Sunday, June 29, 2008

Party Time!! (with a little picture overload)



Kaela's 1st birthday party was a success!  We thought it was going to rain all day but thankfully it stopped just in time and stayed nice out the whole time! We set up a big bouncy house for the kids to jump in which seemed to be a hit.  We had lots of friends and family who came to celebrate Kaela's big day with her which was really great.  Kaela had a lot of friends come including Knoah and his family (Tonya, Will, Jacob and Hannah) and Owen (with his mom Cat)!
We were so happy they could make it and really appreciate them making the drive to share in Kaela's big day.  Plus those boys are sooo cute, it's always fun to be able to grab them up and give them lovin.
I was a bad mother though and didn't give Kaela her own cake.  I made these two big cakes that took up quite a bit of time, I didn't get around to making Kaela her own. Instead we gave her a piece of cake, which she enjoyed very much!

Kaela got lots of super cute clothes, some toys that she LOVES including a little table from Knoah and his family that is perfect for her to pull herself up on, some of the 'little people' toys, and some dolls.
i 
Will was all over the place so I didn't get many pictures of him, but by the time I did get to him he was sooooo messy from food, playing outside and just being a busy 2 year old boy :)
Thanks to everyone who came and for all the great gifts! We appreciate it all so much and are so lucky to have you all in our lives!! I will end with some more pics my other close friends and their cute kids.

Jacob and Knoah         Kaela didn't make it to the end of her party!

My friend Jen's daughter Selah
Elora and Tyler bouncing


can you say CUTE PICTURE!! Jacob, Knoah and their daddy Will
Hannah always smiling                 Ava such a cutie pie
Tyler and Kaela playing together (Tyler is a sweetie...and soo smart, hopefully Kaela's taking it all in :)  And Chris with his boys Michael and Zac

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Back From LPA National Conference in Detroit!

We are home from the conference and had such a great time!  We met so many great people and families from all around the country (some even out of the country).  It was really such a great feeling being around all these little people and thinking how in 13 years Kaela and a large group of these kids, will be the teens we saw sitting in groups along the wall, dancing at the dances, and AWAY from their parents :)  Everyone was so nice and welcoming to us first timers.  One very exciting bit of news is that we actually met someone there who has Metatropic Dysplasia just like Kaela.  Her mom was there and I heard her mom say her daughter had Metatropic at one of the events and I just about jumped out of my skin! I went to talk to her and we met her daughter Heather. Heather is 18 and graduated at the top of her class and is now on her way to college to be a teacher!  We were thrilled to have met someone with the same thing as Kaela. I never would have expected too since it's so rare (80 some known cases)...but we did! AND they live in OHIO. Ohio is right under us! It's just very exciting.  Heather has gone through 13 surgeries and was very open about sharing her experiences.  All people with Metatropic are different, so we don't know what to expect in terms of Kaela and surgeries. We of course hope that it is far less, or even better, none, but we just won't know for some years hopefully.  One thing we hope Kaela does share in common with Heather is being at the top of her class and having the great attitude that Heather has.
We did meet the docs, but I will post later about that.  I will post some pics too. Unfortunately I don't know that it would be okay to post pictures of other kids here since I don't have permission so I will post some familiar faces :)  Now we can't wait to go to the convention in New York next year!!! Hope to see all of you that we saw this year and many more of you there next year!
Will showing off his dance moves (blue stripped shirt)

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Happy 1st B'day little princess

Happy Birthday Kaela! Kaela turns 1 today on the first official day of summer! One year ago today, in about 1 hour from now (10:40 or so) Kaela decided to make her grand entrance on our bedroom floor! Apparently she wanted out and NOW because about an hour after I THOUGHT I was in labor she was here!!  One exciting day for us :) We feel so lucky to have you in our lives Kaela. You have changed us in more ways then you will ever know and for the better in every way! We love you little Ka!  We are glad you chose us!!

XOXO 
Mommy, Daddy and Will

Off to the conference

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Special Fathers on Father's Day

