Birthday Morning - May 3rd

At 6:42am, I felt a little tap on my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to see a grinning boy looking at me, who said "Mom, can you believe you have a 6 year old?"  He was so excited to wake up Sunday morning and check out the fireplace mantel (which I always decorate on their Birthday Eve so when they wake up all their presents are wrapped and waiting for them, their banner is hung and they have balloons that coordinate with the color of their wrapping paper)
Birthday boy with his presents
Showing me that he's six now
opening his presents from Ava (she picked out 2 Scooby Doo movies for him)
opening his Griffey shirt from us (Daddy has a matching one) =)
He got 2 new basketballs (his love for sports continues to grow... he spends  his recesses playing basketball with his friends, and you can bring your own ball from home)
opening his present from Carter... buzz light year gloves
And his BIG present from us this year... a Basketball hoop!  He was so surprised and excited, he played outside in his jammies for 15 mintues =)
He shoots and he scores!!
The hoop isn't going to stay right here on our driveway, that's just where we put it so we could open the garage door (with his eyes closed) and then have him open his eyes and see it for the first time.  We're going to put it on our back patio.
He also got a birthday phone call from Mickey Mouse.
Buzz Lightyear to the rescue (his gloves light up and talk when they are "punched")

Cristian's Birthday Party

Cristian had his birthday party on Saturday... he really wanted to play baseball, but the weather is so iffy this time of year, I didn't want to risk having an outdoor, rainy party.  Well, good thing, because it POURED.  Instead, we turned the gymnastics floor into a baseball diamond =)
Cristian had a Star wars themed party this year, and like every year, he is wearing a shirt to go with his theme =)  Here he is with his friend Saige, the first person to show up to his party.
Carter loved being in the gym with all those bright colors.
Carter hanging out while we were decorating the party room

Nannie and Auntie had him over on the bars, and he really held himself up in this position.  Strong baby!!

The kids LOVED playing in the foam pit (along with several of the parents)
Some of the moms watching =)
Kyle pitched to the kids who wanted to play baseball
They also played several games
Parachute game
Cristian with cousin Brady and his friend Hayden getting ready to play "wrap the present."
Close up of my birthday boy =)
All the kids eating dinner
Cristian wanted red cupcakes with sprinkles and a life saver on top.
I love that birthday grin that kids get while everyone is singing happy birthday to them.
Opening presents... (by the way, this is his "girl friend" Zoey).  Zoey's dad told us that she talks about Cristian all the time, and  has even picked out a ring from a Fred Meyer catalog that she wants him to get for her.  LOL, Cristian doesn't have the slightest clue what a girl friend is though.
More presents.
If one person at the party was going to find the chalk and cover themselves in it... it would be Cara.  So cute!
Here's the one picture I got of Ava at the party.  I really didn't do the best job taking pictures... I have none of him with myself or Kyle, and none of the grandparents with him, or with Auntie.  

Walking with Dinosaurs

Our family in Seattle
Cristian and Ava were so excited to go see Walking with Dinosaurs, and I have to admit, it was a pretty cool show.  Here they are with their new stuffed dinosaurs from Grandma Gina and Grandpa Larry. (they were a big hit)
It was hard to get good photos of the dinosaurs since we had to have the flash off.  but  here are a few =)
Mama T Rex with her baby T Rex

Me and Carter (who was not a fan of the show... he kept jumping because it was kinda loud... so Kyle stood out in the foyer with him since he had seen it before)
Carter and his dinosaur outfit =)
When the show was over, the sky was a very beautiful midnight blue color.  It made the space needle really stand out. (picture without flash)
Our family
We stayed at the Seattle Sheraton since the show got out so late.
Kyle and Carter watching the Mariner game, which we won in the bottom of the 9th inning!!
kids sound asleep with their new dinosaurs
The next morning... Carter entertaining himself in the big mirror
He loves looking at himself in the mirror
probably because he's so darn cute!!

Teacher Appreciation week

This week is Teacher Appreciation week at Cristian's school, and as a PTA member, this is one of the events I signed up to help out with at the beginning of the year.  Here are two of my good friends, Erika and Lana who also volunteered to help decorate Cristian's (and Erika's daughter Bailey, and Lana's son Hayden)'s teacher's door.  We absolutely LOVE C's teacher, she is wonderful, and deserves all the appreciation she's going to receive this week.  The theme we came up with was "bubble gum" and each kids' picture is one of the gum balls in the machine.  We're also planning on bringing her lunch on Monday, and Starbucks on Thursday, and the three of us bought her Mariner tickets for her, her husband, and 4 kids because they are HUGE Mariner/baseball fans.
The finished product (since this is part time Kindergarten, she has two classes.  That's why there are so many kids)
The butterfly art projects the kids did, on the bulletin board outside their classroom.
Cristian and Bailey hanging out while we were decorating after school.
Close up of them... they've known each other since preschool.

Preschool

I'm a little behind in posting these pictures... these pictures are from Ava's preschool class last Monday.  I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of her at preschool since the first week of class, and since she only has 3 more days of preschool, I thought I should get on that.  Here's Ava working on an art project.
More art work... Ava loves to paint.
Ava and her friend Holden playing in the blue sand.
Welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order
In her McDonalds apron
Ava waiting patiently for her snack.

Happy Birthday Cristian!

32 hours of  hard labor, 1+ hours of pushing, then an emergency c-section, followed by an infection that required re-opening my scar which had to be packed with gauze-soaked in hydrogen peroxide for 4 weeks... and now, 6 years later,  I have one REMARKABLE boy who I would do that all over again for.  Happy 6th Birthday Cristian Bradley!