Sarahpalooza

It's hard to believe, but my baby girl turned four years old a couple of weeks ago! Everyone told me it would go fast and boy, they weren't kidding. It's amazing for me to look back on these last four years and see how much she has changed in such a short amount of time. She seemed to go from baby to toddler to young girl in the blink of an eye and I couldn't be more proud of the person she is becoming!

To say she has a strong personality would be an understatement, but she also has a good heart and is such a caring little girl. She is a wonderful big sister and has more love to give than Emily can handle at times, but it's going to be so much fun watching them grow together and see that special bond develop.

Happy Birthday to my first little baby girl! I love you and am so proud to be your mom! Thank you for allowing me to go on this amazing journey with you!!


The birthday girl!


For a number of reasons we started referring to this year's birthday for Sarah as "Sarahpalooza" because it just kept going and going. Her actual birthday was on a Monday, but we had mini celebrations on Monday, two on Thursday, and then the big one the following Saturday. At first we were worried that she would be upset to not have all of the festivities at one time, but she didn't seem to mind at all since each one meant more cake, ice cream, and of course presents! :-)

For her "big" party this year, she wanted to do a princess theme with all of her girlfriends. We invited everyone to dress as their favorite princess and join us for a Royal Ball! The girls had a lot of fun making their own wands & tiaras and we even had a special "dress up" area where they could pick out different jewels, etc. to wear to the ball. :-)

When everyone was ready, they rode two at a time down the "red carpet" to the ballroom! Daddy truly outdid himself this year by making the carriage everyone rode in. It's amazing what you can do with some cardboard, velcro, lace, and a Red Flyer wagon! :-) The carriage was the hit of the party and has yet to be disassembled!

Once at the ball, the girls had fun dancing and playing games. It was a lot of fun to just sit back and watch them run around and laughing and enjoying themselves. Again, some Christmas lights and balloons and they were happy! Even after the cake had been eaten and the presents opened, they all wanted to go back and dance some more!

A big note of thanks to all of the grandparents for their help in making this year's party a success! Whether it was hanging lights, helping with the cake, or watching the birthday girl so we could get everything together...your help was invaluable!! Thank you all soooo much!! :-)

Below are just a couple of pictures from the party. Please check out the slide show on the right hand side for a lot more pictures of Sarahpalooza!


The princesses!


The cake...


The royal carriage...

Emily - 7 Months

Emily is 7 months old now and changing more and more each day. It was slow going at first, but she's eating her "solid" food like a champ now and we even seem to be more on a daily schedule. Yeah!! She's also been sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks now which I'm very happy about. :-)

She can sit unassisted, but not for very long. She likes to go stiff and launch herself backwards so sitting for long periods of time is still a work in progress. I've noticed in the past couple of days though that she's starting to get on all fours a little bit. Who knows, maybe she'll crawl before she sits! :-)

She's so much fun and loves to smile...at anyone! It seems at times she'll actually look at someone until she gets their attention and then give them the biggest smile she can. It's so cute to watch! She's also starting to "talk" more and more...which is an absolute must in this family. :-) I don't know if I'd call them her first words just yet, but she's been saying "da da" a lot lately.

Here are a few pictures from this month's photo shoot. It's getting harder and harder to get these with the sign so we took more candids this time around. Enjoy!


Emily with Mr. Ears







The following are her 6 months pictures that we had taken.




Emily in her baptism dress.

Emily Goes Swimming

Today was Emily's first swimming lesson and she loved it! She had the best time splashing and playing in the water and didn't even mind when I took her all the way under. It probably helped that the small pool where they do the lessons is heated, but to be honest, I was pretty happy about that fact too. :-) Here's hoping she's a water bug like her sister.


Waiting for our lesson to start.


Getting a feel for the water.




Not much "kicking" was being done at this point, but she still had fun.


Just relaxing. She really seemed to enjoy floating on her back.


Because this class is for 6-36 month old kiddos, we're actually in the class with our good friends the Kinnucans and their little girl Violet. Violet is adorable but she is a bit of a tough nut to crack. I think I'm starting to break through though since she finally gave me a few smiles and even wanted to sit in my lap! :-) Below is one of the smiles she gave me while we were waiting for our class to start.



I had to include the picture below because I absolutely LOVE Violet's expression. Too cute!!



Also, be sure to check back soon for pictures of Sarahpalooza...the week long celebration of Sarah's 4th Birthday!! :-)