Shane's big day

Shane is a cute baby. I know I'm biased but others have confirmed it so it must be true. That said, he does have a really big head and an even bigger tummy. These two traits make sitting up hard. They also make it hard for him to move from lying down to sitting up. Which is why I'm so thrilled that he can now go from his tummy to sitting up. (Ok, so maybe I need a life, but I thought it was exciting.)

I missed the shot of Shane actually sitting but I caught him on his way up and then back down.

Ella felt very strongly that I should include pix of the rest of them so I did. Ella dressed herself hence the backwards shirt. Hank was in the process of chasing bad guys (he's not a gangsta, I promise!). Jake was supposed to be doing his schoolwork.

Putting up the lights

We do this every year and we still can't agree which trees and bushes should have lights. Should we put them on the house? How about the really big evergreen next to the house. The fence, too? It gets complicated so we get tired and do just a few bushes here and there.

This year we have one of Santa's elves in our house. Hank is the official celebration planner. Everyone's birthday needs streamers and balloons (lots!) all over the house. And cake, we must bake and decorate "the most beautiful cake ever" for each celebration.

Jesus' birthday deserves no less. So far he is content with have a lot of lights outside. We also have them framing the kitchen ceiling. Oh yea, in his and Jake's room, too. I think those will do until we get our tree.

We've had some gorgeous weather so we spent last Saturday doing the outside lights. I realized Jake isn't in any of the pictures. It's probably because he spent most of the day running up and down the basement stairs looking for extension cords.

Hank wanted to climb the ladder so he could help daddy on the roof. Ella was content to draw on the porch with chalk, and Shane got to hang out and watch it all.

The Big Party

Bill's family is big, and they all love Ella- and really, how can they help it. :) They all made the trek to western Maryland to eat cake and sing with a little pip who is really a mermaid. Just ask her.

Dee Dee (what the kids call Bill's mom), fresh from a month in the Keys, even made Ella an incredible mermaid cake complete with water and swimming fish.

Just a few hours before everyone was set to arrive, we realized our little mermaid had a fever. We dosed her with cough medicine and Motrin and put her in bed. After a 3 hour nap she was a little glassy-eyed but ready to party. This is love...everyone bravely had a piece of cake after she blew out the candles. Hopefully, we didn't start an epidemic.

After years of having just boys to buy for they enjoyed showering Ella with all sorts of princess gear, and she was all too happy to model it for them. Then they all had a great time laughing at Bill as they imagined what Ella's wedding will be like (of course they don't realize Daddy's Girl will not be allowed to get married because there surely isn't a boy in the world worthy of her love, but that's another story).

Here are a few pictures of the festivities. If it prompts you for a password, send me an email.

The Princess is now 3

Where does the time go. It seems like yesterday we were waiting to travel to China to meet our little girl. Now she's 3! God has been so kind to us. She really is a perfect fit for our family, and we can't remember what we did before she came home with us.

We had a little family party on her actual birthday. She and her brothers made and decorated the cake. When daddy got home from work, they scarfed down their dinner so they could have cake and open a few presents.

Ella is currently on a mermaid kick. "I Ella. I a mermaid!" The boys picked out a mermaid Barbie and some mermaid jammies for her. Her "big gift" from mommy and daddy this year is a dollhouse. I found a great deal on a Little Tikes dollhouse on eBay. It's big enough for Ella's dolls and Hank's GI Joes to peacefully co-exist, and it's durable enough for the kids to climb all over. That is requirement #1 in this house full of monkeys.

Shane is becoming more mobile so he spent a little time checking out the new toys and watching his siblings. It was a nice evening, and we look forward to many more like it.