BIRTHDAY CHRONICLES

Yesterday morning, Addie started off ehr birthday by making blueberry pancakes with daddy (she put in the blueberries), then getting ready for preschool. Before she left, we let her open one present --this cute box of treats from Nana. Inside she found some Strawberry Shortcake lip balms & rings and some Hello Kitty bracelets and hairbows. She put some of the stuff in her Hello Kitty purse and took it to school--she was so excited! Thanks, Nana, for the fun present and for singin to Addie on the phone!

Cutest Cowgirls EVER

Uncle Mike brought Addie a REAL cowgirl hat! She loves it!

Presents, Candles, Cake!

Addie's gift from Gram & Gramp Melin was a cool dry-erase book to practice writing and drawing. Thanks, Grandma & Grandpa, for the present and also for coming over and eating Addie's special spaghetti dinner with us!
Addie made this funny hat at preschool Monday morning--she got to be the special person--feed the fish, do the calendar and weather, set out the snacks, etc.--in addition to wearing this hat.
Addie's yummy carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Addie got a cute Christmas Cooking outfit, complete with Santa hat, snowman mit & apron) so she can make more gingerbread men!
Heidi was enthralled with her tiny new cousin
Cousin Danny not only brought his baby sister, but a fun new game (Break the Ice) for Addie!
Addie says, "Thanks, Nana, for the cute new clothes!"

Addie's party was Baby Rosalie's first outing--she was mauled by her fans!

(Heidi, Danny, Grandma, and Addie with Rosalie in the middle)
Uncle Mike met baby Rosalie at the party
We also had Family Night and put up our Thanksgiving Tree (all the leaves say what we're thankful for)--Heidi is dressed up like Squanto.

Addie ended her special day by playing with Uncle Mike--he's such a fun uncle!

"When It's Cold Outside, I Got the Month of May...

I guess you'd say, what can make me feel this way? It's MY GIRL..."My girl Addie turns FOUR today, but this is how she looked on November 22, 2001.

And this is how she looks now. Happy Birthday, Sweet Adeline!

I have tried a million times to get these photos to post in order, but they just WON'T! So here are Addie's past birthdays so you can see how she has grown. We love her so much and I think it's cool that she was born on Thanksgiving Eve because I will always be thankful for her. Shortly after Addie's actual abirthday, we took this photo of her for our Christmas card/birth announcement...we still have the stocking and it's so tiny!
Last year, we celebrated Addie's 3rd Birthday with a Princess Party.
Mommy made a lame attempt at a cut-up cake for Addie's First Birthday, right after we moved to Montana.
For her second birthday, Addie got a pumpkin pie--one of her favorite foods.

Our New Baby

We have a new arrival of our own...A BEAUTIFUL MAPLE DESK, handmade by my wonder hubby!!! Readers, behold:BEFORE
AFTER
(Do you hear the angels singing?)

When we built the house, we looked for a nice desk to putin the office so we could just move everything in neatly, but everything that even just LOOKED like wood was like $400 and up. So we decided to just design and build our own. Rich created this from a graph paper sketch, 2 pieces of maple plywood (purchased with a Home Depot bonus card from Hartford) and two file cabinets from Office Max. Iknow, I know...freaking GENIUS. I love it! Now it's on to the Master Bathroom! ;)

This looks SO much better! I work SO MUCH better in beautiful surroundings! ;)

Baby Ben

The nephew has a name! It's Benjamin Drew Petersen...sweet. My brother, Willy, sent these pictures today. Meanwhile, Rich's sister, Angie, is about to have her baby--it's probably already here. I am excited to find out what GENDER it is! I have had Angie's son Danny all day and he has been so good (my girls--another story). The funny thing about Jill and Angie is they are playing baby tag--Angie had an emergency C-section with Danny on 7/11/02 just as Jill called and said her water broke with Isabelle. But Isabelle must have wanted her own birthday because she didn't come out until about 12:10am on 7/12/02! Back then, Jill was over due, but Angie "took cuts" and had Danny early. This time, the tables are turned and Jill went a week early and "took cuts." Today IS Angie's due date, though, and I think it's cool to have your baby on your due date! I'll post news when I hear it!

Update: Angie had a baby girl named Rosalie Lynn Gray around 7:30pm 11/18. She is little and cute (7-1 and I don't know how long) and everything went well. The following pix are of BEN, though, not Rosalie.

Baby Ben meets Uncle Will
Baby Ben meets Cousin Melanie and Aunt Audrey
Awww, what an angel baby!

PS: Happy Anniversary Will & Audrey! 11 splendid years! ;)