It was such a good idea at the time - The Movie

Enjoy :15 of my last 18 days....

Caroline's Christening

We had week two of family Christenings, and this time got to celebrate with Baby Caroline (or E-Line, as Natalie likes to call her). Poor thing was a bit under the weather but behaved so well the entire time and looked beautiful in her dress. The Deacon was very friendly and made sure to involve everyone in the ceremony, which the little kids all loved. We were back at the Ward's afterwards to party and also to celebrate Natalie's 2nd birthday - a big day for both girls!

Such a good girl; wonder if she could even feel it through all her hair!

All slicked back; where's the mousse and styling brush?

Caroline Elizabeth with Pam & Jeff, and God Parents Michael & Janet.

Posing with the Family

A family shot (38 weeks preggo)

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Natalie had a yummy Dora & Diego cake to share with everyone.

Singing Happy Birthday

Cheezy cousin

Kylie's Christening

Just a day before the March Nor 'Easter, we all got to celebrate with Baby Kylie for her Christening Day - good thing the weather held off! She was such a good girl the entire time and looked beautiful in the same gown Bryanna had worn 13 years ago! Here's a few shots from her big day...

Kylie with her God Parents, Bryanna & Rich, and Jay, Jen & Tyler


Tyler was a cute little stinker in his little jacket & tie! He ran wild with all the crazy cousins at the after party but did great in Church


Byron & Kylie, then below with Emma

Flash Forward

The other day I walked into my room and found Little Miss Chatty having quite an in-depth conversation. Luckily, it's a Princess Cell Phone and we have an excellent plan. Otherwise she'd need a job!

Starting Over

We are headed into the home stretch... 3 weeks and counting, approximately. Last week I was 1cm dilated which, may not be much, but it's more than I've ever been even at 40 weeks, so I'll take it. Tuesday was filled with many pains, enough to make me nervous enough to pack my bags! But yesterdays appt. showed no further progress, but did explain the pains - baby is down, WAY down! In fact, I worry that she could fall out... or come too fast and I won't get my epidural. And if that were to happen the look out, because I will be one crazy preggo screaming for a c-section! I'm no hero - I don't do pain like that!

I'll leave you with a picture of my recent attempts to be prepared... bottle sterilizing. Look at all the new, fun parts. I know you're jealous...

Monster Jam Madness!

Ryan has been doing very well in school lately, and after receiving his first report card - with near perfect marks - and an excellent parent/teacher conference, we decided he needed a special reward for his hard work and enthusiasm. And it worked out perfectly that Monster Jam was coming to town! So the boys headed out, loaded with the camera and a supply of ear plugs - apparently it's VERY loud in there! They lucked out and got fantastic seats - 2 rows from the action - so the pictures and video came out great! I was able to get a video of the dirt bikes to post, but there is a great video of the super star, Grave Digger, that just won't post no matter how much I try. I'll keep at it but in the meantime, enjoy the pics!

Monster Jam - Dirt Bikes

The Young and the Old(er)

We celebrated Pop-Pop's birthday this month and Ryan, after learning about Abraham Lincoln in school one day, asked if Pop-Pop was around when Abe was president. I couldn't help but laugh at that one! We had alot of fun getting together with everyone and wishing Pop another happy & healthy year!

Also wanted to send a big Birthday blog shout out to cousin Natalie, who turned 2 on February 12th! We will be celebrating her special day soon with baby Caroline's Christening but we didn't forget about her. Apparently, she's making sure no one will be forgetting about her and stepping right into the Terrible Two's with ease!

A Girly Room

OK, so I am going out of order here but this was an easy one to blog about. The girls room is pretty much ready to go... alot of people asked why we didn't just change rooms, since Ryan has the bigger of the two. That's an easy 2-part answer... First, because I absolutely LOVE Ryan's room! I had so much fun doing it and Byron worked so hard on the striping and it really came out great. The colors are perfect for any theme he wants in the future, we picked the furniture to go (aka fit) in that room and really, it's the closest to the Pottery Barn Kids catalog I will ever see! The second reason is that it would be WAY too much work. Re-painting both rooms would be a chore and Ry's stuff would be just as smushed as the girls, only it wouldn't look as nice. I think their room came out pretty good - see for yourself...

