happy birthday grandma!

the kids and i surprised my grandma for her birthday last week by bringing her flowers at work. yes, my grandma still works full-time... because she so enjoys helping the students she tutors. (i could write a big fat book about how my grandma amazes me... but she's actually writing that book about her life.) :) i really hope i inherited her genes. she won't mind me telling you that she's 85. there aren't many ladies her age that still have her fashion sense, teach ladies' bible class, and have a flatscreen tv. :) and she is actually reading my blog on her laptop with wireless internet! go grandma! she is one of the smartest people i know, having taught latin for over 30 years, as well as working with codes as a WAVE in WWII. she has some great stories, and i still don't think i've heard them all. i really could go on and on... but i need to post more pictures for grandma to see. :) enjoy these pictures from our visit.

let's get this party started...
i'll crank up "wheels on the bus"!

happy bday grandma!

this was the first time grandma had seen caroline's eyes open!

ten really little toes...

like brother, like sister...

these sweet cuddly pictures melt my heart...i can't believe ethan's not this little anymore. yes, my babies really are this happy. the Lord has blessed us so. they were definitely carved out of the same mold, don't ya think?



here's proud big brother. he got upset when i stopped taking these pictures! he loves his sister, though he forgets that sometimes. :) no matter what he does to her, caroline just smiles and smiles whenever ethan is around (or on top of her!)

i've got more pictures to share, but it's bedtime... so just hang in there. :)

hooray for ethan!

sorry i haven't been around much... the weeks seem to fly by as i attempt to enjoy every little moment with ethan & caroline while keeping some sort of order around here! ethan's big accomplishment over the last week is... (drum roll, please!) that he's putting words together! yay!!!!! for a speech therapist mommy, this is a big big deal! :) for the last few weeks, it's been "kick.... ball.", but now at ANY given moment at our house, you can hear "kick ball" (actually, it's more like "KEEEEEEEK ball", "KEEEEEEEEK ball"). he also kicks around his 500 soccer balls saying, "FOOT ball", "FOOT ball", but daddy's working on that one... ha. he's saying new little phrases every day, and i just can't write them down fast enough!

he is also learning to love his sister more every day. he continually asks to hug her, and if she's down on the floor or in her car seat, he crouches down and in the cutest little voice, he says, "heyyyyy!" as much as i love the name we chose for her, it is a little challenging for ethan to say right now... so he's shortened it to "caaa" (if you're a three amigos fan, just picture steve martin on the ledge saying, "caa caa! look up here! look up here!" and you've pretty much heard ethan say caroline's name. kristie and i get a big kick out of that one!) :)

stay tuned for some sweet brother/sister pictures...

happy birthday!!

a special happy birthday today to my sweet grandma and my dear friend kristi! i hope both of your birthdays are wonderful!!! i love you.