Cake-Smushing Fun

We celebrated Dane's first birthday a few days late, on Monday night. It wasn't a big celebration, just Mommy, Daddy, Ava, Dane, and a small cake with one candle. But it was a good time!

The cake (NOT decorated by Mommy ~ the local grocery store bakery gives away free mini-cakes for first birthdays):

One lonely candle for the birthday boy:

Let the cake-smushing commence!

BIG first bite!

"This is good stuff, Mom!"

Everyone had blue tongues from the frosting:

"Aw, can't I have one more bite?" For the record, we gave Dane one-fourth of the cake pictured above, and he ate the entire cake part of it (more frosting ended up on him than in him). He probably would have eaten the entire cake if we'd have let him!

And last, but certainly not least, video footage of the cake-smushing action:

Mommy's taking a vacation!

If you look to the right, you'll notice that I added another ticker. That's right, I'm counting down to a VACATION! My dear friend Margaret and I have booked a Caribbean cruise for the week after Easter. We'll be setting sail with Royal Caribbean on the Majesty of the Seas on Monday, March 24, and taking a 3-day, 4-night cruise to Nassau and Cococay in the Bahamas, and Key West, Florida. I am so excited! I am not ashamed to say that I really deserve this trip. It will be the first time I have spent a night away from the kids since Ava's birth (so, three years), and first vacation I've had, period, since Russ and I visited Savannah, Georgia four years ago, shortly before moving back to Missouri from Georgia. I only feel slightly guilty that I'm leaving on Ava's third birthday, but I'll just make up for it by bringing back a nice gift for her from my trip. And I don't feel the slightest bit guilty that Daddy will have to fend for himself (and the kids) for five whole days. :)

Happy First Birthday Dane!

A year ago today, at 2:19 p.m., Dane William Oelrichs entered this world! He weighed a whopping 9 lbs 2 oz and was 21 inches long. I'll have the official stats from the doctor's office tomorrow, but now he weighs nearly 24 lbs and is about 29 inches tall.

Update 1-19-08: I took Dane to the pediatrician yesterday for his 12-month well-check, and he's doing great! He weighed 23.2 lbs and measured 30 inches long. I guess gravity makes him shrink an inch when he stands up! As big as he seems, he is right at the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Those big hands and feet must make him seem bigger than he really is!

The last year has just flown by! That wrinkly, squished-faced newborn who bore an uncanny resemblance to a little old man is now a sweet, cheerful, rambunctious, and quite handsome (in his mama's humble opinion) one-year-old. He's walking like a champ, and babbles non-stop. I don't know if he's said any "real" words, but I've heard "Mama" a time or two, and he says "cap, cap, cap" when he claps his hands. He is constantly on the go, trying to keep up with his big sister. Even though he (and his sister) have me totally exhausted at the end of the day, when he looks at me with those adoring hazel-brown eyes and flashes that charming smile, my heart just melts!

January 17, 2007:

January 17, 2008:Lookin' sharp in all his bling:"I eat people like you for breakfast!", or supper, in this case:And we can't end this blog post without one picture of the infamous big sister:

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY DANE!!!

Dane's First Haircut

Dane got his first haircut on Friday ~ a whole lot earlier than his sister did! He was starting to look a little scraggly with the long hairs around his ears and the wisps in his eyes. Now he looks so cute ~ more like a little boy and less like a baby.

Before:After ~ no drastic change, but can you tell the difference?Sorry there are no pictures of the actual cutting of the hair ~ he wasn't about to sit in that big chair by himself so I held him on my lap. That left no hands free for picture taking.

Ava got a haircut, too. Before:After:Side view: The "after" pictures aren't all that great ~ Ava refused to pose for the camera. She had about an inch cut off, and her hair looks like it's cut in an actual style. It's just a little shorter in the back than in the front and lays so nicely, even when she first gets up in the morning. That's really convenient for me, because it's not very often that she allows me to even comb her hair!

