make a wish, birthday girl....
you are finally five!

tomorrow my sweet blonde girl turns five.
it's hard to believe that the first little sister is going to be that old.

she asked me today if i remember when she used to be three.

i remember.

i remember the joy of that positive pregnancy test in the middle of the night.
i remember getting the due date of my birthday, and deciding
to name a girl erin elizabeth, after her mama and her aunt.
i remember my huge belly, and dancing around the living room with kate,
trying to convince that little baby to come out.
i remember a hard, fast labor....
i remember tears of joy because it was another girl.
i remember a calm baby, who slept through the night at 12 weeks.
i remember sweet blonde curls,
huge blue eyes,
puppies, and more puppies, and sweater puppy.
i remember when she was a baby, in the bathtub, and how she used to
purposely go under water.
now, in the pool, it's hard to get her to come up for air.
i remember her first steps.
i remember when she got her first scooter, on her third birthday....
how those wheels gave her confidence and speed and joy.
i remember her first day of k3.
i remember her first day of k4.
i remember her becoming a big sister, three times.
i remember her asking grandma and grandpa when they would have a baby.
i remember her doing her irish dance routine for me and dan,
and telling us that we are supposed to smile.
i remember that she is a friend to kate and annie's best playmate.
i remember that she chases tess around the house to make her laugh.
i remember how she figured how to make sara jane laugh,
over and over and over.

i remember, erin.
i remember all five sweet years of you.

my littlest valentine.
xoxo

fun and games

it's marathon week in the hemsworth house.....

piano lessons
valentines day parties (times five)
dance class
swimming lessons
one sweet blonde girl turning five
grandparents to come celebrate
furniture delivery (well, i had to throw that in here.)
irish dance debut for two little girls
followed up by a baptism for one sweet little niece.
(oh, and another year older for this mama.)

i hope to keep my humor high,
my wine intake low.
oh, come on. or within reason.
my girls healthy,
and my wits about me.

wish me luck....
i think i'm gonna need it.

(kate and tess discovered an open door. i could barely take
the pictures i was laughing so hard.)

annie girl, usually with wings or a princess dress of some sort,
and a blanket and kitty following close behind,
and the thumb?
we always know where the thumb is.

i took the little girls to the good doctor this morning for sara's 6 month check-up.
we left knowing that tess has pneumonia and sara has (her fourth) double ear infection.

ouch.

my sweet girl.

sara jane is six months old today! i can say with 100% certainty that this little sweetie has been the
perfect completion to our family. she is easy tempered and very go with the flow and completely
adored by her four big sisters and parents. she now rolls across rooms and only protests when
she gets stuck under furniture. she thinks her sisters are hilarious and gives them lots of good belly
laughs when they entertain her. she does this weird inhale happy noise that i've never heard any other
baby do and is completely her own. if she slept through the night, she'd be the perfect baby. oh, i didn't
just say that.....did I?

i'll keep her.....every 2 hour feedings and all!

the other evening we gave little sister her first taste of solid food.  she had decidedly waited long

enough and lapped it up like a baby bird.

heaven.

happy birthday today to my wonderful dad,
loved so wholeheartedly here by his one girl,
and five little girls,
and i think dan, too.

xoxoxo

giggly baby with her big sister kate.

almost six month baby....
loves the giraffe.

   (homework)

socks are optional.

    good morning, sunshine.

happy birthday to our much loved, much adored, much worshipped,
can't-imagine-what-we-would-do-without-her grandma.

all the love from our little world to yours today, mom.

xoxoxoxo
dan-brooke-kate-erin-annie-tess-sarajane

(my attempt at a group shot. this was not the day to do it....annie cranky, tess
demanding to hold tupperware of brownies. you know how it goes.)

saturday we traveled south to celebrate our nephew danny's sixth birthday and to meet our new
niece hallie. hallie is so small and sweet and perfect. we tried to do an impromptu photo shoot
but the light was bad and the baby wasn't in the mood. next time we'll give her more of a heads up.

my wiggly girl cooperated for a spur-of-the-moment (much debated) haircut sunday morning.
i like the outcome.

kate is the 5th girl from the right. they judged two girls at a time. all different schools
competed, and each school has their own steps.... that's why her steps are different
from the girl next to her. she got 6th place out of 13 six year olds..... i think she did
great for how nervous she was. (dan said....i don't really think there were 5 kids better
than her....he's such a dad!) this is such a learning process for all of us.

kate competed in her first irish dancing feis yesterday. she was really, really nervous 

beforehand.....more nervous than i have ever seen her.....like teary splotchy face body

shaking take me home nervous....but with the help of seeing her buddy rachel she 

pulled it together and lined up and danced her best. we are so very, very proud of her. 

tess, my patient girl, waiting for school girls to be done.

everyone in the family is feeling relieved that this tooth is finally out.
it was a teary dinner, with it hanging by a thread.....i yanked twice
(really, with permission!) but couldn't get it out....and it finally succumbed
to some garlic bread. happy girl, happy sisters, happy parents....
happy tooth fairy to tuck a golden dollar coin under her pillow.

i like the gappy smile. i think it suits her.

i've been taking sara's month pictures with this big pink kitty, to document how much she is growing.
it was a cute idea back in september.....now i'm thinking, oh my gosh am i tired of looking at this
big pink kitty. oh well. this session she just kind of fell over on him.

we're on day 6 of forcing down antibiotics for her third ear infection. she seems to be feeling better but
isn't really sleeping better. i'm trying not to complain....she is so easy tempered during the day and i am
not ready to let this sweet baby cry at night.

i did.
i do.
i will, every day....
for the rest of my life.

I think it's safe to say that these baby blues are not going to turn brown. After Kate and her huge

brown eyes, who would have thought she would be followed by 4 blue-eyed sisters?!

what a difference a day makes!