Our SWEET Girl's Birthday Party!

Mia's first birthday party was this weekend and the theme was "Our SWEET girl is turning one". You know I love a theme.....and what a FUN theme it was....at least from the party planner's point of view.....though I'm pretty sure I'm going to receive some hate mail from the mommies after sending their kiddos home with a bag full of candy! The weather cooperated and we had a great day with friends and family, celebrating our Mia.....really can't believe she's already a year old.

In the picture below, we're singing Happy Birthday to her.....she loves it...she even
danced a little bit while the tune was going ;)

She wasn't sure what to make of the cupcake, but loved it once she had a little taste!

In all honesty, I did feel guilty about sending the kids home with lots of candy.....giving them a toothbrush as well was my way of making myself feel a little better :)

Kiddos!

My clean up crew helping me get ready for Mia's party! Jake was content for a LONG time when I gave him a Windex bottle filled with water and let him "help" me by cleaning the OUTSIDE of the windows. Mia didn't want to be left out and got her own rag to help too. Wish I could bottle this enthusiasm for cleaning and open it back up when they're teenagers and can actually HELP with cleaning, etc.!!

Skater Girl - who knows....maybe she'll be the one to go hard core on the skateboard.
Hey, if the helmet fits, right?!

Jake helped me make the cupcakes for Mia's party. He cracks me up though....when I was taking the beaters out of the mixer, he asks "ummmm, Mommy....what are you going to do with those beaters??" You could just hear the hope in his voice that I would say, "Sure, Jake....have some cake batter for breakfast"......so I did. Love that boy!

Here is Jake, enjoying his morning TV....(a.k.a. "mommy's quiet time")! Mia just love to be up on the couch with him. She looks so proud...really feels like part of the big kid club when she's up there. He tolerates her while the tv is on, but gets a bit testy if she starts crawling around up there and blocking his view. This morning right after I took this picture, I came to wipe Jake's face off with a washcloth. After I came back in the room from putting it in the sink, Mia had grabbed a washcloth from the laundry basket that was also on the couch and was "wiping" his face. SOOOO sweet. She also loves holding and loving her dolls...she's definitely a nurturer! Don't know where she gets that from :)

Random pics....

Quiet baby = up to no good! Look what Mia got into while I was doing some dishes ;) Hard to get mad when she's SO cute! I remember Jake (and Bailey!) thinking this was a really fun game!

Crawling together......so cute

Wow Jake....that's a good look. I think he was channeling Olivia Newton John??

Wild ONES!!!

My handsome THREE year old boy!

Shakin' it!

Mia knows what to do when the music comes on!! Here she is, shakin' what she's got!

So big....

All of a sudden, I feel like my kids are SO big. No photos to go with this, but I wanted to note it down before I forgot. Jake, who was a binkie addict, has given it up.....not necessarily by choice, but to my amazement, he's doing great. After a birthday week full of fun and gifts, when I felt he was sufficiently spoiled/distracted, and it was the perfect time to pull the plug on the ol' binkie. So we had a little discussion before naptime, I let him keep his new toy in his bedroom while he slept, and off he went. I've been cutting the tip of his binkie off slowly for the last 2 months, so he had "weaned" himself off of sucking on it, but it was still there for comfort and a BIG part of his sleep-time routines. So far he's done great for 1.5 days and I'm SOOOO proud of him! He's also pretty much potty trained with #1 and is starting to do #2 on the toilet a little better as well. May as well buy him a shaving kit.....he'll probably graduate to that in a few months.....at least that's what it feels like. And MIA....in the last week or so, she's changed so much. She's shaking her head "no" when I tell her no, saying "all done" with sign language, and saying "mama" when she wants to get out of her crib. She's starting to develop such a personality and seems like a little person now instead of a baby. The kids are keeping me busy and seem to have lots more energy than I do, but they make my heart happy every minute of the day! LOVE YOU Jake and Mia.....

Jake is THREE!

