Happy Birthday Gracie Lu!

Happy Birthday Sweet little Girl! I love you!

You always have a smile on your face and a story on your tongue.
You love your little brothers to pieces and adore your older sister.
I'm amazed by your creativity and your coloring ability. You are far more artistic than I could even dream of being.
You are learning to be a great reader and love doing math problems. Maybe you'll take after Grammie and Mommy and go into accounting:).

This past weekend we had most of Gracie's class over for a birthday party and she had so much fun playing with her friends. They jumped in the princess jumpy house and made princess (and prince charming) crowns. It was a joy watching Grace in her element with her friends. We don't often have playdates, so I very rarely see her playing with her friends. She is a sweet little girl who tries to please everyone.

(pictures will be added as soon as Henry gives me a moments peace)

1 Year Old!

His birthday isn't actually until Wednesday, but today we celebrated Henry.

We were blessed to have lots of friends and family come out and celebrate the day with us.

Henry had his very own little cake just for him.

At first he was hesitant to touch the cake, but with a little coaching from the girls, he dove right in.

By the time he was done, everything was covered in cake.

He had to have an impromptu bath in the kitchen sink.

He loves baths and didn't mind that there were people watching.

Happy Birthday Emma Jo!

I know you don't like to be called Emma Jo anymore, but that is how I will always think of you.
I can't hardly believe that you are 12! Next year you will be a teenager!

Look how much Emma has changed over the years...

Age 3

Age 5

Age 6

Age 8

Age 9

Age 10

Age 11

I love you Emma Jo! You are an amazing young lady. You inspire me with your love for your little brothers and sister. I know that we joke about the "good old days when you were an only child" but you are a fantastic big sister! You are become a wonderful young woman. Although we butt heads on many occasions, I am very proud to have you as my daughter. You are smart and pretty. You have a great head on your shoulders and tremendous love in your heart. You are growing up too quickly. I dread the day that you will be grown and leave the house, but I look forward to it as well because I know that you will do fine. Although you don't have a very good sense of direction, you are capable and will be able to handle any situation thrown at you. I am so happy to be your mom and I thank God that he gave me that opportunity.
I love you, Mommy

3rd Birthday

Cooper John turned 3 yesterday! I can't hardly believe it. He has brought so much joy into our lives. He is truly a little boy who loves tractors, dinosaurs, trucks, dirt, tools and mischief. He adores his daddy and would spend every waking (and sleeping) minute with him, if possible. He is a handful and proves to me that boys are definitely different than girls. Although he makes me want to pull my hair out I wouldn't have it any other way.

Emma Jo decorated Cooper's cake. He couldn't decide if he wanted a tractor cake or a dinosaur cake, so he got both!

Since Emma won't be at Cooper's party due to a friend's conflicting party, we let Cooper open her present last night.

Toy story is Cooper's favorite movie and Emma knew Woody would be a great birthday present.

She was right!

Henry Charles

I am so happy to share that Henry Charles has joined our family. The induction worked (maybe a little too well) and he was born early on Tuesday morning.

We started the induction with Cytotec to get everything ready for the "actual" induction scheduled for Tuesday morning. Turns out the Cytotec worked overtime and my contractions started almost right away. They were fairly mild about every 5 minutes starting around midnight. At 4:15 the contractions started in earnest. I felt my water break during a double contraction at 4:25 and he was born at 5:15am. I went from 5cm to complete in less than 40 minutes which left no time for an epidural or any other pain medications. Thankfully we were able to hold off the birth long enough for my midwife to arrive as Henry was crowning. Unfortunately the quick progression did not give Grammie enough time to make it to the hospital in time to attend the birth.

Each of Henry's older siblings is delighted with him.

Cooper can't stop saying "I like Henry".

Grace wants to hold him as long as he doesn't start crying.

Emma Jo is again loving being the oldest and having the freedom to hold Henry without having to sit carefully in a chair. She is treating him like a living doll and having fun dressing him up and talking and singing to him.

