Happy Birthday to Colin!!!!!

Today Colin is 1!

I put together a 'little' collage of his 1st year--you should be able to simply click on the collage to make it bigger if you want to inspect all of the photos. There are some from each month of his life. It is amazing to look back, to remember all the things we maybe had forgotten. A rough 1st month to his little life, and now, he is the sweetest little baby, I mean big baby!

In honor of Colin's special day, here are the
"Top 10 Reasons We Love Colin"
1. For being the only boy Glynn child!
2. For allowing baby clothing that is FULL of blue, and NO pink!
3. For the sweet smiles you give when we arrive home from being away from you.
4. For the hard beginning, which grew us in so many ways.
5. For needing formula, to stop the nonstop crying....little did we know how much we'd cherish giving you bottles!
6. For loving all 3 girl sisters....make sure you keep it that way forever, Colin!
7. For just knowing how to push a toy car--something the girls never did at age 1!
8. For looking like an "Andy-clone"!
9. For "letting" Andy receive the football he has been eyeing for years...and now he has the boy who will play with it! (Thanks, Landsverks...Andy will always remember you being the 1st to visit us in the hospital with that gift!)
10. For the joy that you have provided all 5 of us...from the girls being little mamas to you, for the cuddles you've given me nearly every night in the middle of the night, and for the excitement you have for Andy when he comes home from work--you have filled our family with such happiness in the last year, little guy!

Birthday Blessings

Last Tuesday was my birthday....and again, you all "get" to see a photo of the peach cherry pie from Sweetie Pies in Door County!

Most of you know that we love to celebrate birthdays in our home. We celebrate the "Birthday Month", the "Birthday Week", the "Birthday Eve" and the actual BIRTHDAY! And what do we do? A lot of singing to the birthday person...and making them feel special in anyway we can think of.

This year, Andy was traveling in Paris, Texas the week prior to my birthday and Kimberly Clark came out with their big announcement....that 1 in 7 salaried employees would be let go by June. Yikes....and in processing that information, we decided to REALLY cut back until we knew what the situation was like with Andy's job. Usually, in the spring, we make 2 trips to Door County--for my birthday weekend and then another around Mother's Day. This year, we canceled our trips--partly because the weather was NOT perfect and partly because we're watching what we spend financially until the KC decision is made. That decision was fine.....except deep down, I was struggling, knowing that I wouldn't get my birthday "cake"...a Sweetie Pie's pie!

The day after we made our decision NOT to travel to Door County, Fed Ex showed up at my door with a perishable package for me....Can you even guess what it was? A PEACH CHERRY PIE from SWEETIE PIES in Door County!!!!! My friend Deanna had figured out who my great "far away friend Karen" was and between the 2 of them, they were able to determine my favorite pie flavor and where those famous pies were from! A HUGE thank you to Deanna for the delicious pie...what a blessing from God, knowing the deepest desires of my heart and caring about even little sweet desires like pie! As I opened that Fed Ex box, I was moved to tears and once again, thanked God for His provision and His loving care that He has for ALL of us.

The above photos include "the pie", and the family as we waited for our food at Fuddruckers. You will see "the boys" and "the girls" of the Glynn family!

And for humor, Ava has just been cracking us up lately. She said to me "So how old are you Mommy? 65?! Oh no, I mean 45!" (Keep going lower, sweet Ava!!) And then one day, when one of Andy's gifts that he had ordered was delivered by UPS, she peeked out the door when the doorbell was rung. She said "MOMMY! The GARBAGE man just left you a present!"

Ava's Birthday, part 2

Ava with her little friend Eden--she came over this morning for a Princess Playdate Party...and right away, the dress up box was put to use! Eden thought the blue haired wig was great!

Eden, Ava, and "Senior Princess Playdate Party Helper" Jayna--she took her role VERY seriously, she will be a good hostess someday!! The girls made crowns with their names on them--the other "Senior Princess Playdate Party Helper" (Ellie) helped organize the party preparations. Prince Colin took a nap and gazed at the balloons around the dining room table!

Ava loves to help bake and cook. She got a new apron and her own "glove" and baker's hat. She informed me that I can wear it when I make dinner! :)

Our 'close-as-family' friends, the Lynchs in Des Moines sent Ava this game--we are excited to play it!!!

Here's our Ava! Such a silly goose....this is her right after her 3 hour nap today--I'm guessing that she is not fully recovered from whatever knocked her down last week, as she fizzled out about 1 hour later.

Wow-this was the shocker gift....to the girls! WE knew she was getting an American Girl from Andy's parents! The screaming when the box was opened rivaled our other AG gift opening experience last Christmas Eve! She is happily sleeping with "Sarah" aka Kaylie...and I am *hoping* that she doesn't pull those beautiful braids out! Next stop, Mall of America to have the ears pierced!

Every princess needs a Cinderella castle right? Our friends, the Popps, gave us this castle for Ava! I thought we had all the princess stuff out there from Ellie and Jayna....but no, NOW we are stocked! Cinderella castle and princess Polly Pockets--who could ask for anything else?!

Ava and her birthday pie. Some have asked WHAT the other cake is...it's a cherry crisp, aka cherry "pie". Ava LOVES pie and does NOT love cake. But, she loves the look of cake! She asked for a castle cake....but kept talking about a cherry pie...so she got the cherry pie and the big girls will happily devour the castle cake this week. Of course, these were provided courtesy of the "Cake Fairy" :)

Thanks for all the gifts, emails, phone calls and love for Princess Ava! As she went to bed tonight, she was talking about when she will not be 4...and was happy to know that she will be 4 for the entire YEAR :)

Happy Birthday Ava!

Ava turns 4 today!

Here is a snippet of our morning--discovering the balloons and cake(s), the traditional "bed head" photo, Ava in her birthday shirt (Thanks, Uncle Tony!), and all 4 children before Ellie went off to school this morning.

Princess Ava is very excited to be 4...and is feeling much better after having a fever for 8 days!