1 Year Ago Today.....

One year ago today, we were checking into the hospital to have this most amazing experience:

Tomorrow is a big day for our Bug!  I will spend this whole day thinking about what I was doing at the time....and will be setting my alarm to wake up at 4:04am tomorrow to give Caitlin the first kiss of her birthday!  So much pride and joy today.....

Monday!!!!!!!!! (& Mickey too)

REMINDER:  Watch Channel 5 News on Monday for 1st Birthday Pictures!!!!!!  (Usually runs between 6:20-6:40 but not always)

I can't believe it....my "baby" is turning 1 on Monday!!!  And on Monday, for the next 2 months, I'll officially have a 1 year old and a 2 year old.  My sister and I are one year apart for 6 months of the year, so it's pretty cool that my daughters will be like this too...only there is a school grade between them which may help in the "competition" department!  ;)

Lots and lots more to come on Bug's birthday!!!!  She's been really sick this week....but hoping the fever breaks today and she'll be healthy for her BIG day!!!!  Daddy took her to the dr on Tuesday and it's just a cold.

This weekend is a big weekend for us.  We are having a small family party to celebrate Caitlin's bday....it may be small in numbers but I'm really into the theme!  Pics to come next week!

Then, on Sunday, Rob and I officially become godparents to our beautiful niece Lucy!  It's a big day for her and we can't wait to celebrate with her!  (Oh, and on Saturday night, we get to babysit Lucy while her mom and dad go to a wedding....I CAN'T WAIT for all those snuggles!!!!!!!)

Last Friday, we took the girls to see Mickey Mouse Live.  We originally were just going to take Abigail for a special day, but due to a lack of sitter, we brought Caitlin with.  We had 3 seats, but really only needed 2 cause the girls sat on our laps the whole time.  The day started off hectic.  I started a new job (lots of lil jobs) being a student teacher supervisor for Kendall College.  That's right...I'm officially a member of the Kendall College faculty...maybe one day I'll become a professor!  ;)  Then, we had to bring our car in and after 3 hours of waiting (and no nap) we were told we had to bring it back on Tuesday!  Ugh...but it's fixed so that's good!  Anyways, so we headed to Mickey Mouse Live a little tired and rushed...but had a great time!  Of course Abigail loved it...and spent the whole time asking for "Daisy" who apparently didn't make the cut for the Mickey Mouse Live show.  We weren't sure about Caitlin but she actually watched the whole time.  They were both at great ages...but anything inbetween their ages would have been hard.

Who loved Mickey's Magic Show the best????  DADDY!  He's a sucker for magic.  He was in awe of the magic show!  It was adorable to watch these 3 watch the show!!!!!!

Notice Caitlin's shirt????  It's the same Minnie shirt that Abigail wore last year when Julie and Joe took her to this show.  Only Abigail was 21 months and Caitlin is 11 months!  :)  I really squeezed Abigail into it for the show! 

Have a great day...I'm gonna spend a few extra minutes cuddling with my "baby" who officially isn't a baby in 93 hours and 5 minutes!

We Don't Want Halloween to End!

And by "we" I mean Abigail!  We are over Halloween...but Abigail is not.  All she wants to do is watch Halloween shows and play with the Halloween "decorations" I am trying to put away. Today is the LAST day of Halloween in our house....so to celebrate the END of the holiday, here are a few more pictures from Halloween.

We went to the Halloween party where my grandma lives.  It's Abigail's 3rd party...and the busiest one yet! 

The whole crew!!!!!

I LOVE this picture!  My grandma loves to "make big eyes" at the girls and make them laugh! They were playing peek-a-boo with her using her walker!

We also went trick or treating at Great Nani and Great Papa's house...and got treated to a delicous lunch! 

Want to see more cute pictures?????  My sister started a blog:  http://www.theblandfordfamily.blogspot.com/

There are the cutest pictures of our niece, cousin, and god-daughter, Lucy Alexandra!!!!!  Go check them out!!!!!!!

Now, on to Caitlin's bday!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!!!! 

We had a great weekend with our lil pumpkin and our ballerina!

Abigail got to trick or treat for the first time and LOVED it!!!!  She really got into it and kept forgetting to say "Thank You" because she was too busy looking in her pumpkin to see what she got!  But she loved trick or treating...and was pretty brave going up there all by herself.  She was also pretty nosy...she had her lil nose right up to the window checking who was coming!  Caitlin stayed in the wagon, but was given plenty of candy from her big sister.