This is Emma's part... her toddler bed and then her clothes are in the armoire drawers

The closet remains packed with Em's clothes, shoes and dress-ups. Emma was sure to hang the baby's robe next to her own.

Standing in front of Em's bed, a view of the changing table with baby's clothes

Baby's crib... she'll never know it's her sisters name above it. There is really no other place for it and I love the letters. I'm ditching the bumper this time - too hard to change the sheets!
Another crib shot

Open Armoire - I just love the little hanging dresses!

The 2nd (3rd) Snow

The kids were happy to get another chance at snow boarding, sledding and white, flaky fun. This time it was light and airy, perfect for sledding... not so much for snowman making. Hey, you can't have it all! There was actually enough to justify the snow blower, which wasn't used at all last winter. And because of that, it needed some serious adjustments but Byron was hell bent on getting it to work and sure enough, he did! The kids had a 2 hr delay (Emma was off completely) but managed to get in some quality time.

I wish I could have gotten a 360 degree view of the neighborhood... there were snow blowers coming from every angle.

A sled built for two

Making snow devils! Can't you see the horns?

Snow buddies

These were some serious icicles hanging from Ryan's bedroom window. As you might guess, I had to warn and threaten numerous times that he NOT hang out the window in hopes of grabbing one. You could just see it in his eyes.

Super Bowl Sunday

We were bummed not to see an all Pennsylvania Super Bowl this year, but still happy to root for "the other home team", the Steelers! This years party was diverted to the Berkoben's because I just didn't have the energy and they have a fantastic new house which would allow the guys to veg around the TV, the girls to assume the usual position - strategically placed in front of the food - and the kids to be far away in the basement, out of sight and out of mind. If only it were soundproof... And as an added bonus this year, the girls could actually see the TV and watch the game (ok, commercials) if we wanted!

Byron's first stab at making my dad's Anti-Pasta... it was very good!


Watching the game

Jimbo rooting for his favorite team

Jack was loving his new camera

Catie Grace's first Super Bowl! She wasn't sure what all the fuss was about.

The 1st Snow

Well technically, it was the second. For the first snow I was recovering from the traumatic stomach bug, shudder!

This snow was more like sleet and rain - it was very heavy and very wet - and because of that, I don't have a ton of pictures. Clearly I wasn't going to bring my new cameras out in such conditions! I did manage to get a few of the kids - sledding wasn't the best but it was excellent conditions for making snowmen!

Hooray, I'm FINALLY ready to go outside!!

Emma & Patrick

Attempting to sled

Ryan, Brendan & Andrew with the newest Eagles player

Emma "helping" Collin with his snowman

We should have named him Co-Pay

Gettin' Together

A few weeks ago, the girls all got together and this time we included the guys and the kids - aren't we nice! Seriously, we really do need to do it more often and we all have a great time when we can make it happen. Erin & Robb were nice enough to have us all over before I explode have this baby and it was such a fun time. The girls gabbed most of the night about FaceBook... the guys gabbed most of the night about what a bunch of stalkers the girls are... and the kids all played nicely down the basement (of course we missed Riley, who was off having fun with his cousin at a sleepover). I think the next tentative Girls Family Get Together is slated for sometime in the Spring at Joann & Chip's house. Looking forward to it!!!

L-R: Ryan, Jack, Brady, Shannon, Emma, Will, Owen, Ali, Gage

The Girls! Kim, Erin, Anita & Joann

Bad Blogger

I have been called a Bad Blogger as of late, and rightfully so. However, it isn't Facebook that is to blame (tho secretly, I do love that website and never knew how much of a stalker I really was) - it's this baby. This thing I am growing is sucking the life... and the creativity... right out of me. Until recently, I have had nothing new to post - no exciting pictures that were taken (despite the fact that I have TWO FANTASTIC NEW CAMERAS!!). Sure, I could go on and on about the insomnia, the heartburn, the fact that this kids has no name... but why bore you with what I'm sure you've already heard me complain about a million times? So instead, I am hitting the caffeine and uploading the camera. I can't promise it will be funny - I can't promise it will be exciting. But at least you won't have to look at those damn Christmas pictures anymore!

Stay tuned...