(Wait...I had a birthday, too!!)

Okay, not that I'm important, but Savannah's birthday is just 7 days before mine!! Austin took me out for Lebanese food and comedy, which was so much fun!! The comedians were all really funny, although the last one to go on was actually a little bit much for my taste- he actually came out and took his shirt off and was dancing and rubbing his fairly substantial beer belly, and it pretty much went downhill from there, although his pants (thank goodness) stayed on. It was really great to get a night out with my hubby, though, he's been so busy with work lately and I miss him when I never get to see him awake!! The kids made me cards for my birthday, too, and I'm not sure if the video will work, but Logan's was super cute. Grandma helped them make them, and Logan was really disappointed because he wanted to go to Hallmark and buy me a card that plays music when you open it. So, instead, my mom rehearsed with him so that when I opened my card he sang "Eye of the Tiger" and when I shut the card, he stopped. It was super cute and definitely my favorite part of my birthday, even beyond the chocolate whipped cream cake!! Not the most flattering video of me- but I hope it works for you because he's soooo cute!

Fantastic February (Look, I'm caught up!!)

So, more fun in February!! First, we had Savannah Lynn's 2nd Birthday!! Her Ema Anne (which is actually Hebrew for mother, but whatevs, it works) was able to join us because their most recent litter of puppies ended up not being there after all!! For Savannah's home party my momma and I did a ballerina bear cake:

Which is sideways, but I don't know how to fix it!! Sorry!! The picture of Savannah at the top is of her in the birthday dress that my mom made for her on her super-cool new sewing machine!! Mine is broken right now because some little helpers knocked it off its TV tray and the thread holder snapped off. It's a fairly easy fix, I just haven't done it yet- not that my skills are anywhere as good as my mom's!! Savannah was so cute because after opening her first present (a doll and a "mommy set" with a stroller and diaper bag and bouncer seat) from my parents, she politely refused everything that everyone else gave her!! I think that my brother was truly heartbroken, but everyone else seemed to take it in stride. Our present to her was a big girl bed, which she's done fairly well in so far- although the missing baby gate across her door has certainly allowed her to get into mommy and daddy's room with much less fuss!! She been doing great with potty training, too, and has been speaking more and more, which is such a relief after two early-talking boys!! Savannah still "clicks" her K's (we call her a bush baby) and says H instead of P and a few other standard things (like W instead of L) but it's fun to listen to her begin to express what she's thinking more and more!!

For her "big party" we had a joint 2nd Birthday at Gymboree with Savannah's friend Shane, who also has 2 big sisters the same ages as Savannah's 2 big brothers! We had a really great time with all our friends and the kids all seemed to enjoy the "farm fun" theme!!

I still can't believe my baby girl is 2! She is so much fun to play with- we really enjoy our teaparties and dress up while the boys are at school!! Savannah is definitely all about being a princess and loves all things pink and purple and glittery and does such a great job playing mommy. She's an awesome swimmer and constantly showing up the older kids in her class (which she gets from Daddy!) and also loves to dance to the music and run around after her brothers. She is definitely outgoing but also loves to spend time alone and will "Wead" books to herself quietly for a good 10 minutes, which I think is pretty impressive for such a little girl! She loves to color and even enjoys a good shopping trip with mom! It's so great to have a girl- even though I love my boys!!

Christmas in February

Christmas was wicked fun :) We started off with a trip to the Christmas Tree farm where we picked up this gigantic beauty :) It took up basically our entire living room, which I think is pretty fantastic :) I love Christmas, even though it's so much more work as the mommy!! Plus there was the extra difficulty this year of hiding the kids' super-secret present!!

The Christmas Tree Farm we went to was the best one by far! They had bunnies to pet and lots of space to hike and a trail back to the old cabin that the farmer and his wife lived in!! Since bunnies are Logan's favorite thing on earth, Logan was in 7th Heaven! He was so cute holding the little tiny babies! Riley's favorite part was running around in all that open space- he's constantly making me feel guilty about the fact that we don't have a big backyard for him. One day, though, we will :) We really didn't have enough ornaments for the size tree that we bought, so one of my favorite things this Christmas was watching the kids add whatever they could find that was hang-able. Candy, toys, refrigerator magnets- they all made their way up to the tree upstairs. Also awesome this year was getting to go to Logan's first Christmas performance!! Yay for preschool! He did a great job singing "There were 10 Little Angels" and looked adorable in his halo. Logan is such a sweet and loving little boy who is so full of joy and watching him is great fun for all of us :) (Also, as you see from the first picture, we went in for the Pageant of Peace and the National Christmas Tree, too!)

Then of course, there were the visits to Santa...always fun! Savannah did really well and was excited to see the big man, and Logan was excited, too, to ask for a pirate dog and a sword. Riley had a list a mile long, which was cute, too! Little did Logan know, though, that the surprise we had to work so hard to keep a secret was the dog that he and Riley had been begging for FOREVER!! I never thought I'd talk Austin into it, but I finally did. It only took 7 years :) His name is Luck and he's pretty freaking adorable.

So, we obviously had a few snow days. (11, actually, between December and February) We finished up 2009 by celebrating the New Year with Riley and Logan's friends Kailey and Heather and my family. We had been hoping for more people, but the snow-that-never-came kept most people inside :) We had a blast, though!

Riley's 6th Birthday (of Doom!)

Riley is such a fun kid- and he is wicked popular, which I never was. I was only popular when the popular kids needed help with their homework. I actually think that's still true, but Riley, on the other hand, is a people person. So, in order to fit EVERYONE!! into one place, we had his party at Kids in Motion, which we've done a few times now. Riley also wanted to have a Volcano Cake Of Doom- so that was an adventure in dry ice and fantasticness.

The cake was a huge hit- I baked it in the mold for a princess (top) and an angel food cake pan (bottom) and then carved an opening for a tall plastic cup which I filled with red jello and hot water. When we added the dry ice, it totally erupted, which was awesome and all the kids loved it. It's so hard to believe that Riley is SIX!!! He's so big and independent, and a great helper and big brother. And, we're really proud of him.

I am sooo horrible about updating this :)

But I'm trying. So, let's see, I think I left off with....wow, November. Okay, so we'll play a little catchup...starting with Riley's birthday. I apologize and I promise I'll do better (not that anyone's looking)