Birthday pictures

Happy 5th Birthday Airen

Happy 5th Birthday Airen!!! Cannot believe he's five!! Airen will be starting kindergarden in a few weeks and then it will really hit me!!!

On Monday Airen had a small party with his friends. We took cupcakes with Wall-E on them and the kids all enjoyed them. Tuesday we went to Naw's house. I made him a lego block cake and it turned out pretty good. Naw & Pop-Pop got Airen his first two wheel bike with training wheels. Airen was so excited and couldn't wait for the sun to go down so he could go ride it. He did really well on the bike and had a blast.

Saturday we had Airen's party with some other friends. We had a blast. We got lego sets for the kids to build. We were glad we got to spend some time with family friends we'd not seen in awhile. All in all Airen had a wonderful fifth birthday!!!

Adult only lunch

Today Airen went to hab/respite. I mentioned to Ms. W that Doug was off and that I thought we were going to try to grab lunch today. Our wonderful provider offered to watch Mara while we (DOUG & I) got to enjoy a meal with NO KIDS!! I was a little hesitant at first as there were her kids plus my two---5 kids total. So at 12:30 I dropped Mara off with Ms. W and the kids were so excited to see her. Mara went to Ms. W with no problems and I walked out the door not to look back. Doug and I headed to Harrah's casino down the road. We had a buy 1 get 1 free coupon for their Harvest Buffet. Can't beat a lunch for two costing $9.99!! That's my kind of deal!! Doug and I enjoyed the people watching. All the little old ladies coming in with their special necklaces and needing to sit at the special table was fun. You see all types at the casino and it is fun. I tried to get Doug to go play $6.00 at the slots but he said no way. $6.00 would have been gone in under 5 minutes but he's a poop and doesn't like casinos. Has no interest at all. I'm not big on gambling either but just a few minutes would have been fun. We went and got the kids around 2 pm and Mara did just fine. She had a blast playing with her brother and the other kids and they had fun with her. I am so thankful to Ms. W for letting Doug and I enjoy an adult only meal!!!!

Happy 4th of July

Want to say Happy 4th of July to everyone!! A special thank you to all the military for my freedom. Thank you to all the families who are separated from loved ones. Their service is much appreciated and all you sacrifice means the world to the freedom my family and I have.

R2D2 build

Airen got to help build R2D2 during the LEGO build. It was a great thing for kids. There were so many people that showed up all weekend. There were constant lines just to get into the store. The LEGO folks had to limit the number of folks in the store. Mall security was all over the place watching the number of folks and the fire hazard. Sunday R2D2 was finally finished and he was amazing. Going to include some pictures.

Airen & Doug's TV appearance

Thursday morning we went to the LEGO store for 4am!!! Yes you read that right. 4am!!! Channel 3 news was sending Brad Perry on location at the LEGO Store for the morning show. Last minute Doug decided that we should all go. Airen was wonderful and had so much fun. The master builder from LEGO was so much fun. Brad Perry was a blast. Of course through the whole thing he kept saying he was at the Chandler LEGOland Store. Not quite but you get the point. Brad did an on air interview with the master builder Dan and also one with Doug. At the end he went around to the kids and asked them what they built. Surprisingly Airen was great talking live on air.

Below are links to a few of the news clips that made it to Channel 3's website. Hope you all enjoy!!!

http://www.azfamily.com/video/gmaz-index.html?nvid=258101&shu=1

http://www.azfamily.com/video/gmaz-index.html?nvid=258110&shu=1

http://www.azfamily.com/video/gmaz-index.html?nvid=258147&shu=1

Mara's 1 year doc appt

On Wednesday June 25th Mara had her one year appointment with the pediatrician. Mara is now 17.8 pounds and 28 3/4" tall. Her weight is in the 3% and height is in the 30%. The weight is the concern right now as the 3% is on the road to a ''failure to thrive'' diagnosis. Mara is now to drink one pediasure a day in hopes of it putting some weight on her. We will also be going for monthly weight checks. This child is the worse to feed. Early on she would eat whatever I put in front of her. Now its a fight. Screaming and crying and mommy and daddy getting all upset!!! Fingers crossed the pediasure works.

9 yr old David Militello - sings - 2008 America's Got Talent