this post is for the birds

so back in june, i excitedly shared the news of the birds in our window... and i promised to keep you up to date on when they hatched and all that... well, the birds hatched on my birthday, they grew, they pooped all over the window sill, and they flew away...a month ago. so much for keeping you updated! while they were here, i spent probably 15 minutes every morning taking pictures and watching them... i couldn't get great shots some days because they knew we were there... i guess they could still see us even with the reflective tint. brian liked to play mind games with them thru the window... it was pretty funny. anyway, they'd be doing something really neat, and as soon as i'd get the camera, they'd go back to being boring ole' birds. i pretty much became the bird paparazzi!

ethan also loved watching the birds. he imitated me saying "bird" a couple of times as we watched them move around on the window sill. one day after the birds had hatched, we were reading "are you my mother", and i read the page that says something like "the mommy bird went to get food for the baby bird." he looked at me and smiled, turned around, and pointed at the window!!!!!! i love to see him learning!

ok, here's a little summary of our time with the birds.

i found the babies the morning of june 19

a couple of days later...
you can see that they're losing their down

lydia loved keeping an eye on the birds every time she came over.

the babies like being close to mom!
sounds like somebody else i know...

it was a little disturbing to watch the daddy bird feed the babies!
they stick their beaks down his beak to get the food...
i'll take nursing any day over that!

the babies have grown so much in a week!

the following pictures were taken 9 days after the babies hatched.

you can see that they've got all their feathers now.

it was so neat to see them flapping their wings!

looks like they're growing out of their nest!

close up of the baby birds

the rest of the pictures were taken 11 days after hatching.
they flew away the next day.

they've taken over the whole window sill now!

more wing experimentation :)

i caught the birds trying to fly away on video...
this was the last we saw of the birds.
the next morning they were gone...

hope you enjoyed sharing in our awe of God's creation on our window sill! :)

chocolate cake to DIE FOR!

here's the recipe for the beautiful, heavenly cake that christie made last weekend... i haven't made it myself yet, but i can't wait to have a reason to do so!!

1 boxed chocolate cake mix with pudding in the mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup of oil
1/2 cup of water
1 - 8oz. sour cream
1 box of small instant chocolate pudding
6 oz. of chocolate chip morsels

mix all ingredients with a mixer
grease bundt pan (christie says they always use crisco)
pour mixture in pan
bake at 350 for 45 min-1hr.
at 45 min, do the "fork test" to see if it's still gooey inside or done...
when the fork comes out clean, it's done!! yum yum!!

swing, swing, swing on a hot summer day...

one of the things we've been "meaning to do" for several months is to hang ethan's swing in the backyard... so he had yet to experience the thrill of a swing until last weekend. the girls and i went to a beautiful park on a beautiful mild tennessee saturday evening. the day before had been 100+ degrees, but a much needed rain cooled saturday off quite nicely. after sitting and talking on the back porch in our pjs all day, we took subway sandwiches to the park and watched ethan enjoy his first swing! he absolutely loved it! from a critical photography perspective, some of these shots are not the greatest because my cute little subject was constantly swinging back and forth...and i still am not an expert at using all the settings on our new camera. but from a mommy's perspective, i think i captured some great moments. :) so ignore the blur, and imagine ethan's giggles!! and yes, that is lipstick on both of his cheeks.. what do you expect when you're the only baby around a bunch of girls??

i also took a little video... but youtube really lowers the quality of it- i hate that! you can still hear his giggles and see his fat little legs kicking toward the end.

not sure what to think at first!

what a rush!

he's loving it now!

"anybody gonna come swing with me?"

"hey mom! are ya sure you and caroline can fit on that?"

here's more pictures that i had to include... daddy promises we can hang ethan's swing soon!

i'm in love

a daddy with his little boy in his lap just melts my heart... especially when they're my boys! my favorite part of the day is when brian gets home and gives his undivided attention to ethan. just had to share this picture...

a great reunion

i love getting together with my college friends. we try our hardest to get together every summer... out of the 9 of us, usually at least 5 or 6 can make it. now that babies are entering our lives, some summers are just out of the picture for some of us! last year, i stayed home because it was 3 weeks till ethan's due date, and i was not up for traveling. it killed me not to be there. this year, 3 girls had babies to tend to. anyway, whoever can make it comes, and we always have a great time catching up and telling the same stories...looking at christie's perfect scrapbooks, and shuffling thru the mental file of everybody's most embarrassing college moments. :) we even make a few new memories every year.

christie's parents hosted us at their house this year, and can i just say that i was pampered? the minute i walked in the door, i eyed a chocolate cake... not just any chocolate cake, but one with pudding and melted chocolate chips inside.... mmmmmmm.... i got there a day early, and by the time the other girls showed up, i'd had at least 3 pieces! (most of you are not surprised.) christie's mom had to make another cake by mid-weekend because we all devoured the first one (yes, i had help!). every morning, i was served eggs and bacon (or whatever else i would have wanted), and i had tons of hands to help with ethan. he loved all of the attention and i loved not having to carry him! we really didn't have much on the agenda except talking and laughing, and it was all worth the drive. though we've all gone different directions, some of us married, some with kids, it takes only a minute together to feel like we're back in our college days. we are blessed to have stayed close these last 6 years, and i pray that we'll continue these summer reunions. soon, these girl weekends will turn into family weekends... and we will love every minute of those, too. here are some shots from last weekend with the girls.

