Monday, February 25, 2013

Janet's Surprise 60th

Brian and his family planned a surprise 60th party for his mother this past weekend on Saturday night.  We told her we were coming home for her birthday and would be taking her out to dinner (just the 4 of us) to a steak restaurant nearby.  Little did she know that there would be 15 of us celebrating her birthday in a private room at the steakhouse.  We had arranged for babysitting for the boys and even planned a "fake" party for Sunday of our weekend in town.  
The table is set, just waiting for the guests to arrive.  Since we were bringing Janet with us, I didn't have an excuse to bring my camera with me.  So thank you very much to Michele for taking the photos:
Brian, Janet, Vinnie & me:
As part of the surprise, Brian sent out a message to all of Janet's friends and family asking for letters of memories . . . to get her to 60 memories for her 60th birthday.  Brian collected and organized all of the letters. As of Saturday morning, we had 58 letters compiled and had the idea of the grandkids doing a few letters to get us to the 60th mark.  Evan colored a page for her and Morgan wrote a short note too.  Michele made the beautiful flower arrangements in the antique tea-pots she had collected:
And a group shot of all of the guests:
We had a great time and, more importantly, Janet had an even better time. I just hope my boys are half as thoughtful as Brian was for his mother with this party!  Thanks to everyone who made it such a success!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Eric is 11 months old

Eric turned 11 months old this week!  I think this frog picture may just be my favorite.  He was so smiley and cooperative - hamming it up for the camera.  Eric was at the doctor this week for a sick visit - first ear infection and first dose of antibiotics at 11 months, which is pretty good as far as I'm concerned.  We hadn't been for a sick visit since October so I can't complain at all.  He got weighed with his clothes on and was up to 19 lbs and 23rd percentile.  His weight was a little overinflated but I was thrilled.  Eric is taking lots of steps now - he has probably connected 8 steps or more.  I wouldn't say that he's walking yet because he still choose crawling over walking but I think we are really close.  He loves to get himself to standing without holding onto anything and stand there practicing his balance.  He is also getting to be more talkative.  He will say "uh oh", "ball" and "choo choo".  He also will imitate the sneezing sound if we do it.  Overall, he continues to be happy and easy-going.  I can't believe this is almost our last frog picture and that my little baby will be 1 next month! 
 Being silly:
First Valentine's Day:

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Eric's First Steps

Eric took his first official steps on Saturday, February 2nd at 10.5 months old.  As a contrast, Evan was not even able to pull himself up to standing at this age.  While we've got a little bit of time yet before he's off and walking, I'm afraid that time is going to go faster than I would like!
The rest of the weekend was devoted to the Superbowl.  Brian has always been a 49ers fan and was thrilled to see them play in the Superbowl.  The whole family dressed in red to celebrate:
 Trying for a full family shot:
Unfortunately, the 49ers did not win and Brian was not too happy.  Maybe next year?!?!