees need to wash their hands!" When Bob and I started laughing hysterically he lifted his little shoulders and said "What? There's a sign...really there is, Mommy." We sent him back with an explanation that made no sense to him at all but he came back and made me smell his hands so I would know he had listened. How cute is my boy?

Annie's new words for the day - Uh-Oh (it's more the inflection on this one than the actual words!), Yes(Jes), Okay (Otay) and we're pretty sure she says (Tay Tay) for KK since she says it when she sees her in person or in a picture. The kids have also been working on that one with her. Yes seems like an odd word for a baby but we're pretty sure it is her defiant side coming out because she mostly says it when we say No. "Annie, NO", as she goes to reach for the remote control. Then she looks you straight in the eyes, smiles and says "Jes" and lifts her little shoulder up to her neck!

Molly had a special night with Auntie Ann - she just woke up to go to the bathroom and excitedly told me about the rainbow they saw - it was the biggest one ever! They picked out cake decorations for Pete's cake and a birthday present for him and then went on a scavenger hunt in BIG Y - only Auntie Ann could make BIG Y that much fun. They came home with cookies, potato chips, cake, pineapple and carrots - all on sale with silver coins - thus the scavenger hunt. Molly got a kick out of the fact that Auntie Ann wanted her to buy Crab legs with the silver coin. "They sell crab legs, Mama, for real they do....and Auntie Ann wanted me to buy them - ewwwwwwwww."

The OB/Maternal Fetal specialist called with the results of the scan from Monday - they give you most of them in the office while they do the scan but they also have a specialist who spent 10 years studying ultrasounds look at them and then call you a few days later with those results. Baby Caroline is 1.15 pounds and 13 inches - 70th percentile. Heart function according to the echocardiogram is 100% with circulation at the perfect level for her age. My fluid level is 100% - this was a big one with Annie because a low fluid count indicates heart and kidney issues and mine was always borderline with Ann. Caroline is floating freely in ample fluid and basically happy as a clam! So we go back on September 3rd for our next peek at our baby girl!

That's everyone - GNM - ILY!

Perfect Baby........and she's still a girl!

With each pregnancy I am required to have an ultrasound each month to check up on the baby's growth and a few minor health concerns. I am at high risk for a few things such as a small baby (ha-ha for anyone who saw Annie when she was born) and some heart deffects. Bob and I used to spend lots of time worrying about these tests but after Annie came out perfectly it's hard not to have faith in God's wisdom. And we are blessed - yet again!

This is our baby girl waving to us. She holds her hands up by her face just like Annie used to in all of her ultrasounds. She waved to us and, I think, even smiled for us! She is gorgeous!
Another really clear picture of Caroline's face - how sweet is she?

Both kidneys are in working order, her heart has 4 chambers (we had a problem finding all four chambers at the last appointment so this was a relief!) and her cerebral cortex is HUGE (actually its average but I just like to say she has a big brain!) All concerns have been put to rest and in 2 weeks I start my twice weekly non-stress tests that will make sure that the baby is doing great since I am also at a high risk for stillbirth. It sounds scary but after my pregnancy with Annie I understand better that if the non-stress tests are reactive (the baby's heartrate goes up each time she moves) than it indicates a healthy baby and the second they think the baby is not reactive enough they wheel you to the hospital and deliver you - the docs are so good at this and so precise with their readings of the tests that this time I feel very confident in the whole process! AHH - a huge sigh of relief after today's results! Less than 90 days to go!

This is a shot of Annie's face 6 weeks before she was born - just thought you might enjoy a comparison - Caroline doesn't look much like her now but she's still a month or two behind her so we'll see!

Off to wish Auntie Beth a Happy Birthday!

She is so much older than me!

GNM - ILY!

Happy Birthdays!

Annie stayed overnight at the beach house with my parents on Friday night so we all drove down to see her and stay over on Saturday night and wake up with Grammy on her birthday! She was so excited to see her sister and brother and even stayed up until 11 when BOb was finally done painting and came down with Uncle ED. I first have to thank my cousin Eileen for giving up her only day off in two weeks to come and help Bob paint - I still can't really do anything with paint because of the pregnancy. I am amazed at all she and Bob got done and I managed to purge closets while they were busy! And tonight the kids are safely tucked into their beds in their newly painted rooms!

BTW - Check out The Russell's website - Shannon updated with loads of pictures - her kids are SO photogenic!

Banana woke up happy to be with all of us this morning - Molly put a crown on her and she thought it was great!
My sweet baby girl.I could not get enough of her!
My love bug!
The kids made a sign for Grammy - this is Peter drawing a picture of himself for Grammy.
Check out Molly's tongue as she makes a picture for Grammy.
Annie doing her part with Peter's help!
Grammy opening her present from the kids!
MOlly LOVES giving presents!
We gave Grammy some CD's for her birthday and she and Papa started dancing right away!
Annie Bananie pointing to the water while Papa gets her dressed!

My boy standing on his head!
The train
Katie is just gorgeous - check out her skin and those big blue eyes. I can't stop clicking when she is around!
My beautiful girl again!
And more Katie!

Tyler and his girls!
Grammy and the grandkids having fun before cake!
Blowing out the candles on Grammy's cake!
My mom hugging Karla after laughing hysterically at her very thoughtful gift.
Karla - admittedly postpartum - got my Mom a bracelet made by women in Africa who raise money for healthcare through these bracelets. The bracelet was..............interesting. As usual Karla was good natured about our making fun of her and her gift was very thoughtful!

Auntie Kake and Molly!
Another birthday girl and Molly doll.
My beautiful girl. She had grapes in her cheeks to look like a chipmunk.
Abby trying to be a chipmunk and just looking adorable.
Peter and Uncle Ed self portrait.

Auntie Beth and Ann eating bluberries.
Auntie Beth and Katie.
KK with a yogurt faced Annie!
Peter took this of himself giving me a kiss - love those big lips!
Pete also took this one of Katie - not bad!

Kake and Katie!
The strongest man competition - Peter continues his assertion that Uncle Pat is the strongest man in the world - when Papa tried to prove him wrong Uncle Pat picked him up.....
Tossed him over his shoulder.........
And dumped him on the sofa. The kids were going wild and Uncle Pat retains his title of the strongest according to Peter - well - except for God, of course!

The birthday girls!
Happy Birthday to you....Mom, Auntie Kake and Auntie Meg!
Blowing out the candles with help from the kids. The babies hanging on the counter waiting for cake.
My dolly!

The twins sharing a moment!
Happiness is having twin moms!
61 and as beautiful as ever!
Auntie Beth and Annie!
Pat and Karla - we actually caught Pat with a normal smile for once!

All in all a wonderful day - I always feel bad when my mom ends up doing so much work on her own birthday but hopefully she knows how special she is and how much we appreciate her hard work...even on her birthday. I'm feeling blessed to be home with all of my kids under the same roof after a wondeful day with family!

Happy Birthday Mom, Auntie Kate and Meg! We love you!

GNM - ILY!