Happy birthday to our baby girl!

Wow, Anna is turning one tomorrow and we celebrated today with a party given in her honor. Grandma and Grandpa Milin, Grandma and Grandpa Baish, Aunt Kat, Uncle Eric, and Cousin Lauren all came to celebrate this most momentous occasion. Anna loved being the center of attention! We ate lots of food, the kids splashed around in the pool in the backyard, and everyone was having a good time until Max decided to capture a poor little chipmunk. I was on the deck shouting at him to let go and threw things at him till he did. But after that it was smooth sailing. Anna really enjoyed her castle cake (in particular licking the frosting off of the princesses) and Nate and Lauren helped her open her presents. Happy birthday, baby girl.

Weekends Shmeekends

I love the weekends, don't get me wrong, but sometimes at the end of them I feel as though I didn't get a chance to relax at all. Here's today as a case in point:

Wake up at 5:15 with Anna.
Picnic for breakfast near a river; watch Anna to make sure that she doesn't suck on some yucky clamshell.
Go home; put Anna down for a nap.
Go to the grocery store w/ Nate.
Do chores.
Feed the kids lunch.
Go to a carnival & get hot.
Go to the pool to cool down.
Grill outside in our bathing suits while we get dry and listen to music.
Shower.
Play with the kids.
Put Anna to bed.
Blog.

So you see, we are really having fun and I wouldn't change my life one bit. But, on the other hand, by the end of most weekends, I am almost ready to go back to work just to relax a bit! Here are some photos from our day.

Tomorrow is Anna's birthday party. Big girl!!!

Photos from Heather's baby shower

A few weeks ago Anna and I attended our friend Heather's baby shower. Heather is expecting a baby girl pretty much any time now. We were thrilled to be able to join her to celebrate! My good friend Charlotte, who is also an excellent professional photographer, was there to memoralize the event. Here are some pics from that day. Yes, in some, Anna is pretty much naked. She spilled water on herself on the car ride to Heather and Scott's house and her pretty dress spent a few minutes in the dryer. It was such a fun day!!!

PS. For more photos of the shower AND some hilarious commentary, see Charlotte's blog which you can access at http://charlottegeary.livejournal.com/180881.html#cutid1

Happy father's day, dad!

Dear Dad/Grandpa,

Happy father's day! I wish you were here to tell you how much we love you and give you a big hug. From drr drr tubes, to the "nobody loves dear old Nate/Anna" song, to playing billy goats gruff, to noodling something thru, to making up stories in your head to help you fall asleep (I was coaching Nate on how to do that just last night when he was having troubling settling down), you are always very much a presence in our lives even when you aren't physically with us. But besides all that, the most important thing that you give us is how we feel that nobody will ever love us as much as you do.

You are the best of the best and I can't wait to see you this weekend. In the meantime, enjoy the old time photo of you with your keikis.

We love you!

- Sarah, Nate and Anna

Nate and Gretchen were sitting in a tree....

When I went to pick up Nate from school today, one of his teachers drew me aside. She said that there had been an incident at school today. My son touched tongues with a little girl named Gretchen this afternoon. She explained that the teachers told the naughty kids that they should only kiss their mommies, daddies, and brothers or sisters because they can spread germs. She asked that we talked to Nate at home about it. It was all I could do not to laugh! I think it is SO adorable that Nate got his first french kiss from a non-relative at the tender age of 4. Plus check out Gretchen from about 2 years ago. She's a cute little girl. Way to go Nate, I say! Sometimes it is hard to be stern and disapproving.

Let's go find a pot of gold!

This afternoon we had a few really big thunderstorms rip through the area with high winds and even tornadoes. I always love a good storm! After the latest one, we went outside. To the east of us, the storm raged on and to the west, the sun began to appear. There was even a double rainbow outside. WOW! (If you look closely at the photo, it is just to the right of Nate). The little Nate guy thought it was really amazing too. Both cats, however, were not so thrilled to be outside during this storm. They seemed really happy when I opened the door.