Spooktacular 2nd Birthday Party!!

We celebrated the TWINS 2nd BIRTHDAY on Friday. We decided to head up to Idaho and spend the day with Grandma Brenda and Papa Dallas. On Friday Uncle Jordan and Aunt Kim came to hang out and play as well. In the evening we had a birthday party/costume party to celebrate. We came up with costumes that Grandma had stored away in her house and had a good time. Matt wore a Japanese robe, I was some Egyptian rocker person, Sammie called herself Spidergirl, Eston was a bat, Logan was a super hero, and Lucy was a ballerina with a dog ears. Like I said, very last minute and home made.



Aunt Kim and Stuart played along as well.



But I loved Grandma Brenda and Papa Dallas's costumes. Papa actually wore his to work, and got compliments on his dark hair (color in a can).



The Party was complete with Cupcakes, pin the witch hat on the frog (what we had on hand), and presents.



Logan was so excited to receive birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa Ottersberg.



However, Lucy had many important phone calls to make.



I can't believe that they are already two. The time has passed by so quickly. Logan is the happiest kid I know. As long as he is fed and has had sleep, he laughs and smiles about everything. Logan is also a little terror. He likes to tease and torment ALL of his siblings and thinks it's fun because it works. He loves singing the songs, I LOVE YOU from Barney, and the ABC's. Logan loves cars and trains, and any type of automotive there is.

Lucy is our independent child. I call her a scraper. Since she is the youngest and was the smallest, she fights for everything she wants, and usually wins. Lucy LOVES Samantha and wants to do everything that Sammie is doing. Lucy has taken it upon her to move to a big girl bed, and the big event of the moment is that she is potty training herself. I have dragged my feet on this, but she is going full steam ahead. Lucy loves to sing and dance. She like watching Diego and Elmo. Lucy is a big talker and has a pretty big vocabulary.

Logan weight: 28 lbs   height: 34 1/2"
Lucy weight: 27 lbs  height: 34 1/4"

It is fun to see the difference in the TWINS personalities. They love each other and always wants to know where the other one is. However, they are each others biggest adversaries. They are constantly competing with one another for Matt's or my attention.

WE LOVE YOU BOTH!! HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY!!

Happy 4th Eston!!

Eston celebrated his 4th birthday!! He has been looking forward to this every since Sammie turned 5 in May.

We went earlier in the day to Chuckie Cheese with his cousins and had a great time. Then headed home for a little family party.

Eston wanted everything Diego. That is what he wants to be for Halloween.



So Matt came up with this sweet idea for his birthday cake.



Lindsay stopped by just in time for cake and we even relit the candles for her and let her blow them out. Eston picked out a red velvet cake mix for his birthday. We decided to eat the cake outside and finish off the party by hosing the kids done in the back yard. The twins loved it.



Happy Birthday Big Boy!!

Happy 31st

Happy 31st Baby!! well tomorrow . . .

We love you tons.

(Sammie took this picture)


You are the best monster ever and totally strong.



We love you Stinky Smelly Smook!!!
You are my everything!!

Double the Trouble, Double Our Fun

Our TWINS are ONE today!! I can't believe that one year has already gone by. It went by too fast. I can't imagine what life was like before them. It has been quite the adventure, but also quite the party with them. I can't thank everyone enough for all the help that we have received over the last year. It has been a group effort. I feel like this is a celebration for more than just us.

I can't believe I was that big.



Logan James is my tender hearted boy. He is quite the mamma's boy. Logan loves to cuddle and just watch what is going on around him. The kid will smile at anyone that acknowledges his presence. He is very friendly and laughs all the time. Logan is very cautious about what he will try around him.
Logan can crawl pretty fast. He isn't walking yet, but could if he would just let go of my finger. He loves food and sleep. As long as those come on time, he is usually pretty happy. Logan also loves his pacifier, snugly, and any cars that he can find.



The stats for the twins one year check-up is:

Logan
20.4 lbs.
30 1/2 inches

Lucy
20 lbs
29 1/2 inches

Lucy Mae is my thrill seeker, mischievous child. Not much slows her down and she is into everything she can see. The girl is the biggest DADDY'S GIRL that you will find. The second Matt walks into a room or Lucy hears his voice, her eyes light up and she starts jabbering fast. She takes off towards him. When Lucy meets new people she has to analyze the situation before she will smile or talk with them.
Lucy is walking everywhere. She has been walking for about two months. Lucy loves kissing babies (alive or pretend), talking on anything that might look like a phone, and playing with her brothers and sister.



We celebrated their birthday with family a few days early. They opened up a few gifts and then we gave them cupcakes.



Logan was very careful not to miss a morsel.



Lucy just stuffed it in her mouth and crumbled it in her hands.



