FBC End of Year Program

First Baptist Church Child Development Center held their end of year program on Sunday, May 3rd. This was our second year at FBC and I was so impressed with how much more comfortable Katelyn was on stage this year. She did a great job!!




I've tried for several days with no luck in getting the video uploaded of her portion of the program. Here is a small clip of the second part for the grandparents since they were unable to attend.


The rest of the images are HERE. If your child was in the P2, P3, or K3 class you might find him/her here. I tried to get a shot of as many as I could.

Katelyn is super excited to be starting K4 next year! We are so proud of our little girl!

Owen's 1st Birthday

On Saturday, May 2nd I woke up to a flurry of emotions. My baby boy, my last baby, was no longer a baby. The past year just seemed like a blur! I'm so excited about the future but it is so hard to let go of those baby days. I finally had to snap out of it because it was PARTY TIME!!

We had a small gathering with family and a few close friends on Poppy & Gigi's porch. As expected (since it has rained EVERY year for at least the past 9 years on the first weekend in May) it did rain but that didn't dampen our outdoor party one bit. Gigi's porch was just beautiful with all her gorgeous flowers. It was the perfect setting.


Amanda Berkstresser from Cakes by Frankie (Frankie's daughter) did the cakes. They were very yummy!


I think Owen was excited the day of his birthday. We would chant "It's your birthday! It's your birthday!" and he would smile real big and just dance. It was so precious! I love his birthday hat but he was not particularly fond of it.


We had a great turnout for a rainy Saturday morning. As most of you know I LOVE group shots so of course it was a must have for this party too! :)




Owen LOVED his cake and actually wanted to eat the candle too if I would have let him! He was a little apprehensive at first but quickly learned how to dig in!




Ruthie even got in on the action when Owen tossed the cake plate on the floor!


After the rain stopped Owen and my Dad had a great time playing in the rain drops falling from the roof. They would fall on Owen's face and he would just bust out laughing. It was the funniest thing!


After most folks had left and during clean up we decided to let the kids "send the balloons to Jesus" (as John Matson would say!). They loved it! Owen, Katelyn, and Thomas were all so fascinated watching the balloons float off into the sky.


Suzanne Williams was the official photographer of the day and her images are just absolutely priceless! Of course I couldn't resist getting in a few shots before and after but I can't tell you what a wonderful thing it is to have someone else documenting the day so you can really enjoy the party. Don't spare the expense and just do it!! Even 9 months pregnant she was all over the place snapping away.

I am so thankful for her friendship! It looks like we will both have 2 May babies since Baby Anna is scheduled for May 27th. Her first daugther, Ella, was born on May 6th. Believe it or not she is still planning to help me with Katelyn's party on May 24th!! She said Baby Anna was not allowed to come until after Memorial Day weekend was over. :) I guess we'll both have to take off the month of May each year just to keep up with each other's birthday parties!

Say a little prayer for me as I have accepted the awesome opportunity to photograph Baby Anna's birth next week! I am so excited but so very nervous too! I pray that my nerves will stay calm and I can be there in plenty of time.

The rest of the images are HERE and HERE.

Twelve Months

WOW! I can't believe this post is THREE weeks late! AARRRGGGHHH!! Oh well, I can't let it pass that Owen was 12 months old on May 2nd. He weighed in at 23 pounds 1 ounce (50%) and measured 32 inches long (95%) at his 12 month doctor visit.
--He seemed to have totally skipped 12 month sized clothes and pretty much went from 9 months to 18 months leaving me with lots of unworn clothes that I got at consignment this time. :(
--Just a couple of days before his first birthday he figured out how to crawl up on his hands and knees (versus the "army" crawl he had been so fond of until now). He is really getting around now and pulling up onto EVERYTHING!
--He still eats very well and pretty much anything you put in front of him. I've been trying to transition him more to whole milk but I'm not so sure he is tolerating it very well. I think it may be giving him stomach cramps at times. I'm going to stay with the Next Step formula for a while longer I believe.
--He is jabbering ALL the time! He will look at you and bust out with an entire sentence it seems and wait for a response. If you respond he will just keep on going like he is holding a conversation with you. It is so funny! He's still not saying much more than DA-DA, ball, and Uh-Oh very plainly but there are sometimes hints that MA-MA might be pretty close. (I had really hoped that he would start saying MA-MA on Mother's Day but no such luck!)
--He is definitely a Momma's boy and I LOVE it! He loves to snuggle and I could eat him up! :)
--I have to admit I'm really glad to be done with his monthly pictures. Those last few months were TOUGH once he got so mobile! I'm probably going to still take some sort of picture of him on a monthly basis for a while longer just not set in the same place.

