Happy 4th Birthday, Hannah!

 Today, our baby girl turned four years old!  That seems crazy old!  We were so glad that everyone was still around from the holidays to celebrate her birthday.  We started the day off at church and then out for brunch with Nonnie and Poppy, Nana and Papa, Aunt Nikki, Jordan and of course Cameron and us.  As soon as we got home from Cracker Barrel (one of Hannah's favorites), she was more than ready to open her gifts.  I love all the pink here!

She got a lot of fun gifts including some Minnie Mouse toys, a baby Cinderella and baby doll princess wagon, a suitcase (for future traveling), and Cinderella the movie.  Then it was time for Hannah to open her big gift from us.  We know it's still winter, but we were excited to give Hannah this...

I can't wait for spring when we get to teach Hannah how to ride her big girl bike!

After gifts, it was time to cut her ice cream cake.  I think she told Nonnie months ago that this is the kind of cake she wanted this birthday.  We sang Happy Birthday and dug into the yummy DQ cake!

It was a low key way to spend our baby girls 4th birthday!  Hannah, we love you so much and we are blessed to have had the last four years as your mommy and daddy!  We can't wait for many more birthdays to celebrate with you!  (On a side note, next year we will be doing this at Disney World!!!)

Cousin Love

We loved having Nikki and Jordan here for a few days over the holidays.  Nikki and I did a little shopping and found this super-cute matching jammies for all three kiddos.  After bath time, we put the kids in the jammies and Nikki started snapping away.  I'm so thankful my kids have Jordan as a cousin.  I know we don't get to see each other as much as we would like, but when we are all together, they already have so much fun together.  I know there will be many memories made in the future! 

A Little Bit of Snow

Last night we got a little bit of snow, so this morning everyone bundled up to play for just a bit.  It wasn't the best playing snow, but our kids still had a ton of fun!

Cameron definitely wanted to try and eat the snow...wasn't sure if he liked it or not!

 Hannah and Nana tried to start a snowman, but didn't get very far.  It wasn't the best packing snow.

 And who doesn't love making snow angels!  Hannah thought this was the best part!

On the one day we had snow last year, Hannah remembers her and Daddy throwing snowballs at my car.  She had to do it again this year.  Cameron really wanted in on the action as well.

 Wanted to try to eat it again...so cute!

At this point, Hannah's hands were getting cold and the meltdown was beginning.  We came in for some hot chocolate and a nap.

We don't usually get a ton of snow, but it's always nice to get enough for the kids to play in for a day or so.  Glad Papa and Nana were here to enjoy it as well!

Let's Bowl!

While Nana, Papa, Nikki & Jordan were here for a few days, we decided to have a family morning and go bowling.  We took the kids in the fall and they had a blast.  We thought this would be a fun way to burn off some energy somewhere indoors.  Everyone had so much fun and the kids loved it!

Papa loved helping all the grandkids bowl and Cameron loved using this ramp to help.

Aunt Nikki was bowling with Jordan for his first time at the lanes.

 Daddy and Hannah hanging out between frames.

 The Casey men being silly.

 Here it goes....

 Hannah watching intently to see how many pins she was going to hit!

It was a super fun few hours with the family!  Can't wait to do it again sometime!

Baby Lauren

The Casey family had an amazing opportunity over my Christmas break!  About a week or so before break, our social worker from Bethany Christian Services called and said she had a strange request.  She told me there was a birthmom in Springfield with a three week old baby and she was working with Bethany to make an adoption plan.  It was going to take a couple of weeks and they were in need of an interim home.  The normal Illinois family they use would be gone for the holidays.  We still have a current license so she wanted to know if we would be interested in having her.  After talking with Tim and praying, we said yes!  Cam's adoption story included a wonderful interim home and we always wanted to give back in this way if possible.  Although Satan was trying to tell me some of the downsides of a newborn during my break, we knew God's voice was louder and we were excited to give back to the agency, help out a birthmom, and love on a baby girl for however long was needed.

Baby Lauren arrived the Wednesday I got out of school.  From the get go, she was an amazing baby and oh so cute!  Everyone fell in love with her from the very first moment we had her, especially the kids!  I have some amazing (and crazy) stories of Hannah and Cameron interacting with Lauren.  They were both great big siblings throughout the whole week.  

