Abby's Birthday

I definitely need to get this posted since we will be celebrating another birthday this week. So, here it goes. Abby turned 1 a little over a week ago. I know 1st birthdays are definitely more for the parents, but we had such a nice day and the boys were so excited about her special day. We wanted to keep it simple yet special, so we invited one couple from church that has been a special part of our lives and my cousin and her husband who live out here. Mr. Vanis (as the kids know him) also shares a birthday with Abby, so we had two birthday celebrations in one!

So, I baked spaghetti pie for the meal and believe it or not....I baked a cake from scratch. We did a small cake and then all the rest cupcakes. It actually turned out really well. The boys decorated it, so it was very beautiful with lots and I mean LOTS of sprinkles! All in all, we had a wonderful day celebrating Abby and enjoying some quality time with special people in our lives.

Here's Abby in the morning with a cute dress and party hat on......that didn't last long!

Silas and Nathan had to help Abby open her gifts. Here is a cute purse Grandma Aichele gave her.

Abby was definitely more intrigued with the candle and people singing at this point. As you can tell she loved the spaghetti pie!

Here are a few photos of her just hamming it up for the camera. As you can see.....she didn't complain about the cake either!

Abby

Well, I need to do a much needed post on Abby turning 1. Where did the time go? I was just admiring a little baby today who was born 4 days ago and I can honestly say when you are in the moment, you think you will never get through the sleepless nights and figuring out the schedule and then all of a sudden you are celebrating their first birthday! Obviously Abby has been a very good baby, otherwise I might be saying it was the longest year. But we've had such a wonderful year that I can honestly say we have enjoyed every minute of it!

Abby has changed so much and so quickly over just the course of a couple of months! For awhile she was just stomach crawling, but now she's full force crawling like she means it and is starting to stand by herself. She enjoys when we take her around the room and try to walk, so I guess it won't be too long before she ventures on her own. She definitely wants to keep up with those brothers, so she does have some motivation. She now has 7 teeth and definitely knows how to use them. Her teeth have come in one at a time which has been interesting for me since the boys' teeth came in pairs. At about 10 months she decided baby food was not for her, so she eats what we eat and can easily out eat the boys! I'm not sure where this food is going, because she is such a peanut! I think she might weigh just over 16 lbs now, so I'm not sure she will ever face forward in her car seat! Although she's a peanut, she can sure hold her own and she lets her brothers know that.

I'm sure I'll think of more things I want to record, but I'll get this posted in hopes I can get some pictures of her birthday up soon!

Who can resist a fur jacket that Grandpa and Holly gave her?

She likes to play peekaboo underneath the slide.

Abby enjoys playing the piano and she can just reach, so it is really cute to watch her walk down the piano while playing.

She is a stair climber! If I set her down for just a moment, she goes immediately to the steps and climbs them. I get a good work out from this girl.

This picture is for Grandpa Shippy who loves his red tractors. Yes, we start them young!

Playing outside in the wagon on a beautiful day.

The Boys

There are days I wonder if our boys will ever get along....and then there are days I'm so thankful they have each other and are so close in age! And there are times I think both of these thoughts in a matter of seconds! So, here are some photos I have captured this winter that remind me that no matter what.....they always have each other!

This is one of my favorites. I didn't even ask them to hug, but when they saw me with the camera, they posed....how cute!

Yes, there is something wrong with this picture. For some reason, the boys love to play in Abby's pack'n'play. It's pretty funny. Sometimes they are all in there together!

Silas is pulling Nathan in a wagon some friends gave us. They could do this all day long, and boy do I have some stories to tell!

Who can resist the "sit and spin" with your brother!

The boys had a wonderful time with Uncle Keith when he came to visit us! The lincoln logs were quite a hit.

This picture doesn't capture what was going on very well, but the boys were building towers with blocks and Abby was knocking them down. They were seeing how fast they could build it before she knocked it down. All 3 of them were laughing, it was so cute!

And here is a lazy Sunday after church.

Nater....

