Happy Birthday, Aunt Julie!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my sister Julie....the best sister, aunt, sister-in-law, godmother, and soon to be mom that anyone could have!!!!

We hope you have a great birthday...and maybe get an extra special gift!  ;) 

Speaking of extra special gift, baby blandford is due on Sunday!!!!!  We hope she come soon, but have a feeling she wants to be born after Labor Day!  Maybe she wants to make sure she's in school for her b-day every year!!!!

Speaking of school, we met Abigail's teacher, Mrs K., last night.  Abigail is going to love school!  We are headed this morning to meet the teacher...and her first day of school is next Tuesday!  One more week till my baby is in real preschool!  We couldn't be more excited for her, she's going to LOVE it!  And Caitlin and I will be starting baby library classes...I'm so excited for her too!!!!! 

Lots of great pictures to come, hopefully some of me holding my niece!

What's In a Name???? (Updated)

Don't you love it when you get things that are personalized????  I think you spend so much time picking out your child's name....that you LOVE to see it!  Not to mention how personal the gift becomes!!!

When Abigail was in the NICU, I was out at Home.Goods and found a bunch of things with Abigail....and my LOVE began!  I wanted to show some of the things my girls have with their names!

My Aunt made this for Abigail....I LOVE it!

This was the first thing I found at Home.Goods!  What a find!  (With a name plate on it from Katie O'Connor).

I LOVE this art!  Aunt Julie and Uncle Joe had it made for her b-day!

Things on her dresser (Strawberry was a gift from Nicole, Basket I found at Home.Goods, and Abbi frame was a gift from Aunt Katie).

Abigail LOVES this stool, which doubles as a puzzle, from Auntie MoMo and Uncle B.

Caitlin's wall letters from Land. Of. Nod.

Awesome Growth Chart from Aunt Julie and Uncle Joe

Caitlin's matching name picture from my Aunt Cyndee.  She made both of these with needle point!  She also made one for us when we got married, so we love that the kids have their own!

Some frames on Caitlin's dresser (C from Nana, frame I found at Buy.Buy.Baby).

Thanks to all who have thought of our kids!!!!  We wanted you to know we think of you everytime we look at something from you!

Also, Abigail and I have been working on this maze workbook everyday to get ready for preschool, and at the end we always write her name.  Today, she just sat and wrote he name without any help...I couldn't believe it!!!!  I was so proud!

Camera Found!

The camera was "hidden" in the stroller...but I found it today!!!!

Here were a few pics from Abigail's last day of ballet:

And pictures from the park today:

I'll get with it and start posting again...maybe pictures of my new niece soon...apparently she's nothing like her cousins and is in less of a hurry to meet us!  Her due date is Sunday, September 5th!

You Are My Sunshine

Last week was August 19th Day Of Hope....A day to remember that all children are miracles, even the ones that couldn't stay very long!

It happens to fall around the same time we would have been celebrating Little Sunshine's 1st birthday.

Just wanted our lil Sunshine to know I love him!

 There isn't a day I don't think about you.  You were my baby from the day we found out about you...and will always be! 

And thanks for sending us our Caitlin Bug!  ;)

We know you're watching over our family, angel!

You Are My Sunshine

My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away


The other nite, dear,
As I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms.
******
******
****** 


I'll always love you
*******
*******
*******
*******
*******
 

Week In Review

This week in review could also be titled: Pictures Other People Took.  I didn't bring my camera anywhere for a week so I stole other people's pictures!

Saturday

Saturday started with a Dr Seuss b-day party for our friend's kids!  The girls looked adorable in their Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts, but I didnt take a picture.  When Cari sends them, I'll post!

Saturday evening we went to a wedding reception for my sister's sister-in-law.  They actually got married at Voodoo Donut Shop, but we were able to join in the celebration!  It was a great night out, and the first time we left our kids with a real live babysitter!  It was great and we look forward to using her again!

Kate, Jules, me  (Jules is 3 weeks away from due date!!!!!)

Mr Blandford (proud father of bride), Joe and Julie, Mrs Franklin, mom and me

Thanks Kate for the picures.

Sunday/Monday

Unfortunately, Sunday and Monday were sad days for us.  My Auntie Jo passed away last week.  She was a really amazing woman (my grandma's sister) who took amazing care of my grandma.  She visited her every week until she got sick a few months ago.  I really loved my Auntie Jo...she is really missed!

Some of our family from Wisconsin came down for the services.  We tend to see them at weddings and funerals, so are planning a trip somewhere this winter for a gathering!  Also, a HUGE thank you to Stina who watched the girls while I went to the services!!!! Thank you so much!!!!

