6 Amazing Years… June 29, 2009

June 28th, 2003 was the day that Nate and I got married.  It was such an amazing day!!  Nate gave me an incredible card for our anniversary this year and here is a passage from it…

       ‘I know love can change a life, because it sure changed mine.  Your love has changed what matters most to me.  More than ever, our marriage, our family, and the home we’ve made are where I find comfort, support, and peace.  Your love has changed that way that I see things, the way I think and feel about the future.’

In six years, we have created a home, a family and a wonderful relationship!  Nate is my best friend and whom I do not even need to say anything because he already knows.  We have been through so much together and every day has only brought us closer together.  I feel truly blessed to have such a solid marriage with 3 amazing children.

So to celebrate the occasion, Nate and I went to dinner while Gigi stayed with the kids.  We drove to the Eastern Shore and ate dinner at Kentmorr.   We ate all you can eat crabs at a picnic table facing the Chesapeake Bay.  It was so nice to sit and watch the sunset while eating a fantastic dinner! 

 To mark the occasion, Nate bought me a beautiful princess cut solitaire diamond necklace.  It is gorgeous and it means more to me than he will ever know!  Happy Anniversary!!

And many thanks to Gigi for taking care of the kids.  It meant a ton to us to get an evening out!

You Guess… June 26, 2009

This past Wednesday night, I spent a good part of the night in the ER with Kaitlyn where she was diagnosed with pneumonia.  It was a long night for Nate, Kaitlyn and me, so we hung around the house Thursday morning.  AJ wanted to play with Mr. Potato head, so we did.  Which one did AJ put together?  You guess…

Too bad Mr. Potato head only had one arm.  As you can probably guess, AJ had a really good time doing it!

Studio Go June 26, 2009

We were very fortunate this year to get involved in a VBS program called Studio Go, hosted at Bay Area Community Church. 

This was a great opportunity, not only for Rachael but also for AJ.  Both kids were able to participate in this fun program where the kids discovered ’stories of Bible people who decided to team up with God and go for it’.    Both kids were able to enjoy yummy snacks, fun-filled games, meet real-life servants, and create unforgettable crafts. The daily themes taught the kids to GO lead, GO risk, GO tell , GO obey and GO serve. The kids loved the program as well as the group leaders.  And AJ could not get enough of the dog.  It was so nice to see how excited both of the kids were to go and learn every night!

The Loveable Dog

Bunny and AJ

Rachael

Another year… HAPPY BDAY NATE June 21, 2009

June 19th, 1978….  31 years!!  YEAH!!! Coming from the person who loves Birthdays, it was fun to celebrate Nate’s Birthday as a family.  When Nate got home from work, we gave Nate a fun birthday gift.  The kids cooperated enough to get a couple of nice pictures.

Dad and two of his girls

Everyone cooperating

And to stay with our Birthday tradition, we headed to the Japanese Steak House for a tasty dinner.  It is one of the few places where everyone eats (with co complaints).  Then we headed home to have a birthday cake.  I made Nate a funfetti cookie cake.  Sounds a little out there, and not the prettiest cake, but it was delicious!!!

Check out the hearts...

After I made the cholocate letters for the cake, the kids made the hearts with the leftover chocolate.  They were so excited that I decided that we needed to incorporate the candies.  Thanks to Nicole and Jax for coming over to help celebrate the occasion and eat some of the cake!! (And thanks for taking a couple of family pictures as well!)

Blowing out the candles

Happy 31st Birthday!!!

An interesting point June 18, 2009

Rachael, AJ and I watched part of the Disney ‘Cars’ movie.  While McQueen was driving down the road, Rachael pointed out that there were no sidewalks.  Followed by the following comment…

‘Of course there would not be sidewalks, cars don’t walk!’

A couple of noteworthy milestones June 17, 2009

So there have been some interesting events to take place recently…

1.  Kaitlyn’s top right tooth has broken through the gum line!  Yeah!!  It is amazing how old she is starting to look.

2.  If you remember a while back, I did a blog about Rachael and AJ sharing a bed at night.  In order to prevent that from happening, we take the ladder out of their room until they fall asleep.  So we have been lifting Rachael into bed for several months.  Two nights ago, Rachael decided that she can scale the beds to get to the top bunk, and she did!  She does not need a ladder to get up now.  Pretty impressive to see!

3.  AJ pooped on the potty, and has now peed on the potty a couple of times as well.  He has actually told us that he wants to use the potty and then he goes.  We are not at the point where I can say he is potty trained, but we are moving in the right direction.  We are so proud of him!!

4.  Kaitlyn is now eating table food for dinner.  I have been mixing up our food in the Magic Bullet and then serving it to Kaitlyn.  It seems as though she is loving it, but it is messy!  She is constantly blowing raspberries, which does not help anything.

One Busy Monday June 17, 2009

We started our Monday with swim classes, followed by lunch time and nap time for AJ and Kaitlyn.  With both kids down, Rachael had to entertain herself while I got work done.  It did not take her long to take out a ton of toys.  She ended up focusing in on her baby dolls, making sure that each one had a playing card and that they were all lined up.  This is what it looked like in my living room.

Then a select couple of babies were allowed to waer sunglasses that Rachael found around the house.  She wanted their picture taken with the glasses off as well as on.

Meanwhile, Kaitlyn woke up from her nap to find Rachael rather entertaining.  But she enjoyed her Maracas a ton.

And poor AJ woke up from his nap with a 102.6 fever.  He wears it on his face, poor guy… 

A cutie June 17, 2009

This is one of those pictures that just stood out to me…  Kaitlyn being adorable (in my opinion)!  We took it with our new point and shoot camera, after I broke our old one (I dropped it).  I like the camera so far…

A strong bond is forming… June 14, 2009

Kaitlyn has always loved watching AJ, but AJ has not always been that interested in Kaitlyn.  However, it seems as though things are changing.  AJ has started becoming very interested in Kaitlyn.  The other day, AJ asked if he could see Kaitlyn after her nap and I said yes.  When I went in there, AJ was showing Kaitlyn the aquarium mobile.  It was very sweet.  It has been a long time since AJ has cooperated for some pictures, but if Kaitlyn is involved, he is all about it.

Taylor Swift June 14, 2009

It was not that long ago that Nicole, Pam and I talked about buying tickets to see Taylor Swift.  So we did, and thank goodness we bought the tickets with the pre-sale code.  It sold out in 30 minutes!!  Nate and I were fortunate enough to have a dear friend watch our three kids, and great friends save some seats for us so that we could go out to dinner.  Who ever would have thought that Nate and I would get an entire evening out!  Here are some pictures, thanks to Pam.  I forgot my camera!  And I am still hoping to get some of the group shots from Nicole. This had to be one of the best concerts that we have seen.  She was a fantastic performer, and given that we had lawn seats, we enjoyed Taylor coming out to the lawn area and performing a few songs!