Guess who's 2???

I know, I can't believe it either. We had such a fun day.


First we ate pancakes and strawberries with sprinkles on top.


After that we went and got cupcakes at Kara's. Of course she got two and of course she only ate the frosting.

Then we took some pictures with her friend the balloon. It is living on the ceiling of the playroom. I wonder how long it will last????

Here is a cute picture of her on the phone with Aunt RiLee, she was singing "Happy Birthday" to her. So cute with her juice.

Waiting in the front of our house for our friend to come and take pictures. She had a photo shoot just for her second birthday. They turned out soooo cute!! I will post them soon.

Here is her cake. Caitlynn had a Seasame Street birthday this year. The cake wasn't the greatest, but she still loved it.

Opening presents with the help of her friends.

No party is complete without pin the nose on Elmo. We had a pinata too. Just didn't take any pictures.

Here is Caitlynn with her new shopping cart and grocery's. It is a Melissa and Doug cart and it is so fun. She makes me park it by her crib at night, so funny. She really did get spoiled this year. But, you only turn two once, even though she claims she is "tree". We will work on that this year, or maybey not. Love you Caiters!!!!!

First Day of School(2 months late)

Here they are!!! Better late than never. So, Luke started 2nd grade and Brooke started Kindergarten. You can see the apprehension in Brooke's face in the fourth picture. She did great and no tears for anybody in her class the first day. Way different than when Luke started. She was so ready to go! Of course my pictures are in reverse order. But you can see JR and Caitlynn at the bottom walking with Brooke to school. So fun. They both are doing very in their classes and Brooke is especially lucky, because I am the room mom in her class. Here's to another year of school.

Luke's 7th Birthday

This year was a friend party, so I did something very smart. I had his party at Pump It Up! For a hefty price, you can pay someone else to do everything! Actually, Luke had been asking about having a Pump It Up party for awhile and seeing how he had alot of people to invite, it just made sense. All we had to do was show up!(I did opt to bring my own cake though-Costco of course)


Here is Luke. The kids got to run around in this huge room with all of these huge bouncy houses and slides. Oh, and there was a rock climbing wall too. He was so happy!


This was about the best picture I got of him while they were playing. They were so sweaty it was kinda gross. So, the first hour, the kids get to play...


...then you get to go into this room where everything is set up for you. Dreamy. Lots of yummy food, candy, and cake to eat before dinner.


Luke was so excited he got to sit in the Birthday chair. You can't put a price on that people.


Finally, here is the picture with everyone in it. We all had a great time. I even went down the slide a few times. Oh, and the best part, no clean up!!!! It was totally worth it if you ask Luke or I, JR on the other hand questioned our decision when he got the credit card bill at the end of the month. Good times.

Luke Melted My Heart

I know I haven't posted for over 6 months, but I just wanted to jot this down before I forget. (And hopefully I will re-enter the blogging world now that school has started)

So, Luke started 2nd grade last week. A few nights ago, he was telling me that the boy he sits next to is "kinda weird". I asked hime "why". He said that he doesn't really listen to directions, jumps out of his chair alot, yells the answers out loud, but is really smart. I didn't really say much b/c I didn't know the whole story and wasn't sure if Luke was just complaining for no reason. The next day, I was talking to one of the other moms in the class and asked her if she knew anything about this boy. (She was the PTA president and I work with her a little) Well come to find out, she knew this boy very well and is friends with his mom. She said that this boy "Jason", has Autism. She explained that he is very smart but can't control alot of what he does. She also suggested some ways for Luke to make friends with him.
When we got home from school, Luke and I had a big talk about Autism and what it is. I tried to explain to him from what I knew(which isn't much). But all in all, I just told Luke to try to be nice to him but that in a few weeks they will have different assigned seats.(Really, how dumb am I)

Well tonight, at dinner, Luke begin to tell me about his day. He told me about his spelling words they have and how much he doesn't like homework and so forth. Then he went on to say that at lunch today, he saw that Jason was sitting by himself. So, he went over to him and sat down and then asked him some questions(apparently this kid knows all the capitols of every state and country and all kinds of flowers). So Luke said he had to ask his name 3-4 times before Jason would even look at him. Finally Luke said "what is the capitol of China?" Jason replied, "Hong Kong." Then he said what about Australia, and England and so forth. Everytime Jason answered him. He said "Mom, he finally talked to me!" Then, what was the best part was when Luke said. "Mom, I felt such a warm feeling in my heart all day". He went on to say "I just felt so Happy!"

Luke, I just feel so happy that you are my son.

Love,
Your biggest fan
Mom

Surprise 30th Birthday Party

He did it!!! JR totally surprised me for my 30th birthday. I thought he had something up his sleeve but had NO idea what exactly it was. I knew my parents were flying in on Thursday night and was totally excited to see them and share my birthday with my dad's who was turning 60 the day after mine. But I had no idea that anybody else was coming. Friday afternoon I hear a knock on my front door and in walks my sister RiLee from New Jersey, my brother Rory and his wife Katie from Salt Lake, my other sister Lauren from Denver and then my other brother Ryan flew in from Utah. It totally surprised me!!!!!!!! I was bawling like a baby. So, I assumed that was the big surprise. Little did I know that the next day he had planned a big surprise party for me. It was so fun!!!!! I has started wondering if there was something going on because my siblings kept disappearing to Target and Costco on Saturday morning. I kept wanting to go to the city and do something fun but everyone seemed like they just wanted to hang-out. I finally talked them into going to the beach but hadn't showered or anything yet so when they kept saying "maybey you should go change your clothes and put some make-up on." I should've suspected something. So I totally was taken off guard. It was definitely the funnest party I have had.
Thank you to my dear hubby that came up with the idea, (with a little persuasion from my sister RiLee I am sure) I have such a great family and it was so fun to spend time with them and some of my dear friends. Love you all! Thanks for making my big day so memorable. I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

My sister is making a memory book for my Dad's 60th birthday and asked each of us kids to write our favorite memory we have of our father. This one kept coming to my mind and so I thought I would share it with you all as well. It is very sentimental and dear to my heart. But it meant so much to me at the time and looking back, it goes to show what a loving father he is.

