Brindi's B-Day

Brindi turned three on Friday. For the past 2 months we have been trying to convince her that she would no longer be two but would be turning three. We are still not sure it has sunk in but what did sink in was her understanding that birthdays equals presents. For the past month everything she has seen that she wanted she would say "I want it for my birthday" or "I need this for my birthday." It was pretty cute but a long list. With Brindi's first couple birthdays we realized she did not care for cake so we opted for the flower cupcakes this year. Celeste did an awesome job!

She was so excited for her birthday presents that we let her open them before I went to work on Friday morning. She was spoiled so thank you to everyone on her behalf. She got books, clothes, a vacuum, a tee-ball set, and a movie for our trip west this summer.

Later in the afternoon we headed to Chucke Cheese with a couple of Brindi's friends. We had pizza, sang happy birthday, enjoyed the cupcakes and then we were off to the games.

Brindi's favorite thing to do was drive or ride in the cars even though several of them she was a little scared as you can tell by her facial expressions in the pictures. She also loved riding the horse and playing air hockey.

Masters

Celeste officially graduated this month with her graduate degree in Nonprofit Administration. She is now a Master of the Arts. She didn't walk but I made her dress up in the appropriate garb so that we could at least take some pictures to remember this milestone. I think this has been a good program for her, which program is very service oriented. The majority of her courses required working with various nonprofit organizations in the area including the Girl Scouts, the Red Cross, O'Fallon Tourism, Gifted Wedding, and several others.

Celeste really focused her research on the health and wellness opportunities nonprofit organizations can provide to society. She has worked really hard the past couple years and it paid off with her 4.0 gpa. I am so glad I have such a smart and hard working wife. I really am lucky. Congratulations Celeste! I love you.

What an amazing example she is and will be for her girls. They are also lucky to call her their mom!

Spring Time Fun

We have been excited and enjoying the spring time. Not only is it baseball season but its also a time for gardening, yard sales and hopefully some camping. The girls love to play in Brindi's sleeping bag and its probably getting that time that we give them a taste of the real thing in Missouri. Watch out ticks!

Celeste found some accessories and a couple extra potatoes for Brindi. She loves her Potato head probably because of toy story. But she has been playing non stop with them now that she has a little family of potatoes and even calls them daddy, mommy and brindi. She even lets us play with her and design ourselves.

Brooke has even got in on the fun with her cool glasses.

Here are the girls hanging out in the yard.

Our little garden plot.

Brindi doing her share of the work planting seeds. She did dump out a couple packets of seeds so who knows what and where things may grow this year.

The girls putting on the finishing touches on our garden. We are getting excited for our strawberries, squash, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and most of all the little tomatoes.

Cardinal Baseball

The boys of summer are back. Unfortunately, the weather has not been coorperating until this week. So we decided to take advantage and packed up the kids and headed to Busch Stadium for a day at the ball field. It was an afternoon game so the sun was bright and we all got a little burned but it was fun to see our first baseball game of the season. We also lucked out and got free STL hats at the game. Hopefully we will have many more days this summer at the ball field.

1/4 Century Old

Joe posted pictures, but I need to write about my birthday. Joe has always been a spoiler and very thoughtful. Rachel my running partner is going to be moving in September, so Joe got me an ipod shuffle so I wouldn't be lonely running. I've never had music or books to listen to while running, so I'm quite excited about it. If the shuffle wasn't enough he had a card with plane ticket info for Brooke, Brin, and I to fly into ABQ in June! I have to admit I was emotional all day. I miss the west SO bad(aka...my family/Joe's family), but have realized that our little family needs to stick together, so I wasn't planning on flying out early or staying longer like we have in the past without Joe. I was starting to wrap my mind around just being there for 3 weeks(I know it's sad that I don't think that is enough time). So it was a sweet surprise when I read the card!!! I was emotional because I know what went into making it possible for us to go. Maybe someday I'll be as unselfish as Joe. I had a great day...thanks every one for the gifts, cards, and emails, they really meant a lot. I wish you were all here to share the cake (actually maybe not). My visiting teacher made it...another thoughtful gift. It was chocolate cheese cake with caramel and nuts, with a cookie crust, covered with a layer of chocolate...lets just say it was AMAZING!!!I have never tasted something this good.

Stats are in...

We headed over to the doctor's office yesterday for Brindi's 3 year and Brooke's 4 month appointments. Brindi had so much fun she wants to go back to play in the waiting room that has a tree house, Brooke on the other hand had shots and is still crabby so I don't think she wants to go back anytime soon. I don't have stats from Brindi at four months, so I guess I'll have to compare notes when Brooke hits 6months instead.

Brindi's Stats...

28.8 lbs

35 inches tall

48.8 in. head

Brooke's Stats....

13.9 lbs

23.25 inches tall

40 in. head