Happy Birthday to my Squirrel!

I have been waiting all day to spend a little time reminiscing...my little squirrel is 5 today! I can't believe it...the time has gone so quickly. I still remember so clearly the night that she was born. It was such a scary experience and so amazing all at the same time. It didn't go exactly how I wanted it to go, but then, what in life does?


There she is...our beautiful baby! It's funny because she looks pretty round in this picture, but really she was just a peanut! I don't know if anyone else even remembers how she came to be known as squirrel. If my friend Mel ever reads this, she will probably be entertained. When I was pregnant, we were trying to decide whether or not to find out the gender of our baby and of course everyone wanted to think they knew what I was having- especially towards the end. Melanie had taken to asking if I thought the baby would be a boy or a squirrel :) It still makes me giggle! So, in my still drugged state, I decided to call and leave a voicemail for all the managers I worked with at MF to let them know that I had given birth to a baby squirrel. Thus, the squirrel name stuck!



Wasn't she a beautiful baby? Look at that blonde hair! That was the big news with her was all her hair! oh my goodness...she is still such a beautiful girl...and smart, and sweet...can you tell I miss her right now? I can't wait to see her tomorrow! She has been with "beste" for a whole week and I miss her like crazy! I really cannot believe it has been 5 years. I remember holding her the first time...nursing her the first time (not very well!)...our first night awake all night...
Mostly I remember the nights I used to rock her to sleep and the mornings when she would wake up and we would just sit in the rocking chair and snuggle. I miss that baby girl so much sometimes, but try now to enjoy the "big" girl she is becoming!

Princesses Galore!

We did it! We threw our first "real" birthday party...at home...and I survived!!! Now, I have to confess, it was a difficult decision for me. Maybe you haven't heard (ha ha ha!) but I am broke, so I can't afford to throw my child a birthday party at one of these places that costs 500 bucks! So, I decided we would do it at home.

The first challenge was coming up with the theme. This actually turned out to be easy since Annika is obsessed with princesses. Her thing lately is "mommy, tell me a story about princess Annika." So, then I just had to figure out what exactly we were going to do. This is where it got tough. You see, I am really great with concepts..it's just actually making it happen that I struggle with. Execution is not my forte (my former bosses could attest to this!).

Thank goodness I had some help! My sister and my mom are both angels in disguise I have decided. That's the other thing...I turn into a real crab apple when I am stressed out! I was so concerned that a mom was going to come into the house and judge me (remember...I am not rich!) or that the party was going to be a complete dud. Luckily neither of these tragedies occurred, the party was mostly successful, and most importantly my princess was happy!












Check out the cake!! I made it (with a little help from my mom and sister!)

Fits, fits and more fits!

Ok, so maybe my mother is right and it's payback! I remember Annika going through a bit of a fit-throwing phase, but not like the one we are dealing with right now! Lukas is a little out of hand! Now, I know that little kids like to be able to do things by themselves, but this is ridiculous! Anytime that he can't figure something out, he freaks out. Anytime that he isn't getting his way...again, freak out! We aren't just talkin' defiance here, we are talking full blown-laying on the floor-kicking and screeching fit. What to do? I can ignore him...what do the neighbors think? I can try to comfort him...doesn't work! He pushes and kicks me away! I can try to reason with him...again, there is no reasoning with a 3 year old! My only hope is that it's a short lived phase!

The Pit of Despair

Wow...I am not very good at keeping up with this!! I do my best, but it seems like time gets away from me! Good thing only a couple people seem to know it's here!

So I just had to share a funny from last night! Annika has been DYING to take a trip to IKEA. We have been so busy, however, that we haven't been able to go. We thought maybe Grandma and Grandpa H would take them over the weekend, but it sounds like they had plenty of other things to do! Anyway...

We arrived at IKEA for the sole purpose of letting Annika play in the "ball pit" (Smaaland is what it's actually called!). It is the first thing you see when you come in the door! So, we walk in and she runs towards the door of smaaland only to find out....IT'S CLOSED!!!! Seriously! How can that be? Now I have to try to find another time to take her....eek! It was actually pretty funny, though, since she freaked out and said she is sure that she will NEVER get to play in there!

Silly girl!!

On another note...my children love markers! Check out how HOT Lukey is with some nice black marker all over! No wonder the ladies love him!

Weddings and kids

I am a little late with this one, but have to know...is a wedding really a wedding if there aren't cute little kids at the dance? I would like to say, I think not! Check it out!


Every girl has to have a picture of herself dancing with the little girls at her wedding! You can see in their little faces that they think you are the most beautiful princess in the world and they are already dreaming of wearing a beautiful dress like yours on their wedding day (someday!). I love it!

Of course, the boys have to have their fun too...mostly with the chicken dance and the hokey pokey, but it's fun all the same!


Personally, I find the most fun thing about weddings to be the catching up with friends and family I haven't seen in ages! It seems like the only time I see my extended family these days, which is a bummer since I really like spending time with them.

Next wedding...Georgia in November....hmmm...somehow I don't think that one will be on our agenda! Good thing this one was such a great time!