Happy Halloween from the Munk family!

Family Pictures

Warning: this blog post has LOTS of pictures of the Munk family. My friend took some family pictures for us last week. She was sweet enough to do it twice! The first time we tried, Laura was such a stinker and refused to cooperate. Taking pictures of kids is the most frustrating thing in the world! And I think that is why she was such a stinker, because I was getting frustrated and kept saying things like, "sit down and smile or you won't get your treat at the end." As you can imagine, this was not very effective. These were the only pictures that turned out from our first trip: So the second time around, I let Laura help choose her outfit and look at pictures online and tell me what she wanted to do for our pictures. She was much happier and easier to work with. Thanks, Heidi for taking our pictures. We love them!

MOTHER'S DAY PICTURES AND ANNIE IN HER SWIMSUIT

Birthday Girls

I can't believe we have a four year old! She is getting so big! Even though we had moved the week before, Laura insisted on a birthday party. So, we decided last minute to throw a dinosaur party for her. I made the cake with fondant. The first and probably last time I will do that! When it was time to sing happy birthday we put dry ice in the volcano so it could smoke like an erupting volcano. Annie sat on the ground the whole 2 hour party next to her friend Tucker and didn't make a peep, in spite of the fact that it was naptime and lunch time. I almost forgot I had a baby! She finally got tired at the end. Is there anything cuter than a crying baby wearing a birthday hat? She also got a kiss from Tucker! We also celebrated Angelica's birthday last week. It has been 2 years since they placed her tiny body in my arms. It seems like yesterday and forever ago. We decided as a family to do something each year to remember her. This year, I called Operation Smile and they sent me a hospital gown pattern to sew gowns for the children in third world countries who will be receiving surgeries to correct their cleft palate. When I see commercials for Operation Smile on TV, I can't help but miss my own sweet baby when I see all the pictures of those sweet little kids with lips and noses that look just like Angelica's did. I was so happy to be able to do something to help them! We decided to have a "birthday party" and invite our friends over to help us sew. We had so much fun and were able to sew up a lot of gowns with the extra help. We went over to our new neighbor's home for dinner on Sunday and found out randomly that she carries the same chromosomal abnormality that I do. We were both so surprised at finding this out! We told her about our experience with Angelica. Every time I talk about her, I feel so lucky that we are blessed to have her as part of our family. I still don't know how to respond when people tell me they are sorry. I am not sorry at all that we got to have such a special baby. Her short life continues to bless us and teach us. And her memory, and the hope that I have of being with her again in Heaven, is what motivates me to be a better mother and better person. Happy birthday, Angelica!

Easter

I stayed up late Saturday night before Easter finishing my girls Easter dresses, headband, bonnet etc and planning our Easter morning breakfast and dinner with friends. Unfortunately, Laura woke up sick. She didn't even touch my easter breakfast biscuits that were shaped like a bunny and instead of dressing her up in her cute Easter dress, Laura spent the morning in her pajamas like this: You know Laura is sick when she falls asleep during the daytime. We had to skip out on a yummy ham and potato Easter dinner with friends. Instead we ate deviled eggs and veggies with hummus. And our bunny cake. I pretty much ate this whole bunny cake myself. I used the carrot cake recipe from Our Best Bites and holy cow, it was delicious. Seriously, so good. I did get some pics of them in the Easter dress this past week. Annie refused to smile for any of my pics, which is unlike her! So all I've got are these serious faces. Laura was much more predictable in her pictures. This pretty much captures her personality perfectly. Annie is growing up way too fast. She just got her first tooth this week and for the first time today, she got up on her hands and knees like she was going to crawl. She is such a happy, content baby! I just have to look at her and she starts smiling and laughing. I love her chubby little cheeks.