Happy 4th Birthday, Brookie!!

We had a little family get together for Brooke's birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The weather was beautiful again and the kids enjoyed playing outside.  After a week in Florida packing, my Mom was back in Illinois on Saturday afternoon pulling a U-Haul and my Dad and Stuart arrived early Sunday morning in the moving truck towing Jackie's car.  Jackie and her mom flew home with Brody and Olivia on Saturday morning.  A two hour flight is much better than a 20+ hour drive with two small children (in my opinion) :)

This picture is pretty significant because it is one of the last pictures of Brooke with her trach.  As most of you know, Brooke's trach was removed on March 28th just a few days after her 4th birthday. That is the next blog on my list, so I won't go into too much detail here. 

Brooke opening her gifts.

Happy birthday to our sweet Brooke.  I still can't believe you are four.  You have changed our lives for the better and we are so blessed to have you as our daughter.  We love you, sweet girl!

Uncle Brian and Brody

We took the bounce house over for the kids to play with.  I am so happy and thankful to have all of our nieces and nephews together in one state!!  It is so great to watch them all play together.  I look forward to all the fun times they will share together.

Brody and Ryker having fun in the bounce house. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We went to the Springfield St. Patrick's Day parade this year.  We had never been before and had no idea what to expect.  We tried to pick a good viewing spot -- one that would be far enough from the bar scene but not too far into the parade route.  We also decided that we would have a little birthday party for Brooke while we were there.  Originally we had planned to go to a park to play and have a picnic but the parade was a lot longer than we anticipated.  We ended up leaving before it ended and headed home for naps.  It was a gorgeous March day, almost a little warm (but I don't want to complain about the beautiful Spring we had).

My two big girls ready to go downtown.

My three beautiful girls.  I love them so much!!

Ok, so I think it was here on the blog that I vowed to start taking more pictures of everybody.  It was also around that time that the blog took a little hiatus!  Oh my goodness...... I am just now downloading these pictures and I have a lot of blog work to do!!! Bear with me.  But, on a positive note, there are a lot more pics of just about everything :)

Grandpa and Grandpa came downtown with us to watch the parade.  Papa Bill hadn't planned on going, but one phone call from Brooke and he was in :) 

Brian hadn't planned on going either, but he didn't have a choice :)

Nana and Papa were on their way to Florida to help Stuart, Jackie and the kids pack up their house to move home :)))))) More on that in a later blog.

Because the parade didn't start until noon, we decided to pack our lunches and picnic at the parade route.  A few of our friends joined us too.  Our kids always have such a good time together.

Addalyn, Brooke and Hadley

Aunt Heather and Ryker

Eating lunch before the parade starts

Papa Bill and two of his favorite girls :)

We took cupcakes down for Brooke to share with her friends. 

And, we let her open a few presents, too.  We decided not to have a friend birthday party for Brooke this year because we are having a big "trach out" party for her next week, but we didn't want her to feel left out either.  So, we had a little party at the parade.

All the Kids

Kami, Brooke, Nolan, Hadley, Ryker, Ellie, David, Ayken, Addalyn, Maycee and Baby Jack

Hadley and Maycee being silly

Watching the parade

And, a rare Kami smile :)  I think it's because her mouth is full of candy or gum??

If you will notice, Kami now has glasses.  Around January we started noticing that Kami's left eye was crossing.  We would notice it more when she was tired and especially when she looked directly at you.  At first we thought she was being silly, but the more she did it, the more worried I became.  I did a little research online (I love and hate the internet) and found out that it could be something that needed attention.  I thought she had a lazy eye.  I made an appointment with our pediatrician who confirmed that she might have a slight lazy eye, and he referred us to a pediatric opthamologist.  We met with Dr. Krah at Springfield Clinic and he told us that Kami is "extremely farsighted."  I was shocked!!  The poor thing couldn't see and when her eye crossed, she was actually seeing her best.  We went right to Wal-Mart and picked out an adorable pair of pink Dora glasses and now we have an adorable little glasses wearing Kami :) 

Happy Birthday, Aunt Devin!

Devin turned 30 this February and Brad planned a surprise party for her at the F.O.P. lodge.  We had the party a couple weeks before her actual birthday, so it really was a surprise.  The girls took Devin out to dinner at La Fiesta while everybody gathered for the party.  The plan was to go to dinner and head back to Devin and Brad's to watch a movie.  I was convinced that one of us was going to ruin the plan at dinner, but we were all very careful, which created an awkward dinner.  I seriously was afraid to talk because I knew I would blow it!  After dinner we headed to the lodge where the party goers were waiting out by the road (in the rain and cold by the way) to yell surprise.  The funny thing is, Devin thought we were ruining someone else's surprise!! We were acting a little lost and used the lodge driveway to turn around and we saw all these people standing out in the rain and Devin was convinced we had just stumbled upon another party.  SURPRISE!!

The girls

My brother was actually in Illinois this weekend.  He was here to take the physical portion of the firefighter test for Bloomington. 

Kami doing one of her favorite things... taking food!  You certainly couldn't tell by looking at her, but this girl is always taking food -- from others plates, from dishes, from just about anywhere.  She really doesn't eat much at each meal but will eat a little bit of just about anything.  It's pretty surprising that she is our best eater, even though she is our smallest girl.

Grandma and Ryker

My big Kindergartner!! (tear*)

And... get use to this adorable little face.  I think it started around this time.  Kami HATES having her picture taken.  She will cry, run away, scream, pout etc... It really is pretty frustrating but what can you do?? You will notice on future blogs that she a.) is crying in pics or b.) isn't even in the picture at all. 

My sweet, sweet Brooke

My brother and Dad

Mom and Dad

Aunt Kathy, Grandma Patti and Ryker joined in our picture :)

The four of us

Ellie and Addalyn dancing and having a great time.

Hadley and Brooke dancing with Uncle Stuart

When snapping this picture I think I made the comment that I should have been taking the balloon away from her instead of taking pictures.  For the record, it did NOT pop in her face.  And, I don't think she would have given it to me if I had asked.  She was trying to pop it by biting it and pushing it against the floor with her face!! 

Mark, Brett, and Brian

You know it's a fun party when one of the kids falls asleep.  Kami was "partied" out and went home with Nana and Papa.  Hadley and Brooke went home with Grandma and Grandpa and the big kids stayed out for some quality friend time.  The surprise party was a success and we all had a great time.  I am very blessed to have such a wonderful sister-in-law who happens to be one of my very best friends too!  We love you, Devin!