FIVE

Psst...McGee!  This is what your room looks like right now...

Tomorrow when you wake I hope you'll be as excited and happy to celebrate the day as we are that God blessed us with a son as wonderful as YOU!

FIVE REASONS YOU ARE AMAZING:

1)  You have a heart filled with love for others (although it's not always apparent in your preschool age love of fighting and swords - boys will be boys...).  Truly from a very early age you have shown great care, concern and compassion for others and I adore the way you stroke my cheek gently and tell me, "God will heal you mommy because I prayed for you!" when I'm sick.

2)  Your sense of adventure and fun!  You can be cautious at times (and that's not a bad thing), but you are also very creative in your play and putting together things that you think would be fun to do.  Last night you found making a HUGE mud puddle and playing in it and the sprinklers such a fun way to spend an evening!  You kept saying about the mud, "It's so sticky!  I love mud, it's so sticky!" in your sing-song voice.

That sing-song voice brings me to #3...

3)  Your love of music and ability to remember lyrics, stay on key and in tune and sing your little heart out brings joy to all those around you!  Daddy (and I) LOVE when you sing and especially when you and Daddy have special music time singing and playing the guitar.

4)  You are one smart cookie!  From birth you have had a "furrowed brow" and we'd be millionaires probably if I had a dollar for every time someone (strangers at the mall even) have said what a "thinker" you are and how you "don't miss a thing!".   It's true of course and you constantly keep us on our toes and amaze us at the things you remember and how you put logic together to figure things out.

5)  You are driven (some may say obsessed) - which I'm sure will lead you to great things in your life.  When something interests you there is no half-way about it, you go all out full throttle!  Examples include cars/wheels (a couple of your first words being "lawnmower" and "wheelbarrow"), swords, bows and arrows, keys (oh the key obsession including losing mommy's car keys for nearly 9 months!) and your latest obsession which is paper airplanes.  I've been told by your preschool teacher that you taught her how to make a paper airplane for the first time in her life and that you provide paper airplanes to most of your classmates each day as well.  Our home (and recycle bin) are littered with paper airplanes you've made.

Above all though, YOU are AMAZING because you were created by God and given to us as a precious gift who we hope we can be Godly parents to.  We know we make mistakes sometimes but we love you SO very much and want the very best for you!  After a miscarriage, a year of trying to get pregnant and then 41 hours of labor, you are our most wanted and waited for gift and we thank the Lord daily for you!

  We love you McGee - Happy 5th Birthday!!!

Surprise Snow & Birthday Fun!

We went up to my parents' a couple of weeks ago to celebrate my niece Skye's first birthday.  We picked my sister and niece up at the train station and headed up a day early to stay over and get things ready for the party.  Saturday morning when we woke up we were happily surprised to see it had snowed in the night!  Snow is not a usual occurrence at their elevation, it wasn't a lot and it quickly melted, but we enjoyed the wonder of it anyways.

McGee ran out front, bare feet and all!  He inspected the snowflakes he and grandma had made and compared them to the snow he saw on the ground.  Then he patiently (or not) waited from Grandma & Grandpa to wake up so they could see it all too!  That's him peeking under their door hoping he could see some signs of life. :)

I loved McGee looking out the window completely enamored with the snow!

As it neared time for the party the three cousins enjoyed a bath together.

There she is - the birthday girl!

Uncle Trevor and his little Hannah girl

Instead of little bags of candy for party favors - Skye (and her parents) gave each one of the four kids an individual present.  You can see Miss Em was happy about her very own Strawberry Shortcake doll!  McGee, Grandpa and Hannah went right to work putting his new Lego set together!

There were party games - one of which involved guessing Skye's current weight!  I was way off.

The there were the many presents...clothes and toys and hats oh my!

And finally, the cake.  Skye was interested in checking it out, put her hands in it and then decided she really didn't like having messy fingers!

Happy 1st Birthday Skye Lynn - we love you!

The Big Cheese

McGee and I had our first experience at Chuck E. Cheese a couple of weeks ago and boy was it fun!  So many games, so many people, so much noise - it was actually a bit overwhelming!  We went to attend his friend Ty's birthday party.  Ty is a friend from preschool that McGee has really hit it off with.

Here he is with arms held high as he enjoyed a simulated roller coaster.  He kept referring back to the awesome time he had on the roller coaster at Disneyland with Papa last April.

Ty is his friend in the middle

Ty and McGee playing a dinosaur racing game

 

What a fun afternoon!

3-2...

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Today my beloved turns 32 years old - yet he still looks like the teenager I fell in love with!

We're heading out to PF Changs tonight with friends to celebrate, but the kids and I baked and frosted cupcakes for his class and took them in today.  It's always fun visiting his school and meeting his students and they get a big kick out of McGee and Miss Em.

At 5 am this morning I have a vague recollection of Daddy kissing me goodbye as I slumbered and asking me to put Miss Em's hair in pigtails today.  We adore her in pigtails and I adore them even more with these cute new flower hair bands I just found at Target.

Daddy and his kiddos LAST year on his birthday...

...and here they are in 2010!

Miss Em completely loves swinging.  When we're at a park that's what she will want to do the entire time.  After swinging for a few minutes she was inevitably start leaning her head back with this serene, filled to the brim full of joy look like this is the most enjoyable thing she has ever done and she doesn't want to miss a moment of it.  Usually her eyes close, like it's just she, the swing and the breeze on her face, but I wasn't able to capture the full essence of her swinging bliss.

We love you Daddy and thank you for all that you do for us and the way you love us so.  Happy 32nd Birthday!

Birthday Party #2 - The Fam

We're into May already and I haven't posted about the kids' family birthday party that we celebrated on Em's actual birthday - my big girl is officially two now!

Here's a little photo recap, the peeps:

Uncle Mike & his soon-to-be wife Lee Anne

It was the extended family's first time meeting Baby Skye - the newest member of our group

Daddy Swap - Scott w/ Em and Daddy w/ Alex (the recipient of most of McGee's hand-me-downs)

It's Present Time!

Uncle Mike LOVES shopping for kids toys, I think he finds too many toys though that he'd like for himself :)

Ahhh...Em's new soft and cuddly monkey

(click image to make larger)

Our family shot:

The cake, as referenced here, I went easy this year and utilized Costco's fine bakers:

A happy day for this boy:

I can't get enough of this precious little one:

My brother and sister giving my mom her birthday present - a GPS guide!

The original five (plus Baby Skye):

Meet McGee's adorable possible-future-wife, oh my grandbabies will be cute!

Here's her lovely family - picture perfect!

I'll leave you with our spunky birthday girl herself, Happy Birthday my little goofball!