Party Time!

We celebrated Crew's birthday on Thursday the 12th and it was a hit! I was a little nervous for a number of reasons...

1-Crew had had a fever since Sunday and wasn't showing any signs of getting better

2-He had his 1 year old doctors appointment that day and was getting shots which probably wouldn't help the fever

3-Our house wasn't looking like it was going to be finished, and if we did finish it needed major cleaning

4-Reagan woke up on Thursday seeming to have the same illness that Crew had been battling since Sunday.

Now these are all pretty good reasons to post pone the party, but there wasn't really another day to celebrate. We were heading to the lake the next day through Monday, and this week Crew goes to Hemophilia Clinic which is a bigger deal than just the pediatrician, we have carpet guys coming to pull our carpet, etc. etc.

Needless to say we decided to go for it and I am so glad we did! It was a ton of fun! Here are some pictures from the party...

I made Crew's invitation, enjoy

I attempted to make Crew a birthday cake, as you can see we had a "Ball" theme. I am begging you not to look too closely at these cakes. I have never done the frosting in this way and it took me about 4 hours just to frost the three of these cakes and that was with the help of my mother. Even though it was a bit of a challenge, I actually want to do it again! Hopefully next time it won't take as long!

Crew loves to play peek-a-boo and this is his version. I love this about little ones, they think you can't see them when they put their hands on their heads, well maybe that isn't the case with other little one's but that is what Crew thinks! Love it!

Getting ready to blow his candle out...

This picture is a little decieving. It looks as though Crew was devouring his cake, but that certainly wasn't the case! He really liked the licorice rope that I used for the basketball and he liked to touch the cool looking frosting, but he didn't want it in his mouth. So really all that work was just for the pictures. What do you do?

My beautiful little girl

Crew and mommy opening presents

Reagan and Grammy. Thanks for all of your help!

I had to throw this one it because, first, it was that night after the party, and second, I can't believe how flexible he is! I have a picture of Reagan doing this very thing when she was close to his age and I think it is so cute!

Thank you to everyone who came and supported our little man on his first birthday! We love you all and feel so lucky to have such a great family!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! again ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CREW-MAN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CREW!

I can't believe my little man is turning ONE!

I have to say that this year has absolutely flown by! I love his little face and the smile he brings to mine on a regular basis. This little guy has been such a blessing to our family and I now know why I was in such a hurry to get him here.

He and Reagan are buds. She loves having an audience and he can't get enough of her shows. They are so good to each other and I am so grateful for that.

Here are a few things about Crew:

*I love his face (that includes his eyes, smile and little nose)

*He is my "lump on a log" he has yet to crawl, or move at all really. He can scoot his boot when he really has to, but he prefers to stay where he is. Although this my raise red flags to other parents, we couldn't be more grateful that he is putting this off. It has saved us many trips to the emergency room!

*He is a jabber pants. He loves to gab, especially when he is by himself. There have yet to be any intelligable words, but he may beg to differ.

*He is a fabulous sleeper! He is still taking two naps a day and sleeping long in the night. Love that about my kids.

*Crew is the best audience. He always applauds and cheers us on no matter what we are doing. He loves to clap and cheer for Reagan especially and this often drives her to continue whatever act she is playing for him.

*Crew is a huge blessing to our family. We love him so much and I can't imagine our family without him. He is a tough little guy and has already had to go through more than anyone his age should have to experience. We know he has a tough road ahead, but we will be here to help him along the way.

WE LOVE YOU CREW!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

WE DID IT!

I was a little nervous, but we did it! We finished the kitchen in time for Crew's birthday party! (Well, pretty much) There are a couple of things left... I have to stain the columns and beadboard, paint behind the fridge, we also have new crown to go above the cabinets, but that has been missing since we started the cabinet job, so I am not really counting it! If you want to see what the kitchen looked like before we started this whole mess you can click here.

So here is the rundown on what we did this past month to our kitchen/living room...

> Tore up the brown and blue linolium floor and replaced it with new beautiful flooring

> Ripped out the railing and one of the pilars that used to seperate the kitchen from the living room

> Demolished the wall that seperated the kitchen from the living room

> Removed the large cabinet next to the stove and replaced it with the refridgerator and a new cabinet above that

> Installed two new collumns and covered the one last standing pilar to hold up our ceiling

> Ordered and installed a new island to sit in the middle of the kitchen

> Painted the columns, walls and bead board so that the two rooms would flow together

Ok, so now you have it. This started out as just replacing our awful flooring and turned into a total demolition job. Sorry Steve... Actually, I am not sorry. I think he is just as happy with the results as I am! If you're ever in the area, stop by and see us! We love to show it off!