On November 6th, 2007, I was 9 months pregnant and something terrible had happened to our baby. Instead of getting the exciting news that a healthy, happy baby had been born, grandpa heard the opposite. That our sweet little girl had passed away. She was stillborn due to a cord accident. Right then Dad flew to Las Vegas and got on a plane to San Francisco. I had to be induced and so I was in the hospital waiting to have the baby when he arrived. I was still in shock and couldn't understand what had happened and why it had happened. When I saw Dad come into the hospital room, I felt a sense of peace. He was there to comfort me and help me get through one of the hardest things I would ever have to do. It was late and my body still wasn't ready to push her out, and my emotions still weren't ready to let her go either. The next day, I woke to my biggest nightmare, but it was real. I don't remember much about the labor. But I do remember holding and loving my little baby after she was born. We named her Chelsea Lynn Edwards. She was 7lbs, 4oz and 20.5 inches long. She looked like a perfect combination of her older brother and sister. Her dad and I automatically loved her and kissed her. But I think it was because we had made her together. I don't know how other people would feel about holding a dead baby. But, I wanted Dad to come and see his newest grandchild. He didn't hesitate for one minute. When he walked in the room, I was nervous that he might be scared or freaked-out to be honest. But he did what any grandpa would probably have done. He walked right up and took her out of my arms and held and kissed her. He was sad, but he tried to be happy for this short time he had with this precious baby. His comment cheered me up when he said "Well, she is definitely an Edwards!" With her long legs and arms that dangled like a frog(like my other three kids). Her face and head was smothered in kisses from her grandpa and he rocked and rocked her for at least an hour. We cried a little but just tried to comment on how beautiful and precious she was. He looked at her hands and feet, just like he would do with any other grandchild, not worried about her being already gone. My dad spoiled her as much as he could in that short time. When it was time for him to go, he cried and then gave her back to me. He leaned down one more time and kissed her on her tiny head, trying not to cry. Kind of like he does when we have to go home after a long vacation at Grandpa and Grandma's. Then he looked at me and told me he loved me and gave me a kiss too. I needed it more than her of course. But then again, my dad probably needed comfort too. He had just lost his grand-daughter!!! But Dad had to be strong and brave, because, well, that's what dad's do. I love you dad!
Happy 60th birthday!

Love,
Ronna

Valentine's

We celebrated Valentine's Day on the 13th this year because the 14th was on a Sunday. I bought tickets to see Fiddler on the Roof starring Harvey Fierstien and JR bought us Band Hero for the WII. Now you might think that is a funny gift to give to a girl but, you have never seen me karaoke. I LOVE it!!! So, I don't have any pictures of us playing Band Hero yet because I am the lead vocal, and I mean business when we play. So until then, here are some pictures of us going to the theatre.

These ones were taken by Luke. I was actually waiting for JR to get ready for once.



Here we are outside the theatre.

Do you recognize the picture of Harvey Fierstien? Just think of the funny transvestite brother in Mrs. Doughtfire. He was GREAT!


Here we are trying to take a picture of ourselves on the i-phone.



Finally we asked the lesbian couple sitting next to us if they would take our picture.


All in all a fun night. the show was great and the dancing was pretty impressive. I don't know how those men dance with bottles on their heads but I was secretly hoping one of them would drop one, but they never did. I am always amazed when I go to a Broadway show, the fact that these people have to memorize so many lines and songs and it is all live!

But, I think I would have had just as much fun staying at home singing my own songs. Now the dancing, that's another story.
Love you JR!

Fun at the San Jose Children's Museum

I am finally updating my blog so there aren't as many details but the pictures are pretty fun. There is a lot of catching up to do and only a little bit of time so I probably won't comment as much as usual. SO just use your imagination and put a little crazy stuff into the mix and that is what our life is like.
So onto the blog.
Since all of our passes expired from the museums in San Francisco, I decided to buy some in San Jose since we are a little closer now. We went to the San Jose Children's Museum a while back. We will definitely be going back soon. Next time I will remember to take some more pictures, not just in the bubble room. Oh and maybe I will have a real camera, not just my i-phone.

Here are Caitlynn and Luke riding an astronaut's exercise bike.



Brooke and Caitlynn in the circle room checking out a huge tire.


The next few pictures are of Luke trying to make these huge bubbles. I never could make one. Probably because I didn't want to be the only adult looking like this:





He did it!!!!



Here are Luke and Brooke using these pulleys to make bubbles.



You probably noticed their face paint. The museum has a room full of mirrors, aprons, paint, and paint-brushes for the kids. Some kids paint their own faces (hence the aprons). It is so funny to see the kids as they are walking out of the room. It usually ends up being full-body art. But, my kids just wanted me to paint their faces. Lucky for me.