The Birthday Celebrations

Saturday July 3rd we went out with my parents to celebrate our 3 birthdays. One of our favorite restaurants is Kelsey's steakhouse. Our parents treated us so it was extra special. One time we went out (before having a kid) we saw a family at Kelsey's celebrating their kid's birthday. He was only probably 5 years old. I said "what kid requests a steakhouse and not chucky cheese? You KNOW the parents picked the place!!!" Well, here it was, on Kierstyn's first birthday and where did we go, the steakhouse! But she didn't eat so it was technically just for me and Adam's birthday dinners, hehe :)

Sunday July 4th we had Kierstyn's 1st birthday party:

JULY 3 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIERSTYN!!!

One year ago was one of the hardest but best days of my entire life. After 30 LONG hours of labor I delivered the most beautiful baby girl who is the pride and joy of me and Adam's life! Kierstyn Emmaleigh was well worth the 9 long months of waiting. I prayed for this baby for so long and feel like I have been blessed beyond what I ever could've asked for! She is such a wonderfully sweet and pleasant baby. I cannot believe that she is already a year old! Parents of children tell you how fast time flies by and to cherish every moment with your kids. I now believe what they say is very true. We are so excited to watch Kierstyn grow up and see what is in the days to come! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIERSTYN ~ We love you SOOOO much!

Another finishing touch

Last week I was {pleasantly} awakened two mornings to look out my window and see this...
Yep, that's right, heavy machinery! We finally made the decision to get our driveway paved and oh boy is it great. No more gravel on the carmats everytime you get in the car. No more struggling to pull the trash can down a really long driveway. And yes to smooth sailing for Kierstyn when she starts riding on her toys! Adam is thrilled to death, can you guess why? Oh yes, he can now officially snowblow his driveway with his John Deere snowblower attachment (couldn't do that with gravel)....oh boy :)

Here is the finished product:

Cousin Time!

Mid-June we were happy to have Amy, Brian, Rylie and Carter come to Chicago to visit us! Kierstyn had been long-awaiting her cousins to come. She had been waving to "Car-Car's" picture up on grammy's bookshelf for months, so she was thrilled to finally see him in person again! Boy did the kids have a great time together. Kierstyn just screamed because she was so excited...it made Carter a little uncomfortable at first but then he got used to her. The babies also kept trying to attack Rylie and whatever she was playing with. We kept joking and called it "attack of the babies" :)

We all spent some fun time together that week. Adam, Brian and my dad went to a Cubs game, we all went to the Shedd Aquarium (minus Adam since he had to be at work) and just spent some time hanging out. We sure miss having them around - it would be great if they could be closer one day!