Does this hospital gown make my butt look big?

Not to be outdone by her older siblings, Katie threw us a huge curve ball at 3:30 Monday morning, and spiked a fever of 102.3 - very high for a newborn. We figured she just wanted to show off her cold that had been hanging around (thanks Ryan & Emma) but found our way to the ER anyway. Our sweet baby girl had to endure the mother load of tests... chest X-ray, nasal swab & suction, 5 attempts at an IV, 2 blood draws, a spinal tap and finally, an ultrasound. When the final results were tallied, the score was Katie 2, Parents 0. Katie was admitted that morning for RSV and a kidney infection!

The good news is she is doing great - eating hearty and keeping the nurses on their toes! The bad news is that her body can't handle oral meds so we have a 10 day stay so she can have IV antibiotics. Boo!! If you look past all the wires & her cool ET toe (it glows red from the monitor), she is a relatively happy baby and looks great!

*UPDATE: We are going home on Sunday! They said she would be OK with only 7 days of IV antibiotics since she is doing so well, then she'll have 2 weeks of oral meds followed by a test to show if she has kidney reflux or if this was just a fluke. Cross your fingers for us!

"I'm too cute for this hospital crib"

Just what is a Ripstik?

Get a load of this. He wanted one for Christmas. I said "Um, no. How about we start with rollerblades first." He mastered those in a week. In my defense, the age recommendation on this death contraption is like 8 or 10 years old. And it's $80. I figured why waste the money. Clearly we can mark this down in the book of "Why Mommy was Wrong." Ah well, the kids got talent - there's no denying that!

Birthday Playdate

It was time for a playdate so we threw something together real quick and used Emma & Kim's shared birthday as an excuse- as if we ever need one! We missed Erin & the boys this time around but plans for another outing are currently in the works! Everyone had a great time playing Wii and playing outside in the nice weather. Thanks for the visit!


The Birthday Girls, Emma & Aunt Kim!

Emma, Ryan, Owen, Will & Gage. Poor Emmy - always surrounded by boys!

Wouldn't want to run into this bunch in a dark alley!

The Party Continues

True to form, my kids birthdays seem to go on forever! This year we managed to contain Emma's into 1 week, and on Saturday, we celebrated on a gorgeous Spring day with my family. We missed a few cousins who were back at college and Uncle Jeff who was fishing, but a great time was had by all - especially Natalie, who just loved playing outside, playing inside and stealing the Easter Candy! A girl after my own heart!

The Birthday Girl, out for a ride

Even baby sisters need to dress up for the occasion

Relaxing with the fam...

Aunt Pammy & "E-line"

We got lots of great presents - thanks everyone!Posing with Mom-Mom

Natalie sneaking Easter Candy - love her!!

A cousins hug

You can never have too much cake!


Then on Sunday, it was time to end the festivities with Emma's friend party. This year she choose a Ballerina theme & wanted the party at her dance studio. They did a great job from the awesome invitations to the decorations and activities... a good time was had by all!

Emma's cake - it tasted as good as it looked!

Emma and Jorja Kay

Lots of fun activities

Happy Birthday to ME!

Baseball is a Spring Sport

You know the saying "March comes in like a Lion..." only this year it didn't go out like a Lamb. Instead, April came in with an Ark to house the lion. I get the "April Showers bring May Flowers" theory, but this weather has been nothing short of crazy! Rain, cold, sun, hot, back to rain and toss in some hail. And in the middle of it all... Little League Baseball! Opening Day got cancelled due to rain and since then, Ryan has had 2 additional games cancelled and has only played in 2. Not good odds for the end of April and now we have been re-scheduled into the middle of May, at least.

On the plus side, he did move up this year to the next league and it's machine pitch. He is doing great (from what I've seen, which was part of 1 game) and really loves it!

Here's a picture montage from the last 3 years of Opening Day... my how he's grown!!

Opening Day 2007

Opening Day 2008

Opening Day 2009

Emma Grace is FOUR!

Happy Birthday, Emma Grace!! It's hard to believe it's been 4 years already! Emma loves to make people laugh by telling them her birthday is on Tax Day and this year she couldn't wait for her big day to arrive. It was another crummy day weather-wise, but that didn't dampen her spirits. Our plans for Ryan's baseball game and dinner were cancelled due to the rain, but we still had lots of family fun.

Four things about Emma Grace at age 4...

1. She STILL loves Princesses...and clothes, shoes and everything girly. I think I am in trouble with this one!

2. She loves pre-school and has been writing her name since the fall... Ryan taught her that!

3. She is an excellent artist, just ask her Daddy!

4. She can brush her own teeth, dress herself and has even graduated to Big Girl Showers (with Mama's help, of course).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA GRACE - We Love You!!

Emma couldn't wait to wear her birthday shirt!

Posing with her new birthday banner... thanks Daly Family... and getting a homemade present from Ryan - a bead necklace.
Time to blow out the candles...

She got 3 outfits for her American Girl doll, a pink Leapster and a Belle dress-up costume.

Happy Easter!

We had another fun Easter this year, made even more special with the addition of Katherine - it was her first holiday! The kids gave us their own present and actually slept in! When they came downstairs, they were excited to find that the Easter Bunny had been there... and treated them well! The Bunny even left something for Katie!

Sneaking down to see what the EB left for us...

Wow, she left so much there wasn't even room for the candy filled eggs!

Katie gets gas drops and binkys, poor kid!

All dressed up and ready to party!

After Church we headed to Aunt Marianne & Uncle Bob's house and had so much fun visiting with all of our cousins! The Gillespie's were in from CA, and Ryan loved hanging with his cool older cousins, Max & Miles. And the Puntels had a longer road trip than usual, as they recently moved from Maine to Germany!! But they made the trek back home for Uncle Bob's birthday and Easter and it was great to see them and play with cousin Mattie - we can't believe how much she's grown!

All the girls... Caroline, Natalie, Mathilda, Emma & Katie

Mom-Mom & Katie

Cute Cousins

Cute matching cousins

Happy 21st Birthday Theresa!!! Man, I'm old!

Easter Egg Hunt

The Saturday before Easter means a big party at Grandmom & Pop's house... we all get together to celebrate Easter, along with Emma & Tyler's birthdays, and the have the Annual Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. This year the weather was terrible but a little rain (or a busted hot water heater) can't hold us back - all we needed was a (dry) basement and we were set. We had a great time and the kids (and parents) made out in the candy dept. Ouch, I think I found my 3rd cavity!!

**Disclaimer... sorry for the red-eye. I usually correct it but I am working from a "remote" location and my laptop doesn't have all the bells and whistles... yet!

Dads & Babies... Byron & Katie, Shawn & Owen, Jay & Kylie

We caught Uncle Adam practicing for July!

The Hunt begins...

Time to sing Happy Birthday...

Don't forget about the presents!