Baby Andrew is Born!

Frank's sister, Gina P*, and her husband, Steven, along with big sister, Brianna, welcomed baby boy Andrew Paul P* into this world yesterday morning! We got to visit them in the hospital this evening, and he is definitely a cutie! Carly couldn't wait to hold her new little cousin. She was absolutely fascinated with all of his little parts. Emily was scared to get too close, and it took some encouragement to get her to hold him for a picture. I think she was a bit afraid of how little he was. She didn't want to do anything to hurt him. Here are some pics of the girls with their newest relative . . .

Happy Easter!

All I Want for Easter is My Two Front Teeth

Check out this grin! After two long years of waiting, Emily finally has her two front teeth! We can't believe it! Two years ago, she knocked them out while playing at her best friend's house. For some reason, she thought it might be fun to swing between the arms of a loveseat and a couch, and she promptly landed face first on our neighbor's hardwood floor. Luckily, I was there when it happened. I still remember that sick to my stomach feeling I had when I rushed her to the dentist. She knows she's got to take really good care of all of her big girl teeth, since they'll be with her for the rest of her life. Besides, I've told her I don't think my heart could take the trauma again!

Got chocolate?

I think all four of us possess the gene for "chocoholism." Ever had the chocolate dessert at Carrabba's Italian Grill? We highly recommend it!

Emily's Slumber (yea, right!) Party

Emily celebrated her 7th birthday with a slumber party at our house last night that included 9 of her friends from 1st Grade as well as her sister, Carly, and her cousin, Brianna. We ordered pizza, and since Emily is still crazy about all things Hannah Montana, we had "HM" cupcakes for dessert. (Mental note: next time I order cupcakes or cake - - - no purple or blue icing!) Yikes!

I purposely scheduled the party on a Friday evening, thinking most of the girls would poop out early after being at school all day, but some of them were still wide awake after midnight! I wish I had 1/10th of their energy! Carly was the first to fall asleep, and Emily crashed soon after. I had to laugh! Little Cousin B, the youngest one of all at 4 yrs. old, was able to hang with the big girls and was one of the last to go to sleep, but I think she had the benefit of a taking a good nap that afternoon! (Mental note: next time we host a slumber party - - - no more than 4 or 5 invitees!) I am WIPED!

Sensational Seven!

We absolutely can't believe Emily is 7 years old now!

What a difference 7 years makes!

We love you so much, and we're so proud you, Em!

Happy Birthday!

Move Over Brittany Spears!

Emily's friend, Drew, celebrated his 7th birthday not too long ago with a snake-themed party. I'm not really into reptiles of any sort, but I must admit, I think I had more fun than Emily at the party! Clint, aka "The Snake Man," came to the party with lots of his really cool slithering friends, and he educated all of us on the different specimens he brought with him. Emily wasn't too keen on holding any of them, but she did touch the really big yellow one (which is actually a Hurricane Katrina rescue - - - OMG!)

Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?

Emily joined a Brownie troop at the end of January, and she was so disappointed to learn she wouldn't be eligible officially to sell Girl Scout Cookies this year. (You had to be a Brownie as of a certain date in December in order to sell them.) She did, however, get the chance to participate at a "cookie booth" at one of our local grocery stores where she had the chance to help her fellow troop members sell cookies to hurried shoppers. It was a good experience for her.

While Mommy and Emily pedalled cookies, Daddy and Carly made a trip to Wal-Mart to purchase something with pedals - - - a bicycle for Carly. It's "Bike Day" this Wednesday at Carly's preschool, and of course, she just couldn't bring her tricycle to ride - - - she's a big girl now! Here she is all decked out on her new Barbie bike. You should see her go! Pretty soon she won't even need the training wheels!

Where Have I Been?

It feels like FOREVER since I've sat down in front of my computer and thought about blogging. Probably because it has been! You may have noticed that my "leave of absence" began once the girls started back to school in late August 2007. It's truly been a whirlwind since then! I didn't fully realize what kind of a time commitment would be involved serving as the PTO VIPS (Volunteers in Public Schools) Coordinator at Emily's elementary school. We have a volunteer base of over 400 volunteers, including 7 Grade Level Coordinators and 60 Room Parents that serve a student population of nearly 1300 students. It's literally a part-time job that I don't get paid to do! I've enjoyed it, though. I've met a lot of nice people, and I've learned a lot. I've also been busy putting quite a few miles on the SUV hauling the girls around town for gymnastics, recreational cheerleading, Brownie meetings, and CCE.

Here's a peek of what's been going on in the D* family since my last post . . .