Friends

We had a great turnout for the party (over 30 people in our tiny little house!). It was so great to have our friends and family together.

Jordan and Kallie got Marcus this great little dump truck that he can ride. It even makes lots of noises...that was a hit with all the kids!

Amber and Josh brought little Cole out...he's 6 weeks old now. It is so hard to believe Marcus used to be that size. Cole seemed so tiny to me now that my kids are getting so big. It was so nice to hold a little baby again :-) Yes, I do want another, but Marc says NO and he's probably right.

Our good friend, Shannon, came with his family too. There's Poppi and Papa chatting it up with Shannon.

There's the famous cake makers...I think they are calling themselves "Hot Chicks that Make Cake" now. I forgot to get a picture of them with the completed cake...so we decided this picture would stand for it being a success! Thanks again Jessica and Lorie...I couldn't have done this without you!

Party

Marcus did a good job with the cake. He was tentative at first...actually we had a little mishap while blowing out the candle. I was holding the cake while everyone sang happy birthday. Marcus decided to touch the flame on the candle and I wasn't quick enough to catch him. Needless to say, there were tears and I felt horrible. Once we put a little frosting in his mouth, it was all ok. Look at that mess! That's what it's all about!

Emma wanted to eat a pig so bad...so here she is, eating a pig :-)

Marcus got some great presents...thank you everyone!

All the kids had a pretty good time helping with the presents and they especially loved the balloon.

Decorations

Look at that cake! Jessica made all the animals and veggies too. Jessica and Lorie made the pretzel fence at work during lunch on Friday too. Everything except the John Deere tractor was edible. YUM!

There's the birthday boy! Marcus was pretty impressed with the cake too.

I kept the decorations pretty simple. I went with a John Deere theme. We had a John Deere sheet set, so I used the sheet as the table cloth. I got cowboy hats from Auntie Tracy (left over from Sophie's cowgirl party)...we threw one up on the fan for a joke and decided it actually worked! I bought Marcus some John Deere toys and used those as decoration too.

I even made a John Deere sign to wish Marcus a Happy 1st Birthday!

Cabela's

Saturday morning, we headed to Cabela's with Gramie & Poppi for a little break from party preparations...plus it helped to keep my house clean by being away :-)

When we walked into Cabela's one of the employees handed Marc some coins to use at the shooting range. Emma really wanted to shoot too. Daddy was pretty proud. Look at her go!

Olivia wasn't into the shooting range (there were lots of scary animal sounds and it was sort of dark), but she found this cute little play air gun close by and had a blast with that. It was a good outing for all of us. It helped to tire the kids out and they ended up taking pretty good naps.

Cake Decorating

We had Marcus' birthday party this weekend. It all started Friday night. Jessica and Lorie came over to decorate the cake. Lorie brought her daughter, Alexis, to help too. The kids had a blast. They helped pick where all the little animals went. Jessica and Lorie were so great about including them.

Even little Marcus wanted in on the action. He was more into playing Peek a boo with Olivia than decorating cakes though.

Emma was really into it. What a good little helper.

Look Who's One

Marcus turned one today!
Ok, so he's not really telling you he's one (but it sure does look like it and it is pretty cute), he's pointing at the deer mount above his head...he's crazy about that deer lately...Daddy's dreams of a future hunter seem to be unfolding before our eyes :-)

It's getting more difficult to get pictures of this little busy body lately...he is quite the clown too.

Don't you love that face!



We celebrated with left over cupcakes (I made them last night to take to daycare today). Marcus wasn't too sure about it all. He just looked at it for a while...I guess he did the same thing at daycare. We finally fed it to him and he gobbled it right up. We'll see what he does with his cake on Saturday...stay tuned...we've got big party plans for Saturday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!!

One Year Ago

Marcus Charles was born at 7:43am weighing in at 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long.

This is me pregnant with Marcus one week prior to delivery...I guess there is a reason Marc called me "Big Mamma". Funny thing is this is how big I was when I was pregnant with the twins too :-)

Marcus was wide awake the entire day of his birth. The nurses said he would have a 24 hour period of constant sleep...we kept wondering when? He also caught on to nursing right away...he ate every hour for the first few months of his life...let's just say it made for one exhausted Mamma.

Our family was complete with our new addition. The girls took to him right away and they have all been best friends since. I still can't believe we have three...especially in 2 years time! What a true blessing!

Back to reality

Sadly, the weekend came to an end and we had to go. This morning we did see sun for the first time this weekend though. Marcus was so happy to be outside again. Can you tell?

The kids threw some sticks for the dogs and had a great time by the river behind Raymond's house.

And Emma ended the weekend back to her little old self...healthy and happy. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Thanks again to all the hospitality we received this weekend! We love you all!!!

Getaway

Uncle Raymond basically gave us his place this weekend. His sweet girlfriend, Melissa was a gracious hostess. She made a ton of food and she is so great with the kids...they absolutely love her (and so do we!!!).

It was pretty nice...we had a lot of time to just veg out and relax. I can't think of anything better than spending time with the kids!

Poor little Emma was not feeling well most of the weekend. She started with a fever Thursday and it continued on throughout the weekend. She was pretty pampered though...we bought her this princess airbed and Marc and Raymond packed her around so she didn't have to move much...look at that sweet face...poor baby.

Melissa taught the girls how to file their nails this weekend too. She filed Olivia's and the next thing I knew, Olivia was in the bathroom with her baby (aka glowworm) filing away...how cute is that!?!