Celebration Numero Uno

Just in case you haven't been reading my previous posts, the weather this Spring has been rotten.  Poor Juliana, it sleeted and SNOWED on her birthday.  May 1st, rain and snow!  Yuck.  However, we made the most of it and still got together will our friends to celebrate!  Well, we got to celebrate both Juliana's and Ben's birthdays!  (That's Ben in the picture to the left.)  He turned four and has always been so tickled about the fact that they have the same birthday.  It's very sweet. 

My friend Bridget is a fantastic baker (she's the one who made Emily's bday cake) and she made her super yummy chocolate chip cookies for all to enjoy.  Juliana enjoyed them, of course.

There were a lot of kids indoors--eleven to be exact.  It was crazy and chaotic and everyone had a great time!  (And, yes, if you look closely at the second picture you can see that Kari is wearing a bright pink tutu-style bathing suit and one of Juliana's headbands.  Yeah, I choose my battles.)

 Ben is Henry's little brother (Henry is Christian's best bud.)  They have a lot of cool indoor toys.  Juliana really liked this little teeter totter.  I know, she's not smiling, but she's been teething and has been a bit grumpy lately.  So, the fact that she's off of my lap and not crying speaks volumes.

 Juliana also liked this little school bus driving toy/slide.  The little friend beside her was so sweet and scooted over to let Juliana climb aboard :-).

So, that was Juliana's celebration that we had on her actual birthday.  Emily had dance pictures that night and so we held the family party another night.  (Not that Juliana minded...or even noticed, really :-).)

When Big Meets Little

 I love watching my kids sleep.  They look so peaceful and sweet.  Last week we had a storm start up right at bedtime and Emily still gets spooked by the thunder.  (Strangely enough, it doesn't even phase the other kids.)  But, Emily was worried so I let her fall asleep on the couch.  I love it that my big girl still loves her Dolly and is still my little girl when she's fast asleep :-).

Happy Birthday, Juliana!!!

 Hurray!!  It's this beautiful girl's birthday today!  Wow.  I can't believe my Juliana's already ONE.  Where did the year go??

Well, I'll just start by saying what a blessing it has been to have Juliana in our family.  She brings sweetness and joy to each of us.  She is busy, determined, and happy!

Juliana has a special connection with each of her siblings as well as her parents.  If Juliana wants a hug or plops down on a lap with one of her puppy books, no amount of grumpiness stands a chance!  It's amazing how much influence one little girl can have...even though the only words she can say are "Mama," "Dada," and "Doggie."

 Juliana's personality is in full effect.  She loves dogs.  Boy- oh-boy does she love dogs!  She gets very excited when we go outside and our neighbor dog, Lucy, comes out to greet her.  She loves going on walks and waving to all of the doggies she sees.  Her favorite books all have dogs in them. It's very cute indeed.

 Like her big sister, Kari, Juliana loves shoes.  She loves to try on everyone's shoes and try and walk around in them.  Even if they're Daddy's!  She gets very excited when she finds her shoes and even knows that they are her shoes and they go on her feet.  A regular prodigy!

 Juliana loves to be a "pretty girl."  Sunglasses and necklaces (and shoes) assist in this quest especially.

 Juliana loves the great outdoors!  She gets very excited when she realizes it's time to go out and play.  Grass and sand do not phase this girl either!  Her favorite activities outside are swinging, playing with bouncy balls, and rolling around on the trampoline.

Juliana gives the sweetest hugs, pats, and kisses.  She is so affectionate and gets very excited when any of her family comes home.  It melts my heart to see the affection she has for us all.

 True to her Lindseth heritage, Juliana is a baldy who will (eventually) be a blondie!  Her cute little round head gets covered in spaghetti sauce and brownies, avocados and clementines.  I'm crossing my fingers that it will be this child who completely demolishes her cake and makes a tremendous mess.  We shall see come Sunday when we have our family over for cake and presents!

 One of my favorite times with Juliana is anytime she nurses before naps/bed.  She gets so happy and silly and starts cooing and making all these funny noises that she likes me to parrot back to her.  She gets all smiley and giggly.  It's really fun and wonderful.

