Kate's birthday

Yesterday was our friend, Kate's, 3rd birthday!  Her party was supposed to be Saturday at the park, but right before it started it began pouring.  So, we did it at our house!  Her sweet daddy had planned everything so well.  He even had wipes for cheetos hands! It ended up lots of fun at our house!

Look at this cute wreath Ms. Claire made!

The birthday girl!

Obviously it was a princess party!

Ms. Claire made the palace cake!

My favorite picture

Ms. Claire, Dr. David, and Kate

What a beautiful girl!!

Last week

We had a really busy week last week and I didn't get around to taking many pictures!  Monday night, The Mills, came to dinner and we got to hear about the work they will be doing in California.  They will be church planting around Fresno.  I think this is a funny picture, because SB is reading them a book on potty training!  

Holly and Elizabeth's kids were here for the week.  All 6 big kids went to sports camp at Bizzy Bodies.  They had a blast!  I can't believe I didn't get a picture of all of them.  I'm gonna blame it on the rain because we couldn't stand outside and visit!

I told the kids to get in the van one morning and I walked out to find this! Of course, I let them!  

After camp one day, we went to Newks and then to get Snow Cones at Bops.

Last night we went to the Hensons and celebrated Holly's birthday.  The kids played hard outside and we needed a few wind down moments before dinner.  Here they are all watching Annie.

 Ariana and Alexandra gave Sam this guitar for his birthday.  It is a B. Woofer and is the cutest thing ever!  He has really had fun walking around and playing it!

Twin Lakes

Sara Beth and her friend Ann Stuart went to Twin Lakes two weeks ago.  This picture was taken on day one and you can see they were both a little nervous!  However, those nerves didn't last long because they had the best time!  Neither one of them hesitated when it came to spending Thursday night!  SB loved every day and came home talking all about it!  I am so thankful for Twin Lakes and the ministry they have to our children!

After day 1

Miss Emily--the best counselor!

their cabin

Car Party

favors

the birthday boy

poor austin even got in on the action

several months ago i found these wooden cars at walmart.  they were the perfect activity for this party.

i hate this picture of my grandmothers in blurry

love this one of our dads talking!

sam loved opening his presents!  he stopped and played with each one.

i wasn't planning on anyone playing outside since it was 100 plus outside.  however, a few little ones conned my dad into going out and playing for a while.  unfortunately, i don't have any pictures of him chasing them all over the yard!

i am not sure if my girls have ever been this sweaty before!  you can tell the back row was done partying!

Sam's Car Party

It was very easy to decide on a car party for Sam.  He loves playing with cars.  I knew I had made the right decision when I bought a car pan and he carried it around for days playing with the cake pan.  My cousin, Ginger, did the banner for the party!

For the food, we kept it real simple.  The fruit is supposed to look like a stop light, although I don't think anyone saw that!  Zeb smoked some b-b-q so we had sandwiches and chips with it.

There was a hummus dip and black bean and feta dip for appetizers!

The cake and cupcakes---Do you see that little orange car?  That is the car that started Sam's fascination with them.  I keep it above his changing table and since he was tiny I handed it to him and said, "Daddy's car".  It is now a prized possession and he tells everyone that it is "Daddy's car"! I love all the stuff our moms saved for us!

The red chevron fabric is new, but all the other is from his one year old party.  I also used the green for Christmas and all of the orange stuff for fall.  Also, several friends have been able to use the fabric for parties.  All of the fabric if from Premier Fabrics and it last a lot longer than normal table clothes!

Sam is 2!!

Two years ago today this little guy surprised us!  Our life has never been the same and we are forever grateful to God for a healthy baby!  I learned so many life lessons during  infertility, then a very hard pregnancy, followed by an emergency section.  I have seen firsthand that God's timing is best.  This is something that I have obviously known forever, but being a bit of a control freak, this has always been one of my struggles.

This has been such a fun year.  He has been so much healthier this year!  Because of that, we have really had the chance to see his personality blossom!  He is a very particular little guy!  He knows what he wants and when he wants it and he wont quit until he communicates that to you!  He is quite reserved.  He talks a lot, but he won't talk unless he is very comfortable around you.  This reminds me so much of his Daddy! He loves his sisters!  He is very independent and doesn't want their help, although the last few weeks I have noticed him letting them hold his hand and or open something for him.  He loves cars, trucks, balls, and being outside!  

This picture makes me laugh--I'm not sure if this means he is a doctor's kid or if he has just spend way too much time with an otoscope down his ear!  Either way he has no idea what a drill is!!

Time out works like a charm when he is misbehaving!  He is so stinkin cute in time out!  Especially when he is just in a diaper and it is showing a cheek!  If he knows he is disobeying sometimes he will try to put himself in time out before I can get a chance to do it! When I get him out of time out he turns around with a huge smile and gallops towards me waiting for a big hug!

(The red spots on his back are nothing--pretty much anytime anything touches his skin it turns red.)

He sleeps like a champ.  I don't turn the monitor on though because many nights he wakes up and throws a party or two.  He sleeps in one piece footed pajamas backwards because well, he has been known to take his diaper off and make a mess, if you know what I mean!  He still takes a morning and afternoon nap and sleeps from about 6:30 pm-7 am.  He decided to sleep in on his birthday today and he didn't wake up until 9:30!

He loves food, but won't eat if he is too tired.  I can normally count on two meals a day from him.  But boy, this skinny little guy can put down some food!  He eats most everything--from veggies all the way to ice cream!

Oh, and he loves his daddy!  I mean A LOT!! He will not let me do a thing for him when Zeb is around. Even if he gets hurt he won't let me comfort him.  I thought he was supposed to be a mommy's boy?

This little guy has stolen the hearts of the girls in this family!  I love to hear Sara Beth and Leigh talk about him.  They are so proud when he learns something new. They have both been working hard on teaching him to say that he is two.  He won't! Ha!  Even though he says two when he is counting!  I have no doubt he will be saying it soon--if only to get them to stop asking!

We go to the doctor soon for his check-up! I can't wait to see his stats!