Happy 5th Birthday Emelyn!

Sunday March 29th was Emelyn's princess birthday party at Terri's School of Dance.

But our day started much earlier than that.

After being up until well after 2p partying with the now-30 Krissy,

Dan and I peeled ourselves out of bed around 9:30 to head to Mom and Dad's.

Dan and Matt were assigned to helping move some very heavy

furniture up into the newly redecorated loft.

We were very sleepy and debated sleeping in,

knowing that the other half of the Litchfield clan

was, in all likelyhood, going to be late.

But Dan's inner anal personality wouldn't let that happen.

We cleaned ourselves off and drove to Rockland.

We chatted with Mom and Dad, drinking coffee waiting for Matt to arrive

{apparently Krissy told him of his moving assignment about 10 minutes before he

was due to show up. classic}

[love you krissy]

Eventually the boys mustered their will to heft heavy things

And no sooner did Kris and Will stumble in,

still clad in PJs and bathrobes

a tribute to Dan's story of Krissy showing up at the Sports Center

late one night when Matt hadn't called to say he'd be out late

(one of Dan's favorite stories to tell... which somehow had been

brought up at least twice the night before)

While the boys moved the furniture,

Willy had his breakfast (in the highchair my Mom used as a baby)

Being the boy that he is, he was fascinated by watching the moving

Pointing to the guys....

And waving. Enthusiastically saying "Daddy! Daddy!"

Once that was done, I drove over to my Aunt Karen's to pick up Riley to bring her to Emelyn's birthday party while her mom stayed home to work on a paper for school. We had a blast at the party. Riley was loving all the excitement of the kids running around!

Megg leading the first activity and telling the kids about all the fun stuff they were going to do that afternoon.

Oisin playing on the floor.
Yep dude, it IS a princess party. Sorry.
Give it a couple months and you'll get your own...
and you can pick something a little cooler.

Riley also playing on the floor, but wanting some cuddles...
so she was trying to climb me.

hi sweet girl!

Sitting like a big kid with the rest of the pary-goers.

Yes Auntie Jen! I'm having SO much fun!

I think at this point she was done with the tumbles, and ready to play with something else.

The camera proved to be a good distraction.

Emelyn showing the other kids how to tumble!

each kid was given a goodie bag with their name on it

and after each activity they'd get another goodie to put inside

well, while they were off tumbling, willy was grazing

love this picture because it so perfectly captures what he was doing/thinking

"What do you mean I can't just take from ALL of these bags, Mom?"

Next up was relay races. This one was particularly funny. The kids were walking back and forth with a balloon between their legs- walking like penguins.

A time-out for the little kids. Willy and Riley shared some cheerios while the big kids played their games... then we sat and watched the festivities from a safe distance ;)

time for cake and ice cream!

megg made a beautiful barbie cake

Make a WISH!

Unable to enjoy the cake, Riley grateful went for the leftovers from the relay race activities- plastic easter eggs. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

After cake it was time for the pinata! It broke open almost immediately and the kids loved it. it was mad dash to grab as much candy as humanly possible!

as the party was winding down, megg led the kids in a couple dances. this was the hokey pokey.

It was a great party and a great day! I can hardly believe that Emelyn is already 5 years old. She's so smart and so incredibly sweet! Wishing you another happy, healthy year sweetheart!

Surprise!!!

Surprise!!!

and she was!

Matt, Megg and I plotted this

surprise 30th birthday party for Krissy for over a month

and amazingly, no one blew it!

we ended up with 40+ at my mom's house

where krissy thought she was going to be attending

Riley's 1st birthday party

thankfully she didn't come in her pajamas as she had thought about doing

though, at 8+ months pregnant I'm not sure anyone would have minded!

i was terrible about taking pictures because i was too caught up playing hostess and making sure everything was going smoothly, but i did manage to get a shot of the birthday girl blowing out her candles... with a little help from the little man.

her favorite cake from White's Bakery.
Chocolate Mousse Cake with Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

we also had make-your-own ice cream sundaes

and

a chocolate fountain!
a pregant woman's dream!

then there was the crazy cast of characters. led by the ring-leader, Dana. He made party hats into a full-on event and Emelyn loved every minute!

Dana & the birthday girl!

check out his behind. no really. i think he's encouraging it!

Dan's 2-year old niece Lilly! So beautiful!

this was the epitome of the "end of the night, long day" vibe

oisin having a grand old time, playing. and his dad, tom, in the background. wiped.

love this cute little guy. he's learning the flirty shoulder shrug early!

finally, this was by far the cutest, sweetest part of the night. most of the crowd had gone home. emelyn asked me to scratch her back, and within 10 minutes she was sound asleep on the livingroom floor. for some reason willy was still wide awake and hanging out (amazing since it had to be 10 or 11p)... when all of a sudden he goes over to emelyn saying "night night" and hugging and kissing her! so. freaking. sweet.

these ones speak for themselves.

matt took willy home eventually and we stayed chatting [mom, dad, dan, kris, dave, conor and me] until after 1am. then we finally called it a night and drove kris home.

happy 30th krissy.

love you!

Happy Birthday Dana!

Last night we went to The Charlie Horse to celebrate Dana's birthday! Maureen remembered her camera and took some great photos. Here's the proof of our great night out!

Maureen, Ellen, Steve, Erika, Tina, Sheri and the birthday boy himself, Dana!

Dan and me

Yep, it was a dancing kind of night. Road Soda is, of course, the greatest band and we couldn't resist the urge to groove. Even Dan was on the dance floor! That's how much fun we were having.

Michelle, Dan and Me.

Silly Steve, me, and Chris

Julie and Steve

Jamie, Jen & Maureen

Jamie & Me

Michelle & Silly Dan

Ellen, Sheri, Tina and Erika

Thanks for a great night everyone!

And thanks for the pics Maureen!

Photo Finish Friday- March 27th

Late in posting this one. Oops!

Paradise- FOUND!!!

remember how the cats inadvertantly hid the flash drive that contained dana and sheri's pictures from our jamaican vacation in january?

well, we finally found them. here are some highlights which prove, despite what you might have thought from the first batch of photos, that dan and i were in fact there!

Sheri and I enjoying some end of the day sun up by the bar.

Dan's enjoying it too!
The only group shots of the week... with that pesky sun in the background.
Going to have to try to edit these some more.

Sheri at the swim-up bar.

Me dancing with one of the performers. Oops I picked a fuzzy one. Think I have some more... will have to check on that later.

Dan laughing at Dana's antics at the Japanese Steakhouse. This picture really shows you just how much fun we had that night. Dana had the whole table rolling!

A terrible pic of Dan and I at Margaritaville. Seriously... I think I need to shave my head!

Long, wavy hair + humidity = recipe for disaster

Kissy Kissy!

Funny how that seems like a million years ago already.

When is summer going to arrive? I'm ready!