Father's Day

We had a very nice Father's Day with Tom. We tried our best to pamper and spoil our awesome daddy rotten! The kids were very excited to give him his presents....a new softball mitt, weight lifting gloves, and a new cross necklace. I think Tom was pretty happy too, especially about his new mitt! He's been breaking it in every opportunity he gets. After spending a relaxing morning at home, we headed out in the afternoon to my parents for a bbq. Jacob had spent the night at my parents so Tom was looking forward to getting there so he could be with all of the kids together. I must say that on days like this I find myself counting my blessings. I feel so fortunate for everything Tom does for our family. He is such a loving, devoted father and husband. We had a great day! :)

Marissa is 2!

It's true, our baby has turned TWO! Hard to believe really. Marissa had a great birthday! She woke up talking about her birthday and really understood that the day was all about her. When you ask her how old she is now she says she's "twee" (three) and attempts to hold up the appropriate number of fingers. This is a challenge for her. She's working on holding up one finger on each hand. We keep telling her that she's two, but she insists that she's three.

The absolute highlight of Marissa's birthday, without a doubt, was her Elmo birthday cake. She is one of his biggest fans! Much thanks to my wonderful friend, Bonnie, who helped me make the perfect birthday cake for her. I had alot of fun decorating my first homemade cake and our birthday girl was thrilled. She kept saying "Eat Elmo cake"! Blowing out the candles was exciting for her...gotta love those lips!

Marissa was lucky enough to have not one, not two, but THREE birthday celebrations. Once with our friends the McCarrons, once with my family, and once with Tom's family. We also took her out for ice cream to celebrate her big day. Not sure why she decided to play shy when we sang to her at my parents, but she came around in time to blow out her candle. She absolutely loves her new Elmo backpack and tells me that she's going to "cool" (school) when she puts it on. She wears it around the house and out-and-about. She also likes to wear it outside, with her helmet on, while pushing her apple popsicle in the stroller.

Marissa is a happy, energetic little girl. She's keeps us moving and loves Elmo, being outside, and playing with her siblings. She's talking like crazy and keeps us laughing. We are so happy that she had such a great birthday. Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us and called to sing to her...she felt very special. Here she is being tucked in at the end of her big day. She's wearing her new favorite Elmo nightgown (handmade by Bonnie), resting her head on her new Elmo pillow, and holding her new Elmo book! Happy Birthday Marissa!!

Look, No Training Wheels!

Turns out our little Jenna can ride a bike without training wheels! A few weeks ago one of our neighbors kindly offered Tom and Jenna this pink, perfect, 20" bike. This is the next size up for her so we were really excited. Jenna insisted on sitting on the seat and steering while Tom pushed it through the backyard to the garage. When they got to the driveway, he gave her a little shove and off she went...just like that! What a surprise....who knew?!



She spent most of the day riding back and forth between Tom and me on the sidewalk. She needs a little help getting on and off the bike as it's pretty big for her yet. We've put it away until next summer, but Tom took the training wheels off her smaller bike the very next day.

Nappy Time

Nicholas decided this would be the perfect spot to crash for an afternoon nap. =)