Purple Frosting, Purple Cupcakes

So, it wasn't hard to make purple frosting at all. I bought some frosting and some food coloring. And Tim made the cupcakes. He made purple frosting and purple cupcakes too!




Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed her party. Thanks to everyone who came.

Child Birthday Party Planning

Elizabeth is days way from turning three. It's an exciting birthday because she's now old enough and aware enough to understand what a birthday involves. As she explained to her Daddy last night, "It's Advent. My birthday is coming. My birthday. I am excited."

Did I mention that she's speaking in complete sentences now and it's a pleasant surprise?

Anyway, we went to get party supplies for her family birthday party. I thought she would choose a theme like My Little Pony or Dora or something. Instead she liked the idea of so many possibilites but she didn't want to commit. In the end, we went with a party theme of


Purple.



That was the one steadfast decision she made. She wanted purple plates, napkins, and plastic table covering.

I'm wondering how hard it would be to make purple icing on some cupcakes?

Happy Birthday Soldier

My brother is deployed on his third tour of duty to Iraq. He's sleeping in a ten man tent with little internet access, so I doubt he's ever going to see this, but I wish him a happy birthday just the same. Um, get past the first 30 seconds then it's entertaining.

Baby Mary Pic

Thought my limited readership might like to see a picture of Annie, Baby Mary, and I at the hospital when Mary was born. Mary arrived March 31, 2009. She weighed in at 9 lb 8 oz, and was 21 inches long. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to me!

And my nephew Joey.

Annie's Birthday

In an effort to include more pictures, here are a few from Annie's birthday party. These are actually taken by Pat, since Tim and I are slow to download our pictures and even slower to edit them. Enjoy!

McPartland, McPartland, McPartland

She doesn't read my blog, but I want to wish her a happy birthday today anyway.

Tempus Fugit

Happy Birthday, my little koala bear! It has been a year already? The time has flown by. We brought you home from the hospital and you were such an alert, awake baby. You would nap during the day, and had to suffer through sleeping through the noises of a rambunctious toddler. I don't know how your nervous system was able to deal with it. You took a shine to your older sister right away.

In an effort to keep up with the pace and action, you were rolling over by 3 months of age and army crawling by 5 months. Mommy prompted your first baby grins, but your first genuine laugh was in response to your sister. We sat on the sunny deck one spring afternoon. Your sister was playing peek-a-boo with you from the top of the Little Tykes slide. You sat on my lap wriggling your arms and legs as you giggled with glee as she appeared and disappeared from view.

As you continued to grow and develop, you sat up unassisted the next month at 6 months but showed little interest in being fed any pureed or jarred baby food. We waited a little while to introduce any solids, and once we did, you were determined to do it yourself. Cheerios and bananas have been a staple in the house during the last year. You also love to dip your fingers into yogurt, guacamole, white rice, and noodles, be it spaghetti or lo mien.

You walked by 8 months of age and quickly mastered your skill. You enjoy getting in on the action and excitement around the house by playing chase. You also love to climb. Now that you are a year old, most days you manage to scale either the chair to the top of the dining room kitchen, or the toilet to the vanity to sit in the sink for awhile. Some days you achieve both together. You protest vehemently when I pick you up to safely deposit you on firm ground. You have amazing balance and uncanny climbing skills.

You began speaking around the same time you started walking. Your first word was "mama." You call me when you wake up from naps, and when you need help with your sister. You will also sigh contentedly and say 'mama, mama' when I pick you up, snuggle you, and carry you around the house with me. You also like to say Annie's name too. You tend to clap and laugh or cry and struggle when you say her name. You say "Daddy." You know all your family. You sign for 'more,' 'eat,' and 'bye.' And there are other words you sometimes use, like 'hi,' and 'this'. You are certainly able to make your wishes and needs known.

You continue to laugh and smile. You wake in the morning with a delightful smile on your face. Mama and you spend a few quiet minutes together, changing diapers, playing pat-a-cake or having a nurse, and getting ready to start the day. You continue to smile most of the day as you made various discoveries as you motored about the house. Dad loves to tickle you. You love to play pat-a-cake and have 'Frappe, Frappe' sung to you.

There are many people who love you.

Happy Birthday Annie

Annie turned two back at the end of August. Here are a couple of pictures.

We had a lot of great pictures that I didn't post because the kids in them aren't my kids. If you were there and would like to see the pictures of your children, let me know.

Happy Birthday Annie?

Today is Annie's Birthday. Her family party is this weekend, but I wanted to make the day special today. I figured I'd make today a 'yes' day. To let her do things she'd like to do (that weren't utterly dangerous like drown her baby sister Elizabeth in the tub) to try and celebrate.

We spent nearly an hour in the tub, met Daddy for lunch--late of course, because tub time extended itself 45 minutes--played on the play park in the mall (no outdoor activities because of the rain), napped, watched the Princess Movie (worthy of it's own post), had noodles for dinner, and went to have ice cream with the cousins to round out the day.

The pinnacle of the entire day was the Happy Birthday Well-wishes of family and loved ones.

Annie's Godmother Kate & her baby friend Simon spoke with Annie in the evening. Kate had been working on having Simon say "Happy Birthday Annie" most of the day. She was continuing to coach and encourage him to speak while on the phone.

Kate: [singing] Happy Birthday to you
Simon: silence
Kate: [singing] Happy Birthday to you
Simon: silence
Kate: [singing] Happy Birthday dear Annie
Simon: Ha Buu-day Lizabeth.

Yes, Happy Birthday Elizabeth.

Happy Birthday to Me

Last week was my birthday. I turned twenty-five, which, my husband helpfully pointed out, is halfway to over the hill. While I can't dispute that, I expect another full twenty-five years to get there. Meanwhile, he turns thirty in just a few months. Thirty seems like a bigger milestone to me. Most 25 yr olds I know are lucky if they are simultaneously in grad school and don't still have their heads up our shorts. By 30 though, our lives should have some direction, and we should no longer be flexible enough to still have our heads up our shorts. Another good friend of mine also turned 25 this week. Her opinion is that being another year older only brings us one year closer to the time of our natural death. Death didn't figure into my concept of age, but then again, shorts didn't figure into her concept of age either.