Jake had a great birthday....we celebrated ALL day long! Brian and I went into his room when he woke up in the morning with a lit candle and sang "Happy Birthday".....it was Brian's idea and I thought it was so cute and that Jake would love it....we were both excited to sing to him.....and he looked at us, almost in tears. and said "I didn't want you to sing to me". Ah, this age is unpredictable!! We cheered him up with a trip to the donut shop and then to the bowling alley. Finished it off with the traditional birthday dinner at Grammie's house......you get to pick your favorite dinner and dessert. Since we've established that Jake is not a fan of dinner at all, we decided to just let him pick his OWN dinner and we would all eat a "normal" dinner meal....thank goodness we opted for this route, or we would have all been dining on Fiber One cereal...yes, that was what he chose for dinner. He loves his new bike (thanks Papa and Tutu), his new power tools (though we wish the chainsaw had a VOLUME control!), and his new helmet. He wore it in the car, watching TV, etc.....luckily, he did not insist on wearing it to bed. Can't believe that it was 3 years ago that we became parents....we could not be more proud of our little man and it would be impossible for us to love him more. Happy Birthday, Jake!!!!

Birthday Bowling!

Proud, proud parents :)

Rolling the ball and then watching, watching, watching to see if it makes it all the way to the pins. The first time, we had to get one of the bowling alley employees to retrieve it ;)

Big boy with his orange bowling ball and cool bowling shoes!

Pretty sure this was his favorite part.....we had to wait for a lane to open up, so we let him choose ANYTHING he wanted from the vending machine. You'd have thought we offered to take him to Disneland! Who knew a bag of Doritos could be that good! And you'll notice remnants of the chips around his mouth in all of the pictures from the bowling alley :)

Rocket Birthday Party!

Jake has been telling everyone that he is having a rocket ship birthday party....it's been fun to watch him get excited about it! The day finally came and the weather gods listened to my plea to keep the rain away! It was brisk out, but didn't start raining until Sunday (thank goodness). The kids always love jumping in the bounce house.....it provides endless entertainment! Brian did an awesome job with the rocket launching.....we didn't think there was any hope of getting the rocket back after it shot up in the air, but he got it back all three times.....it did involve climbing on a roof 2x, but that's okay! Even more entertainment for the kids! It was hysterical to watch all of the kids huddle in Jake's climber toy and count down.....then all of their heads (and the parents too!) would look straight up in the air in unison to follow the rockets. Too cute. The pinata was a bit hit too. All in all, everyone had a good time!

Happy Easter!

Checking to see if the Easter Bunny ate the carrots that Jake left on
the porch for him last night....yup, they were all gone!

Pretty excited about collecting all the loot around the house!!

Awww....such a sweet boy (and sweet Daddy). It's the ONE time a year that
I get flowers. And now Mia gets them too :) Here is Jake with the
flowers that HE picked for his Mommy and Sister!

Darn this baby girl is cute! Here she is in her Easter jammies (thanks Tutu!)....SO adorable! And yes, she does smile ALL the time!

Round two.....turns out that the Easter Bunny visited Grammie and Gramps' house too!

Wow.....everyone is even looking AT the camera....Uncle Tim and Auntie Julie throwing marshmallows up in the air and catching them in their mouths held their
attention for a split second.....long enough to take the picture!

Grandad and Jake had quite the duet going....Jake got a "flute" and harmonica
in his Easter basket, and he's pretty darn excited about them.

We love Auntie Julie! And seriously, couldn't Mia be her daughter?! They look so much alike!

Me and my girl :)

Easter Bunny!

We went to Dublin's Easter egg hunt....Jake was happy about his eggs full of candy and Mia sat patiently in the stroller. It was FREEZING, so we weren't there long....but made a quick visit on the lap of the Easter Bunny. Mia was a good sport and Jake tolerated it, but was not exactly loving it!

Jake LOVES these "swimmer goggles" as he calls them...he uses them to see the sharks and dolphins that are under the water in our bathtub!

Another DeMichiel who loves helmets! Grady and Jake are growing up to be good buddies

Mia's a big girl on the slide!

Mia loves spaghetti....she's a true Italian!! Well, she really loves all food, but looked
too cute with the red sauce and noodles all over her face ;)

Easter Pics!

Amazing that I got a few decent pics of them BOTH looking at the camera and smiling (thanks, Auntie Julie). Jake was actually pretty happy to be the big brother with Mia sitting in his lap. They looked so cute in their fancy Easter clothes :)