Marin is 6!

Marin is officially six.  Wow.  My kids birthdays are always especially meaningful to me- I like their birthdays more than my own, really.  I love to reminisce about every detail of the day they were born and recall all of the events over again in my head.  I love to tell the kids about the specialness of the day, and how everyone felt and how wonderful it all was.  Marin's birthday is especially so, because she made me a mommy.  I can actually believe that she is six.  I spend every day with her.  She is very clearly six to me.  I just wish I could keep her little a little longer.   In the meantime, we're soaking up every second.

We started celebrating Marin's birthday on Friday the 6th with a special family fun night, which is one of our favorite times together.  We played games and celebrated!  Emilie, John and I decorated her room while she was at school that day- a great surprise when she got home! The next morning we had pancakes with heart shaped strawberries inside.  That afternoon we went to Frozen on Ice with Jake and Katy.  Everyone had a great time!!  The day of her birthday we had Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Lindsay  and Jake and Katy for dinner.  She chose to serve hot dogs on the grill and green beans.

That night was the Daddy/daugher dance!  It was Emilie's first time getting to attend so that was especially special!  They had a great time!!!

A few weekends later, we hosted all of her friends at Goldfish Swim School for her birthday party!  The kids had the pool all to themselves and swam and played to their hearts delight! After that they dried off, had a snack and some cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday, to Marin!

So proud of this sweet, smart, fun, inquisitive little six year old!  It is a the greatest pleasure in my life to be your mom, Marin Jane.  Thanks for making me a mommy.  I love you.

John John at 18 Months!

Hard to believe that my little guy is just a few months away from two!  He is absolute sunshine.  John smiles all day long.  We love that little dude so very much!  

Here's a little of what he's up to:

He says:
- Mow Mil (more milk)
- 'NACK!!!! (snack) always at the top of his lungs.
- mama, dada, mammma (grandma), bampa (grandpa), maremare (for Marin), lele (for emilie)
- "that dog!" when he sees a god.
- "tinky eet!" (stinky feet).  When you change his diaper or get him dressed/undressed, John sticks his feet in your face and smiles and says, "tinky eeet!"

He likes:
- cars and says "ooooooom, ooooom" (zoom zoom) when he pushes them around
- LOVES socks and shoes.  He likes to have socks and shoes on always.  He really likes to put his sisters boots on and walks around in them all the time.  He says, "socks" when we wakes up and then points to the closet where his shoes are, after his socks are on, to tell you that he wants to put those on next.
- loves his paci, and doggie and blanket.  He calls his paci a "nigh, nigh" (night night)
- He loves music class, clapping along and running all over the place.  He specifically loves playing with the instruments during the free play portion.


He knows his nose, head, eyes and mouth.  And he loves to point them out- even on you!

John follows his sisters EVERY move!  Literally every single thing they do, he tries to do, too.  He LOVES them so so much.

His first sentence the other day was, "Dank do, Mama." (thank you, mama) after I put his socks on.

Daddy/Daughter Dance 2015!

This years Daddy/Daughter Dance was special because it took place on Marin's 6th Birthday, and it was Emilie's first time getting to go!  Both girls were so excited!!  They danced the night away with their friends, and during a dance with daddy, Emilie asked him to marry her.  Does it get any better?  It does, afterwards, they went out for ice cream with all of Marin's friends.

John's Walking!!!!

John took his first steps from my mom to Auntie Molly at his first birthday party.  And he took a lot of little steps in between but once he realized what he was doing, he'd always drop back down on his knees and speed off crawling.  The kid can crawl SO fast!

A week ago he walked across the room outside Emilie's ballet class.  No one even saw him, except this little sister (a two year old) said, "he walking! he walking!" and we all looked up in amazement.  But he didn't really walk much after that.

But today he took off!  He boy is he proud of himself!!!  Now he's walking everyone nonstop.  He's a true walker!!

Fall 2014

Our Fall has flown by!  We've had a great time!!  Marin and Emilie both LOVE school and have made a lot of really great, nice new friends.  I have even been able to make new what Emilie calls  "mommy friends".

We went of vacation to Michigan with my college friends and their families, we have been to a few different pumpkin patches, we had (and organized) a campout at the club, we picked apples, the girls ran their first ever fun run, we went to the farm, and McKenna farms, we had an awesome Halloween and we saw my dad to victory with the county board!