Siena's Birthday Party

Birthday party pics ;-) Lots of crafts, lots of people, and tons of fun. Take a peek!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

Here are the pictures from Siena's actual birthday. We all had a great time!!

Early Birthday Party for Jack

Before Jack left for MA with Daddy we had a very *small* (as in only us 4) birthday party for him. It was cute, fun and we all had a great time. Check out the pics ;-)



(Remember you can double click to view the slideshow in Picasa)

Siena is TWO!

Siena had a wonderful birthday celebration on Tybee but we also wanted to celebrate on her actual day too. Dina and Dino (Jenn and Adam)decided to come down for the special day. We went to the Museum of Life and Science in the morning, bought some birthday presents there and picked up pizza for the little cheese freak (that would be Siena...oh, and me too ;-). Siena took a great nap, woke up and snuggled with Mommy on the couch for a Dora Show. I made pasta and meatballs for dinner- Siena's favorite and then she opened gifts. We finished the night off with a movie of Siena's choosing - 'Cars' (thanks Amy and Steve for the gift!!)- and vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting. YUM!!

It was a great day. See the pictures from Siena's special day and from Dina and Dino's visit. (remember you can double click to see larger)

Jackson Nicola is here!

Hey All- after all my whining and groaning about being pregnant, little Jackson is finally here...exactly on his due date.

Go figure!

Simple explanation: Jack was born by c-section on October 17th at 8:39pm weighing in at a whopping 7lbs 6oz (almost 2lbs heavier than Siena was!) and measuring 19 and 3/4 inches (2 inches longer than Siena).

Extended explanation: Jack came by c-section after I labored since 2:30am, went into the hospital at 9am, got my epidural (I love you anesthesia man!!!!) at 11am and had progressed to 5cm, pitocin started at 2pm to make contractions better, water broken...no progression. Being that Siena was a c-section as well the docs didn't want to take any chances by waiting even longer for me to dilate...so off to surgery we went at 8-ish pm.

Here is a slideshow of pics so far. Remember you can double click if you want to see the pics larger (in a non-slideshow format).



Happy 1 day birthday baby boy. We love you!!!

Topsail Beach Fun

For my birthday this year I wanted to have a nice chill time at the beach with close friends. We went to Topsail Beach and booked this fabulous house ON the beach...right at the water. It was gorgeous and fun - Everything a 30th birthday should be ;-) We played games, hung out on the beach, watched movies and football, and had great conversation...when the girls were ASLEEP! They put together a really fun evening for my birthday with cake, candles and balloons...it was wonderful...more than I could have asked for.

Well enough blabbering from me ;-) Here are pictures from our fun five days at the beach!

Remembering Siena's First Year - Mom's version

Wow, this year has flown. I know everyone says time flies when you have kids but WOW, this year was really fast. SO many things have happened this year...so many beautiful firsts and cherished moments. I know I sound pretty sappy but, this birthday was hard for me...my baby is getting older.

Well Siena, like I said, this year you did so many things! Some things I remember fondly...you slept through the night for the first time on March 14, 2007. It was from 10:35 PM- 4:55 AM. Not too shabby for a less-than-one-month-old. I don't think it happened again for a while ;-) You smiled for the first time (besides gas smiles) on April 1, 2007.

You started cooing on April 11. One of my favorite days is when you laughed for the first time on May 4, 2007. Nick was out of town and I was grumpy and tired. I was giving you a bath and you just started LAUGHING. It was adorable.

You started eating solid foods on June 9, 2007 and you had some rice oatmeal...banana's were soon to follow and you loved those! Still do actually ;-) But the rice cereal you were not so happy about...

You rolled over from your belly to your back on June 10, 2007 and soon after rolled the opposite way. You loved to sleep on your belly.

You started holding your own bottle in July, 2007. Then you sat up all by yourself in August, 2007.

You loved your bouncy swing. You would bounce away happy as could be. See this video we took of you loving every minute...

You started to crawl on October 25, 2007. We were so excited...until we figured out you would get into EVERYTHING. Still it was adorable to watch you try and then succeed. Now you motor around like you always knew how.

Not only are you a fast crawler...you even zoom up the stairs with ease! You love challenges and are always looking for things to "figure out". I love your wit and your curiosity...well, sometimes ;-)

On your first Halloween you were a cat:

a chick:

AND a pig:

You had so much fun that day (except for when I would change you to the next costume!!)

You say so many words now- you started with Dada and dog, continued with "this" and "that"....everyone is still amazed how you pronounce the "t" perfectly at the end of "that". You love to tell the dogs "out" (wonder where she got that from??). You will shake your head "no" but say "YESSSS" . We love when you wave and say "Hi" and wave bye bye.

You LOVE to swing. This video says it all (and I have no idea why its sideways):

You had a wonderful first christmas surrounded by everyone who loves you.

You got ALOT of toys ;-) Almost all of which make loud, disturbing noises...

You love to brings us books to read to you. Everyone loves your impish personality. We know you are up to no good when you look over at us and have your adorable smile blazing....rest assured in the next moment you are most likely going to be touching something you shouldn't be. And almost always we are laughing because you are just so cute!

How you LOVE to play with your dogs. You love them so much and they...well...they'll love you in time ;-) You love to pester poor Diesel. This video shows you headbutting him and loving it!

So, Siena...you are one now. You had a fun day in your adorable dress surrounded by people who love you enough to brave the awful illnesses that were plagueing the entire family. (We told people with kids to stay home!). Here are the pictures from your fun day (double click to see it larger).

However bitter-sweet this birthday was for me, I cannot wait to see what the next year brings. How tall will you get? Will you still love anything to do with animals? How much will you be talking? How stubborn will you be...since we are already seeing some distinct signs of hard-headed behavior (wonder where she gets that from?). Will your hair get curlier and your eyes darker? All these things I await with open arms because I can't wait to see my beautiful little girl grow.

I love you Siena. Happy Birthday baby.