1st Birthday and other happenings

Well, it's 5:30 am and I should be on my way to the gym but ERJ sounded like she was going to wake up but I guess she went back to sleep. Now I am wide awake and so I figured I would catch up on this. This past week we celebrated her birthday. We had a good time. My parents were able to come up and spend some time with her so it worked out great. She enjoyed the festivities very much. When ANJ turned one, it was a huge party, we invited everyone I knew. Now with baby #2, she got a pizza party. Part of me feels kind of bad but at this age she really doesn't know the difference. Plus she got to hang out with her favorite people in the world. Her brother and cousins.... So here are some party shots. We got her a bitty smash cake but she really didn't know what to do with it. I thought it was pretty funny. She just looked at it. I have to give it to her aunt because she is the one that decided a cupcake cut into little pieces may be a better fit.

Now I will tell you that one ERJ saw the cupcake in bitty pieces then she could really commit to the it. She began to stuff her mouth as fast as she could. This tends to be her eating style anyway, but the cake made it a lot faster.

So here she is eating her cake.... she did like it very much. We only gave her one though. I just thought it was funny how she stuffed it in there.

These next two shots are some random ones from playtime that I had for the kids. I got in a Mary Kay order that had a bunch of those biodegradable cornstarch peanuts. I put them all in the tub and let the kids play in them. They had a blast. Here they are in it!

ERJ also loves to play but with cars mostly. She was moving this one all around the floor. It was really funny to watch because she doesn't really know what to do with the dolls she got as gifts, but she can play easily with her brothers cars. While her brother, plays with the dolls some too. I love it. I remember a college friend, you know who you are, once told me that she refused to get any gender specific toys for her kids. We always joked that her kids would always be either in black or white onesizes and playing with rocks and sticks. However, I love that it has just worked out that my son is just as comfortable playing with dolls as my daughter is playing with trucks...and no, she didn't just get her kids rocks and sticks. They had all kinds of gender specific toys.

Here is a gift from another college friend. Doesn't she look cute....I won't put up the picture of her brother in the same outfit, but he likes it too.

My MIL's birthday was a few days before ERJ's so we celebrated. The cake was baked by my neighbor and was fabulous. Here is my MIL with the kids singing Happy Birthday. They all had a blast.

Finally, my SIL and I have been doing a child care coop for the last few weeks. She takes my kids one day a week, I take hers another. It is working out really well because the kids love to play together and now they get to see each other regularly. Also we moms get a few hours off at no cost. When I brought them home the other day I snapped this shot. I love it because they were all so engrossed in the same activity. It was just really sweet. I like that they are going to know each other and grow up with each other. The only cousins I had in the US, I saw only every couple of years if I was lucky. I think I missed out some in that regard. It warms my heart to know that these kids will get to hang out.

Well now I have burnt up most of my morning work out time..... I don't know if I will go back to sleep. I am glad I got this updated. I hope everyone has a great day!

-gcj