He is RISEN!!

We were beyond lucky to have some very special company this Easter weekend! Kris, JP, Andy, Claire and PJ arrived on Friday evening.  After some dinner and play time, the little ones took baths and settled into their beds...Andy in the guest room and Clairey with Emmy in her room.  While the boys went to retrieve firewood for our fire bowl, Kris and I kicked back with the baby monitor to listen to the soundtrack of Emmy and Clairey's first sleepover.  They giggled and squealed constantly for the 45 minutes that we gave them before separating the BFFs. :) When we walked into Emmy's room, it became clear that Clairey had been playing peak-a-boo with Emmy and they had thrown whatever was in their respective cribs at each other (Clairey's sippy cup, Emmy's stuffed animals and pacifier).  It was certainly hilarious for everyone involved while it lasted.

Saturday morning, we decided to beat the forecasted weather front and visit Rivermounds Farm to see the baby animals.  The kids especially enjoyed feeding the goats and donkeys (except for one that nibbled on Andy's hand...)  Of course, Kris and I came equipped with our cameras and assumed our positions as the mamarazzi...

Later that afternoon, we celebrated our second West Point reunion with the Landgrafs and Andrjeskis!  It's such a sign of the times that we now get our kicks from egg hunts and baby bath time! :)  Hailey dominated the hunt (again), with Andy as a close second.  It's unclear who took the third, fourth, fifth and sixth places, but it's really of no consequence because they all felt like winners with all of their fun goodies. :-P  After playtime and a cookout, we did a mass bathing.  Every kiddo got scrubbed down at once (most by JP). Decked out it their jammies, we threw them all into Emmy's crib for a group picture!  There were a whole group of proud mamas and papas cheering on our six sweet little monkeys jumping in the bed.  Of course we only have group pictures of our kids and none of the adults (go figure.)  After the babies were all tucked in and sleeping soundly, we finally got to catch-up sans constant interruption until nearly midnight, us girls in the kitchen and the boys around the fire bowl. It was so wonderful to see everyone, and was as if no time had passed since we last gathered (except for the fact that Clairey, Lauren, Will and Emmy were still fetus'--feti?)  We can't wait for next time, when our headcount will have grown by at least three (Landgraf, Andrjeski and Sacksteder babies! :-P)

Easter Sunday started off with Easter baskets, church and brunch, and ended with a party with our church small group!  The bad weather predicted for Saturday, instead unleashed it's pent up fury Easter morning.  The thunderstorm rendered a temporary power outage at church, which served as an appropriate reminder that God was with us.   How very blessed we are to be surrounded by so much love! 

 16 months old!

 Nick and JP reading stories to their babies in neighboring rooms.

 Peak-A-Boo Clairey and Emmy!

 Not gonna happen.

 Pretty girl. :)

 So serious.

 Snacktime! All play and no food makes Clairey and Emmy grumpy girls.

 Sliding with Dad!

 Hailey Andrjeski (3.5 years), Andy Sacksteder (3.5 years), Clairey Sacksteder (21 months), Lauren Andrjeski (19 months), Will Landgraf (17 months), Emmy ( 16 months)

 Uncle Derek shows the kiddos a frog.

 Clairey looking as fashionable as ever.

 The Landgrafs warm up for the Easter egg hunt!

Hailey moves quickly...she's got a record to uphold!

Sweet Lauren takes her time...

 Will caught on VERY quickly!

Emmy girl spots an egg!

She's all over it!

Fruit snacks!!

 The growing Landgraf family!

Those Andrjeskis keep us laughing :)

 Clairey, Andy and Hailey insisted on bathing together.

 Gorgeous Lauren

 JP kicks back after an impressive job bathing 4 kids.  Andy and Hailey making their bathtime last...I'm not above sharing this picture at their wedding.

Emmy and Will make a cute pair :)

 Babies, babies, everywhere!

 Will had a blast jumping in the bed!  Emmy has since started doing it too, in hopes of someday being as cool as Will. :)

 Even more babies!!

Emmy disappointed by her nerdy sunglasses...Clairey's were waaaay cooler.

Clairey found her basket!!

Andy found his too!

 Church ready!

"CHEESE!"

 Daddy's girls

 Egg hunt round 2 with our wonderful church group!

Emmy and her buddy, Dane!

Emmy's Stay-cation!

I finally had a chance to upload all of the pictures from Emmy's special stay-cation with Grammy and Poppy Horn during our Cancun get-a-way!  We are so glad that they were able to spend some very quality time together! Here is a little sneak peak into all of the fun they had:

Mom and Dad,
Thank you for coming out and watching our little monkey. She obviously had a good time, as she was in perfect health and great spirits when we got back. You two didn't seem too worse for the wear, which was a relief given her incredibly high energy level. And of course thank you for watching (or tolerating) our four legged children. Molly and Darla seemed to have a great week as well. Thank you again!

Love,
Nick and Ali

Bedtime Runaway

Just Three Words...

HEAVEN'S NEWEST ANGEL

I love you dearly, Grandma. 

Long Time No Blog Post

Wowzas! The last few weeks have been Nutty with a capital N!  Nick and I took, for the first time ever, a spontaneous vacation last week!  Uncle Harry and Aunt Clare SO GRACIOUSLY offered us their timeshare property in Cancun, the only catch was we had just under two weeks of lead time! The stars aligned as the dates fell within Nick's block leave time, Nick's parents SO KINDLY cleared their schedules to come babysit Emmy, Molly and Darla; and we lucked out with affordable plane tickets.  Without a chance to get a base tan, we were Cancun bound from last Monday to Saturday!  We didn't take a moment for granted; we laid by the pool, read 5 books between the two of us, frolicked on the beach, drank plenty of fruity cocktails, explored Playa del Carmen, ate an obscene amount of authentic Mexican food and laughed heartily.  It was AMAZING, I definitely have an updated "happy place!"

Grammy, Poppy, Emmy, Molly and Darla had some fun of their own...Between tornado warnings and dealings with my flaky handyman, they managed to go for a walk on the Greenway, test out some "Sweetest Batch" cupcakes, and break in our newly minted "playroom."  (If only I could see the "single Nick's" reaction when I told him that one day he would share his man room with a daughter...A conversation he probably would need to take sitting down. :-P) Emmy was all giggles in the car playing with both Grammy and Poppy from the moment we first picked them up at the airport.  I am certain her "vacation" was just as wonderful as ours.

The morning after we arrived home from Cancun was spent preparing the house for The Documentary Group crew's imminent arrival.  Jordan, the producer, flew in from NYC; Erich, the camera man flew in from D.C.; and Rex, the sound man, drove in from Nashville.  It was no joke!  We spent Sunday and Monday completing our interviews, and filming "fly on the wall" family time footage at Dunbar Cave, the Fort Campbell flight line and mia cucina :-P.  Nothing like coming up with witty, neutral/appropriate conversation with a microphone pinned to your shirt...Even though we were all worn out from the intensity of the experience, we are truly honored to be apart of such an awesome project.  Word on the street is the film premiere will be at West Point in September!

Since then, we have had a couple of busy days with Lancer commitments, including the Eagle Remembrance Ceremony and luncheon for SSG Dave Senft.  As of tomorrow, Nick is officially back on leave until May 5th...YAHOO!!!! I know a certain little girl who will be super excited to have daddy wake up with her each morning! ;) (Hey, a mommy can wish, can't she?! ;))

 Lalu, Nick's long lost helper monkey.

 Lalu and Chencho