Pool Time

Before my parents headed back south, we spent the day relaxing at their hotel pool. Natalie and Gam got their exercise by "swimming" up and back about a million times. And by swimming, I mean Gam pushing and/or pulling Natalie in her floatie.

Danny and I stayed in the shallow end

Natalie could have gone all day,

but Danny eventually passed out.

So now the birthday week is officially over. Back to business as usual.

Party Time

The birthday boy was in a GREAT mood ...

... until I put this silly hat on him.
Then it was time for cake!

YUM!

Natalie got to help open the presents.

During the party he got to spend time with Pop

And Gam

And Aunt Liz

Then we started passing Austin around.

After the party we went down to visit with Grandpa Larry.

Anna got some snuggles from her Daddy.

Thanks to everyone who came up to celebrate Danny's first year with us!



**As a side note, I've noticed weird lighting in the past few posts. I promise that I will work on that in the future. Sorry for the distraction.

One year

It's hard to believe that it's been a year since Danny was born. Here's a brief recap of the past year. This is me and Natalie last July, about 4 weeks before Danny made his debut.
Just hours old

3 months

6 months

9 months

And 12 months. Can you tell he's getting harder and harder to keep still?

This time I recruited some help and it still didn't work out so well.

It's been quite a year. Introducing Danny into our family has created a whole new dynamic. He keeps us on our toes and there is never a dull moment. From diving off the bed to eating dog food and mischievous giggles, he's been a welcome addition. His vocabulary now includes da-da, ma-ma, night-night, dog-dog. We also think he says other words like Daewoo and ravioli. He's not walking yet, but we swear he took one step the other night while visiting my Grandfather. We can't get him to do it again, but maybe soon. We look forward to what the next year will bring.

Next post = party pictures!

Wedding Bells

A co-worker of mine is getting married next Saturday so a few girls from the office thought it would be fun to take her to lunch and celebrate. Of course we had to make a big to-do about it with a veil, sash and other wedding type decorations in the middle of Wegmans on a busy Friday lunch.

We then forced her to wear the veil and sash for the rest of the afternoon. She was a good sport about it.

Good luck to Chris and Bob next Saturday and for a happy marriage!

She's home!

Baby Austin is finally home from the hospital and we were able to spend some time with the family this weekend. Look at this shy smile. She was so proud.

We wanted to get pictures of the 3 kids together, but with feedings, napping, diapers and us trying to eat too - it just didn't work out. Next time!

She's cute as can be - and healthy too. We're so thankful.

Such Whats

One of my mid-year's resolutions is to start taking more videos of the kids. We have one of those Flip cameras so it's really easy to do. This week I left the Flip on the kitchen table to remind myself to use it more. Natalie had Kindergarten Camp at her school. Basically, it was just an orientation to kindergarten for 4 days. She got to meet other kids starting kindergarten and the kindergarten teachers and Principal. She seemed to really enjoy it. After the first day, I intereviewed her.




Then later this week she decided to grab the Flip and make a video of her own. Warning - you may need motion sickness medication before watching this video!!



Speaking of kindergarten camp - if you think she looks bad, you should see the other kid!!! Joking, just joking. But she did come home Thursday with this shiner. Apparently there was some sort of collision during clean up time and some boy made direct contact with the block and her eye. Yikes! But she's a tough cookie and is taking it like a champ.
Even though Danny didn't get much air time in the videos, he's still managing to keep us on our toes by doing things like this:
And this. He will lean so far back that you think he's about to fall over onto his head.
And then he'll whip himself back up and give you a big smile. It's enough to drive you to drink. In a good way, of course.

Crab Smash

Yesterday we went down to Bel Air to Kristin's parent's house for their annual "crab smash". Which is really just code for a good excuse to hang out, eat good food and meet the new baby Jack. Once again, a million pictures were taken so here are just the highlights.

The kids were in heaven because there was so much to see and do. They started off on the playground. Here's Natalie, Maria and Joey.

Then Natalie, Maria and Avery headed over to the trampoline.

Baby Jack is only 2 months old. So sweet.

Avery is adjusting well to life as a big sister.

Joey spent some time smashing crabs.

Matthew was relaxing in his stroller.

Jenn's baby bump is looking so cute. She's due in October with a little girl.

The mandatory group photo taken every time we are together.

Willow was able to use her magical mommy powers and get Danny to fall asleep.

It was just a power nap though and then he was wide awake again

The evening ended with a bang as the kids ran around the backyard with "sprinklers".

It was a great time and I'm so glad we were able to make it down. I love that my friends just casually pick up my camera and start snapping away. They really took the majority of these pictures. One of my favorite parts of all of us getting together is coming home and reviewing the pictures. Thanks guys!