Madeline Alice Spohr

Those of you that are not bloggers may have a difficult time understanding the connections that are formed between perfect strangers.....on the internet no less. I know personally I am drawn to blogs that have something in common with me.....ie... another MOM (mom of multiples), another infertile, etc... however some blogs are appealing for other reasons. Like Maddies blog. Her mommy Heather has done a fabulous job documenting her sweet little angels life. She is a fabulous writer and photographer........and for that I am sure she will be forever grateful. Sweet little Maddie passed away yesterday. Though I have never met the family and it's probably safe to say I never will, I have been sick to my stomach all day today and was not able to sleep at all last night. I cannot even begin to imagine how her parents are feeling. Maddie was born prematurely and has struggled with lung issues her entire 17 months...she seemed to be progressing nicely and so her death was unexpected. I am so sad for her, Heather and Mike and the entire family. I will miss all of the fabulous pictures and stories about Maddie. It's not fair.
Rest peacefully sweet Maddie...the world is a brighter place having had you in it!

Cake! Cake! Cake!

Finally montage 3 of 3 .......as you can see so far.....good times were had by all during their birthday week and a half!
These pictures are my favorites... most of them are of Ella because Edie was not that interested in getting caked up... Ella must have my sweet tooth!!

Enjoy my sweet babies!!!

It's Party Time.........!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Part 2 of 3.......the Alabama party.....loads of fun to be had by A!L!L!

See it here

next ....... Let them eat the delicious CAKE!!!!!!!!

I got a CD full to the brim with pictures of our Birthday festivities....so instead of uploading them all here........I set them up in a series of montages.........
Thank you to Marianne for the awesome pictures....and for also making me really really feel like I need a camera upgrade......Jon especially thanks you!!!

So for part 1 : Leading up to the party!!!

Sweet Emily

I started this blog last February and since I was at home on maternity leave and basically too gigantic to leave the house I became obsessed with blogging.... mostly with reading other blogs. I love the blogging world.....there is so much support and love from perfect strangers......who happen to be feeling the same things...often at the same time! A few blogs that I follow are stories that I have never experienced and hopefully never will.....but it's been nice keeping up with these stories and offering support and caring. One story that I have been following has been that of Emily (thank you Melanie for finally teaching me to link)! She is a sweet angel and her fight is coming to an end... possibly today. It makes me sick to my stomach and brings tears to my eyes each time that I think of her and how her parents must feel right now. Please think of her today and wish her well on her new journey.....it's not fair but she fought with all she had and is an inspiration for people around the world......

Cupcakes and Candy........

Well we are back from our 2 week family filled vacation..........and we had a BLAST!!! Edie and Ella were showered with love and attention and they lapped it up..........every second!!! They were extremely good little travelers....minus the flights! Here are Edie and daddy on the parking shuttle bus on the way to the airport......WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY past their bedtime already and we had only just begun.

We bought the .....go go babyz....car seat adapter which turned their car seats temporarily into strollers.......that along with BOB has been our best "twin" purchase to date.....I wanted to bring their car seats because I don't trust "used" seats...but I did NOT want to lug car seats and strollers......so this was perfect!!!

Here they are on their first plane ride.....we bought an extra seat to make sure we had an entire row......we made a HUGE mistake bringing 1 seat on for the flight over......there may as well been a 500 pound man/woman sitting in the middle of us......so we thought on the way home we would check both seats........and we did.........the flight was still terrible.........so we have concluded that the problem was BOTH......the honkin car seat and flying both ways during bedtime.......so the flights were terrible but the 2 weeks in between were fabulous......

Here is Edie (and Ella in the background) with their sweet cousin Finn.....

Edie "borrowing" her cousin Wynn's high chair.......

Ella and sweet cousing Lillian.........we really really really wanted her to move here but she's only 9 and her parents wouldn't let her........the nerve!!! As you can see Ella tried really hard to get them to agree........they were not swayed by cute smiles though.....

Ella LOVED Aunt Alice's toy baskets.......she made sure to empty them all across the floor every chance she got...

We had a Cupcakes and Candy themed birthday party.....it was great!!! I will post a copy of the invitation later because it was friggin adorable......Aunt Alice was not only kind enough to let us have the party in her AWESOME new(ish) sun room overlooking her beautiful (too cold to swim in) pool.....but she also let us stay with her the ENTIRE time!!! We had a great time and really really appreciated it...

Here is our candy buffet......

Edie in her party dress with Marianne....(still can't link.......could someone leave me instructions in comments please).......but she has a blog on my blogroll......Scott Family News.....

and Ella Grace.......with Lillian....

Edie......going to her places and seeing her people......

we headed to an awesome field of buttercups at Lillian's house (and her parents who won't let her move here)..somewhere back on their 80 acres..........and took some awesome pictures...

Edie pointing over yonder..........(we were in AL)!

some rocking chair props we threw in the back of the truck......

they love the wagon.......

especially Ella.......I mean how darn cute are our babies??? Jon has pointed out to me that they are no longer infants. OUCH!!!

This is my all time favorite.........I mean.......seriously! Right? Whoever invented baby mini skirts....was/is a genius!!! They should marry the brilliant person who invented baby crocs...see 2 posts down for that cuteness!!!

Here they are sharing the cuteness with their cousin Wynn...

Edie has a new favorite game.......PUSH!!! She wants to push anything that has wheels and anything the does not have wheels........

I have browsed everyone's posts over the past 2 weeks but I plan to sit down tomorrow while my massive loads of laundry are spinning to really catch up and comment.....

I want to write a post soon about some highlights from our trip......mostly for the record for E Squared......but I am already 3 posts in tonight and.........well that's enough!!!

Atlanta or bust.........

The second part of our trip was fun fun fun........we headed to Atlanta for a long weekend to have a little birthday fun with my family........these next 2 pictures should give you a clear picture of the rockin good time we had while there.........Ella and Edie on the way to the airport...

Edie catching a second wind....the girl loves to walk! She pushes and squirms and squeals until you let her down.......she has places to go and people to see!!!

We introduced E Squared to our favorite restaurant......in the South anyway!!! When we drove cross country with Jon's stuff......from Alabama back to California.....in a gigantic Uhaul (even though he hardly had anything)...and towing a trailer with his Jeep.......we stopped at every Cracker Barrel that we came across......well not everyone.....only those we came across when we were hungry!..............if you have never eaten at one.......well, you should.......get the fried okra, macaroni and cheese, green beans, country fried steak......or anything on the menu for that matter..........

Here is what Ella and Edie thought of the lemon from my deliciouse sweet tea......

Edia actually made a much funnier face than this but I could never catch it just right......

I am not sure if Ella was clapping excitedly about bubble blowing or this...........

delicious birthday dish.........I love to cook and eat standing rib roast.....it's fabulous!!!

Edie trying to catch bubbles.......she really got into it........

Ella and Papa Jim...

and again but with YanMing.......(my dad's wife)........

the entire time we were gone E Squared was flanked with love and attention..........as you can see here in this next picture........there was never a shortage of hands to help......it was nice and they loved all the love.........

Edie and Ella waiting for their second birthday cake in as many weeks...

***well...I had a picture of Ella here but somehow deleted it........trust me it was cute...***

Here are Edie and Ella with Paige........we had their party with my side of the family on her actual birthday.....so we shared the day........ALOT of fun was had by all!!!

this cake was A!D!O!R!A!B!L!E!........it tasted fantastic too!!!