Look who turned 4!!

It has been a couple of weeks, but on Sept 19, Marie turned four! As she will tell you, there are lots of things that she can do now that she is four. Even her stomach grew overnight and now she can eat "lots"!

We had lots of visitors come to Michigan for Marie's birthday weekend. Grandma and Grandpa Meinhart came a couple days early and helped with preparations. Uncle James, Aunt Jaclyn, JJ, Gracie, and Aunt Jess arrived late Friday night. Grandma and Grandpa Shibata drove up for the afternoon on Saturday. Of course, Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah were over as well. Even Colleen (the kids' sitter) stopped by, since Marie had been inviting her to her "party" a few times each day she saw her.

All of the kids' enjoyed helping to decorate for the celebration. There was generally a lot of running around and playing and the kids all got along very well. This is more of an accomplishment that it might seem given that Marie and Joey's sleep schedules are significantly different than their cousins'. Marie and Joey go to bed late and get up late, while JJ and Gracie are just the opposite. Everyone (including the parents) probably got much less rest than usual.

By the time we were really up and going Saturday morning, it was just about time for lunch. We had some sandwiches, cleaned up, and then at Marie's request, proceeded to open presents. This was followed by cake and ice cream. Marie had asked for a cookie monster cake and I was glad when the cake was successfully recognized as such!

All too soon, Grandma and Grandpa Shibata left for home and all the kids went down for a nap. After naptime, the weather was still somewhat nice, so the kids went outside to swing and run up and down the hill. It was good to get some fresh air and exercise after all that cake!

Sunday morning, Marie's actual birthday, we all went to church and then headed back to the house for a quick lunch. Then it was time for the Pittsburgh-ers to start heading for home. Marie still talks about what fun her birthday was and how we had such a full house of visitors that all wanted to come and celebrate her birthday. Everyone made her feel so special!

We put Marie and Joey down for a nap, thinking that they might wake up early enough to take a quick trip to the apple orchard that we've visited the last two years on Marie's birthday. However, the kids must have been exhausted because they took really long naps. That was still okay though because we still had enough time and the weather was nice enough to head to a park to play and try out Marie's brand-spanking-new roller skates. She really got a kick out of them and kind of, sort of started getting the hang of it. Though, she did have a lot more fun hanging on as Jon pulled her along the path.

Grandma and Grandpa Meinhart stuck around for most of the next week. Mark and Sarah closed on their new house the day after Marie's birthday. They all went to a lot of work getting the house in order, addressing issues (resulting from the house being vacant for over a year) and moving things. They are now the proud owners of a very nice place. Joey often comments about the "new house" and talks about how "Mark went home." Joey has also dubbed one of the more spacious rooms the "football room." Marie on the other hand keeps asking if they've gotten their goats yet.

Before Grandma and Grandpa had to leave for home, we did eventually get to the apple orchard. This is a favorite fall activity of Marie's and she continues to do better at actually picking apples. She and Joey both had fun especially considering that we met their friends Megan and Jacob there, that they got to eat a fresh apple doughnut, and that we got to go to a park for a picnic and some playtime afterward. We said our sad goodbyes to Grandma and Grandpa, but the kids still talk about their visit. In fact, Joey now has specific names for two of our dining room chairs, "Grandma's chair" and "Grandpa's chair."

In the meantime, Marie has had her 4 year doctor checkup. She did extremely well. She is growing as we would expect. She's at about 95% for height and 85% for weight. She got lots of praise from the nurse because she opted to sit by herself (instead of on my lap) while she got her four shots. She didn't even cry...just a couple of little whimpers. We got to go out to a special lunch at Applebee's afterward because she was so brave.

Marie has also started Atrium again. She had been talking about it a good deal this summer and it has FINALLY started! She has quite a few friends in her class this year. We are both excited about this because that means that I will also get to catch up with a lot of her friends' moms on a more regular basis. :)

Last Sunday, we took Marie to a children's theater to watch a production of Little Red Riding Hood. She absolutely loved it...so much so that she forgot to eat any of the popcorn that she had asked for on our way in. Afterward, we stopped at a cider mill for some cider and doughnuts. We then proceeded to let the kids pick out their own pumpkins. By the time we were all done, they were pooped and both fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Joey has been doing very well. He is lately getting a kick out of being able to walk and jump both forward and backward. He is also known to unexpectedly tackle Marie or Jon, or anyone else that might be sitting or laying on the floor. He is talking more and more and is starting to put words together into more sentences and thoughts. He is particularly good at saying, "Thank you" and "Sorry." Even when he sneaks up behind us and we inadvertently bump into him, knocking him on his bum, he promptly gives his apologies. And, last night Jon was trying to get him to finish the last few bites of his supper. Jon was "helping" him with his spoon while Joey was complaining and whining about it. Nevertheless, as soon as the food was in his mouth, Joey said "Thank you, Daddy." Now we just need to work on not talking when his mouth is full.

It has been a busy last couple of weeks. In the meantime, I've submitted my resignation, wrapped up things at my old job, and have completed my first week at a new job. The technical work is for all practical purposes the same and I'm working with people that I have worked with professionally in the past. We are starting a new office for a company that has locations around the country (Engineering Systems, Inc.). It is exciting, chaotic, and a little annoying all at the same time. Chaotic because we are starting the location from scratch and and very much learning as we go. Annoying because there are all these little headaches, like setting up our network at the office, not getting our phone system to work, and having to get used to using a Mac. But, so far it has been a good thing. Thankfully, I seem to be beyond the nauseous state of our pregnancy and have regained some of my old energy. Still get tired at the end of the day for sure, but overall I seem to be much for functional than I was a month ago! Thank God!