Kaitlyn's 3rd Birthday!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY Kaitlyn!

3 Years of happiness!
12 seasons of wonder!
36 months of laughs!
1096 nights of sweet dreams!
1096 days of joy and blessings!!

Kaitlyn is THREE today! How exciting for a little girl to be three!! Today she awoke to a beautifully sunny day (blue skied and warm!). My good friend Alexandra sent Kaitlyn a birthday gift last week (I peeked last night and knew it had to be the first gift she would open today). It was a BEAUTIFUL summery, strawberry dress which was a perfect match with her Strawberry Shortcake birthday theme (THANK YOU ALEX)! She looks like a princess in this dress with the flared, full bottom and feels like one too! She twirled and spun as she put the dress on....Excitedly she sped downstairs to the birthday room .Krista and I were awake until midnight last night decorating the family room with balloons and streamers and setting out her gifts. Her big gift this year is a princess bicycle! Her FIRST bike with training wheels. She loves it...although for the moment it is Krista and Erik who are pushing her around on it but I know it won't be long until she pedals on her own. Infact, after her nap today we'll head out and see if she can do it by herself. I predict by the end of this weekend she'll be a pro on it!

After she played on her bike, we opened a few more gifts..She LOVES puzzles so she got about 4 puzzles and of course her Barbie doll from yesterday. Toomas made her pancakes for brunch and she ran around ( or was pushed around on her bike) all morning. She was exhausted and is soundly sleeping now. This afternoon we'll open a few more gifts---A Strawberry Shortcake bedding set which will accompany her in her transition into her BIG GIRL bed in the next few weeks, and a few coloring books and reading books left to open for tonight. We plan on taking the bike out later today too and then ordering...you guessed it--PIZZA for dinner! And for dessert cake and ice cream! :) A fun day for a big girl! Happy Birthday Sweet Kaitlyn!!!!

Here's her big girl bike!!!


A video of Kaitlyn opening her new dress from Alexandra and Gabriel!

Shopping with Kaitlyn

Today we loaded up in the car to prepare for Kaitlyn's big birthday party tomorrow. It is our family tradition that the birthday child can pick out a toy of choice on their birthday (or a day early)... Kaitlyn was an easy shopper and knew exactly what she wanted. BARBIE! Her love for Barbie and animals melded together in one plastified pink, glittery package. She chose a 'Barbie washes her dog' set. Complete with two dogs. Well...it is HER birthday afterall. A girl only turns 3 once :) She also got to pick out a cake of her choice in the bakery section of the store. She picked a double chocolate mouse cake. Yummy! She has good taste ;) Here are a few photos of Kaitlyn's special morning...AND a small video of her selecting her gift! :)

Springtime fun!

I'm so glad the weather has "sprung"! Although today is chilly they promise more spring-like weather for tomorrow. We had a fun weekend in the yard. Toomas set up Erik's electric t-ball toy that he got from Santa. You step on the footpad and it feeds the ball onto the hanging tee...pretty fun! It is height adjustable so even Krista can play. We also planted flowers. I think I planted over 40 geranium plants around the house. Most are in planting boxes on the window sills...but I planted a few in the rock wall in the back yard. We went to a special botanical store, and since we had accumulated a lot of fidelity points from our purchases over the last few years we got a free gift. Krista selected a little strawberry planting garden. We'll see how they grow! :)

Tomorrow is Kaitlyn's birthday! THREE already! Wow. She is still a baby in so many ways, but 3 sounds so big. I'm proud to say that daytime potty training is accomplished (with the occasional accident), but we are nowhere near nighttime trained. She is wearing pull ups now which are thin and help "just in case" when we are out. Night time training isn't on the horizon. Kaitlyn is a grand sleeper and I want to keep it that way. She is still in her crib and loves it!! I'm happy to have her there since I know she will stay in bed for 12 hours. She is known to wake up asking for a drink, so with a full bladder it would be impossible to stay dry that long! She also drinks a lot of milk before bed (a habit we're trying to wean her from). When I was 7 months pregnant with Evan, I got a box of free newborn "trial" items from a French store and inside was an Avent bottle. Kaitlyn was 2 1/2 and had NEVER had a bottle in her life...well until that day! She snapped up the box..complete with a pacificer and bottle and has begged to use the "baby bottle" ever since. Yes, I caved in and gave her her FIRST bottle at age TWO and a HALF years! I thought she was joking in wanting to use it but she loved it. It is sort of a joke now but she honestly wants it. Erik was nursed for 3 years and never had a bottle in his entire life (not a single one). Kaitlyn nursed until 18 months and went directly to a real cup (not even a sippy)...then at 2.5 years old, the bottle arrived in the mail! Since I never bottle fed either her or Erik, I found it amusing at first..now I'm ready to pitch them. Trust me Evan will NOT see a bottle.... EVER! :)

More Finished Landscaping Photos

CLICK on picture to enlarge for detail.

