Memorial Weekend Getaway

While Daddy is in Destin for a guys trip, I have been trying to pack up the house and care for our three little ones. Not an easy task! Actually, it's quite difficult. We only have 5 more nights in this house. One word: Bittersweet. I took the kids to the lake yesterday to spend some "relaxing" time with Nana, Papa, Aunt Mary Ann, and Uncle Hamilton. Emily didn't go to bed until close to 10:30, Allison fell out of the bed at 0220, and Ethan decided to wake up at 0430. Needless to say, sleep wasn't much of an option. I did get a nap at 0700 with Ethan! The weather was overcast and rainy at times, but the kids enjoyed some fresh air and a quick boat ride. We are now home and the kids are sleeping soundly in their own beds! Here are some individual pics of the kids. They are such a joy (most of the time). Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!

Em laughing at herself blowing the horn!

Sweetness!

ADORABLE!

Little buddy being silly!

They actually were ok with wearing their life jackets. Poor Allison. She looked like she was choking the whole time!

On the quick boat ride. It was chilly and rainy, but the girls had a blast!

Dancing to their own music ;-)

Allison: "I'm coming to get you, mommy!"

Super sweet sisters! I love them "the whole world."

Contract x 2!

What a great day! We now have a contract on a house. It's in our favorite area of Liberty Park, on a cul-de-sac, and walking distance to the elementary and middle schools. We will be closing on both houses June 1st. We will only be homeless for 2 days. I always thought I lived in the van anyway! We cannot believe how quick and (almost) painless the selling of our existing house and the buying of the new house has been (total of 3 weeks). I can't wait to start eating ramen noodles and pb & j's everynight! ;-) Here is a picture of our new home.....in less than 2 weeks!!

We had a great realtor: Katherine Manush with RealtySouth. Call her!

Pirates and Mermaids

This past weekend was Uncle Jonathan's graduation and Samuel's baptism in Jackson, MS. The whole family traveled to Mississippi to be there. Unfortunately, Allison and I had to stay home because she had a virus called Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. We had a wonderful weekend and spent lots of quality time together. We missed being at all the celebrations, but we were there in spirit and are so proud of them!

On Sunday night, the Chalmers family drove straight to our house for dinner and some more playtime for the kids. The 6 cousins were all in matching outfits from Gia. Samuel has one too and he was in the pictures after church. The girls shirts have mermaids on them and the boys have pirates. They all looked so cute! It was a struggle to get all 6 kiddos to cooperate but we definitely got some cute ones. Enjoy!

The kids with Daddy. (Can you tell Em was a little tired?)

Let the photo shoot begin! Allison was the first to throw a tantrum.
Go get 'em Andrew!!
getting better!! Where's James??

I see 6 faces!!

So close....
The END!

The Day of Different Signs

This was the sign in our yard this morning.

This is the sign in our yard now!!
Unbelievable!!

Let the packing begin!!

School's Out = It's Summer Time!

Friday was the last day of school at Vestavia Day School. All three of the kids had awesome teachers this year. We are really going to miss them, especially Mommy! I'm sure we'll see most of them this summer at church and playdates.

Cat in the Hat: Emily sitting in Mrs. Charlotte's lap with Mrs. Amy and Mrs. Sheila (Clifford class)

Emily with Ava, one of her best buds.
Emily and Jacob - these two are TROUBLE!
Owls: Mrs. Mande, Allison, and Mrs. Shannon
Infants: Mrs. Patty, Miss Alicia with Ethan
The infant room teachers put together a DVD of the 2009-2010 school year. It was the best gift I have gotten in awhile. It was so sweet. Mark and I are very lucky to have such great women taking such good care of our children.

Cake - Take 2

I love how his cakes turned out. I had wanted his smash cake to look like a baseball but never thought about the big cake. We ordered these cakes from Edgars Bakery (the best in town) and they were just perfect. Thanks Gia! See below for the outcome of cake eating, round 2!

Ethan loves all types of balls. Really he just likes to throw and bang them on everything! He is such a boy. I'm trying to get used to this "different" behavior. So much for all the calm girl stuff!

Ethan's 1st Birthday Party

We had his party last weekend and a fun time was had by all. The kids just keep multiplying!! We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends to share these special times with.

Baby's 1st Birthday! My big boy ;-)

Once again, the jumpy-slide was a big hit!
The group on the back porch. Everyone is waiting for Ethan to take some interest in his cake.

This is the only picture we have of him in his hat.....it didn't last long!

I love the look on his face!
The messiest he got. Yet again, he was not a fan of the cake or the icing. Who is this child??!
Emily (A.K.A. Tinkerbell) and Mary Britton before the party started.
Sweet Ben Wetta. He is the cutest, and happiest, baby ever!

Bryan and Ben, Mark and Ethan

Silly pictures of the Kiel kids.


Mommy and Daddy with the birthday boy!! Happy Birthday, buddy!!

Cake - Take 1

Since today is Ethan's real birthday, I got him a cupcake to practice with before his big party this weekend. We sang Happy Birthday to him with Daddy on the webcam. He was NOT a fan of the icing or the cake. He really enjoyed just smearing it all over himself and the highchair. Both got hosed off shortly after! Hopefully he'll do better on Saturday - we'll see.

He is looking at his daddy on the computer. Look how serious he is. I'm pretty sure he's thinking "What is this? Help me!"

Not happy!
My little smurf is ready for bath and bed! I love this picture because I have one of Allison with this exact expression; only hers was pink!
Of course the girls loved the cupcakes.
and the highchair. You should have seen the seat!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ethan

All 3 of my kids were born in this house and all 3 of my kids will be moving to a new residence (with us, of course) - to be announced. Yes, our house is under contract. More to follow later. I didn't mean for this picture to be posted before the special guy! oops!

I can't believe it's been a year since we brought this beautiful baby boy into this world. He was 6 weeks early and spent 10 days in the NICU. Of all things to have wrong with your child in the NICU, we were the luckiest parents there! He was just a feeder and a grower. What a year it has been.....he finally got diagnosed with asthma a couple of months ago and we've been battling some attacks lately but he knows the drill now and is such a trooper. He is crawling everywhere and cruising on everything (sisters weren't crawling yet). He has 4 teeth all the way through and 1 tooth on it's way (sisters didn't have any yet). He is now facing forward in his seat and is enjoying the "new" scenery. Here he is on the way to school this morning. This is how my ONE year old rolls!! Love you, little man. Thanks for a wonderful year!

He looks like such a big boy in this picture ;-)

Oh, I promise to post Disney photos soon.....one day!