Happy Birthday, Papa/Dad!!!

Papa/Dad had two cakes this year-the first one was a cheesecake and the second was pecan pie. Henry squeezed up front to sing Happy Birthday to Papa!
Looking at the cards Emma and Henry made for Papa for his birthday.
The kids decided to give Papa something from their toy bins. Emma chose her very pink lizard with missing eyes, toes, and a partial tail(heh-long story kinda).
Opening Emma's present.
Henry chose a lion from their super huge animal collection! Betcha you don't have your very own lion!
What could be in the box for papa?!
We all met up at the String Bean Restaurant in Richardson for lunch and then had cake/pie and opened presents and cards at Papa and Nana's.

Papa's official birthday is tomorrow, but we celebrated today with a special birthday lunch and bday cake/pie back at the house. Happy Birthday, Papa/Dad!!! We love you sooo very much!

Happy Birthday, Cousin Garrett!!!

Today is cousin Garrett's 14th birthday. Happy Birthday, Garrett!!!! We hope you have a terrific day. Sending you hugs, kisses, and lots of love:)

Family/Framily Bday Party:)

Aunt Julie, Uncle Philip, Brian, Kevin H(bday kid), and Tara H surfing the net.
"Uncle" Gary is in the light green shirt-he's one of the bday kids:)
Daddy(Jason) and cousin Catie chatting about all sorts of things around the fire pit at Papa and Nana's.
Emma having a light dinner and watching a video before we headed home.
Henry finishing up his dinner before we headed home. They both fell asleep within 5 minutes of being on the road.
Uncle Didup(Philip) and Mommy. We both could us some sleep. Philip flew in from grad. school as a surprise for Suza!
Aunt Suza (bday kid) and Emma being silly which is something they do an awful lot:)

We went over to Nana and Papa's last weekend for a joint bday party for Aunt Suza, "Uncle" Gary, and one of our newer framily members, Kevin. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, had 3 different desserts, opened bday cards, and just had a really good time.

Happy Belated Birthday, Aunt Tanya and Cousin Dot!!!

Friday was Aunt Tanya and Cousin Dot's birthday and we hope that they both had a very Happy Birthday. I am so sorry, but I didn't get cards out in time so they are going to be late. You were both thought of on your special day and we hope you had a wonderful time celebrating. We love you and are sending hugs, kisses and lots of love your way!

Happy Belated, Aunt Suza and Gary!!!

My apologies to Aunt Suza and Gary for being so late on wishing you both a very Happy Birthday from all four of us. September was Gary's birthday and we really hope he had a great day. And Aunt Suza's birthday was October 1st and we also hope she had a fabulous day! We love you both and are sending each of you squeezes and kisses and loves! Happy Birthday!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Cousin Charles!!!!!

It is so hard to believe that our nephew Charles is already one! Today is his special day and we hope he had an amazing day with his momma and daddy, Lisa and Brian. He is one great kid and we love him so much. Happy Birthday, Charles!!!! We love you and we're sending you lots of kisses and squeezes and loves from your two cousins and your Uncle and Aunt:)

Happy Birthday, Uncle Brian!!!

Today was Uncle Brian's birthday!!! We hope you had a great day:) Sending you lots of hugs, kisses, and LOTS of love!!!! Happy Birthday!!! We love you:)

Happy Birthday, Cousin Elysabeth!!!!

Today is Elysabeth's 12th birthday!!! Happy Birthday, Elysabeth!!!! We hope you have a great day and are looking forward to the big bash this weekend at Nana and Papa's!!! Sending you lots and lots of hugs and kisses and oh maybe some love too:)

Happy Birthday, Mom/Granny!!!

Today is also Mom/Granny Henriksen's birthday! We really hope you have a wonderful day Mom/Granny! Happy Birthday to the best Granny in the world:) Also hope that you get our surprise and our e-card that Mommy sent. We're sending a whole lotta hugs and kisses and loves to you. We love you bunches and miss you so much! Happy Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Bob!!!

Today is my uncle's birthday so, Happy Birthday, Uncle Bob!!! We hope you have a great day:)

Sending hugs, kisses, and love.

Happy Birthday, Stephen!!!

Today is my best friend's birthday. Stephen and I have known each other since we were in diapers and have been best friends for 30+ years. He is a wonderful person. He's far away today or far enough away to where we can't celebrate with him in person. So we're sending him lots of hugs, kisses, and love. Happy Birthday, my dear friend!!!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Philip!!!

Today is my brother, Philip's birthday. So, Happy Happy Birthday, Philip!!!! We're sending you lots of hugs, kisses, and LOVES!!!! WE'll see you tomorrow for the bday party:) Have a great day! We love you:)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!!

Today is Daddy's 32nd Birthday!!! So Happy Birthday Daddy! We hope we've given you a wonderful day. We love you so very much:)

Happy Birthday, Cousin Isabel!!!

We just wanted to wish our cousin Isabel a very happy birthday! We hope you have a great day and have loads of fun on your special day:) Sending lots of hugs, kisses, and love your way. Happy Birthday Isabel!!!

Happy Birthday, Mammaw!!!!

Today is Mammaw Christie's birthday and we hope she has a wonderful day. She is the best great grandma a boy and girl could have:) We love you Mammaw!!! Happy happy birthday! We're sendng lots of hugs , kisses, and love:)

Happy belated Birthday, Nana/Mom!!!

