Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

"Sometimes when I need a miracle, I look into my daughter's eyes and realize I already created one."

 

Happy 1st Birthday, Libby Frances!  What an amazing 365 days it has been.  It's hard to remember what it was like bringing home a 6 lb baby home from the hospital and finally being a complete family of 5.

 

 

 

 

But it has without a doubt been the best year of our lives yet!  We have been blessed with not 1, not 2, but 3 beautiful daughters.

 

Today we celebrate the littest member of our family!!!  And probably the sweetest baby you will ever meet!  It was a great day surrounded by the people who love Libby!!!!

 

Waking up being 1.  A 1st birthday hug for daddy!!!!

Libby's 1st gift from Mommy and Daddy waiting for her when she woke up.

I love my new chair...and my new sippy cup.  But what happened to my bottles????

 

Time to PARTY!!!!!

Some of the family watching Libs open up presents.

Our 1 year old!

 

Hug Me Elmo!  A perfect gift for this cuddle bug!

"Cute as a button and so much fun...Libby is one!!!!" (The quote from her invitations and her theme...buttons)

So many presents..and cousins!!!!  Lucy, Leigh, Luke, Lily, and Patrick where all there for the fun!!!

1st birthday cake.  Aunt Katie and Mommy worked hard!

"Happy Birthday to you!"

 

Mmmmm....cake!  She definitely takes after the Marcuccilli side of the family!

 

Our family

Happy Birthday, sweet Liberty Bell!

We love you!!!!!

Dear Libby,

Happy Happy Birthday, sweet girl!  We hope you had a great 1st birthday. 

You were surrounded by all the people you love:  Grandma and Grandpa, Nana and Papa, Aunt Julie, Uncle Joe, Lucy, Leigh, Aunt Katie, Great Nani, Your Godfather Uncle Jay, Auntie Nay Nay, Luke, Lily, Your Godmother Auntie Stina, Auntie Tina, Auntie Brina, Uncle Tom, Uncle Tommy, Uncle B, Auntie MoMo, Patrick, and Mommy, Daddy, Abigail and Caitlin!  And you were sent cards, presents and LOVE from those who couldn't be here today:  Great Papa, Auntie Gam, Uncle Al, Aunt Pam.

Your sisters were so excited to celebrate the big day with you.  They even wrapped up their own toys and hid them by all the presents!!!  They love you sooo much!

Mommy and Daddy may joke that you are the 3rd, but no matter how many times we may do something, it's always VERY special when we do it with you because it's our 1st time with our Liberty Bell!  We loved celebrating this special day with you.

The last 365 days have taught us a lot about life.  That our hearts grew the day we met you.  That there was a plan for our family that was perfect and is complete when you were born.  That life is about the little things in life.  That being happy is the best way to be...and you are always happy!  That life is about the quality of the time we spend together, not the quantity.  And that life is better when you are in it!

Happy 1st birthday, Libs!  We love you.  

Mommy and Daddy

Our Weekend Away

Wow!  Did I forget to post Halloween pictures?  Between all these birthdays and holidays, those may be coming in January!  :)

 

I had to post about our great weekend away!  For Christmas, we got a gift card to Key Li.me Cove from Nana and Papa.  It was the PERFECT gift for our family!  We had such a wonderful weekend away with our family!!!!!  Thank you Nana and Papa...we LOVED it!

 

Even though we got the gift for Christmas, Rob wanted to wait until Libby was old enough to be part of the fun..and I wouldn't be stuck feeding Libby all weekend.  This was really the 1st weekend I felt like we had 3 kids, instead of 2 kids and a baby.  It was such great family time!!!

 

Libby coloring at our dinner.  Key Li.me Cove is great because you can eat in bathing suits if you want!  :)

Our 3 little ladies

The girls LOVED playing at the arcade.  This picture cracked me up because they didn't realize we didn't pay for this game, so they were so excited thinking they were playing and they were cheering so loud for themselves...but it was really just the "demonstration" screen! 

Daddy teaching them how to drive!

Every hour, there is a different activity or project that you can do.  We did a few of the projects.  This was a craft to decorate your own picture frame.  Very fun!  Although, this is the part where a kid sat at the table across from us and Caitlin said "That's a FAT baby!"  Oh man...there's no way to get yourself out of that one!  KIDS!  It's like being in an elevator with my grandma all over again, she'd always say something "inappropriate" very loud, but think she was whispering..and then you'd be stuck in the elevator with that person!  :)

The girls really enjoyed the wave pool.

Caitlin made friends in every pool she was in.

New googles...very exciting!

My big little girl.  We need to get this child a whole new wardrobe, she's the only child who is actually in the correct size with her age!

My favorite picture from the weekend...it's a framer!

This girl loved the tube!

And the water too!

Caitlin finally made the water slide!

Abigail did the body slide, and then came out where she couldn't touch and had to swim.  Good thing Daddy did that with her because I'm too nervous as a mom, which we were reminded about over and over and over this weekend!