Once again, we have been so incredibly blessed by having welcomed Juliana into our family.  Aside from what a great baby she's been (my best sleeper by far!), Juliana has brought a whole new dynamic to the group and has allowed for each of the older children to develop different aspects of their own personalities as they interact with her.  

I love the affection and care that each of the older children show their baby sister.  Emily takes on the "mother hen" roll.  Juliana brings out the tender and sweetness in Christian.  Kari and Juliana are already becoming fast friends and playmates and Kari is able to be the "big sis."

Having four young children hasn't been easy, but, it's been completely worth it.  (And, honestly, having just two young children was tougher!)  My days are busy and sometimes hectic and my house is never as clean as I (or my mother) would like it.  But, I'm betting there will come a time in life that I will miss the mess.  Someday.  Just not today :-).

Juliana is friendly, sweet, affectionate, spicy, head-strong, funny, silly, smart, and beautiful.  I am so grateful to be able to celebrate her first birthday today!

We love you Ju-Ju-Bee!!!!

Party time...

So, my family has been having a pretty good time together lately...

First up, dance party for Uncle Kyle's birthday!  Yup, we're wild and crazy!

 And Harvey can limbo it up with the best of them!

 Kari was in dancing-girl heaven!

 Next up, Daddy's birthday!  We celebrated by eating on our new picnic table outside!

 And, of course, everyone had a face to make...

 Since we'd had cake the week before (and will be having it again for Juliana's bday), Cubby elected to have birthday brownies for his treat.  "Nom nom nom," says Kari.

 Juliana LOVED hers!  (And I just love her baby blues in this shot!...and her bib.  It characterizes her so well :-) .)

 Present time!

 And THEN (this post just keeps on going)...the following Saturday we met the rest of the family for some Dairy Queen and some playtime at the park.

 Look at baby J's tummy!!  It's just so cute!

 Great Gma and Stan came in for the occasion as well!

 Erin gave Cubby such a pretty card!  It makes music and everything...hahaha

 Erin was smart and extra on top of things (which, after a long day of soccer games, I wasn't) and brought a fun game for everyone to play.  The kids enjoyed it so we may just need to invest in one of our own!

 I like the interaction that I caught in this last picture--pretty sweet of Auntie Erin and her nieces :-).

It's great to be able to get together and have some fun for these April birthdays!

Emily's Latest Love

 Emily's latest love is soccer!  She's actually been asking to play for the last year and we finally decided it wasn't just a passing phase and that the really did want to play.  (Sometimes Emily will say she wants to do something and so we'll sign her up and then she'll whine and complain about doing it after the first time or two.)  So, we've been thrilled that she's loved it and hasn't complained a bit!  And, even though she hasn't played for the last 3 years, she's got great instincts and has been playing very well, both on offense and as a goalie!

 Spring soccer sounds lovely and you'd think that it would be sunny and warm outside, right?  Well, think again.  This year we've had "Sprinter."  Not really winter in terms of the calendar, but definitely not warm enough for spring.  Both Emily's and Christian's game have been FREEZING.  Still, Emily's loved playing!  She's got a couple of friends on her team and they really came together last weekend and played well as a team (and won too!).  It was pretty cute to see the girls get all excited for one another--camaraderie and everything.

We're so thrilled Emily is enjoying this sport and can't wait for Saturday...when it's actually supposed to be warm!!!  (Finally, right?!)

Kindergarten Musicality

Christian's kindergarten music program was a couple of weeks ago.  And boy-oh-boy were they cute!  It was quality entertainment just to be able to sit and watch the kids, their expressions, and of course, listen to their songs!

Christian was great!  He insisted upon wearing no fewer than THREE shirts.  Yup, a short-sleeved, a collared short-sleeved, and a collared long-sleeve.  "Just in case I get hot or cold, Mom." But, he seemed just fine up on stage--singing right along and taking his roll as a performer very seriously :-).

He had a lot of fun when it was his turn to line dance/stroll and made his buddy laugh with his antics too.

 Here is Christian and his best buddy, Henry.  Henry was DARLING on stage--standing with his feet perfectly together and singing right along to all the words.  Cute!

 And, of course, we had to get a picture of Christian's fan club--his sisters!  (We still haven't been able to break Kari out of her awkward picture-taking phase!)

We love being parents to such great kids and to be able to go to their music performances!