This morning Sammie and Eston woke up the babies by singing Happy Birthday. We gave them a birthday breakfast of Formula and opened presents. They received a table and chair set from IKEA that they have been playing with all day. Lucy got two babies, Logan got a drum and music radio.



It has been a fun day and tonight we are going to have a quiet family party at home.

Happy 3rd Birthday Bruiser!!

August 18th was my little boys birthday!! A lot has gone in the last week that has made him seem older. About a week ago I stocked up on chocolate, rewards, and a good therapist on call (all of those for me) to begin potty training him. We started and I am really shocked. I pretty much just needed to put underwear on him, show him the toilet, and I am good. He occasionally has an accident if we are out on an adventure and I don't think to take him but otherwise, the boy is dry and very independent when it comes to using the potty. It is so different from my experience with Sammie. It has taken him one week to get to the point that she was at after 3 months. It was so easy. I am glad I waited till he was just shy of being 3.

Now on to the birthday celebrations. Eston has been asking if he could have a blue birthday party ever since Sammie's pink birthday party back in May. I decided that I could arrange that for him. We held his party the day before his actual birthday. We pretty much just had a play date at the park, slapped a cake, and dollar store presents in the mix, and there was our birthday party. It was very low key.

The night before the party Matt helped me (or I guess I helped Matt) create this puppy. Eston requested a blue stegosaurus. Matt made the frosting, cut the cake into the shape and after I frosted it, added all the candy and sprinkles. Matt did awesome. I could have never created this.
Eston loved his cake.



We had a few friends from our neighborhood come and just had a good time playing. I happened to still have the parachute from Woods Cross city in my car, so we pulled that out and played around with it for a while.



Eston was so excited that he was getting all the attention and that a day was catered just for him. He was so cute.



I discovered that Eston doesn't quite realize that you need to put your lungs behind blowing candles out. After about 10 tries I had to give a little puff myself to move things along.



This boy is very serious when it comes to his cake.

We decided to let him have presents, but to ask that everyone bring something from the Dollar Store. He didn't need much and with only being 3, a dollar store present was perfect. You can get a lot of cool things at the Dollar store. Thanks everyone!



And his fan club is from left to right: Christine, Jake, Bekah, Eston, Kyle, Sammie, Talking Logan (that's what Eston calls him to distinguish him from baby Logan), and McKay.



The fun didn't end there. Later that night we headed over to Nana's house for the party of the year. We went to celebrate all the August birthdays. 3 of them were born on August 18th, and the other was born five days earlier.



Grandpa Jim and Nana got a bounce house for everyone to play in. It was well used. I think everyone was in there at some point. We tried to put the twins in and was surprised by the outcome. Lucy, my adventurous baby, was scared of the thing and would cry if you even approached the structure. Logan, my tender hearted and scared baby, LOVED the thing, and would cry when you took him out of it. He went down the slide by himself, bounced and just laughed the entire 2 hours.



He was one happy baby!!



The day of Eston's birthday was packed. We try and make it a special day for them and let them pick what they want to do and eat. He got to choose his breakfast after which we got dressed and headed downtown.



We headed to the Gallivan Center for a Radio Disney event. We decided to park at the Gateway and take the TRAX to our destination. Eston loved the train.



At the Radio Disney event there were games, dancing, water slides, but Eston's favorite was the bounce house. Apparently he didn't get too tired of it the night before.



After returning to our car, Eston told me that he wanted lunch at Daddy's office. We had a picnic lunch outside on the patio. The kids ran around and played while Matt and I just sat back and talked. It was really relaxing. Later that night we took Eston out to eat and then home for presents. Eston got a few dinosaurs from us and a book.



Eston is a very happy and loving kid. He loves to go up to complete strangers and give them hugs. We can be in a crowded mall and Eston would find someone who looks nice and call them "his guys" the remainder of the day. Eston is a great brother and is always looking for a way to make his sisters and brothers happy. Eston has lots of energy and definitely is all boy.
Eston loves dinosaurs, books, cars, DIEGO, and animals. He is very adventurous and shows little fear. Matt and I joke that this is the year of the broken arm.
We love you tons bruiser!! We hope you had a great birthday.

Pinkalicious is 4!!

This is a long post, WARNING!!

On May 11th, we celebrated Sammie's 4th birthday. We started the festivities out with a big Pinkalicious party on May 9th. Sammie invited 12 girls to come dressed in pink to the park and play. It was centered on cupcakes, pink, and all things girly. We had a lot of fun. We started the party out by reading the book Pinkalicious. It is one of Sammie's favorite stories.



There was a lot of family there to help. Grandma Brenda and Kim came down from Idaho to play with us. Nana, Carly, Cathy and Lindsay also pitched in with several things. I don't think I could have pulled this off without all their help. Lindsay painted all of the girls faces with cupcakes, flowers, etc.