Too Much Halloween for this Pumpkin: 

In addition to our family trick'or'treating this weekend, we also went to Mickey Mouse Live, a Halloween Party at my grandma's nursing home, and Great Nani and Papa's house...oh, and had all the grandparents over for chili tonight!  So we were very busy this weekend..and will post pictures of all these events during the week!

Happy Halloween!!!!

"OH MY!!!!!!!"

I have lots to update...but today was Abigail's Halloween Parade at school!  It was ADORABLE!!!!

Ballerina Abigail and Buzz Lightyear Luca!  I mean...come on!  When they get married, their wedding video slideshow is going to be the best ever!!!

Classroom picture in the Care Bear Room

Getting ready to sing the Jack O Lantern song for the parents. Abigail just stood there and watched the kids sing...maybe next year she'll sing!

Decorate cookies!

Caitlin had her first cookie...we just pretended it was dairy and gluten free!  ;)  She loved it!

Abigail with one of her new teachers!

This is where "Oh My" comes into the play!  OH MY...do the parents really get into Halloween!  We got home and looked at all of Abigail's goodies...and she was screaming "OH MY" everytime she looked at a new bag.  I'm not sure what happened to the old days of 1 piece of candy...but each kid gave a bag of toys, candy, stickers, and goodies!  I was impressed that we put playdough and a sucker in a bag...wow did we get outdone!  One mom told me not to worry...there is still Xmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter!  I'm gonna step up my game!!!

"OH MY"...it was adorable watching Abigail and Luca at their 1st Halloween Party!!!! 

The Things Kids Say....

Abigail is into dressing herself when she should be napping.  We have now threatened to lock her closet and take away her drawers.  This day, she came down from nap in a dress with a skirt underneath!

Quotes from Abigail:

A:  "Mommy, Toy Story is on TV."

Me: "Where have you seen Toy Story?"

A:  "On Demand!"

A:  "Did Daddy build this room?"
M:  "Sure"

A:  "It's really nice.  He did a great job!"

M:  "Abigail"

A: "Abbi.  I like Abbi."

(Ha ha, her teachers call her Abbi and she has requested it...although we aren't going along with it yet!)

Picture Day

Yesterday was "picture day" at school!  I can't believe my baby is old enough to have a picture day.  We did the
old "socks in hair" trick my mom used to do to me to get her hair curly....and it turned out cute!

Yesterday also was Abigail's 1st day in her new classroom.  They moved her to the next classroom-Carebears- (young 3's) because her classroom before-Frogs-(2's) was a little young for her.  I know this new room is a better fit for her (and he has her buddy Luca in her classroom with her) but I was sad because I LOVED LOVED LOVED her old teachers.  I have to laugh because her old teachers told me they had been thinking about moving her for a while, but the day they finally decided she decided to start writing her letters.  What a stinker!!!  Her new teachers said she did a great job....although during the class picture her old class walked in and so they said she was a little confused and wouldn't smile for the picture!  I'm sure it will be cute anyways.  I can't wait to get her first classroom picture!!!!

Had to get one with her sister...although that's never easy! If I had a new, fancy camera, it would be!  (that's my continual nagging to Rob to get a real camera, one of those big ones with a lens)

Since I started working Tuesdays and Thursdays now (watching 2 adorable kids) in addition to Wednesdays, we are trying to really get out and enjoy our Monday and Friday.  This Monday, we headed to our favorite place, Dupage Children's Museum.  We went there the day after Abigail started walking, so we decided to go there the day after Caitlin started walking  It's such a fun place to practice that new skill!

It was so much fun because it was the first time Caitlin was able to participate more with Abigail, like at the water table! 

"Mom...I've been missing all this water this whole time!!!  I LOVE to drink it!"

"You're right Caitlin, drinking this dirty water is fun!  Why does Mom keep yelling at us???"

Playing together....I wonder how much longer this nice phase will last????

Standing all by herself-Caitlin's walking has really taken off in the past few days. 

Playing in the new rocket

And a random picture from a few weeks ago.  They have color days at school...and a few weeks ago was red.  Abigail sported her Dayton Flyers shirt from Aunt Katie! 

Hope you are having a great week!  This weekend will be some great pictures....it's our annual girl's weekend away, so Daddy has the girls all weekend! They have BIG plans this weekend!!!!