WARNING

WARNING...mothers reading this post may feel a strong sense of inadequacy and jealousy because Mary just told me that I am like the coolest mom ever and after you hear about the birthday party I threw her you might feel the same. With Mary's birthday only two days before Halloween you'd think we'd have thrown her a Halloween party by now, but princess and make up parties kept getting in the way, but not this year. Mary requested a Halloween bash and that is exactly what she got! (Nothing but the best for our little princess.)

For starters you need to have a cool barn for the proper setting. Lucky for us, my friend Emily has a really cool barn (this isn't like a gross animal barn...it's like a cool party barn...have I mentioned that it's cool?)

(I forgot to take pictures of the outside of the barn...a different post)

And then of course, you need a really scary witch that can make a really good concoction of chicken toenails and bat wings and even bring a few kids to tears (it's true).

The witch is none other than Grandma Heder! Heder Boys...ever wonder where you got your flair for drama? Look no further than your own mother! No joke...she was good...a real genuine cackle. Oh and yes, Jason had plenty of obvious mother in law/ witch jokes (didn't see that coming).

Then there were plenty of appropriate fall time activities...

There were donuts on a string...

and apple bobbing...

don't forget the fun costumes...

Alexis, Sydney, Hannah & Annika

Here is your hostess with the mostess, in costume as a tribute to the guest of honor...Mary (my favorite line was "Third grade and Hannah Montana are awesome!")

Here we have Sarah and Abby Dixon dressed as prom queens and that is Jaykob as Elvis. Sarah & Abby surprised Mary with tickets to High School Musical On Ice and they whisked her away right after the party.

How cute...my little black cat holding a little black cat.

And here is my cute little white cat.

It was a birthday party and so there were presents, cake & pizza...

Mary was very spoiled by her friends with a lot of fun presents! She got several Webkinz? They are little stuffed animals that you can register online and play online games with, etc. I'm rolling my eyes, but in reality I'm thinking "why didn't I think of that?"

Mary is blowing out the candles on her tower of cupcakes. We are covering our ears because all the guests were singing an extra loud version of "Happy Birthday".

What a cute birthday girl!!!

So there you have it moms...I know, I know, you're all thinking how are you ever going to live up to this. You can't say I didn't warn you.

Let's get real though. I actually didn't have to do much. My friend Emily provided the barn, my friend Melissa brought the decorations, my friend Heidi decorated the cupcakes and my mom provided the entertainment. All I did was stretch out my daughter's new Hannah Montana t-shirt. Luckily, she still thinks that I'm like the bestest mom ever. Let me bask in it while it lasts.

Pumpkin Patches

Within a span of 5 days, I visited 3 pumpkin patches, but you know what? I'm okay with that. I love fall and pumpkin patches are the ultimate way to enjoy this season. On Tuesday, I took Max and Clara to Lakeview Farms for Max's preschool field trip and then on Friday we went back for a birthday party with the whole family. On Saturday we met Jason's parents and sister at Bauman Farms. Both Jason and Jaykob won a gallon of freshly pressed apple cider by slingshotting apples into the eye of the jack o lantern...way to go boys!

Max and Clara taking a ride on the train

Max with best friend, Avery

I just had to post this picture of Avery...too cute and so Avery

Climbing on one of the many hay forts at Bauman's

Here's another hay fort

After all those visits, we somehow only ended up with two little pumpkins. How did that happen? In any case, that means we probably aren't done with pumpkin patch visits. Oh well...

Happy 1st Birthday Clara!

A year ago today I was sitting in Dr. Stewart's office with the the results of a non-stress test. Clara had flunked it. I had been having problems with my amniotic fluid being too low for almost a month and being put on and off bedrest with the hopes to increase it. It seemed to be doing the trick, but when I went to my appointment on October 1, 2007, Dr. Stewart said that it was too low again and we shouldn't keep waiting anymore for the fluid to go back up but that it would be safer to induce me. He called the hospital right away and arranged for me to come in that afternoon. I called Jason and made babysitting arrangements for the other kids. We checked into St. Vincent's hospital around 12:20 pm. At 12:45 Dr. Stewart broke my water and it came out at 1:15. I was given pitocin at 2:04 and by 3:15 I was having contractions every two minutes. By 4:20 the contractions were coming every minute and I then received my epidural. At 6:15 I was dialated to a 10 and Clara was born at 6:27 pm at 7lbs. and 1 oz.!

The delivery couldn't have gone smoother and she was so healthy despite being my smallest baby.

For her birthday today, we went to the doctor's for her 1 year check up and she is a healthy 21 lbs.! She also got 4 shots (not much of a birthday present) and then we met Jason for sushi afterwards (she played with the chopsticks).

I look in awe at this beautiful little girl everyday and can't believe that our family was the lucky ones that she decided to experience mortality with. (Think of "Raising Arizona" when I say) I love her soooo much!!!

Happy Birthday my darling little girl!