Here's the year in review (click on image to see it larger):


Well Check Ups:

Up next...his 1st birthday party!!

Thomas turns 2!!

On April 23rd our family got together to celebrate my sweet nephew's 2nd birthday. Thomas was so excited!


He was wide open and all over the place on his John Deere tractor that he had gotten for Christmas.


The main event was actually THE SWINGSET that almost consumed my brother, my dad, and my cousin Josh over the prior week. I have to say I was very impressed with all their hard work!


He was so into his gifts this year! It was fun to hear his funny comments and see his sweet expressions of excitement. He got lots of outdoor toys and he couldn't have been happier!


He loved playing with Katelyn's bubble mower at our house and when his Gran got him his own he was estatic! He pushed that thing around for a long time!


The weedeater from Nana and Pop was also a huge hit! He looked so stinkin' cute with the goggles on and didn't even mind wearing them!


Of course we had to take a minute to grab some family shots. Here are the grandparents - Nana, Pop, Gran & GiGi.


But this quick family shot was definitely a favorite!


After the sun went down we headed inside for a delicious lasagna dinner and homemade birthday cake. Thomas did a great job of blowing out the candles. It made him so happy and he wanted to do it again and again!




Happy Birthday Thomas!! We love you little buddy! The rest of the images are HERE.

On the following Saturday he had his friends party at the Montgomery Zoo. You can see those images HERE.

A new babysitter??

I think I might have found a new babysitter for Owen...SPAGHETTI! Yes, it's a little messy and the clean up is not much fun but boy does he really get into it! The night before his first birthday party I was busy in the kitchen doing a ton of different things. Katelyn had gone somewhere with Gigi and Poppy so it was just me and Owen. I put him in the high chair with some spaghetti and I didn't hear a peep out of him for at least 45 minutes! Now he did request more from time to time but that was it! I got almost all of my kitchen work done while he entertained himself. I loved it!!


A couple other images are HERE.

Water Boy

Both of my children just LOVE water! Which is a good thing being here on the lake I guess! After several unseasonably warm days we decided spend an afternoon out by the pool. We started off with the toddler sprinkler but later decided to give the pool a try. I knew it would have to still be freezing cold but it actually wasn't too bad. The kids loved getting to splash around and it was an absolutely gorgeous day outside. I'm so glad summer is finally here!



Here's a quick video of Owen splashing around. I love how you can see him kicking his feet under the water.



The rest of the images are HERE.

Johnny Jump-Up

Here is one of the few times that Owen has actually enjoyed being in the Johnny Jump-up! This is my little secret of how I get a shower when he is awake. ;) On this particular day he was just a chattering and jumping all around. I was able to grab the camera for a quick conversation with him. Notice how he just jabbers like he's having a conversation with you but it makes no sense at all!

Sprinker Fun

When the weather starts getting warmer in April each year Katelyn starts itching to get outside in the sprinkler! So one afternoon we did just that and she had a blast. The water is always so cold but she doesn't care one bit!


Interestingly it looks like we tend to get outside in sprinkler around the same time every year. Here is a little flash back from years past. It is so neat to see how much she has grown!

