Birthday Buddies

I guess since we've done this two years in a row now, we've started a tradition. And a good tradition it is. Our friends Karl and Lindsey had their first girl, Maddison, on the same day Cami was born - so both the girls share a birthday on May 14. Last year we took the girls out to dinner at Red Robin to celebrate and we decided to do the same this year. Who can resist bottomless fries?

Here's some pictures from the big Two-year-old celebration at Red Robin and also some pictures from last year's One-year-old celebration to comopare how much the girls have changed. Boy have they changed! This year Maddie's new baby brother Karson joined us too.

Happy 2nd birthday Maddie and Camryn!

The big-shot two-year-olds!

This ice cream rocks!

Now some pictures from when they were ONE!

My baby's 2!

Wow does the time fly when you have kids! I can't beleive my baby girl is two! I guess I can't use baby any more because she's anything but a baby anymore. She is two going on twelve. She's giving Andy and I a run for our money. She's got a ton of energy which keeps us on our toes and she's talking up a storm.

Two year milestones for Camryn:

• She sings her ABC's
• She counts to ten easily and sometimes makes it to thirteen on her own
• She loves to dance, especially while the show Dancing with the Stars is on
• She loves to sing. Her favorite songs to sing are Jesus Loves Me, Building Up The Temple, Twinkle Twinkle, The Wheels on the Bus, and I've Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy.
• Her favorite CD is Kids Bop - she jumps in circles listening to it
• Her favorite DVDs are Boz, Veggie Tales, Elmo and Barney
• She prays 'Come Lord Jesus..' and likes to make up her own prayers too
• She has to to everything herself...'No, I do it mommy'
• She puts on her shoes and clothes
• She is starting to go on the potty - and even if she's not successful, she loves to sit on her new big girl potty
• Been in her toddler bed since spring break and is done falling out of it at night - thank goodness no pillows are needed anymore.
• If she needs help she says "help you please"
• What she's calling our family members: Mommy, Daddy, Gama, PaPa, Sisa(Marisa), Bet(Brett), Tim, Aychel(Rachel), Beff(Jeff)
• New phrases "No, I fine" "Hey dude" "I do it" "Hold you please" "No thank you" "big big bus" "wittle bug" and the favorite which sums it all up "ook at me!"
• She loves to play tea party, play in the park, run in circles, do puzzles, play with her dolls, dress up and dance

A message to my princess in pigtails on her 2nd Birthday:

Camryn, I'm sure every parent says this about their child, but honey, you truely are the brightest! I love the energy you have and that you are so social. You're just like mommy and daddy - you like to be the life of the party! Every day we can see your eyes twinkle, learning something new. And every day it's so fun to watch you learn new things. You make us laugh all the time, and it makes me so happy when I see a smile on your face. You are such a sweetheart and so much fun to play with.

Being a parent is so much more than I could ever imagined. God sure knew how to show his love for us when he sent us you. This year is going to be so much fun now that you're moving around and having full conversations. We can't wait to watch you grow even more. I pray that the Lord will continue to guide us in parenthood on this journey and thank Him for blessing us with you Cami. We love you honey! Happy 2nd Birthday!

Mommy and Daddy

Preview of Cami's 2nd Birthday!

Here's a preview of Cami's 2nd birthday. More to come after the holiday weekend!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

My Photo Blog

So you may know or not know that I've been taking A LOT of pictures lately for people and I absolutely love it! It's such a great outlet for me and I hope to have a summer busy with photo sessions. I needed a place to post pictures for people that are inquiring about my work, so I created a second blog. It's just a start while I'm working on getting my website up - I have many photos to add from the recent sessions I've had, but I've been so excited to get it out there. If you're interested in following my photo journey, here's the link to my photo blog:

http://rkphotoanddesign.blogspot.com

Please feel free to pass it along to people you know who might be interested.

Congrats to the grad!

Oh my, oh my! It's been one busy journey for Andy these last couple years going back to school, but I couldn't be more proud of him. After two years of research, writing, hard work and lots of time writing his thesis, a weight has been lifted. Andy graduated this April with his Masters in Educational Leadership from Grand Valley State University with a 4.0 grade-point, a thesis and complete handbook on how to increase parental involvement in middle schools - which, by the way, is available to check out at the GVSU library. I hear that it's quite the buzz, so you may want to jump on it and get on the waiting list. :) We knew this year especially would be a challenging year, but finally he's done! We're not only happy to be able to spend more family time together, but we're so proud of such a wonderful accomplishment. Way to go honey!