It's my party!

We hosted a small pool party to celebrate Lily's 4th birthday.

She wanted to be 'Princess Lily' on the drive to the pool and got ready all by herself!

Lily had a great time swimming with her best friends...

...including her Daddy!

Happy birthday to our sweet 4 year old!

When asked what she wanted for her party, she said CHOCOLATE!

Chocolate pudding, chocolate cookies, chocolate cupcakes, and chocolate cake

She was thrilled with all her treats!

Melissa and Kelly

Roy, William Tommy, Ryan, and Eric

Kate forgot her swimming suit and this three year old was able to fit into William Tommy's trunks!
Skinny little love!

William, Lily, and Braeden

William Tommy wasn't his normal cheerful self (I'm blaming four teeth ready to pop)
But he did have fun crawling around after the crazy big kids

William, Melissa, and Thomas
We missed Stew, who unfortunately was attending his grandmothers funeral  :(

our neighbors, Emily, Eric, and Braeden

these two have lots of fun while playing together in the cul de sac each weekend!

my boys!

and that's a wrap, folks!

Last day of school

1st versus last day of school

Another year of preschool.  What an awesome year it was!

~Lily loved her teachers and continued developing close friendships with her classmates.

~Her teachers say she is an awesome 'helper'.  She loves to direct her friends and ensure they are doing each activity correctly.  :)

~She has learned to write her name, and knows her letters and the appropriate sounds they make.

~She has shown an artistic side, and spends hours coloring and drawing elaborate pictures.  Her recent masterpieces include rockets, our house, and lots of hearts.

~Her favorite school activity is music.  She comes home singing songs I remember from my childhood.  My favorite is the bumblebee song (I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee...won't my mommy be so proud of me.)

~A close second is 'movement' class....she practices all her yoga moves and knows the correct name to all the poses. 

She has one more year at her preschool and is already excited to join the 4's classroom in the fall.  Happy Summer!

our Daddy...

Tides are turning in the Osterhaus household.
William Tommy used to be the epitome of a mama's boy.

Lately, he's switching alliances.

When given the choice, he reaches out for Ryan to pick him up.
His first words have been dada, correctly associated with Ryan.
One night, he fell down and was upset, so I swooped in and picked him up for a snuggle.

He then cried harder with his arms outreached to Daddy.
Once in Daddy's arms, all was right with the world again.

Big sister agrees...we have a pretty awesome Daddy!

Happenings

first swim playdate of the season
with his besties Grayson and Thomas

such a big boy!
shopping with his ladies

daddy was out of town, so I bribed good behavior with donuts
whatever works when you're a single parent for a weekend!

first double shopping cart
not sure which one was more excited

William is into everything, including snacking on sand at the park
life is getting harder keeping track of both kids

Mother's Day/Birthday weekend

What a perfect weekend!

To start things off, Brownie, the class pet, came home for the weekend.

We loved taking him on our adventures!

Friday night, Lily and I had a 'girls only' date to an outdoor concert featuring a popular 80s cover band.

We joined some of our favorite families from the neighborhood, enjoyed a picnic and some fun music.

Lily was impressed that the mommies knew most of the songs and could sing along. :)

chrissy and melissa
apparently, the moms were feeling royal blue as the color of the evening.

lily, mckenzie, ava, and kate
a few of her best girlfriends

lily and mckenzie
these girls are either the best of friends or fighting like sisters
tonight was a good night, ha!

Saturday was the perfect day. I started off with a long run, then Ryan played outside with the kids while I spent an hour cleaning out toys.  Doesn't sound too exciting, but truly was a little piece of heaven.  We then headed to our neighborhood pool with all our cul de sac neighbors, followed by lunch (and a birthday beer for Mommy!) at our local restaurant.  Ryan helped continue the celebrations by scheduling me a massage and date night.  Great combination of alone time, family time, and adult only time!

post pool hair.  that smile melts my heart.

I couldn't have planned a more perfect weekend to celebrate my birthday and mother's day. 
Thank you to my family for making me feel so special and loved!

9 months

May 10, 2012

Weight - 19 lb, 12 oz. 35 percentile

Length -29 inches. 76 percentile

Head - 45 1/2 cm, 57 percentile

~You love to sit independently and play.  You also love to flip onto your stomach and scoot around the house in search of mischief.  You open and close cupboards over and over again, bang toys together to see how loud a noise you can make, and knock down towers so big sister can rebuild them.  In other words, you are ALL BOY!
~You have this new pterodactyl screaching noise that is ear piercing.  You are not upset when you do it, but instead are excited or just trying to get Lily's attention.
~You pull yourself up onto your knees, and a few times onto your feet, without assistance.  We found you standing in your crib after naps, so had to drop it down - you look like such a big boy in bed now!

~You have the coolest eyes.  Depending on the amount of natural light and what you are wearing, they are either green, brown, orange, or sometimes dark grey.  Reminds me of your Daddy's eyes - always changing colors!

~You have started a few 'everyday' foods.  Of course, your favorites tend to be junk food - veggies straws, pieces of bread, etc.  You are a hungry growing boy and wave your hands in excitement when I put you into the highchair.

~You continue to have such a happy, pleasing personality.  You are extremely free with your smiles and quick to laugh.  In contrast, at your age,  your sister made us work for giggles and would look at us like "I'm unimpressed.  You've got to try harder than that."  Smart girl.  :)

~You are a wiggle worm and it's hard to hold you.  Which breaks my heart, as I've so enjoyed having a snuggly baby.  Rocking you before bedtime is no longer an option.  You stand up and giggle in my face while I sing.  And reading a book...ha, not gonna happen unless the book is waterproof. 

We love you, William Tommy, and are so thankful for you each and every day.

pre-wedding celebrations

Bridal Luncheon

sisters! i'm lucky to have her as my best friend.

saylor women

Mom and one of her dearest friends, Ellen

flower girls.  Piper and Phoebe are Casey's nieces, and these three were fast friends

Trusdale women
Melissa, Holly, Lindsay, Mallory, Mema, Darby, Mary, Soni, Pam

Rehearsal dinner.  Papa Kurt, Auntie M, and Nanny

Rehearsal dinner, Trusdale table
Cooper, Darby, Luke, Woody, Mema, Tom, Pam

horrible picture, but I wanted proof that Ryan, William, and I were actually there  :)
fun rehearsal dinner table with Matt's family (Maggie, Sam, and Aunt Kristin) plus Reece

Cheers to Auntie M

A beautiful wedding, a lovely couple, and one happy little sister. 

(I stole all the photos from friends and family, so please forgive me...)

one of the most beautiful brides I've ever seen
the groom's pretty handsome too!

a cold and rainy day, but it made for some gorgeous photos

bridesmaids
sara, morgan, lindsay, danielle, shawna, renee, and ragan

william tommy. so happy for Auntie M

the flower girls danced the night away, even before the live band started
Lily didn't actually partake in the flower girl's job, but instead sat on Daddy's lap during the wedding :(

every single Saylor cousin. a great family reunion
catherine, kristen, lindsay, beth, mallory, matt, denise, james, amy

beautiful ladies, Nanny and Mema

Trusdale clan - Darby, Cooper, Reece, Soni, Luke, and John

PS - For a few fun wedding details, check out Morgan's blog.  

She is so creative and does beautiful work!