I had always wondered if I should have tried to have the other kids without an epidural. I always felt a little cheated that I had pitocin with each of them which seemed to rule out the possibility of an epidural-free experience. Now I know that epidurals are a good thing. I can say though that I felt fantastic within a few hours of Henry's birth which definitely wasn't the case with any of the other babies. I'm not sure if it is attributable to no epidural to recover from or if it is due to the extremely quick labor.

We came home from the hospital on Thursday and since then Henry has become very comfortable on our bed. He will gladly sleep for 2-4 hours at a time in this spot.

Emma Jo's 11th Birthday

Although she doesn't turn 11 until Thursday, today we celebrated Emma Jo's birthday. (I'm not supposed to call her that anymoe, she is just "Emma".) We planned a pool party at Grammie and Grampa's house. The temperature was in the 80s or 90s but thankfully there was a breeze. The pool was crystal clear and warm so the kids didn't care about the outside temperature at all.

Emma Jo decorated these cupcakes to look like the beach towels we gave out as party favors.

Happy Birthday, to me!

The 22nd was my birthday! I know lots of people don't want to admit when it is there birthday, or they want to let it pass quietly in the night. I'm not one of those people. I love birthdays, especially my own. I don't mind getting a year older. It is sure better than the alternative. I might feel differently when I'm "old" but I'm perfectly happy being 36.

It is not about presents or having all the attention on me. I just like that birthdays are a chance to spend the day with family and friends. And, of course, there is no pressure to bake a big meal or decorate the house like on other holidays.

Jason likes to joke that my birthday lasts for a week. The first year we were married my father took Jason to Mexico dove hunting over my birthday weekend. I joked that we could celebrate before he left and finish our celebrating when he got back. Since then I try to stretch the party out as long as possible.

This year the big day was on a Friday, so I could only stretch it over the weekend. On Saturday, my parents, Jason, the kids and I all went to the Melting Pot in Larkspur for fondue. We had never been there before but I've been wanting to go for several years. I think Jason and Dad weren't too sure what we were getting into, but went along for the ride since it was a request I had made. Turns out the place was fabulous. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the food. Cooper especially liked the chocolate. The only bad part was I forgot my camera so no chocolaty grins for the blog.

On Friday night we gathered at our house for Chicken Parmesan and presents. Both of the girls made me homemade cards which I absolutely adore. There is nothing quite like a personal note from one of your kids. Cooper can't write yet, but he did sing me happy birthday (his favorite song). Click on the photo to hear him singing.

Happy Birthday, Little Dude

Cooper's birthday cake, as captured by Grampa.

Do you see my cake…big breath…they went out…

Happy Birthday, Emma Jo! 10 years old!

On Wednesday, Emma Jo turned 10 years old! I can't hardly believe it. I don't feel old enough to have a 10 year old daughter going into 5th Grade. She had a day full of excitement. It started off at 7am when Grampa showed up at the house. He helped the kids finish getting ready for the day and then dropped Cooper off at daycare. Then Grampa and the girls headed up to pick up Grammie. They hit Adele's for breakfast and then drove down to San Francisco for the day. Gracie excitedly reported back to me that they drove over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Once the crew got to the City, they went to the Exploratorium. Grampa chaperoned a class field trip to the Exploratorium a couple of years ago and was enthralled. He has taken the kids a couple of times since then. I think he has as fun there as they do. From what I could tell everyone enjoyed the place, especially the gift shop!

After the Exploratorium it was off to the Giant's Game. At the Giant's Game the kids had Hot Dogs and Popcorn and got Lou Seal stuffed animals. I think they might have watched a little of the game as well.

When everyone gathered back at the house, before we went to Applebee's for dinner, Emma Jo got to open presents.



The little kids got Emma Jo a popcorn maker and some movies. Emma Jo made a request months ago for an air popper and we've already had to test it out.


Grandma Bette and Grandpa Joe sent Emma a shirt from "Emma Downtown" in Oregon. Emma Jo loved the shirt (green her favorite color) and wore it to camp on Thursday.

The big excitement of the night was the new bike from Grammie and Grampa. Emma Jo has outgrown her existing bike and wanted a "big girl" bike to match her friends'. Grampa spent hours researching and finally chose a bright red, Specialized 21-speed Mountain Bike.

While Emma Jo rode her new bike, Grace and Cooper had to ride their bikes as well.