Cousin Alex is 5!

This past weekend we celebrated my nephew’s 5th birthday. Where does the time go? I remember so distinctly the day he was born. How I couldn’t sleep in anticipation for my sister to call and then heading to the hospital excited that the day had arrived, July 22nd. We waited for him to be born all morning. He didn’t come out until after 2 pm and Jen and Dave waited until after 3pm to tell us all they had a boy!!!! Our family’s life had changed for the better. Alexander David Barker was here to make it that much sunnier.

To think that was 5 years ago is to make me feel so much older. Now having a little one of my own I am sure I will look back on her 5th birthday in awe as to how it went by in a blink of an eye. Heck, I already do that!!!! Alex has grown into such a young man. This year was his first birthday party with kids from his preschool class. How surreal it was. I had visions of pictures from when Jen and I both turned five and now here we were…the mom’s behind the camera capturing another moment in time.

Jennifer of course was extremely organized and had everything planned out. The theme was Lego’s and it was complete with a Lego scavenger hunt, Lego building time, and Lego cupcakes. Alex and Samantha even had on Lego shirts!!!!
Ellia, Charlotte and Samantha hung out mostly in the living room playing with all the toys. Then they all decided to sit down on Alex's spider man chair and eat some carrots!

Ellia found the Doritos bowl and helped herself along with a friend she met.. haha.

The party with Alex’s friends was from 2 until 4 and then we had a family party after that. How fun to see all the cousins and friends playing together. They all have grown so much!

A wonderful family friend (Della!!!) made Alex’s Lego cake. So good!

Happy 5th Birthday Alex! So many fun memories still to come!!!

4TH of July Weekend, Staycation 2010 and then some…

What a wonderful start to July! Kevin and I took off the week after the 4th of July. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Vacation actually started on Friday July 2nd, however that was because I needed to get my root canal done. Friday and Saturday we prepped ourselves for the week going shopping at the mall, food shopping at the strip and patio shopping to get tiki torches to enjoy our evenings oustide.

With Sunday being the 4th of July, Jen, Dave, Alex, & Samantha joined us for church. It was really nice to have them there and we got some great shots of the kids and our families!

Then we went to Aunt Kelly and Uncle Ron’s for dinner. We got to meet Garrett Foulk for the first time. I can’t get over how tiny he is. Ellia was excited to see him and kept saying “baby”. She would also try help Nana burp him. Ellia and Magerie had so much fun with each other running around the house and chasing one another all the while screaming. Such girls! I can only imagine what they will do to poor Garrett when he gets bigger!!!

Ellia loved playing in the yard with her papa and dada. Thanks to our ever too kind neighbors, Ellia now has her own golf clubs. She is starting to get the hang of what the clubs are “supposed” to be used for.

Monday we went to the pool and then Tuesday was an extra special day because Uncle Korey, Papa and Nana came to the pool. Ellia loved swimming with Papa and jumping off the side of the pool into his arms.

That night we went to Mad Mex and she had some of her favorite avocados (aka guacamole) and enjoyed dancing to the music outside the restaurant. Again we headed to the mall and she got to ride the rides that are in the middle of the mall.

The rest of the week was mainly spent at the pool. Aunt Kelly visited Wednesday night to get a basket gift for cousin Wendy’s upcoming baby shower. Ellia thought the bag was for her apparently. Papa and Korey came to the pool again on Thursday and Ellia helped Dada play Uncle Korey at chess. Nana and Papa bought Ellia a shopping cart so she currently likes to put her baby in the cart and play with the fake food too.


Friday we headed to the zoo with Nana and Papa, Uncle Korey and Magerie. This was Ellia’s first time at the zoo. We saw Lions, and Tigers, and Bears.. oh my.. I couldn’t resist! Ellia loved the penguins and sea lions the best. She really enjoyed the monkey’s as well, especially the ape that beet his chest for us all at one point. We got to see the elephants up close and polar bears too. She got a baby elephant as a souvenir too.

Saturday was our last day at the pool. Ellia has so much fun sitting in the baby pool by herself. She would get upset when other children would come and shout “Mine”. Perfect opportunity to teach her more about sharing. She also loved riding Dada in the pool as well, eating by the pool, and just being Miss independent.

Later on that night we went to visit with Nick and Angela and baby Isabella. Isabella is 8 months old already and is such a cutie! The girls had fun playing with each other.

I think Ellia is destined to be a great chess player, either that or her Dada plays way too much. However she always seems interested. She even took on Nick at a game.

Sunday the 11th Ellia turned 20 months old!!!! I can’t believe that in 4 months she will be 2! Time just keeps on going by. Lord, teach me to number my days... Did I mention how much I enjoy her???!!! Maybe a couple times right? She really does make us smile every day. What personality little kids have. We had cousin Wendy’s baby shower to go to on Sunday. Wendy looks absolutely beautiful. She is having a little boy who is due on September 2nd. Nana’s birthday! We got some great shots of the kids with their Great Grandma Angelo, or GG!!! We also got some good ones of the girls playing in a chair together.

The week off was truly a blessing for us. It is so good to spend time with family and enjoy each other. I must say that I was depressed going back to work and was worried about Ellia going back to daycare. She had no problem though and loved seeing Ally Piggy, the kids, the teachers and her toys. I must be thankful that my job allows for us to take the time off that we did. It was absolutely wonderful. Until next time, enjoy this summer as much as you can because it will be over before you know it! Love ya all.