Luke is 1

The number of changes we have undergone as a family over the past year is almost unimaginable. One year ago this month we lived in a house (which we owned) in a town 750 miles from where I sit this morning. I was working full-time at a hospital pharmacy, while Sarah was a full-time mom. Most of our extended family lived within a 2 1/2 hour drive from our home. And our little family was just the four of us: Mama, Papa, Julia, and Mary.

Sarah and I have gotten in the habit of saving our kitchen calendars. It gives us something to use to cue memories (both good and bad!) and also can make us laugh quite frequently. Although March seems like the longest and most tedious month of the year, the page for March in last year's calendar is filled with more things than probably any other three months. One of us was taking Omnicef for the first 2 weeks of the month. A wedding reception. Some friends visiting from out of town. Multiple overnight ER shifts for Sarah. "Did You Match" day (coincidentally on the Ides of March), followed by Residency Scramble, and then actual Match Day three days later. On March 31 I see an entry that says "List house by this day (meet w/Julie before".

And last, but certainly most life-changing and important, on March 26: "DUE DATE. Ed comes to stay."

Fast-forward to today. "Ed," in the person of Luke, is now 1. Can you believe it? Chattering, crawling, munching fuzzballs off the floor, and providing comic relief, he has become an adorable blond attention-stealer. He's one change we wouldn't exchange for anything.

Sarah invited over a couple families from church who have children the same age as ours for Moosie's birthday.

Mmmm...waxy.

Is it OK if I eat this?

Happy Birthday, Julia!

I can't believe it! Our little girl is FOUR! Julia turned 4 on April 24th. We celebrated with a princess cake (aka Mama played "cake boss!"), Dan, Jessi, and Mia. Julia's requested menu for dinner? Chili with crackers, and mini corn dogs. oookay, then.

Barbie and her "cake knickers."

Princess jammies and a princess dolly set! Our house is getting pinker and pinker...

Dan and Jessi helped with the present opening. What fun!

I couldn't resist posting this picture. Barbie is showing her dark side...

Here he is...

Luke Michael Roger Sprengeler
Born 11:15 pm March 26th
11 lbs, 5.6 oz, 22.3"



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Happy Birthday, Mary!

Well, I can't believe it's been a year, can you? Our little Squish is ONE. To celebrate her birthday this year, I mowed the lawn. That's what put me into labor last year, so it was only fitting that I mow every year on her birthday. This year, the job seemed a LOT easier....and I managed to mow the whole lawn without needing a gas refill. I guess I was a bit slower last year when I tried to mow the thing while overdue and quite giant...

In honor of Mary's love for all creatures with fur or feathers, we took a very spontaneous trip to the Lake Superior Zoo. Squishy LOVES animals. Every time she hears a dog barking, she does this bouncing up and down thing and laughs...and shouts, "Puppa, Puppa!" Well, we thought the zoo was only fitting. We had to teach her the difference between a "puppa" and a "kangaroo", "polar bear," "monkey," and "goat," among other animals. Julia had a great time, too.

Here's the kangaroo!

Julia made friends with a hideous scary snake sculpture...

They had a little kids park in the zoo. The girls tried out the plastic bumble bee.

Ride em' cowboy!

Our little Mary is almost walking!

Later, Holly and Luke came over and brought some presents.

Mary had about three seconds with each present before Julia "helped" her by opening them up and confiscating them immediately. You can see Julia swooping in for the kill in the picture below.

Hey...can I see my present?

Two exhausted, but happy parents. We had all these grand plans to go to Menards and buy stuff for a piece of furniture we were working on...and the later I would make homemade something for dinnern in honor of Squishy...I was going to find some matching napkins and birthday hats....and blow up balloons....no wait...find a helium tank and have real balloons!....but instead we ended up cancelling Menards, the hats, and the balloons. And my gourmet dinner? Chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. Julia and Mary's verdict? Yum. The cake? Fan-diggly-tastic.

Here they are, the play by play pics of the first cake. Yup...she had the run of it. And what fun she had!

I think I'll touch it to make sure it's real...

Ooooh! sticky! mmmm.

Come here, mama...lemme grab your nice clean sweater!

Don't bug me...I'm CONCENTRATING.

One satisfied customer...

Happy Birthday, Julia

We're TWO! Julia had a little birthday bash last weekend at the Edge, a hotel in town that has a waterpark inside. Both sets of grandparents made the trip, plus some of Mike's extended family, and a few of Julia's friends were there. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we were having too much fun in the water park to take any pictures. (Mommy was scared for the vitality of the digital camera....) We did snap a few during the gift opening. Julia was showered with fun presents by her relatives and friends. All had a good time. Her favorite part was watching the huge bucket of water dump out on unsuspecting swimmers in the water playground. It was hilarious. She was fascinated and terrified at the same time.

Jessi's Birthday Party

Family picture: notice we're all wearing green tops with jeans...weird coincidence....

Julia loves to party!

Here's the birthday girl with her dog, Tahoe, who wants to play ball in the living room

What in the world is this, do you ask? Well.....Daddy left with Julia at 9:30 to put her to bed while mommy stayed and played catch phrase. With the watchful eyes of daddy far away, I rekindled a love for an old hobby of mine: food art. Above is a parmesean cheese version of our red-headed birthday girl. Below is a J for Jessi. We ate almost all the Bruschetta I made, which is a feat because I tend to cook for no less than an army.

We went to Jessi and Dan's last night for another birthday party! We had a blast - Julia loves parties because everybody holds her and she can be a ham. She also loves to eat junk food with us. Her favorite: cheesy chips dipped in Top the Tater. mmmmmm.

Happy Birthday, Julia!!!

ia



Julia turned one today! What a year it's been. In her first year out of the uterus, Julia has lived in four different places, been to the ER and admitted to a hospital, and taught her parents a LOT about life. She has learned to walk, talk a bit, and fly down the stairs backwards. What a journey....

Today, we had her real birthday. Jessie and Dan, Annie, Annemieke, and Aaron came over to help us celebrate. We had dinner and cake, and the took Julia to the park to ride the swings some more. Annemieke made Julia her own cake which had three layers of chocolate with chocolate frosting. (The adults had white cupcakes...) The first thing she did was stick her hand in the flames of the candle. As far as the cake went, at first, Julia didn't know what to do with it. Eventually, she got the hang of it and dug her little hands into the layers. Daddy was turning green at the mess. I thought it was hilarious.

Anyways, happy birthday, little girl. We love you!