Swim!!!!!

 

In Key Li.me Cove, we were in our own little world.  And then we left, and the storms were CRAZY!  The whole drive home, we were looking for tornados, even Rob who never worries about anything.  Here's a shot of the sky from our car window:

 

And the whole time, the kids never knew about the storms because this was the inside of our car:

(Look at Libby's feet with her Bears socks on...so cute!!!!)

 

It was a great weekend!  Some of the highlights (or lowlights if you are a glass-half-empty type of person) were:

*Cookies and Milk delivered to our room

*A fun meal where all the kids ate and no one got up to use the bathroom one time (that's a mom's dream come true).

*Libby decided to party until 10pm, even though we put her to bed at 8pm

*Libby decided she only wanted to sleep in our bed, on top of me (I see this as a great thing, I'll take any time with her I can)

*Libby decided to get up at 5am, so her and I wandered the "Cove" for an hour and a half until Starbucks opened at 6:30am...again, I LOVED this one-on-one time with her so I didn't complain..and if you were wondering, they NEVER stop the Jimmy Buffett music in the hallways, even at 5am!

*Fun times at the water park

*A crazy drive home!

 

We can't wait to go back...and LOVED this gift!  Thanks Nana and Papa!

Happy 4th Birthday!

Miss Caitlin Elizabeth is 4!!!!

 

In many ways, she acts older, so being 4 isn't too far of a stretch.  But she sure loves her birthday!!!

 

She had school on her birthday, which is AWESOME as a 4 year old.  She got to wear a crown all day and pass out her cupcakes (with purple sprinkles and Doc McStuffins rings, which is all she wanted..even if they don't make them and Mommy spent HOURS searching stores for rings).  She got to spend the day being the line leader, office messanger, and center of attention.  She was a happy girl.

 

We came home and her cousins and Aunt Julie were waiting at our house, which made her VERY happy! 

 

She got to pick ANY meal for her birthday dinner...and she picked chocolate chip pancakes with sprinkles.  Daddy made GREAT pancakes and all the girls were very happy!

 

And then, she got to have all her favorite people, Aunt Katie, Grandma and Grandpa, and Nana and Papa, sing happy birthday to her and shower her with gifts!

 

And she got to get a special cake from Aunt Katie, which was amazing!!!!

 

And then, she got to stay home the next day and play with all her toys!

 

What a GREAT day she had!!!!

 

And the fun continued today because we had an small birthday at McDonalds for a few of her "friends" (alright, they may be mommy's friends...but the "3 CREW" of Rosie Luke and Caitlin who will all be the same year in school got to be together) which meant more cupcakes and more presents!

 

What else could a 4 year old want????

 

The birthday princess, wearing her tiara from Aunt Katie..and surrounded by 2 of her favorite peeps!

Her gift from Mommy and Daddy...her new Doc McStuffins set!

 

You have NEVER seen so much Doc McStuffins stuff in one room!  There can not be anything Doc McStuffins left this lil girl doesn't own!  :)

I had to put on this picture of Libby.  She crawled up onto this present and sat there the whole present time!  What a character!

Caitlin with her amazing cake made by Aunt Katie...she's such a great Godmother to Caitlin!!!!

Mmmmm...cake! 

I love this pictures...she's trying so hard not to smile!

The next morning with all her Doc presents!

Happy birthday to our sweet Caitlin bug.  You are turning into the sweetest, happiest, funniest 4 year old we know.  You are growing up before our eyes, and we are so proud of the lil lady you are becoming!  We hope that your year being a 4 year old is the best one yet!  We love you, our little Doc!

 

It's my last day as a 3 year old!

11 months....a FAST 11 months

How is it that this lil pumpkin is already 11 months!!!  Okay time, any time you wanna slow down a little, it would be ok!!!!

Libby's personality has really started to blossom the last month...and what a personality she has!  She is going to be out strong-willed child, but also our cuddly child!  And she is definitely going to be the comedian of the family!  If she gets us laughing...she doesn't stop!

At 11 months she's started walking!  Not full out walking yet, but taking 2-3 steps! If you say "I love you" she lays her head on you! Sweetest.  Moment.  Ever!  She is signing "more" "milk" and sometimes "all done".  She is also partially potty trained!  Crazy, I know!!!  Her sitter has her using the potty and while she won't take herself there, she uses it when put on it.  At her sitters, she only uses 1 diaper a day!  At home, more because of our busy lives...but I have only cleaned 1 poopy diaper in the last month!  She's also clapping and loves music!  And she loves playing peek-a-boo!

I cherish my quiet moments with her, they don't come as often as I'd like with 3 kids and work, but I don't take one moment with her for granted!

Libby, Libby Lu, Liberty Bell, Libs.... We love you to pieces!!!!! We can't wait to celebrate your 1st Bday next month...but 1st your 1st Halloween and then your 1st Thanksgiving!  You are our lucky star!!!

My big helper

Libby loves to help with the dishes!