Wednesday was Nana's birthday!!! She and Papa were on vacation up in Michigan visiting Aunt Lila and Uncle Bob and had a wonderful time. So we celebrated when she got back. Here or there, we're sending her lots of hugs, kisses, and lots of love. And as Emma said just the other day, "Nana rocks!"

Happy Belated Birthday, Grandpa!!!

We wanted to say Happy Birthday to Grandpa Henriksen.  His birthday was yesterday and I didn't forget(card is on the way); I just forgot to post:)  Grandpa/Dad, we hope you had a really great day!  You are thought of often and we talk about Grandpa and Granny a lot around here.    Happy Birthday!!!  We're sending you lots of hugs and kisses and cuddles and love:)

Happy Birthday, Aunt Lisa!!!

We hope you have a wonderful day!!! Sending lots of hugs and kisses:)
Love you and miss you!

The Big Birthday Party!!!

To celebrate Henry and Emma turning 4 years old, we had a big birthday bash at our house on Saturday, the 7Th. Since the kids aren't in daycare or preschool yet, most of the guests were adults, with the exception of one kiddo their age and their younger cousins. We invited family and a few friends to come on over and help us celebrate. We had some yummy snacks to munch on since we knew the kids wouldn't sit still for a sit down meal. And we had birthday cake and ice cream with sprinkles! I was shooting for a themed birthday this year, but it was a no go. So we got a nice Spring themed cake and added a Tinkerbell candle for Emma and a Lightning McQueen candle for Henry. They were thrilled and thought the candles were great. Per Emma's request, Mommy even got streamers and decorated several rooms. You'll see that Mommy hasn't decorated with streamers in ages, but they were happy with the end result and that's all that counts:) Aunt Suza brought them each four helium balloons with some of their favorite characters on them so that added a bit more to the merriment. The kids and their friend Jacoby and the cousins played outside for a bit and then we called them in for cake and ice cream. They did an awesome job of blowing out their candles! And then it was on to the presents. Our kids are well loved. Something similar to a truckload of presents took over the family room. We crowded in and began the process of opening presents. The kids are pros at this now. The only problem we ran into was, Henry tore through his presents like a little tornado and got a little upset that his sissy was still opening more presents. After it was explained to him, he settled down. It was so funny watching Henry open the presents containing clothes-the bag would be opened and rummaged through and clothes tossed over his head and he would move onto the next present. Hilarious...so funny! Emma would at least pause and look at the clothes and maybe make a comment and then move on. It was a blast! And we are and continue to be so grateful to our family and friends for their generosity and love for our kids. We all had a great afternoon!

Happy 4th Birthday, Henry and Emma!!!!

Four years ago at this time, I had been successfully induced and my labor had started. It would be another 12-13 hours before our little man and our little lady would make their appearances. I didn't sleep, couldn't eat, and was anxious to meet the two little people I had been carrying for the past 39 and 1/2 weeks. Yep, 39 and 1/2 weeks! We waited and waited and were checked and then checked some more. I tried to be brave and wait until the last minute to have my epidural, but didn't quite make it. I was close enough though to where they didn't have to all the doctor for approval to give it to me. Most of my family were there all day and the rest arrived later when we got close. And Jason family was patiently waiting for the call. Then things started moving and they cleared the room. It was just me, Jason, my mom, and our L&D curse, Katie. She was the greatest! Things moved rather quickly from there. We were moved to a small OR across the hallway once my labor reached maximum velocity:) Here comes the fun part. Our hospital had just gotten in new delivery gurneys with adjustable stirrups, but nobody knew how to attach them or use them. So I got to sit/lay on my gurney and not push while they tried to figure it out. We didn't use the new gurney:) We didn't take any birthing classes. I didn't feel it was necessary since I had been witness to two other births before doing it myself and I had read a lot about the process and blah blah blah. Anyway it's totally different when you ARE actually delivering your child/children. During all the commotion with the faulty gurney the OR filled up with loads of people. We had two neonatal teams, my ob, my L&D nurse, Jason, my mom, and me and of course the two little newbies that would soon show up. So in total I had about 17 people with me and it was one of the smaller ORs. So we were packed in there nice and tight. I followed directions and pushed when told and the next thing I knew, Henry was here! Our little man had a bit of trouble getting started, but pretty soon he was howling and a few minutes later I met my Little Old Man. That is exactly what he looked like a little old man. And he looked just like his daddy. I barely got to hold him when the urge to push came again. Dr.Farmer and I hadn't really discussed this part(at least I don't remember discussing it). I kind of sat up as much as I could and asked him how long in between it should be before I would need to push. He looked at me and said that it should be 10-15 minutes in between deliveries. And then he looked over at my IV and asked if the drip had been turned off. It had not and I was more than ready to push. Our Little General came flying out 9 minutes after her brother. Poor Dr.Farmer got a shower. Emma had her cord wrapped around her little neck, but was fine and we quickly found out that she too had one good set of lungs on her! My mom(Nana) said that Emma was a little copy of me. I got to hold them both on our way back to our room. Daddy gave everyone who was out in the hall anxiously waiting for news two thumbs up and a big smile. We settled in for a bit in our room and then they had to get checked out further by the pediatrician. The rest of the story of that day wasn't good, but that's another story. Anyway, that's roughly how it happened four years ago today. We have had our struggles and lots of joy since then. And I am so glad my two little big people are here. So to our big boy and our big girl, Happy 4th Birthday!!! Mommy and Daddy love you so very much:)