Birthday Pictures

Strawberry Short Cake Birthday Party

Lilly's birthday party theme this year was Strawberry Shortcake! Her favorite remains princess, however she's finding the love for strawberry shortcake and friends. We celebrated with our families at our house this past weekend. Like every other birthday party we've had for Lilly, the weather was rainy. But, that didn't stop us from having a great time. This year, Lilly was comfortable walking around and hanging out with everyone without me being near for the first 1/2 an hour or so. Lilly loved playing with her cousins, dressing up, running around and just having a ball with her little pals. Now that the kids are a bit older, it's easier for the adults to chat and not have to entertain the kids. They all played very well together with out full on adult supervision!
Lilly loved having everyone sing to her, and of course she loved opening all her gifts! Thank you to my family and Ryan's family for being so wonderful to Lilly. She is so lucky to have such a special family!

Happy 4th Birthday, Sweet Lilly Marie

Our baby girl turned 4 on April Th! It's definitely a bitter/sweet day for me. Bitter because it means she's another year older and is moving further and further away from being little. Sweet because, she loves being big and is so smart and just a wonderful little girl. When I talk about Lilly's birthday, it seems that I get choked up because it brings me right back to night and morning when I was in labor. I'm sure this is true for many moms, however I bet the older they get the less you go back in time and think about delivery!! For me it's still fresh in my mind. For Ryan and me, we have been blessed with this little girl who has brought us so many laughs, tears and worries! We feel very lucky to have her. I thank god everyday for a healthy little girl who is caring, funny and spunky!! Happy Birthday, Lilly. We love you more than you'll ever know.

Happy 40th Anniversary, Mom and Dad

My parents celebrated their 40th anniversary in April. We recognized it at Easter, but had something special planned for them. It was a surprise! This past Friday, we told my parents to be ready by 6:30. The only thing they knew was we were celebrating their anniversary.

We got our kids to the sitters and arrived at my parents only to be surprised ourselves... the limo was early~ My parents were surprised, but we wanted to be there for it too!! My parents got a knock at their door at 6:00. When my dad looked out the door he shouted to my mom "holy *#it hun, there is a stretch limo outside". The man at the door was the limo driver letting us know he was here!! When we all got to my parents, they were in shock (again we were too, the limo guy was way too early). The next surprise was, we were heading down town to Vicentes. It's a delicious Cuban style restaurant, with salsa dancing and fabulous music in downtown Detroit!

It's not often that the adults get to spend a night out without the kids. It's always fun to be able to talk like adults and not have to watch our P's and Q's, plus to be able to just focus on us and not be distracted by the kiddos. My mom and dad had a special evening with their kids. I think I can speak on behalf of all of my siblings, that it was a great surprise!