Oopsy daisy! Ariana turned 5!!

My oh my, I used to be so good at updating my blog and making sure I announce or write about those special moments or momentous occasions. Well, I am not so great at keeping up anymore. I forgot to write a post about something very special that happened yesterday. Something remarkable, unbelievable, and quite frankly, unbearable.

What are you talking about you say? Well, I am talking about our little munchkin Ariana turning FIVE YEARS OLD!! AHHHH! Talk about scary! Where did the time go? I am not quite sure, but the three words I used above (ya know the ones highlighted in yellow) say it all, my feelings wrapped up into those three words.

It seems here lately time has just flown by, like a book off of a bookshelf thrown by a mysterious force. Scary!!! Scary how time is doing just that.

I had her on a Friday, one night after trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. They had it early that year. High school football is on Friday nights, and in Western Pennsylvania, you don't skip High School football, not even for trick-or-treating. So instead of having it Saturday the 30th they had it on the 28th. Rob took Ella and Gabriel out to collect candy while I stayed home and passed it out. At that time Gabriel was 2 and Ella was just 13 months old. So hard to believe. I felt fine that evening and even that night. I even had Rob take a couple of pictures of my pregnant belly that night. After 9 months I realized we hadn't gotten a picture of me pregnant with Ariana. Well, it's just a good thing we did because the next morning, while Rob was working 2 hours away, I started to have contractions. At the time, I didn't think I was going into labor. I denied it all day to my friends and family, telling them I was just in pre-labor and that the contractions weren't "the real thing". If it wouldn't have been for some local friends, I don't know if I would've made it to the hospital on time. Rob had to drive in traffic 2 hours to get home. When he arrived, I was in a chair, kids running wild, with our friends waiting for Rob to get home. I could barely breathe I was having so many contractions. When we got to the hospital, I was 3 or 4 centimeters dilated.

I had her just before midnight. She came quicker than her brother and sister, and she is still just as quick now a days.

Ariana, like our other children, has her own unique traits that make her who she is . I wouldn't take any of them away or add a bit. She is our youngest little princess!

She had a great birthday-day though. :) She celebrated her big day at school with cupcakes, juice boxes, and games. She also got to visit daddy and Maw Maw at work, and went to McDonald's two times! It was quite a busy day for her.

She will have her official birthday party on Sunday, which she has themed Dora. It should be a blast for her and I will post pictures next week.

Thanks for visiting the blog, and....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIANA!!!

Visit to Bandy's Pumpkin Patch

So we had our yearly visit to a pumpkin patch this year. It was our first time going to one here in Illinois! We went to a place called Bandy's Pumpkin Patch. It was a blast for the kids. They have the works; A playbarn with a big slide, tubs of corn to play in, and bouncy house. They also have a corn maze , hayride, and snack stand filled with delicious food and drink. We also went with their cousins Brittany and Landon, Uncle Brian and Aunt Sheila, and Maw Maw. We look forward to doing this every year and making it a new tradition! Enjoy the pictures!

The picture above is Ella with her cousin Brittany and Maw Maw peeking through!


Here are all four kids playing in the corn. Landon on the left, Ariana on her belly in the black jacket, Ella , And Gabriel on the right.

Gabriel's turn for the slide!

Ariana in the corn.

Ariana's turn on the slide. They had a blast!

A duplicate!

I just had to take a picture of the pumpkins that seemed to go on forever. They just kept going, and going, and going, and going....

One last phot- op on our way out of the pumpkin patch. One thing we didn't do-get a picture of Rob and I with the kids. That's a tradition and we forgot to do it! Oh well, next time!

The kids showing off their pumpkins. They each got to pick one for their Mr. and Mrs. Potato head pumpkin kits. I will post pics of that too. :)

Inside the hayride and all the corn we were surrounded by. The kids kept trying to reach out and grab an ear or two! I quess they were hungry!

Here is the crew: Rob, myself, Ella (drinking hot cocoa), Ariana (behind me), Gabriel, Aunt Sheila, Uncle Brian and Landon. Their Paw Paw was working and Maw Maw was the one taking the picture.

Ella on the amazing slide they had. They loved that thing!

Me with Ella and Ariana. Rob had a hard time getting this cause he was sitting close to me. If only Ariana would've looked at the camera...Could you tell it was a little bright?

This a picture of Gabriel's badge he won doing the corn shooter. It was pretty neat. You stick an ear of corn in this shooter, aim and fire. He hit the target on the first try , and that target was pretty far. He was so proud.

Here is the proud little man!

Inside the playbarn they had huge tubs filled with corn for kids to play in (adults optional). Here is a picture of Ella in one of them. She doesn't look thrilled, but she was having a great time in the corn. They kept burying themselves in it.

Here is Ariana in one.