Happy Birthday

A"few" years ago, this little girl entered the world . . .

. . . and it's a better place because she has been here!

Happy Birthday to the best mom and grandma ever!

The house that Grandpa built . . .

I wish I had a picture of this fort from the outside, but I don't. My mom and dad came to visit last week. Grandma and I left Grandpa babysitting the kids for a little while. When we got back, we were greeted by this awesome fort. The girls talked Grandma into coming inside and reading them some stories. She's a good sport, and Grandpa is a great architect!

Hiking and Golfing and Ants, Oh My!

My mom and dad visited for a few days in September. They spent their two-week vacation bouncing between special events for grandkids and helping Haley with the twins. When it was our turn for a visit, we did our best to make it eventful.

We started by sending Steve and Dad to the nicest golf course in town, where they got to play 18 holes of golf -- for free (thanks to Steve's coworker)! We followed that with a major ant infestation. While the men golfed, Mom and I welcomed the bug guy with open arms and spent the morning emptying the pantry and throwing away ant-filled dry goods. (I'm so glad Mom was there. Trust me. You need a little moral support when there are millions of ants crawling through your food!) We finished the trip with hiking at the girls' favorite spot.

For some reason, Lacie hiked all over with her hands on her hips. It was hillarious!

Meeting the Twins

Two weekends ago, we visited Haley and Jason and met the twins! Yeah! I've been waiting for Steve to finish experimenting with his photos to post. A friend had already taken pictures of Haley with the babies, so Steve took pictures of Jason with the girls. Here are some of his best shots.

Jason and Paige

Paige
Jason and Tessa
Tessa

(Pretty good pics, don't you think? I can't wait to see what Steve can do after more practice. He's just beginning his new photography hobby.)

Of course my girls wanted to hold the twins over and over. Haley was very patient with my three little mommies.


Thank goodness that Lacie thinks she's holding the baby in the picture above. That was good enough for her (and for Haley, too, I'm sure!). The girls spent most of the time at the hotel pool with Daddy, so the twins did get some peace. (Although both Melissa and Megan were pretty good at holding sleeping babies.)

Of course, I had to test for myself how difficult it would be to try to hold two babies at once. The holding part wasn't so hard. The tough part was trying to get up, put a binky back in a baby's mouth, etc. I have always thought it would be fun to have twins, but I think I'll leave that to Haley.

Steve did a lot of baby cuddling, too, but he was content to stay behind the camera.

Thanks, Haley and Jason, for sharing your beautiful girls with us. (I wanted to take them home, but Haley and Steve wouldn't let me!)

Another reason for our trip was to visit Grandma, who was helping Haley with the babies. We pulled her away from the house for a while and visited the Gateway Children's Museum. It was especially cool for me because I helped write the proposals for the museum when I worked for a lawyer at Ernst & Young. I left the company and the state before it was ever finished. I finally got to see it . . . and it was very worth seeing!

There were so many fun things to do . . .

A "beehive" of activity:

A miniature house:
A building yard:

A working market:

A climbing wall:

Horses:

Dress-up Clothes Galore:

A helicopter:


Cool stuff to build and play with:

Fun bikes to test:


A giant xylophone:

And much, much more!

The day ended with three very happy kids, and three very tired grown ups!

(Tired Steve not pictured.)

Thanks, Grandma, for a great adventure!

I'll end with this adorable picture of Tessa:


She looks so peaceful and content that I think I'll follow her lead and go to bed!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Saturday was my MOM'S BIRTHDAY. (Sorry I'm a day late, Mom.)

I've been flipping through old photos trying to find my favorites of Mom. In my trip down memory lane, I remembered that I have been blessed to have my mom at my side very quickly after the birth of each of my children--even though she has never lived nearby.

Thanks, Mom for the countless hours you spent teaching me how to take care of a newborn and for all the times you took the baby so that I could sleep. Thanks for the meals cooked, laundry washed, house cleaned, and the time spent together. Thanks even more for the lifetime of good examples that have taught me how to be a better mother and a better person.

I love you, and Happy Birthday! Like I said in my Mother's Day post--I want to be you when I grow up. I think I have a long ways to go!

Here's Mom with each of my babies the day or day after they were born. (Notice that the camera got better with every baby.)


Here's Grandma giving each of my babies their first bath. (I couldn't actually find one with Megan, so I had to fake it. Those are my hands holding Megan. I must have forgotten to take a picture. Oops!)

That's a scrapbook page of Melissa's with the other girls added in. I love digital magic!

By the way, in case you don't realize it (Mom especially) if you click on the images, the computer will make them full-size so that you can see them better.