Meeska Mooska... Mickey Mouse!

This weekend, we had Amelia's birthday party. We had great fun celebrating and I think she completely worn herself out. We did a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme... one of her favorite shows. She got to celebrate with 4 grandparents, 3 great-grands, One Uncle Michael, and Aunt Kristen and Uncle Shaun. Here are some pictures of the festivities.

Birthday Girl Posing before the party

Clubhouse cake which Amelia was excited about all week.

TOODLES!!! (this was my favorite part) For those of you who don't have to watch this show over and over, Toodles comes along during Mickey and friends adventures and whenever they need something to help them accomplish their goal, they call..."oh, toodles!" So we made our own and he looks just like this, in case you are wondering. The Mystery item was Mickey ears for her to wear instead of a party hat. Then a map telling her where mommy and daddy hid her gift, candles for the cake, and a fork to eat with. Each time we realized we needed something... Amelia got to call Toodles to come help her.

more decorations

the Menu: Hot Dogs, Orange jello, raspberry lemonade, fruit salsa, Mac and Cheese cups, and of course the cake.

The hit of party (besides the cute 2 year old): Fruit salsa and homemade cinnamon chips

singing and blowing out the candles

Presents! Dinosaur Train from Mommy and Daddy

Sandbox from Nana and Papa and Aunt Laura

Car from Granbo and Gigi

And her slide, which she is still on, from Mommy and Daddy.

Big girl! Thankful for her and looking forward to a new year with her.

Two

Holy Smokes... she is two. And somehow it feels like no time. Those times I thought would never end, struggling with the tiredness, the confusion, the trials of babyhood, have, in fact, ended leaving behind a humbler mommy, one crazy, beautiful toddler, and only memories ... Wow, I barely remember this baby. So thankful for the past 2 years. Looking forward, by God's grace, to many more.

Celebrating Amelia today... we are blessed

While we've been away...

I know it's been awhile, whether or not I've been missed might be a different story, but I've had a chance to update... so here I go.

Yes. We have been busy but the real reason for the delayed post is a malfunctioning computer... UGH! We have not had much luck with that in the past two years. I think there is a desktop in our future. We STILL are waiting for repairs so we've used my ipod for any email/internet checking. All of the sudden, I've had some more time on my hands. perhaps spending too much time online? Well, maybe. It has been refreshing actually. Except when I need to look something up or send someone a message.

here is what you've all missed ...

1. Much time spent in the pool ... Amelia is loving swimming, jumping off the side, and splashing mommy.

2. I had some outpatient surgery. Nothing too big and nothing huge to recover from but yes, I had to go under for the first time in my life... Feeling normal and thankful for a wonderful doctor.

3. James found out he passed his last and final test of his actuarial exams! Praise the Lord. No more studying, no more looking for ways to pass the time waiting for him to be done studying, no more putting things off because of time studying... So grateful and so excited for him. He has a few more "projects" to finish before he gets a change in his letters, but those wont take too much time. Oh, and by the way, average age of people who make it through... 30; James ... 24! He is awesome!

4. Amelia turns two in TWO DAYS! I feel like this year she has grown and changed so much it's unbelievable to think about her last year at this time... Talking, walking, running, climbing (never still) Goofy, with a great sense of humor and continues to impress us with how much she knows and remembers. She is learning her lower case letters right now. (why we have to have 2 completely separate alphabet, I don't know) She's almost got them all. We are so thankful for her and the little person she's becoming. As soon as we get the computer up and running.. I'll post pictures from her Mickey Mouse Party.

Welp, there's a quick update... and hopefully we will be fully functional within the week!