Here are a few more photos of the complete project. Can you tell we love it! I'm including a few close ups---the mailbox, the planters etc. I will try to get to a day by day recap..but with Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday coming up this week it will have to wait. We're really looking forward to Thursday! I can't belive Kaitlyn will be THREE. We got a surprise package from a dear friend, Alexandra and her son Gabriel who is Kaitlyn's age. Kaitlyn keeps carrying it around saying it is for "my happy birthday". We're looking forward to opening it on Thursday, Alex!!! She already picked out the menu for her "happy birthday" too. She said "I want to have eatballs on my happy birthday!". We all love when she says "eatballs"...she means meatballs. It is too funny! We also got a package today from Vanaema and Vanaisa! THANKS so much everyone :) Enjoy the finished product photos!

The Landscaping Project!!!

IT IS DONE!! We've been waiting for this for over two years and it is finally COMPLETE! It looks SO wonderful and feels so great to have an actual finished entry at last!

The landscapers worked NINE FULL DAYS on this. It was a HUGE undertaking. They were here each day at 7 in the morning and finished at 5 pm. They only took 30 minute lunch breaks...nearly 10 hour work days!! There was a lot to do..They stipped down the makeshift stairs and compacted the land leading up to the door. Our front door is about 1.35 metres higher than the street level so there was quite a distance to go up. The entry starts at the bottom of the driveway and consists of 4 levels and 10 steps. The levels make the entry feel gradual and on both sides the of the project there are plants held in by granite block planters. There are 4 large retention areas, one of which is a hiding place for the trashcan! Small granite decorative stones fill the planting areas. There are at least 20 different plants on each side...The finishing touch is an integrated door mat at the front door which has been carved into the granite tiles. Of course the entire driveway had to be paved as well. First the land was compacted and bricks were layed ONE BY ONE. The entire 125 square meters is composed of handlayed bricks. We selected an antique paver by Kronimus that just looks fabulous with the house.

The reason why we waited to do this project is two-fold. Firstly it costs a LOT of money...and the tax in France is nearly 20% if you make renovations during the first two years. After the two year period, the tax for house renovation drops to only 5%. This in itself saves a lot of money so we decided it would be worth waiting the 24 months. In the fall when we reached two years we were ready, but the landscaper had a full schedule.. I'm so glad he waited until now to do it though. With spring here it just feels so wonderful to have a fresh and new exterior, plus he was able to plant all of the decorative plants at the same time as doing the driveway and entry.

The materials used for this project were massive. HUGE and heavy slab blocks of granite were used for the steps, and granite tiles of 40 cm by 40 cm square, were used for each landing area. We chose light grey granite for the steps and a very dark grey (anthracite) color for the landings. I'll do a step by step of the project, but for now here is a before and after picture! You won't believe the difference!!

BEFORE


















AFTER!

BEFORE (Ariel view from our window)

AFTER ( same ariel view from our bedroom window)

The house!

Gosh, I have really gotten behind on my blog these last few days! Things have been busy here so that's my excuse! :) We still have the landscapers here. I think today is their 8th or even 9th day of work. They have been SLAVING but the results are huge! Luckily we've had bright sun for all but one work day. I can't wait to post a little progress blog on the house. I've taken a zillion progess photos and will be putting together a little video for Vanaisa (Toomas' Dad), who is always interested in the technical steps. TODAY is the big day we "receive" the project. The boss will be here this afternoon for inspection and we should see them clear out today. You can't imagine how much the house has changed. It has gone from feeling like a building site to a COMPLETE package. Our house really sells itself with the lot, the location and the external beauty. It isn't an ordinary design (many houses are simple boxes) so it stands out...now with the gorgeous driveway and entry it is SO highlighted and complimented. I always nurse Evan in my bedroom by the big bay window. I sit there muliple times a day for about 25 minutes each feeding. I've already seen two cars drive by to take pictures. I've also seen countless people walk or drive by to look at the project. Sundays are infamous for people walking by and now it is non-stop! Our neighbor yesterday approached me and said "Everyone comes to see your house on Sunday!". She is German and really liked the landscaping project which is very German in style. It is wide and elegant. I can't stress how much this has changed the house. Amazing! Stay tuned for a step by step! :)

