Miss Anna's 6th Birthday Celebrations . . .

Anna's fancy birthday picnic!

Anna just had her friend birthday party this week. . . she was waiting for her good friend Kate to come back from a family trip.  All the waiting was worth it .  .  .   .  

Anna read the book, Goldilicious, back in February-ish.  She loved the book, and would look at one particular page for hours.  It was of the little girl, and her imaginary unicorn, having a fancy picnic in the woods.  My mom thought it would be a fun idea for her birthday party this year.  Here's how it turned out . . .

Presque Isle Gazebo.  Notice all the "fancy" decorations . . . tissue paper pompoms (easy and inexpensive!), butterflies and dragon flies my mom found at the dollar store, left over decorations and tulle from Auntie Ashley wedding! 

  

Yummy, fancy food (including a real tea pot to pour their juice).  Beautiful scenery.  Lovely, breezy weather. 

Blowing out the candles.  (Anna and Ben-Ben loved helping frost and sprinkle the cupcakes with me.) 

Dancing . . . we played a freeze dancing game that all the little girls loved! 

A treasure hunt, with cute little clues on pink paper attached to sticks. 

Finding the fancy treasure box, with their gift bags. 

Time for presents!

Such sweet gifts from her little friends!

These two were lucky to be invited.  Anna wanted only girls, but we convinced her to let her brothers come.  :)  Ben-Ben was dancing for joy!  :)

After all the fun, we walked them over to the park and the kiddies got out more energy while waiting for their parents to arrive. 

And a few adorable shots of Caleb swinging.  He loves it. 

I can't believe my baby girl is six!  I love her so much.  She is my sweetest, silliest, most helpful girl.  I am one lucky momma.

The Actual Day of Anna's Birth . . . August 4th.  She requested a pizza party;  specifically that we make our own pizza's.  It was fun.  And simple.  And delish. 

Proud of their creations.

Relaxed and fun family birthday party . . . with my parent's too, since we are living in their house right now.  :)

That day, Anna opened up the present from Ethan and I.  I was so excited about it, especially the deal I got.  It's the green "fairy" costume.  Someone had already given Anna some Tinkerbell looking slippers, and this just went with it perfectly.  Also, Anna's other wings had recently broken.  This will look really cute with one of her ballet leotard's underneath.  Anyway . . . Anna also opened the little present Benjamin picked out for her, one from Great Gramma LaJoice, and one from Grama and Grampa Jones.  (We celebrated with the Rayhorns on the Saturday following this.)  Ben-Ben put on his knight outfit just because . . . and then proceeded to attack his daddy.  He's such a boy sometimes.  hehe. 

Anna's Hospital Stay . . .

Okay, one last thing to add to this incredibly long post:  Between Anna's actual birthday, and her party, she had an overnight hospital stay.  So sad!  She had a kidney infection the end of July, her first one.  Then she got another one a week after the antibiotics were done.  So, they wanted to do some heavy duty antibiotics through an IV, and monitor her for a bit.  They also did an ultrasound of her kidneys, which looked infected.  Today she had another test done to see how the whole Urinary Tract is working, and everything looked good.  So, she just needs to drink plenty of fluids, follow some specific hygiene tips, and make sure she doesn't "hold it."  Oh, and cranberry juice.  Hopefully she never gets another one!  All the poking and prodding was so sad for a momma to watch!  Anna was so brave, and such a little sweetness.  And, in the 24 hours she was in the hospital, she had so many visitors, gifts, and treats. . . . it made the whole thing a little easier for her.  :) 



Remember When . . .

Remember when Anna was eight months old?  (Easter Sunday 2006)

And remember when Benjamin was eight months old?  (Christmas 2008)

And remember when Caleb was eight months old?  (Right now.  :)

So, do you see any similarities?  I do.  They're all super chubby, and super adorable.  hehe.  And two of them have dimples.  Otherwise, I think the three are pretty unique looking. 

But what about these two?  (Ethan on the left, Benjamin on the right.)  Ben-Ben is Ethan's little mini-me.  Adorableness!  When Benjamin saw the picture of Ethan, he insisted it was him, not daddy.  So cute.  I'll have to find a picture of me at Anna's age, because everyone says she looks just like me. 

FIRSTS . . .

So, I thought I'd list some of the "Firsts" that we have been experiencing lately.  The big and the small.  So, numero uno . . .

• We went to Munising to meet up with some friends of ours downstate who were vacationing in the area.  It's 45 minutes away, so perfect for a little day trip.  It was a first because we've driven through Munising numerous times, but had never really spent time there.  It. Was. Beautiful.  We swam and pic-niced at Sand Point Beach, and we hiked around at Miner's Castle.  Best of all, we got to see Jackie and Maddie and Jadon and Don.  We hadn't seen them for about a year.  Such a great family.  So fun spending the afternoon with them.  Oh!  And this was the first time Caleb has been to the beach.  What a cute, chubby beach baby!  :) 
• Caleb got his first tooth a week ago.  You can kind of see it if you blow up one of the close up pictures above.  Anna and Benjamin were both six months when they got their first tooth, and Caleb is 8 months, so we were wondering when it was going to happen.  I think he's pretty proud of it.  hehe.  
• Anna had a kidney infection for the first time (and hopefully the last time).  It was a very stressful experience because she got SO sick, and it took a week to figure out what was wrong.  She had high fevers, stomach pain, vomiting, dehydration, no appetite, no energy.  Pretty sad, and pretty scary.  She was the sweetest little thing during all of it, even though she felt so crummy, and even though she had to have multiple IV's, blood tests, urine tests, yucky medicine, and doctor visits.  Both kids had only one cold last fall, and then each had really bad colds in March.  So I can't complain too much about sickness this year.  (Well, if you don't count ALL of Caleb's stuff.  hehe.)  
• Caleb did the swings at the park for the first time.  He loved it.  There will be pictures to follow.  :)
• I am the momma of a six year old for the first time.  Crazy!  Little Anna Ellene turned six yesterday, and we had a little, family pizza night (everyone made their own), and a movie of her choosing.  Anna is waiting a few weeks to have a friend party since she has a good friend out of town right now.  
• Ethan accepted his first job of his PT career this past week.  (Just in time to say he got his first Physical Therapy job while he was still in his 20's.  hehe.)  He got a wonderful job offer for a place here in Marquette, called U.P. Rehab Services http://www.uprehab.com/  It's a great, well run company that Ethan is very excited to be part of.  We don't have a lot to compare it to, but we discussed the offer with people who know, and the company has great benefits, continuing education/certification/specialization opportunities, and the salary was more than we were picturing (and is above the national average for PTs fresh out of graduate school).  Perfect.  So, we are happy for a job to start soon, and we are happy to stay here for a bit.  Especially Anna.  :)     
• I can't think of any firsts regarding Benjamin, but I can't leave him out of this post, oh middle child of mine.  Especially a middle child as full of life and adorableness as Ben-Ben.  hehe.  Oh.  He has a new nick-name (although it's not his first).  It's "hay-stack."  My dad started calling him that because we've let his hair grow out a bit and it gets blonder in the summer.  My dad thinks it looks like a hay stack on his head.  It's catching on.  Actually, I think in the last few months Anna and Caleb have each had a lengthy post just for them.  So I guess it's time I do a little Benjamin Bear update.  You can just look forward to that for next time!