The girls decorated pink cupcakes to use later for the game pin the cupcake on Pinkalicious. Then they got to take them home to put on their fridge as a magnet.



Other party fun included painting every one's fingernails pink. That went over big.
Anyone who knows Sammie knows that she loves attention and she received a lot that day. She was in heaven with all the friends that came.



Even Lucy was happy to be part of the party. You wouldn't guess it from this picture though.



This is Sammie with her cousin Christine. I love this picture. Christine is just adorable.



On Monday, May 11th, we sang to Sammie as she came down the stairs. She was finally 4. I let her pick her birthday breakfast. She choose Pancakes. I through some chocolate chips in them for fun. She didn't like that. Kudos for being healthy girl.



This year Matt and I gave Sammie her first 2 wheel bike. (okay it still technically has 4 wheels, but has the potential to just be two wheels.) Later in the day we went and picked out a new helmet and elbow and knee pads. Everyday she asks if we can go outside to ride bikes. She loves it.



Here are a few quick likes that Sammie has:
Books: Pinkalicious, Eloise, Olivia, Fancy Nancy, and Samantha (American Girl series)
Favorite Food: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Favorite Drink: Root Beer
Favorite toy: dress ups and jewelry
Favorite Movie: Anything High School Musical
Favorite Color: Pink and Purple
Sammie is very into how she wears her hair and what she wears each day. Sammie is a planner (surprise with that pedersen gene) and loves to help decide what our agenda is going to be for the day. She loves little kids and wants to mother them. She is an amazing big sister and likes to be with her 2 brothers and sister. She is already talking about boyfriends, dates, and her girls. We are in trouble with this one.

Happy Birthday Pumpkin!! We love you tons.

Happy 2nd Birthday Eston!!!

My little man celebrated his 2nd birthday a week ago. Eston's favorite three things (in order) are: 1. Animals, 2. Books, 3. Cars If it is a book about Animals then you hit the jackpot. Eston has tons of energy and is always laughing about something that he thinks he did funny. Eston has an infectious smile and can make anyone happy by just being in the room.

The kids and I happened to be in Idaho for Eston's birthday and got to celebrate this marker with Matt's family. They through quite the party. Eston had tons of presents and they kept coming the whole week. We had a good time. Grandma Brenda helped Eston open up his gifts and had a great time doing it. Sammie was so good and only helped out if Eston said, "help". She was just excited that she got to plan the party. She picked everything out; the type of cake, the color of the balloons, his present from mom and dad, and the colors of the candles. She is very much the event coordinator. Eston got, books, a movie, tons of John Deere tractors (it is Idaho), and other goodies.



Matt had to stay in Utah to work and take 1 of his 7 Architecture exams. During the party Matt called to serenade Eston with a very cheerful version of Happy Birthday. Eston was all smiles at hearing his daddy's voice.



When it came time to blowing out the cake, I was proud of Eston. He did it all by himself. I never knew he could blow, I just thought that he knew how to make the noise. His Great Grandma Ila
helped him with the cake.



A couple of days before we headed to Idaho we thought we would celebrate 4 of the 5 August birthday's for my side of the family. In 3 have there birthday's on the same day, and 1 was a week before those. Lindsay gave Eston a Barney doll, and he wouldn't put it down the rest of the night. We heard the song "I Love You" over and over and over again. Eston received an animal book, a bunch of zoo animals, and some other fun gifts.



Here is the birthday honorees along with Gram and Grandpa Burke. It was fun to have my grandparents over to celebrate with us.

Happy 3rd Birthday Sammie!!!

Sammie is so excited to be 3 now. She has been looking forward to Matt's birthday, because she knew that her's was almost right behind his. Sammie's birthday fell on Mother's day this year. We took her out the night before to Jungle Jim's to celebrate with just Matt, Eston, Sam, and I. The kids had a great time there. Sammie went on every ride two or three times and wanted more. She loved the music express. Matt went with her the first time and then after that she went in her own car. She is definitely a daring little girl.


Eston loved the bumper cars, but Matt had to ride with him. Matt never quite fit into the rides that they had there but enjoyed being with the kids.



On Sunday evening we had family over to the house for Mother's day and to celebrate Sammie's birthday. My sister Lindsay was great and made Sammie's birthday cake. Sammie made her requests for the cake very specific. The crown cake had to be pink and the wand had to be purple. Lindsay did a great job indulging a little princess.

Grandma Brenda and Papa Dallas gave Sammie a Cinderella princess dress for the occasion and she had to parade around in it for the evening.

I think that this is the first year that Sammie has really cared about her birthday and what she received. She had a list of items that were: A Cinderella princess barbie, a Sleeping Beauty Princess barbie, a Cinderella dress with a black head band, blue shoes, and blue earrings, and anything else princess. She got the whole list, except the shoes and earrings. She was definitely spoiled for the day.