Bouncin' Baby Boy

Fun video of the Dane-man:

Getting Back to Normal

Since our epic holiday adventure, we've just been hangin' out at home, trying to get back into our normal routine.

Ava and Dane playing nicely together, a phenomenom that is seldom observed in our house:Ava bumming around with Spots, Jo-Jo, Princess, Simba and Kia, gifts from Grandma:

"Are you talking to me?" Adorable red hoodie compliments of "Aunt" Margaret.Dane loves spaghetti. Can you tell?I don't think I've mentioned here on the blog that Ava is now, for the most part, completely potty-trained. Yes, she has accidents from time to time, but I feel comfortable taking out on short trips in her big-girl underwear. One result of potty-training has been a preference (on Ava's part) for nakedness. In this photo, she happened to be wearing a pull-up, but not much else: Time for bed! Ava loves to brush her teeth with her Dora the Explorer toothbrush, which happens to coordinate perfectly with her cute new Dora jammies from Uncle Kyle.

Christmas 2007: A Four Part Mini-Series

Episode One: Saturday, Dec. 22

I don't have any pictures of this celebration, but we hosted the Scheer family at our house for a supper of appetizers, soup, and cookies. Grandma, Paw-paw, Uncle Charlie and Aunt Karen, and Uncle Allen were here, and a fun time was had by all. Ava and Dane especially enjoyed climbing all over Paw-paw like a jungle gym.

Episode Two: Monday, Dec. 24 Christmas Eve Morning

Because of our plans for Christmas Day, we had our "official" Christmas at home a day early. The kids had a blast. Ava really got into opening gifts this year ~ I think this is the first year she actually understood right off the bat that there was something good inside each one of those pretty packages. Dane just followed her lead ~ he got all excited just because Ava was excited. After a nutty morning, Mommy left Daddy home alone to fend off the crazy kiddos and did some last minute Christmas shopping. Ah, relief! Below are a few pictures of the big mess day:


Catching first sight of the tree: Tearing into the presents and trying out the new toys:And, finally, the chaos that results from two tiny tornadoes attacking the Christmas tree at full speed. Actually, this is after we picked up all the wrapping paper, so it was even messier before I thought to take a picture!
I'd have to say the hits of the day were the cleaning set that included a play vacuum cleaner and a kitty playhouse with five plush kitties named (by Ava) Princess, Jo-Jo, Spots, Simba and Kia. Both were gifts chosen by Grandma for Ava . I couldn't say what Dane's favorites were, I think he was just in awe of the whole thing.

Episode Two and a Half: Monday evening, Dec. 24, Christmas Eve

Nothing out of the ordinary, and no pictures here either, but as part of our Christmas adventure, we attended the Christmas Eve service at our church. We just barely survived because the kids were getting very tired and just a little crabby. The service was, of course, presented by the Sunday School children. Ava isn't in Sunday School yet, but she will start attending the newly formed preschool class at the end of January. Next year will be interesting for sure!

Episode Three: Tuesday, Dec. 25, Christmas Day

We all got up early, piled into the car and headed out on the 2.5 hour drive to Cole Camp. We attended services with the Oelrichs family at St. Paul's Lutheran Church there, then headed to Great-grandma Fern and Great-grandpa Roland's house for the Christmas Day festivities. After a yummy dinner of turkey and all the trimmings, the kids once again found themselves with a pile of presents to open. Ava even got her very first Barbie doll from Fern and Roland!

Episode Three and a Half: Tuesday evening, Dec. 25, Christmas Day

After the chores were all done, we exchanged gifts with Grandma Linda, Grandpa Randy, Uncle Kyle and Uncle Clark. Can you see the bags under Ava's and Dane's eyes? They're such little troopers!

Episode Four: Post-Christmas Recovery

The next day we headed home and spent several days just recovering from all the festivities. All in all, we had a great Christmas, and we want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone for all the wonderful gifts! We really appreciate the generosity of all those who helped to make our Christmas a very merry one!