This post is mainly for my sake that I don't forget what Nathan was like as a toddler. Nathan truly keeps me on my toes and is constantly making me laugh! One moment he can have a 2 year old "bad attitude" and the next moment he's hugging you with a great big smile on his face. He really wants to be a "big boy" and do what Silas does, but yet he still wants to know he can sit on your lap and cuddle. He clings to his "blue blanket" and needs it to sleep or when he's having a rough day. He carries it around and often loses it.....and then we're in crisis mode trying to find it! I had to wash it the other day, and we had to play downstairs next to the washing machine to make sure it was ok. Let' s just say it doesn't get washed as much as it should! He also carries around the Dinoco car from the movie Cars. He often sleeps with this too, and then it gets lost in his bed......need I say more! This is why I posted this picture, because he has both his blue blankie and Dinoco, so it was a classic photo! Other than that, Nathan is our singer and dancer! Unfortunately, he sings at the top of his lungs, so this can be hard on mommy, but I trust God will use this talent someday! So, just a glimpse of my Nater.

Bath Time

The boys really enjoy hopping in with Abby after I've washed her and taking a little bath with her. She gets a kick out of it. Unfortunately it doesn't last too long, because the boys start splashing water and she's out of there! But I caught a picture of them in the bath together and couldn't resist.

Christmas pictures

Before we went off to Christmas eve service at our church, we took a few pictures of the kids in their nice clothes. Wow, this can be quite a challenge as I'm sure many can relate. So, of the 150 pictures we took, here are a few that we can present as good!

Nathan has no problem cheesing it up for the camera! This truly depicts our Nater!

Silas was more of a challenge and he actually did this pose by himself and it turned out to be one of the better photos. Otherwise most of his photos had his hands over his eyes or in his mouth.

Abby was being shy and didn't want to smile for the camera. Here she's looking at her brothers and smiling, so not the greatest picture, but still a good one.

Getting the three of them together was very interesting, but here is a pretty good picture of all three.

Now for the bloopers....that you keep around because they are so funny!

Abby is determined to get her hair band off........

and she finally does.

Here is how the boys feel about getting their picture done together!

Hey, there's one....not too bad!

Poor Abby.....she has Nater untying her dress and Silas might be holding on a little too tight....but he was just doing his job! Oh to be tortured by your brothers!

Anyways, we had a wonderful Christmas celebration and so thankful to have captured a few good photos of it.

Our Disney visit

In mid December, Kurt had a meeting in Florida and it worked out to take our whole family down there. We also were able to bring my parents down there so that they could help while Kurt was working and so we could enjoy some more time with them. Although the weather didn't cooperate like we might have liked and we had a little flu bug go around, we managed to have a good time and enjoy some wonderful memories. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

One of Kurt's colleagues took us out for breakfast with the Disney characters. This meant that the boys didn't eat good, because they were watching all of the characters walk around and couldn't wait their turn to see them.

This is the only character Nathan would get close to. Every other one he hid and almost cried about. So, the rest of the vacation he continued to tell us that he kissed Donald Duck. However, Donald actually kissed him!

Abby was so funny with Goofy's hand on her head. He was rubbing her head and she just couldn't figure out what was going on.

We stayed at a very nice resort type motel. Here is one of the days that was actually nice enough to enjoy outside. We each took a boat out onto the lake and had a great time. Silas made Amma and Grandpa do a lot of pedaling! Kurt and I had Nathan and Abby in our boat.

Here is Daddy and the boys meeting Mickey. Nathan still wasn't so sure about meeting Mickey!

I thought this was a funny picture. We were watching the Disney parade and so Grandpa and Daddy have the boys on their shoulders, but Silas kept grabbing Grandpa's cheeks to hold on...it was funny. I'm not sure Grandpa's back will ever be the same, he had a boy on his shoulders a lot of the trip!

Here's our family meeting Tigger and Pooh.

We waited around to see the castle light up with Christmas lights. It was a beautiful sight.

Grandpa and Amma with the kids in front of the castle. I can't remember how many lights were on the castle but it was pretty amazing. Everything was decked out so beautifully for Christmas. It really was an amazing sight to see!

Thank you Grandpa and Amma for helping us on our vacation and creating memories with us in Disney!