My grandma and her sister, Aunt Jenny.

Tuesday

Tuesday we went with the Staniaks to Blackberry Farm.  It's a pioneer village out in Aurora.  There are lots of educational things there (my dad would LOVE it).  The people dress the "time" and you can go to see a classroom, blacksmith, pottery store, carriages, and a really cute pioneer town.  But you can also ride the merry-go-round, train, and ponies as much as  you want, so the kids loved it!  The ponies were "closed" because school started out there, so the kids were disappointed, as were the moms, but we still had a really fun day!!!!  Thanks Jenny for the pics!

Tractor riding

Classroom (we lasted 1 minute with the teacher...but I liked when someone's cell phone went off in the classroom)

Miss Caitlin Bug happy as always

Merry-Go-Round....again and again and again and again

Abigail and Reese on the train.  Abigail LOVES having Reese to play with and talks about her non-stop!

Chase....my buddy!  I LOVE this kid and could spend all day with him!!!!

Jenny and Baby Blake.  This baby is 1 month old and is so well behaved...he just goes along for the ride with the family!!!!!  He's adorable!

Caitlin and I checking out the "sights" on the train

Thursday:

Caitin had her allergist appointment.  She is NOT allergic to wheat, soy, milk, or dogs!  So until she's a year old, they will consider her wheat and dairy intolerant and we'll keep them out of her diet, and then when she turns a year, with their recommendations, we slowly add things back and see how she does.  GREAT NEWS!

Thursday evening we headed to the last Carol Stream Music in the Park.  This is our second summer of attending them and we had such a great time every Thursday with Nana and Papa at the concerts!  This week Aunt Tina, Stina, Chelsea, and Trevor also joined us!  I forgot my camera, but this week was Tony Spavoe...and all the money/supplies we brought went to the troops.  I say it all the time, but I LOVE living in Carol Stream. It's a smaller town and does so many wonderful things for the families!  The girls actually made the local paper 3 times while at the concert:  check them out here and here and here too!  (In the picture of Caitlin, you can actually see Aunt Tina's brace....she had a major surgery on her back and has been wearing it for months!!!!)

Today is Friday and we are hopefully heading to the pool for one last pool day before school starts!!!!!

A True Story

This story starts off as a mess...but has a happy ending!

Once upon a time there was

and

.

The BEAUTIFUL mommy queen didn't know what to do.  She took them as fast as she could to

and then they

and

And they all lived happily ever after!

The sequel is titled Family Game Night. 

It begins where bath time left off:

The princesses were victorious against an elephant

and a land of candy!

The End!

9 Month Stats and Pictures

This week we had Caitlin's 9 month appointment and 9 month pictures. 

First, the stats:

Weight 14 lbs 10 oz (Less than 3 %)
Height 28.25 inches (66%)

Head 16.2 inches (3%)

Last time she was 3% weight and 22% height...so she's dropped in her weight but really jumped in her height.  We are trying to get her to take more formula a day to help add to her weight.  She is also seeing an allergiest next week because of her intolerance to wheat (that's a whole 'nother post...but we'll wait till her dr app't to update that...at this time she is a gluten-free, dairy-free baby).

As for eating, her favorite food is avocado.  She LOVES them more than anything else...and even if she sees one at the store, she goes crazy!  She is eating Stage 2 baby food.  And we are beginning to find gluten-free alternatives to snacks (no to Cheerios, yes to Chex Mix, no to Puffs, yes to Pirates Booty).

Still not babbling yet...may start speech...but is getting close to walking.  Most babies talk when they are "stationary" but since she's on the move, she's not focusing on talking, she's focusing on walking.  Once she conquers walking, then she can talk.  We are doing sign language as we did with Abigail.  We are teaching her "more, all done, milk, please, thank you".  We are also working on clapping and waving.

There couldn't be a happier baby (now that we have no more wheat in her diet)!  She is happy all the time.

She loves her pacifier and no matter how much I take it away, she finds another one (or is given one by her partner-in-crime) but I figure we'll deal with that battle after a year!

We had her 9 month pics yestersday.  We decided to try Sears instead of JCPenney and I was so much happier there.  They spent much more time and were much more affordable.  We went right from Abigail's last ballet class so she was "done" and wasn't as cooperative, but Caitlin's pics really capture her personality...a happy, go-with-the-flow baby!

(how cute would this have been if Abigail smiled...Caitlin is in LOVE with her big sister)

(not a great picture, but I can already see how cute they are gonna be when they are older and bffs)

Happy 9 Months, Caitlin!!!!!