Avery Turns 2 And A Whole Bunch Else

This past weekend we celebrated Avery's 2nd birthday. A small and very chaotic gathering of family and a few special friends. Needless to say, there was little chatting and a whole lot of chasing as all those in attendance tried to keep track of and more importantly, keep happy, 6 kids under the age of 2. We celebrated at a nearby park with cake and ice cream and, of course, a few gifts for the birthday girl. My personal highlight, Avery suggesting we repeat "Happy Birthday To You" with an emphatic "more, please."



In addition to the family celebration, we ha a few other major life moments over the Memorial Day weekend as well...

* Adam, thanks be to God, still has a job. Adam's company laid off over 1,000 sales people last week and we had a "wait-by-the-phone-to-see-if-you-still-have-a-job" day, like you only see in the movies. Thankfully, he was unaffected and we have been praising God for our good fortune as some of Adam's friends and fellow co-workers weren't so lucky.

* This weekend also featured a rare visit from one of Adam's closest high school friends, Mike Krejci. Mike has been down in Nashville, TN for about 6 years now and has become quite the singer and songwriter. He and his girlfriend, Becca, performed two nights in Zionsville and they were wonderful. Adam and I took the kids to his first performance Friday night and had a blast watching him. If you haven't heard of Mike, check him out here.

* Adam and I, unfortunately, made a very tough and stressful decision to "re-home" (as it is now called) our sweet Bella. Its become evident to us over the last few months that all our family changes have been really stressful for Bella and have changed not only her behavior but her temperament as well. After enlisting the help of a dog behaviorist, we collectively decided that finding Bella a home without children might be the best thing for her... devastating for us....but good for her. We are looking into a few leads here for a permanent and close placement for her, but if those don't pan out, we''ll be going through the Dachshund Rescue organization. Remembering that Bella was the first addition to our family right after Adam and I got married makes it even harder to think about not having her around, but I am certain we are doing the best thing and have been reminded that sometimes the best thing isn't the easiest thing.

*On a much lighter note, I received a wonderful gift from my sweet husband this weekend as well. No, not diamonds or jewels, but in my world just as cool... a vacuum. For those that know me, you know this is a gift right up my alley as I am obsessively neat and clean. The Bissel Healthy Home sucks like no body's business and I think I have vacuumed my carpets at least 7 times since receiving it. Please, please, please, don't hesitate to call if you would like me to come over and clean your carpets :).

*This weekend also afforded us the opportunity to do a few chores around the house. We dug a bed in our front yard for some foundation plants and got a small, but mighty vegetable garden planted in the back yard. Both were priorities for me and I am geeked their done.

*Oh, and last but not least, we finally decided on and bought a new camera. Here are a couple recent pics of the kids.





Blessings to you,
Katie