Happy Birthday Nick

Wow, my baby is 9 today. It's the last birthday before he gets to the double digits. The last 9 years have flown by! We were sitting here on the couch earlier tonight and I said "Nick want to know what I was doing 9 years ago right now?" I picked him up and cuddled him in my arms. His arms and legs extended well past my lap. I tried to explain to him how much easier it was to hold him with one arm when he was just 8 pounds. He is maturing into quite a wonderful young man and we are so proud of him! Happy Birthday!!!

Here's a post idea I borrowed from my sister Amy.

Here's Nick at 2 days old (7 pounds, 13 ounces and 20 inches long)




And here he is today on his 9th birthday (78 pounds and 54 inches tall)



He spent the day playing with his friend Jake and then we went for a family dinner to Outback Steakhouse. To top off his evening he hung out with his buddies Matt & Jared and played on Matt's huge inflatable water slide. Here are a few more pics we took tonight when Kelsey, Rob and I surprised him with LEGO's from Toy Story 3.











And since we were measuring Nick, Kelsey decided she would stand next to the ruler too. Kelsey measures in at 59 inches tall and 104 pounds. Where did my babies go?

Happy Early Birthday Nick

Nick will be 9 on July 8th. Our schedule for July is so crazy we decided to have a spur of the moment camp out party in the backyard for him. Unfortunately many of his friends were unable to come so I think we will be repeating it on a week day later this month. We had a backyard cookout & the kids roasted hot dogs and marshmallows on the grill (even if it was just charcoal). For those of you who don't know, our yard is so extremely small that an open flame firepit was out of the question. The kids caught lightning bugs, played in the sandbox, and played flashlight tag. Then everyone went home. I am not a huge fan of actual sleepovers but I am all for playing til bedtime. All the kids had fun and everyone went home for a good night's sleep.

And a little explanation about the cake..."Happy Birthday Tito" is a neighborhood joke. Last Labor Day weekend we celebrated a group of birthdays but the Dad who went to pick up the cake couldn't remember which kids were celebrating so he just had them write "Tito" on the cake. Now everyone thinks the Birthday cakes should all say "Tito"!

Nick and Becc

I should break the news gently...Nick has a girlfriend. He insists that even though there is about a 6 year age difference, he is going to take her to prom in a few years. They really are great buddies but I am not sure how he will handle it when she gets a boyfriend her own age.

Kelsey's Riding Lesson with Midnight

Today was Kelsey's first riding lesson of the summer. She got to rider her favorite horse, Midnight. She is once again riding with her friend Maddy. While the girls ride, Nick hangs out with Maddy's brother Bryan. The boys like to play around in the dirt and run after the cats at the stable.

Let the Summer Vacation Begin!

Finally we have finished the school year. It seemed like this day would never get here. I think this is the latest we have ever been in school and going until June 25th is the pits! In fact, I was at Target Friday morning before school (our last day) and they were starting to clearance out summer stuff and build Back to School displays. How depressing is that?!? Here are some pics of the kids on the last day. There was a 5th grade promotion ceremony for Kelsey on Friday and a celebratory breakfast with ACE (her honors class)students on Saturday.

Ironwood Ropes Course

Kelsey's girl scout troop went to Ironwood for an afternoon of fun. Nick was invited to join in. There was a huge rock wall, zip line, vertical obstacle course and flying squirrel (a rope swing of sorts). The kids had a blast.

Baby Shower for Kelsey's Teacher

Kelsey's 5th Grade teacher is expecting her first baby in September. As their end of the year party, the room mom's planned a baby shower. The kids played games and had cake. Mrs Guarini was very surprised. Kelsey and her friend Maddy helped me make a quilt for her. Instead of wrapping it in a gift basket, we created a baby made of diapers, dressed it up in an outfit we bought in Disney World and put it in a basket like a real baby. We nick named it G-Baby (for Baby Guarini).