Sunday, May 31, 2009

Birthday Presents

Today O. and I went to the mall to get her ears pierced as I mentioned before. O. is now finished with her dance recital. She was pretty excited on our way there but was nervous/scared for what it was going to feel like when the earring goes in. The Claire's employee explained the process and said it would be like a little pinch. She thought she could handle that. Once the first earring went in, O. was a little surprised that the "little pinch" was a more than "little". I think it just surprised her. No tears at least, but just red lobes for the afternoon.


The ears are marked and ready to be pierced.


1...2...3... It's in!!


O. picked out her birthstone, Emerald, for her first pair of earrings.


O. has been wanting roller blades for awhile now. Thanks to Grandma Mary she finally got them.


Striking a Pose


Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Birthday Girl

Hard to believe that 10 years ago today, O. was born. She celebrated it with spending it downtown in DM at the Civic Center practicing for her dance recital this weekend. We had to be downtown at 4:30 and didn't get home until 8PM. Once she and I got home, we were able to sing "Happy Birthday" to her. Phil baked the two 8-inch strawberry flavored cakes yesterday afternoon. I gave him directions on how to grease the pans so the cake wouldn't stick to the bottom. They came out perfectly. O. wanted lavender frosting, so I made the buttercream frosting and piped on the stars. I haven't made a homemade cake in a long time but doing just the basics isn't too difficult.



Her favorite gift were these earrings. O. wants her ears pierced, so after her recital we'll take her to get them pierced. No earrings allowed during the performance.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Ready for Our Little Girl

Over this Memorial Day weekend, Phil and I spent some of our time finalizing all the details for the arrival of our 4th child. I washed several of her new things and put them away, put her new bedding in the crib, and started my hospital bag. We are getting close to the wire for her to come. Her brother and sisters are getting anxious for her to arrive.

Here is a little story to share from C. Today, we spent the afternoon out with our oldest to celebrate her 10th bday and we were at a restaurant for lunch. C. was finishing up sucking on a lemon slice and offers it to me. She says, "The baby wants to taste the lemon." I chuckled and took a fake taste. C. is always offering me food and saying the baby wants some too. Then later in the day C. and I were washing our hands and C. sprinkles my belly with water. I asked her what she was doing and she replies that she is blessing the baby. Four months ago, C. was disappointed that she wasn't going to have another brother, but now she is constantly talking about her new little sister. She is always offering different ways how she is going to help out or what she is going to teach her. I think C. and the other two will be a big help with their new little sister.


Dad hasn't been in many pictures, so I thought I'd give him credit for putting the crib together and dressing the crib up. Good work, Dad!


38 weeks


New floral bed sheet along with two new toys waiting for her.


Butterflies on her new comforter

Sunday, May 10, 2009

36 weeks

Hard to believe only 4 weeks left until our little girl arrives. The pregnancy has gone fast. I have the usual back aches and tenderness on my belly, but other than that everything is going well. I start going to the doctor every week now.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

First Communion

On May 3, A. had his First Communion. He was looking forward to this day for a long time. All week he was asking who all was coming to witness this special with him. Both grandmas, uncles/aunts, cousins, and Godparents came to celebrate this day with him.


A. doesn't like to shop, just like his father, but he didn't mind picking out his First Communion outfit.




A.'s Godparents-Michelle and Joe


Uncle Danny and Aunt Raye came to see A. receive The Body and Blood.


A. standing by his banner he made at the First Communion retreat in April.


Phil was A.'s religion teacher this year. Every week Phil would prepare lessons for the class to get ready for this memorable day in the church.


The church had a nice reception after mass. Here you see A. with his family. A. opened his gifts here. He received various types of Bibles, and a couple of rosaries to pray with.

Baby Shower

My two wonderful sister-in-laws hosted a baby shower for me. Via email they planned and coordinated the whole thing. It turned out awesome. Sara had her good friend Lisa handcraft the shower invitations. The color theme was chocolate brown and pink. Those colors are really trendy this season especially for new baby products.

It was great to visit with family, local friends, and friends from the Glenwood area at the shower. This was really my first 'real' baby shower, even though this is my 4th child. When I had my first child, my co-workers from Malvern were planning on having a shower for me, but the day the shower was to happen, I went into labor with O. About a week later, Phil went to my school to pick up the items my staff had given me. I was very thankful for the "Book" shower because it started our collection of children literature to read to O. My staff also gave us the Pack 'N Play, which is one item we didn't sell before moving to DM. Phil and I sold EVERYTHING when we moved. My sister-in-laws thought it would be nice to have a shower to welcome their new niece. I have however bought a few things from friends, but also a good friend has been so kind to lend me several of her baby items that she is no longer using. Amber does daycare in her home and she currently doesn't have any infants. This has been a BIG help. Also my dear cousin, Michelle, has let us use her stroller/car seat, and other great baby products. Phil and I are so appreciative of our family and friends to help us get prepared for the arrival of our little girl.


The awesome hostesses Raye and Sara.


Yummy flavored cupcakes from a local bakery, pink/white bottle and booty mints, sorbet punch, and nuts were served. Raye crafted the diaper cake centerpiece on the table.


O. and I before the guests arrive. She is so excited for her new little sister to arrive.


Me with my mom, Ann, and mother-in-law, Mary.


Playing the shower game 'Baby Concentration". This game was a lot of fun but you had to pay attention to play. On the tri-fold display, there were variety of candy type candy bars and we had to match them up to a particular baby item or topic. For example-Whoppers matched up with 10 lb. babies, 100 Grand matched up with Hospital Bills, Lifesavers matched up with Grandmas. Whoever won the match then won the candy bar too. My hostesses know how much I LOVE candy so they thought this game was perfect and different as well. The guests thought the game was GREAT!!


Lots of pink outfits were given.


Fun bath items in the basket.


A little bit of green stuff too.