Grace Turns 1!

A few weeks ago we made the trip to Lafayette to celebrate our niece's first birthday. We had a great time with lots of family, presents and cake. Of course Colby had to have a front row seat to all the action.

Chloe, on the other hand, was not so impressed. Instead she passed the time hanging out on Nana's lap.

Mommy (Julie) and Grace opening our presents.

Colby somehow also managed to come away from the party with a gift of his own.

This was the cake for everyone to enjoy. The first one pictured was just for Grace.

Grace started off kind of timid, but it wasn't long before she got the hang of the whole first-birthday-cake experience.

She wasn't too happy when the cake was taken away.

The rest of the weekend was spent having cousin bonding time. Here are Colby and two of his cousins, Joseph and Luke. They were "working" in Nana's flower beds.

And what post would be complete without a couple of eye candy pics? :)

It's a GIRL!

We found out this morning that we are having another sweet precious baby GIRL! That makes me three for three. I have been right about the sex of three of my babes. I guess a mother's intuition is pretty strong! Colby has said from day one that he wanted this baby to be a girl, so he got his wish. We are all thrilled of course! This sweetheart is the craziest, most active baby I have ever seen...she flipped end over end at least three times during our short sonogram. The sono tech kept having to "chase" her around just to get the measurements she needed. Here I thought she was just a strong kicker, but it turns out that she is quite the gymnast! Next task...picking a name!

One year later...

I didn't even realize it until just now, but my little blog turned one yesterday. I can't believe that I started this a year ago. I have been kind of neglectful as of late, but I haven't given up! I am so behind, but I just had to jump ahead to share this little video from last night. Chloe was about to fall asleep half way through, but she perked up for the end of the performance. Enjoy the show!

After that inspiring performance, we agreed that sock puppets needed to be made today. Originally we were going to do buttons for eyes, but Colby picked out the googly eyes at the store today. I think they turned out pretty cute for 15 minutes of gluing and sewing. Most importantly, the kids loved them!

June Recap

Okay, I guess I am going to back up and go a little bit out of order so that I don't miss anything. So for today I am doing a quick recap of June. Colby's third birthday was the biggest event of the month, but we also had a great trip to a local carnival!

Poor Chloe is still little enough that she spent most of the time at the carnival in the stroller. Luckily she didn't seem to mind too much.

The most fun part of carnival was Colby's first roller coaster ride. When we got in line, we happened to run into a friend that was visiting from out town, so Colby got to ride with sweet Hannah. It was a first for them and they both LOVED it!

Chloe didn't sit in the stroller for the whole night. She got to ride the carousel with Colby and Daddy. She loved the ride, but for some reason refused to touch the pole that she should have been holding on to.

The last big event of the carnival was the bumper cars. Colby was too small to drive his own, but he sure had a blast riding along with Daddy. He laughed and smiled the whole time.

After a long night filled with lights, music and rides, it was finally time to go home.

The day after the carnival we loaded up the car and headed to Indiana to celebrate Colby's birthday with our families. (That is also the day we found out we are pregnant again.) The party was at my parents' house and Curt's parents were able to come also. My grandma, aunt, uncle, cousin and her kids were all able to come join in the fun.

On Colby's actually birthday, we had a little birthday playdate for a few of his friends. They had a great time playing in the yard and soaking each other with squirt guns.

After all of the outdoor play, it was time for lunch and birthday cupcakes. Followed up, of course, with the opening of presents.

The rest of June was filled mostly with playdates, our trip to Texas and soccor and basketball camp. It was definitely a good start to our summer!

Back at it

Well, after a unplanned blogging hiatus, I am back. I have so much to catch up on it's ridiculous, but hopefully I can stay motivated long enough to get caught up.

First up, is our trip to Texas. The kids and I hopped on a plane and flew to the Lone Star state to visit some of my family. We had such a great time that Colby actually cried the morning we left because he wanted to stay.

It was wonderful to spend time with everyone, but it was extra special for me to have the opportunity for my kids to spend so much time with my Pappy, my dad's dad.

My dad also made the trip a couple of days later. We sure missed my mom though!

Most days were spent playing, going to parks and hanging out with my aunt and cousins.

One evening we had a mini family reunion. A couple of my dad's cousins and their families came over for dinner. It was so great to see them all again and for them to meet Chloe for the first time.

We just happened to be in Texas over my cousin's birthday. Connor turned fifteen and we celebrated by going out to lunch at a great steak restaurant and then with a cookie cake after his basketball game that evening.

It was such a relaxing visit and we were all sad to leave. We just don't get to spend nearly enough time with the "Texas family". Hopefully we will get to see them relatively soon! We miss you guys!!!

Life changing...

We are pleased to announce that Baby Craig #3 is on it's way and due to arrive around February 2, 2010. We are very excited (although a little surprised) to add another sweet little one to our expanding family!

We have had quite a busy month with lots of changes for our crew. First was Colby's birthday and finding out that weekend that we are pregnant again. Then Colby started basketball/soccer camp. So I guess now I am officially a "soccer mom."

The next week Colby decided he was ready to potty train and things have gone amazing well! No more diapers for our big boy. A few days later the kids and I hopped on a plane and flew to Texas for the week to visit family. We had a great time, but the first trimester nausea and fatigue hit hard that week and I am still dealing with that. We arrived back in Illinois on Saturday and have had a busy week. Monday: basketball camp, Tuesday: Colby's three-year check up, Wednesday: my first prenatal visit. Tomorrow we actually have a day off, and boy does my house need it!

Hopefully once I get a couple of days to catch my breath and get us settled back into our normal routine I will get back to blogging about all of the fun we have been having. Hope everyone is enjoying their June!

Man, I love my kids...