Happy Valentine's Day

Will, Erin and Grandma Melanie worked hard to make us Valentine's Day cards.  They turned out really cute with their traced hands and pictures on them too.  The pictures are priceless!

Happy Birthday Grandma Pam and Grandma Melanie!

This year, we are able to celebrate our mom's birthdays together. Grandpa Bill and Grandma Pam stayed the night before they flew to Florida. My mom came over and Mark made us all a delicious steak dinner with crab sauce (after he got home from being out of town for three days). We had my mom's famous birthday cake and the grandmas opened their presents. 

  Happy Birthday to two amazing role-models who do so much for us!

 Will picked out flower garden wind chimes for each grandma.  It was perfect because he loves anything that makes noise.

 Erin got each grandma a pretty necklace and earrings. She can't wait for them to wear their new necklaces so that she can play with them.

Will and Erin Meet More Cousins

Will and Erin are very lucky to have so many people who love them. A few weekends ago, my cousins drove 6 hours from Michigan's Upper Peninsula to visit
us. They were only here for 24 hours before they had to visit our uncle and then head back home. We all had a great visit and it was nice to see them 'below the bridge.' Will and Erin loved meeting more of their family members (and getting their first Carhart overalls- pink for Erin and black/blue for Will).

Gracie and Erin had the same jammies! Gracie was VERY excited about it too!

  On Friday night, the boys (minus Will) went to pick up Tyler's new dirt bike (one of the other reasons they came south) and then we hung out at my mom's house. 

Tyler and Grace were so good with the kids.
They wanted to love them, hold them,
and carry them everywhere. 
Will and Erin loved every minute of the attention.

Will and Erin had their first sleepover and didn't even know it. Mark and I left my mom's house at 11pm and returned at 8 am and the kids were still sleeping.

On Saturday, the girls went shopping while the boys went to a hunting show. We all met up at the Chinese Buffet for lunch and then came back to our house for a short time. It was a fun visit and I can't wait to see them again soon.

Happy Birthday Will, Erin and Mommy!

We worked our way through January to my birthday, January 21! Mark went to Detroit for soon-to-be Uncle Marc's Bachelor Party.  Grandpa Paul and Grandma Connie came over to celebrate my birthday and the babies birthday's too. 

The kids LOVED the bells that were attached to their presents.   

  We ate already-served birthday cake and had a wonderful afternoon.

Grandma Melanie came over later that evening with dinner from Walker Roadhouse. Yummy!! She stayed to babysit so that I could go and celebrate my birthday with my friends. Thank you to my parents and friends for the fun and special birthday!

Birthday flowers from Mark

Happy 1st Birthday (Part 2)!

Erin and Will celebrated their 1st birthday at home with us and Grandma Melanie. I was in the process of planning a big, fun monkey themed birthday party and then the kids got sick (you can see in the pictures that Erin wasn't feeling well yet). I just didn't want to expose them to unnecessary germs so I decided to cancel the party. Bummer, but they didn't know the difference. We kept things low-key and the kids were in bed by 8:00.  Mark and I each picked out special presents for them.

Mark got Will a MG-TD die cast car (just like the real car grandpa Bill used to have and grandma Melanie used to have a yellow one too) and each baby a Detroit Tiger's baseball hats. I got Erin her first Barbie doll and Will a ride on car and a duck toy that spins.
They loved the wrapping paper and kind of played with the toys.

 
Mark got each baby their own cake from Arnie's Bakery. I was torn over the idea of if I should make them their own birthday cake, do cupcakes or buy a cake. I am glad that Mark made the decision for me and came home from work with a Carrot Cake for Will and Red Velvet for Erin.

 Erin had fun grabbing at the cake. She didn't mind the texture on her hands and even liked the taste. Kind of funny since she is our baby who was in feeding therapy.
Will wanted nothing to do with the cake. Mark put Will's had in the cake and he grabbed a handful of frosting and just held on to it. He didn't go back for more, he didn't put it to his mouth. We put a little bit of frosting in Will's mouth and he made his 'get this out of my mouth' face. The same face he makes with any food that has texture to it. I hope that he'll get over this and not end up in feeding therapy too.
WWe were a little excited to get the party started and forgot to sing Happy Birthday before the babies dug into their cakes.

The finished products of our special day: two partially eaten cakes and two clean babies!

Happy Birthday Will and Erin!!