What would we do without our dad! This post is dedicated to all the wonderful dads out there, but especially Matt, my dad Bill and Matt's dad Russ. I know Matt would say some really wonderful things about his dad, but I'm going to have to do it so that I can write about Matt :)
Matt and I both have awesome families. They both live within 15 minutes of us and we know that they care very much about our family. They have done so much for us and we love them all so much. Matt's dad Russ was just out here today digging hole's in our backyard for the deck that he is helping us build. He is great with the kids and has always been there for us. Obviously Matt would have much more to say on a personal level seeing as though he was raised by him (and he has done a great job because I truly have yet to meet someone that's husband is as awesome as Matt)! So thanks Russ (and Liz of course) for raising a truly wonderful person. I know it wasn't always easy, but in the end, I can't imagine you could be any more proud of what he has become. Matt is truly one of the most generous, caring and loving people I've ever known. He has been this way since the day I met him and surprised me even more the day he became a father. Matt showed me that not only was he this way with me, but also with his children. I could tell the minute Will was born. I remember Matt by my side as they took Will over to be checked not moving to be by me but not taking his eyes off of his new son. I had to say, go see him before he moved. He has loved our children unconditionally from day one. He would do anything for them and has. We feel so lucky to have him and I feel so lucky to have someone who never puts his kids and wife second. He is wonderful with the kids. So good that it's really hard to put it into words! We love you daddy!
I also want to say Happy Father's day to my dad, Bill. Bill has been my dad since I was 10. I didn't realize how true this was until a few years later, when I figured out what a father really was, but I feel so thankful for having Bill. He married my mom, never having been married or having children, to get a family. I know when I was younger he heard the words 'you are not my real dad" many times, but there's really nothing further from the truth. I don't and haven't had a relationship with my biological father since I was much younger, and I feel so lucky that even through some hard times (for all of us) Bill has always been there for me. He never, for one day, played the roll of 'I'm not your real father.' He loved my sister and I from the very beginning and I know he loves us very much today. Although I never used the name dad when talking to him, there's no one that I would rather call my dad. He has been there for me, cared about me, and loved me for a long time and I feel very lucky to have such a special dad in my life. So special that I named my son William after him and middle name Russell after Matt's dad. It certainly wasn't because we had to, it was because we wanted to. I can only hope that Will grows up to be as good of a dad as my dad, Matt and Russ. Thanks Bill for not only being a great dad when you had no obligation to do so and for treating me like I was nothing less then your 'real' daughter but for loving Will and Kaela the way you do.
So thanks to the three of you for being who you are and loving us the way you do!
Matt and Kaela (Kaela's 1st day) Daddy and Kaela (end of May)

Matt and Will (about a week old) Will and Daddy at the end of May (his little clone)
Will with his Grandpa (Bill) -Cheers!

Will with his other Grandpa (Russ) being silly

A list of Will and Kaela's favorite things about daddy:

I love when you act like a dinosaur and chase me down the hall.
We love when you get us and tickle us.
We love that you are home with us during the day.
We love that you take us to play group every week.
We love that you let us run around in the same clothes we wore to bed all day when mommy is at work.
We love that you change our poopy diapers.
We love that you make us yummy lunches.
We love that you give us lots of hugs and kisses.
We love that you love us even when we scream and cry and throw things, usually for no reason at all.
We love that you teach us new things.
We love that you play outside with us.
We love that you set up our swing set.
I love that you put my train tracks together and play with my trains with me.
I love that you are silly.
I love that you know I am hording binki's in my room and you don't try to find them and take them away.
I love that sometimes I get Lucky Charms and you let me eat just the marshmallows
We love that you love everything about us no matter what anyone else thinks.
We love that you think we are perfect in every way (we know we are, but of course it's nice that you and mommy think so too).
I love that you care enough about me to put my brace on, even though I don't always like it.
We love that you cuddle us.
And most importantly we love that you are our daddy! We love you and hope you have a great Father's Day. XOXO
Love you,
Will and Kaela

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

A little girl and her brownie

I just thought I'd post a few cute pictures of my baby girl and proof of her sweet tooth.  I gave her a piece of a brownie yesterday, literally about the size of a quarter, and this is what she looked like after.
.
The most obvious sign is that chocolate face, but it was all over her hands, on her arms, and all over the front of her shirt, which I don't believe will ever look the same :)  Our little boy was the complete opposite at this age. He could care less about sweets.  He loved and still does love fruit, but cake or sweets he had no interest in.  This has changed a bit, but is still nothing like my little clone.  Will was such a bore at his first birthday party with the cake. He did one little touch of the finger to the frosting and was disgusted that there was something on his finger! He still doesn't like his hands to be dirty.  I can not wait to post pictures of Kaela at her first b'day party because I know she is going to be a MESS!  
Here are a couple pics of the kids together in the tub. Will heard Kaela having all kinds of fun splashing around and had to to join the party.

And a picture of my cute little man. Not sure if you can tell, but he has a messy face in this picture. I seem to have a hard time getting a picture of Will with  clean face these days. :) They grow up way too fast!  

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Go Kaela!!!


Update: better picture (I think) from Matt's phone. I just love those chubby short legs :)

I downloaded about 250 pictures today so that I could post some of them, and then Kaela goes and does something major! More blog worthy then anything I could have written an hour ago :) Kaela stood up on her own! Matt was giving Will a bath and of course Kaela has to be part of everything, so she went crawling back to the bathroom. My sister called me just then because I had just sent her about half of those pictures I downloaded, to tell me how cute they are when Matt yelled for me to come to the bathroom. At first I thought something was wrong, so I run to the bathroom to find Kaela pulling herself up to a standing position! We were sooo excited. Obviously being 11 months she is a little behind on this (who really cares!) which I think almost made it more exciting. I of course ran to get my camera to find that the batteries were dead! Go figure. So I ran to get my other camera and Matt took some with his phone. (we also did a little video until that died too). I wanted to get on and share Kaela's exciting news with all of you! I'll try and get better pics next time. Remeber, her legs are pretty bowed so although it may not appear that she's standing, she is...her feet can not go straight on the floor due to the curve in her legs, but she's doing it the way she knows how!! YEA! I hope you enjoy the pictures.