me, ethan, christie, lynsay, ashley, christy

they got a big kick out of ethan saying "please"...
ethan style (two hands)

a vicious game of mexican train

ashley's husband, cary, was determined to get ethan to like him!
peekaboo will always do the trick!

christy lovin on ethan

i told you ethan was spoiled!

he did so well on the road trip...
he loved facing forward where he could see what was going on!

i was also able to spend some time with my grandmother and brother while i was there. my mom drove up with me and stayed w/ my grandmother during my reunion weekend...so that was a huge help, too! grandmother was amazed at how much ethan had grown and how mobile he'd become since march! she just moved to a smaller apartment at the assisted living home, and ethan enjoyed exploring her knick-knacks and furniture. i think i told him "no" at least 100 times in the short time we were there! he especially loved her butler's table that has plenty of hinges to tinker with... and he just about wore out granddaddy's chair that helped him get in and out so easily. with the push of a button, the chair basically catapults you out so you don't have to strain to get up. ethan gave grandmother quite a ride in that chair!!

ryan was sick during most of our visit, but we were able to eat with him and his friends at cracker barrel on our way back home. since he still had a fever, i made him sit as far away from me and ethan as possible... sad!! i couldn't even give my own brother a hug or let him hold ethan! but we still enjoyed visiting with him and his friends.

4 generations

hang on grandmother!

his new favorite toy

until he found this suitcase...

uncle ryan and gram with ethan

amber, josh, and chip
(amber is a faithful reader of my blog!)

i love my bookshelf...and my husband. :)

i love our bedroom... it's small, peaceful, and just crisp and fresh looking. but magazines and books end up piled up beside our bed before we know it, and it just looks like a mess. so one day i was determined to find a small bookshelf to replace our nightstand (actually, a plant stand)...brian offered to make me one, but i didn't want to wait. i wanted a bookshelf that day! (yeah, you know the test with the kids and the marshmallows? i would have eaten the marshmallow the second they gave them to me!) i drove ethan to every store in town, and i came home at the end of the day with a typical, cheap black bookshelf from walmart. brian assembled it that evening, and i put all our books on it... and i hated it. it was too big for the space in our room, it didn't go with the other furniture, and it was the first thing i noticed everytime i walked into our room. so brian offered (again) to make me a bookshelf... and boy did he ever. it is beautiful! he worked so hard to make it exactly the size i wanted, and he crafted it perfectly. he had never made a bookshelf before, but that didn't stop him from laying our kitchen tile or installing beadboard in ethan's room... he loves projects and loves learning how to do something new! so all that to say that i'm very proud of brian's handiwork, and i just had to brag on him a little. here's some pictures of the finished product. thank you, honey!!

aren't you impressed?

before:
the nightstand with no room for books
(you can see a little bit of a pile in the left edge)

after:
a beautiful bookshelf with plenty of room
for books we like to read at night

a beautiful day for a wedding

well, all the family got dressed up for a wedding yesterday, and apparently we don't get dressed up enough, because i took pictures of all of us and none of the happy couple!! (sorry, mike and colleen!) i did actually get one of mike, the groom, talking to some of us... anyway, the reception was at the bride's parents' home on the water. it was beautiful. there was a nice breeze at the beginning, and the gelato station helped us forget that we were outside in FL in july! the food was wonderful, i loved seeing old friends, and if we would have stayed long enough, we could have enjoyed a fireworks show! but it was indeed july in FL... so we scooted after a while. here are some fun pictures from the wedding.

mike, the happy groom, and jeff served together in iraq.

mmmm... gelato! first things first!

it's melting fast!!

mama & papa d try out the gelato...
i think they need some napkins...

"brian, i really think we're adopted..."

just waiting for these baby girls!
karina should be making her entrance in the next couple of weeks!!

don't they look like great parents??

the guys...i love father & son pictures!

the whole fam... minus ethan

caroline is growing...and so am i!

i'm almost to 23 weeks in pregnancy talk, and i finally took my first belly picture yesterday... i could have taken one at 15 weeks this time around!!! so here's evidence that caroline is growing just fine...



17 weeks to go! i can't believe i'm already past the half way mark. i'm still getting used to saying "her" and "caroline" vs. "the baby"!

what a year!

we still can't believe ethan is a year old! everybody told me it would fly by, and it sure has. sorry i've been slack in keeping this updated lately.... our summer continues to stay as busy as ever, and a toddling one year old just adds to the busyness! in the midst of our crazy life, i want to take a minute to remember how tiny our little boy was this time last year... and to celebrate in God's blessing of wonderful health for the past 12 months. he has grown like a weed... and here's the pictures to prove it!

5 little days old

and the fun is just beginning!