Happy Birthday, Dakota!

Today is Dakota's birthday but since it is a work and school night (which, I might add, is the LAST night of law school classes EVER! Talk about a great birthday gift!) so we spent yesterday celebrating.

The kids put up birthday banners and various other decorations Saturday afternoon so on Sunday morning they were more than ready to have her open her gifts. At breakfast, the kids gave her their gifts; Kelton got her an inspirational plaque (ok, I got it for her but he gave it to her) and Kaylen picked out a toy Tree Frog. And yes, she picked it out all by herself. :)


After breakfast we let her open one of her gifts from me. She has been wanting a better MP3 player than I gave her last year (yeah yeah - it was inexpensive and I knew nothing about them but let's just say her old one will make a great one for Kelton.). Her new one is a Sansa Clip one in blue (I have the pink one - I think I got it last year). She loves it!




After that we got ready to leave the house to do birthday things...well...if birthday things usually include buying a new VCR/DVD combo unit to replace the one that bite the big one this week and ordering a new pair of glasses for the birthday girl. We did round out the afternoon with a birthday trip to Chuck E Cheese and believe it or not - it was Dakota's idea! :)



After that we headed home for more exciting birthday fun - like hooking up the new VCR/DVD, mowing the lawn, the annual tightening of the bolts on the play structure, etc.

Then we had dinner and some games in the backyard ("Mother May I" and "What Time Is It Mr. Fox?") and finally cake, ice cream and the remaining two presents.

What did she get? Well funny you should ask. :) I got her the 5the Season of The L-Word and a bracelet. You can go here to see it.







All in all - I think she had a good day. Even if she did have to mow the lawn. :)

Happy Birthday, Dakota!!! I love you very, very much.

Happy 7th Birthday Kelton!!

Today at 12:15pm my baby boy will officially turn 7 years old. It truly amazes me as it really does seem like not that long ago I was pregnant with him and then went through the whole "birthing of a baby" thing. Certainly not what I had thought it would be but it got me to where I am today so it was definitely worth it. I was 8 days late when they started induction and he was born more than 2 days later. Ten days past his due date.

How does a little baby like this:

Get to this:




so quickly?

Oh right....day by day and like this:
















And so it goes.....

Happy Birthday, Kelton. My world is brighter and happier and more amazing with you in it and I am very, very lucky to be called "Mom" by you.

I love you more than all the stars in the sky, drops of water in the oceans and grains of sand on the beaches. And I always will.

Kaylen's Birthday Dinner

Sorry to leave you all hanging there but I have been a bit scattered and short on time. Blogging was something I could postpone without anything falling apart so it took the hit for me. I'm sure you all know how that goes sometimes. Anyway - I'm going to do a little back track to catch you up.

Kaylen's real birthday was Tuesday and since it was a study night for Dakota (meaning no classes but instead she spends those hours that she would be in class studying) she had planned to come home so we could take the birthday girl out for dinner. The weather had other plans though - we woke to snow falling! As you probably remember, Dakota works on the top of a very big hill so she opted to work from home. I had a big Book Fair meeting that I had to get to so instead of Kaylen going to a friends house for the morning, she stayed home with Dakota. I went ahead with plans for Kelton to go to his morning day care situation (a dear friend has a day care nearby and she had offered to watch him and get him off to school on the bus that comes by her house) because he had really been looking forward to being "a day care kid" for a day and he was so sad at the thought of not being able to.

Fast forward to the end of the day and it was time to The Birthday Girl out to dinner. She chose Red Robin (no surprise there) so off we went! We had a good time and since pictures speak louder than words....here are a few shots of the evening.

The next set is just to show you how much fun it is trying to get a decent picture of Kaylen these days. OY! She is definitely well ensconced in the Land of Being Four. Give me patience!

Seriously. Need I say more?

This is when the Red Robin staff was singing to her. She wanted to like it but she really wasn't all that sure. Not that I blame her - it is weird for me as an adult, I can only imagine how it feels when you are a mere 4 years old.

But the singing was worth it! :)
She kept shoving spoonfuls at me and I have to say it was good! Anyone know where I can get some cheap diet pills ? :)

All in all - I think it's safe to say that she had a good day - and she definitely had a good dinner. :)

Last of the Three's

Tonight, when I put Miss Kaylen to bed, I said "Guess what? You're going to bed as a three year old but guess what you're waking up as?" She screamed happily "A FOUR YEAR OLD!"

Yes it's true. Today was the last day I will ever have a child who is three years old. I survived, and loved, the three's twice...and I am here to tell the tale. :)

I still can't believe she is going to be four tomorrow. When the clock strikes 11:50AM my baby girl will have been on the earth for four whole years. I can tell you what happened that day from the moment I opened my eyes until the moment I closed them that night. When I woke I had a baby still safely inside me and when I closed my eyes at the end of the day, I had a baby in the NICU on oxygen, IV, heart monitors and antibiotics. How far we've come from that day that started out so happy moved through terrifying and then settled into scary.

My sweet baby girl,
Happy Birthday to you, Kaylen Lane - what an amazing little person you are. You have rocked my world since the day the stick turned pink. You are a much wanted dream come true and the world is lucky to have you and I am luckier still. You might have been resistant to being here in the first place but now that you are here you are making a place, and a name, for yourself. You are a beautiful little sole and I love you so very much.
Love,
Mommy

Your Birth Day

This is how I first saw you.

Day two

Finally holding you.

First Birthday

Second Birthday:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

And oh my gosh - watch this. This was 5 days after she turned two and she is so freaking cute I could gobble her up !!!


Third Birthday

And Fourth Birthday