May 2008 - Owen was only 1 week old and it was time for some fresh air! She loved running through the sprinkler but quickly fell in love with the mud puddle as well!


April 2007 - Katelyn would scream every time she would run into the sprinkler. Check out that cute little saggy diaper!




April 2006 - These were the days before the water sprinkler came to our house but we still spent lots of time outside down by the lake. You know looking back at these I never realized how easy life was with only one child to look after! ;)


The rest of the current images are HERE.

FBC Art Show

Each year FBC CDC holds an art show for the kids to show off some of their special art work from the year. This year each of the kids painted a square that was assembled into a display quilt. It was auctioned off to raise money for American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. It was pretty neat!


Katelyn also did a cross painting using a stencil technique.


My favorite was the marshmellow paintings. I think I understood it correctly that they used food coloring and Karo syrup so they could eat the marshmallows afterward!


I couldn't help but throw in this this little flashback from last year at her very first art show in the P2 class. So sweet!


The rest of the images are HERE.

More from Easter Weekend

Oops! I totally skipped over Easter Sunday afternoon! We left Alex City after church and came home to have lunch at Poppy & Gigi's house with Carmichael side of the family. It was yummy! The cousins enjoyed hunting Easter eggs in the front yard (or is it the backyard when you live at the lake???).






After everyone left Katelyn and Owen found the baskets the Easter Bunny had left for them. He sent a note to Nana & Pop's house that their baskets were so big that he left them at our house instead of hauling them all the way to Alex City. ;)


It was such a nice day we took them outside to see what was inside. They were both so excited!!





Katelyn LOVES to read! She is starting to really sound out the letters and putting words together. It is very exciting!


Owen was fascinated with everything in his basket.


I am so blessed!


The rest of the images are HERE.

Looking Ahead

About a couple of weeks before Owen's first birthday (I know I should have waited but he is SO BIG!!) after having to switch out car seats in the truck I decided to go ahead and give him a try facing forward. HE LOVES IT! Every since that day he has chattered NON-STOP! Before when we rode he would settle in and usually go to sleep whenever we went somewhere - not anymore! He just talks and reaches for his sister to get her attention constantly. Don't think I haven't considered going back to those quieter days!! ;)


"Enough pictures already - Let's go MOM!!"


The rest of the images are HERE.

The 7th Anniversary of my 29th Birthday

For someone who doesn't really like to make a big deal over her birthday it ended up being a weekend celebration it seems! My birthday was actually on a Friday but I had to work the Goshen HS prom down in Troy with Barry that night. It is always fun to go back to prom! My how things have changed! ;) What's this "stanky leg" thing anyway?!?

On Saturday we attended a 30th birthday surprise party for our friend Keith Williams (post from his party) and then headed out to Shogun (my FAVORITE birthday dinner spot) for some good 'ole Japanese entertainment. This was the kids' first experience and it was fun to watch their eyes get big over the big flames and the fact that everything was cooked right in front of us. YUMMY!!




The plan was to go bowling afterwards but bedtime was quickly approaching so we decided to put that off until another time.

Bart had given me a Nintendo DS for my birthday (Yeah!!) so we did make a quick stop in the mall to look for games. I had a coupon for Build-A-Bear that was about to expire so Katelyn got a new friend named Fluffy Bunny. It cost me a total of $1.65 after my coupons - SWEET!! Then she pitched a fit to ride the merry-go-round but we were all ready to go so we told her we would have to do that another time. She pitched a fit as usual. I told her I didn't have any money and asked her if she wanted to take her Build-A-Bear back (not thinking she would go for that) and she said "YES!" What?!? Then she threw her new bunny at me and said "I want to ride the Merry-go-round!" UGH!! Time to GO!! WHAT am I going to do with her!!


Then on Sunday our family got together for the annual birthday dinner. These are my favorite! I enjoy the casual atmosphere of being with everyone and always the good grub too!


Thank you everyone for a fabulous birthday!!

The rest of the images are HERE.