Sharing a little Evan Video...12 Weeks

Here is our little Evan. He is just so cute now and I'm just so IN LOVE with him (but I'm not biased! :)) He has been so fun these last few weeks...He is so attentive and alert and just SUCH a great little boy! I can't believe how blessed I have been with him!! He is my DREAM baby! Absolutely, hands down, my best baby. He has been on a schedule since 2 months (it took me 6 months with the other kids). I don't know how I got so lucky this time...but things are WORKING! Evan goes to bed by 9:45 or 10...and wakes at 10 in the morning (and wakes either once or twice max). Ten may sound like a late wake up but it is working so well for me right now. It gives me time to see the kids off to school and then have a few moments to myself before Kaitlyn wakes up. I have time to get her fed and dressed and then it is Evan's turn to wake and eat. Having everyone a bit staggered like this is very manageable. I'm just SO thrilled that when I go to bed at night I'm almost guaranteed 6 or 7 hours. This is just AWESOME for me!!! I feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO blessed (and actually, honestly rested!!). This last month has been wonderful. One night he even slept 10.5 hours (that was painful for me)...but amazing. So here is my little superstar. I just love him to pieces!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Easter!!

We had a really nice Easter this year with the kids. Toomas took the big kids to the Easter vigil mass on "Easter Eve" (it was at 8:30 pm and lasted until 11 pm!). The church was dark and lit only by the candles that were held by everyone. There was a small procession outside in a single file line, with everyone holding their candles. I know from previous years that it is indeed very beautiful. I was sad to miss the mass, but I knew how long it would last and my concern was over Kaitlyn. Evan is EASY. I could have taken him for sure, but 8:30 is about Kaitlyn's bedtime and Toomas said that it was even hard for Erik to stay up *and attentive* for the whole 2.5 hours!

The kids and Toomas got home after 11 and crashed. Everyone slept in until 8:30 on Easter morning which was nice. This was just after I had fed Evan so the timing was perfect. We all headed down at about 8:45 with Evan content and sleeping.

Kaitlyn was really excited about Easter this year..but she kept forgetting her basket. She would go find a chocolate egg and just put down the previous one she had found. The Easter bunny left a few small gifts on the couch for the kids ( new underwear sets for all 4 kids, a book for Krista, a few Pokemon cards for Erik and a puzzle for Kaitlyn...and a DVD for everyone "Open Season".) It was a GORGEOUS day and we hunted outside for easter eggs after brunch. Kaitlyn was less interested in hunting outside only because she wanted to play on the swingset so badly. She had already collected her share of eggs in the house I guess. Erik and Krista had a lot of fun finding all the eggs outside...but Krista said it was "too easy"!! I guess the Easter bunny will have to step things up a bit and be sneakier next year!

We were really blessed with the gorgeous weather we had on Easter. It is STILL beautiful infact.. This is perfect for the landscapers now who are diligently working on our entry project. I'll have PLENTY more photos of that in step by step action! :)

I'm also thankful for the weather because Erik has his week long "green class" this week where they will be spending every day on a Farm this week. The weather really couldn't be nicer! Okay...I'll be back with the landscaping pictures shortly...

The Kids in the Yard and Recent Happenings...

Wow, the days are swirling by FAST! The weather has warmed up and spring is in the air. I suppose that is my excuse for not getting a post (or two) up here until today! Things have been hectic since Erik's birthday. I still have to post a recap of his group birthday party, but I'll save that for when I have a bit more time. In a nutshell it was a hit. In all he invited 7 boys (and only boys) so we decided to have it at an indoor play area (to save my sanity.... and my house). It was really great and he (and all the kids) had a blast. I have lots of pictures so stay tuned...