***A special thanks needs to be said to our great friend, Bart for helping with the demo and building our beautiful columns. You are the man! Thanks for all of your insight and help, we couldn't have done it without you!***

Tubby Time!

Bath time at our house is one of the best times of day! I think Reagan would stay in there all day long if I would let her. Crew isn't much different. What is it about the water? I have to admit I don't mind it too much. My kids are so happy there, how can I not be too? I thought I would share some fun pics in the tub...

Doesn't Crew have the most gorgeous eyes! I LOVE taking pictures of them!

Miska Mooska Micky Mouse!

This weekend we went to Mickey Mouse Playhouse Live at the Energy Solutions Arena. It was so great! I don't think Reagan knew what to think at first, but once she realized what it was she loved it. She sat very intently in her own chair and watched with fascination through the whole first half. They had an intermission wanting everyone to go buy food and toys, but we spent the time taking silly pictures. By the time the second half started Reagan was singing along and dancing. Even Crew had a good time watching the show. We can't wait for another fun show to come to town!

Sorry this is so blurry! It was hard to get a good shot with my point and shoot!

I Heart Faces

This is a fun photo blog that you guys should check out. Different people from all over can post pictures of faces showing the different emotions that we all exprience. It is a cute blog! Here is the picture I posted in the kids catagory:

What we've been doing this month...

This is just a sneak peak, a clue you could say, of what we have been up to lately. If you can't tell by the picture what we are doing, I'm sorry, you'll have to wait and see. If you can, good for you! I'll give details soon... very soon!

New Year's at the Lake

Each New Year's Eve we switch being with the Diederich's and the Henrie's. This year was the Diederich's turn. Whenever we ring in the new year with the Diederich's we do it at the Lake. Of course, Steve loves this and I have to admit it is good to leave my holiday chaos and clutter at home and relax for a few days. We usually spend New Year's Eve eating delicious food and playing some fun games. This year was no different. The game of choice was Rock Band. Even Reagan got in on the action!

We let Reagan stay up until midnight with all of the cousins.

(How do you make a 2 year old go to bed in the next room when she can hear everyone else outside her door playing and having fun?)

She did so great! She was obviously tired by the end of the night, but she wasn't nearly as onery as I expected. Here she is playing and dancing with the cousins...

Although Crew slept through most of the festivities on New Year's Eve, he seemed to know when the big moment was about to hit and woke up with a fury. So at ten to twelve I was in trying to calm him down and get him back to sleep. That seemed impossible knowing the ruckus that was about to explode so I gave in and let him come out and enjoy the fun for a bit. Here is his cute tired face ringing in the New Year

Every day the cousins would wake up, eat breakfast, put on their snow clothes, and head outside to ride the snowmobiles and sled.

Every day I would try to get Reagan to join her cousins and every day she refused. "It's too cold" she would tell me. On the second day I convinced her to put on her clothes and at least go outside on the 4 wheeler. She had a good time but it was cold and she didn't last long.

On the third day Aunt Heidi convinced Reagan to give it one more try. So we got her all bundled up and sent her outside with Aunt Heidi (I had to stay inside with the little guy). I realized that Reagan had been out for quite awhile and figured she must be having a good time. The next thing I knew Heidi was coming in to grab her camera. She said Summer, her cousin, had convinced her to ride on the sled behind the snowmobile with her and now Reagan wouldn't get off. And that was the case for two days straight.

Reagan wanted to be outside every minute riding on the sled behind the snowmobile. She is always so afraid to try new things, then she ends up loving them. My timid child. Unfortunately the other cousins were a bit frustrated because when Reagan was on the sled they had to go pretty slow. We had a very sad girl when her turn was done.

Over all it was a great week at the Lake. It is fun to watch the kids grow up and be able to participate in more and more things. It makes everything a little more fun! Thanks Diederich's for making it such a great week!

Crew's First Hair Cut

While we were in Bear Lake over New Year's Crew got his first hair cut! It has been so shaggy for so long, but I've just never had it done and I'm so glad I finally did! Crew's aunt Heidi did the honors and I had her chop it! It is very short now and so cute.

This is right after we took the apron off... isn't he handsome???

Christmas Pretties

Every year my mom has gotten Reagan her Christmas dress for the holidays. This year was no different. She even got an outfit for Crew. We got out to the stores a little late this year so I was worried we weren't going to find anything, but I was way wrong! There were still a ton of choices, and everything was on sale! I think we are going to hold off again next year we had such luck this year! Here are the kids in their cute outfits...

Crew is so handsome! I could take pictures all day. He always coopoerates and loves the camera! Isn't he a stud?!?