Things have just been so busy lately since the weather has finally taken a turn for the better. I've really been on the go non-stop. Lets see...I've mowed the lawn, high pressure cleaned each and every brick on the terrace, cleaned & brought up the patio furniture, Easter shopping, scrubbed the outdoor electric boxes (which were filthy), caught up on laundry, plus washed all of the winter coats to put in storage, hmmmm and of course all of this while nursing a growing little baby boy and chasing after Kaitlyn who has been running around in the yard in complete heaven!! Speaking of the yard...Kaitlyn got a tick yesterday. Let me tell you it isn't easy removing a tick from a 2 year old. I did manage to get most of the tick out, but there was a small trace remaining. This a.m. Toomas ran over to the local Generalist to have him take a look to see if the head was out. He said the head was removed (yay!), but there was a bit of the leg remaining and gave us a sterile needle if we wanted to try and get it out. Toomas said the doctor started to try to get the rest out, but then quickly gave up when he realized his competition. Kaitlyn is no push-over and if she doesn't want to do something, it isn't happening! He gave us a RX for a Lyme test which I may wait to do because we get SO many ticks around here. I think we probabally topped out at about 20 last season with all of us combined. It is a nightly ordeal around here doing tick checks at tubby time. Ahhh...the joys of nature! One of the downsides of haivng a forest lot, but we do love our view. I hate all of the ticks but it really goes with the terretory (literally).

And speaking of the house...BIG NEWS, our landscaper is in action!! Our entry and driveway will soon be done! I'll have a big entry on that soon...with photos of the process! We've been waiting nearly 2 years for this project so it is very exciting that it is now in motion! HOORAY!

Happy 7th Birthday to Erik!!

HAPPY SEVENTH BIRTHDAY ERIK!!!!

HAPPY 7th Birthday to my big boy Erik!! I can't believe he is seven years old today. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Krista's 7th Birthday! I'm so happy for Erik to be turning seven. He has matured and developed so much this year, and I am thrilled to see him mature. He entered "real" French school this year, and since that big change...it seems like there have been changes now on a daily basis! He looks so much older to me this year with his adult teeth on top..physically he is taller, stronger and leaner. He is turning into a little man now. He is such a darling, precious, smart and gentle little boy and I'm SOOOO thankful for him.

This year's birthday's theme (we always have a theme) is Pokemon. Pokemon is definately a big deal for Erik at the moment (and has been since September)..Card collecting is by far one of his favorite hobbies! Erik is such a smart little boy...always eager to learn facts or experience something new. He is also very organized and loves the idea of collecting things. He has excelled SO much in school this year as a result of his organization and discipline. I'd have to say that he is definately at the top of his class (maybe not first but not far behind!). He is only 1 of 2 students that has earned their "livre" --A book that is earned through a reward point system. The teacher gives out points to the children who excel in their daily work. After 10 points you earn a small card with a charater on it (farm animals and teddy bears mostly) and after 10 cards you earn a book (ie 100 points). One girl beat him to the first book---but he was only a few points behind and now the second child in the class to have earned his book! (Krista was the first to earn the book in her CP class by the way!!! Hard to contend with those eager girls!!). I'm very proud of how well Erik has done this year. He behaves VERY VERY well in class which isn't always easy when you are a boy full of energy! He is a very disciplined little guy---always opens his book bag when he gets home and is on top of his homework without me needing to bother him. His room is SPOTLESS! He hangs his clothes in his closet on his own, offers to help me clean up pretty often, and is generally just a WONDERFUL little guy.

Today is just GORGEOUS weather so we spent the lunch break outside on the swingset. I got some cute photos of all 4 of the kids together. I'll post those soon. Tonight Toomas will come home early from work and I'll take Erik to his favorite store to pick out a gift. I've always taken the kids alone on their special day to the store of their choice for a 10 Euro gift! It sure makes them happy to get to chose their own gift AND spend some time alone with Mommy. Erik will be in for a surprise tonight because his BIG gift is a new speed mountain bike! It is really NEAT! His current bike is really only up to 6 years maxium so he is really a giant on it! I can't wait for him to see his shiny new bike that Daddy shopped for and picked out for him. What fun that will be. After the gift opening we'll order pizza (we love our pizza around here!!!) and then have his Pokemon birthday cake! Should be a fun fun day for everyone! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET ERIK!!!! My how you've grown! Here are a few photos of Erik over the years!! Here he is over the 7 years...a photo of each birthday! :)

First Birthday 2003

Second Birthday 2004

Third Birthday 2005

Fourth Birthday 2006

Fifth Birthday 2007

Sixth Birthday 2008

Seventh Birthday 2009