"All" of our kids before church.  Hannah and Cameron were in LOVE!

The Casey Family (with baby Lauren)  - Christmas Eve 2012

The Casey Kids - Christmas Eve - Nonnie and Poppy's House

 It was very fun to have Lauren over Christmas.  We spent one of her first holidays with her and we all took turns spoiling her with Christmas jammies, outfits, and little gifts.  Even Santa realized we would have her on Christmas morning and brought her a snuggly blanket with a matching lovey and a Christmas story book.  Isn't she a doll!?!?

 Both sides of our extended family enjoyed loving on her as well! 

Right around Christmas, we were contacted by our social worker that the birthmom chose a family and there would be a match meeting at the end of the week.  We were contacted again after the meeting that it went really well and the mom would be making her final decision by the end of the day.  Right before I headed out for a girls night, we got a phone call that it was all going to go through.  At the time, the social worker informed us the family chosen was actually friends of ours who live about 30 minutes away who have been waiting for a baby for a few months!  What?!?!  That's right, friends of ours (that Tim met through FCA probably 4 years ago) were in the domestic program (we were one of their recommendation letters) waiting for a baby were chosen to get the baby we were taking care of for the last week or so.  On top of that, they joined us last spring for the Bethany Celebration Dinner along with my parents, grandparents and Tim's parents...all who had been loving on Lauren this whole time!  How awesome is our God!  We had the opportunity to join the social worker on a three way call to give them the good news.  It was an amazing phone call!  At this point, they were able to have visitation with baby Lauren and planned to come over the next day.  We couldn't wait!

The next day, Brad, Amanda and big brother Elijah came over to meet their soon-to-be daughter.  What a very special day!

He kind-of, sort-of loved her!  Oh my!  This was HIS baby!

Hannah loving on baby Lauren.

Such a beautiful baby!

There were still a couple of hurdles to jump, but after another couple of days, Brad, Amanda and Elijah took Lauren home with them.  Praise to our Father!  This was such an amazing opportunity for our family and I loved watching God work throughout the whole process.  Since these are friends of ours, we get updates of Lauren and plan on getting together in the future for play dates.  So blessed by Bethany Christian Services in so many ways.  The Casey family will forever remember our special Christmas vacation with Lauren!

Christmas Festivities

Christmas always seems to go on for a few days at the Casey house, but that is okay!  It does give us time as a family as well as individual time with each of our parents and extended family.  We started by going to church on Christmas Eve with my mom and dad and Grandma and Grandpa.  It was a nice service and it really helped to set the mood for the next few days.  We had to get at least one family picture. 

Afterward, he went to my mom and dad's for dinner and hung out for a bit.  I feel like I don't get a ton of pictures with the kids, and this one of my baby girl and I turned out so cute!  I love her!

 This one of Tim and Cam was pretty cute too!

We went home and went to bed pretty quickly.  We were all tired and very excited to see if Santa would be coming in the morning. 

We started our Christmas morning off with reading about Jesus' birth on our bed.  One of my friends always did this and we started it Hannah's first Christmas.  I love Christmas and Santa and magic and excitement, but most of all, I love that is to celebrate Jesus' birth.  I want my kids to remember that as they grow up and celebrate Christmas.

 After we were done, it was time to see if Santa came....and he did!

The kids got a joint train table, Hannah got a Daisy, Cam got a truck, and they both had stockings!  I think they loved all of it!

They also received three presents from us and it didn't take them long to move onto those!

This year, Hannah got a new bible, a matching game, and a Loving Family dollhouse.  They were all big hits and she plays with them often!

Cameron got a name puzzle step stool (for his big boy bed), an activity cube, and a bear pillow pet.  He's so easy still!

The fun continued that evening when my parents and grandparents came over for Christmas dinner and more presents!  It was craziness, but so much fun to be together!

The next day, Papa, Nana, Aunt Nikki and Jordan came down for a few days.  We did our last Christmas with them and had more fun again!

I love watching our kids and Jordan tear into the presents.  It was a great few days and we are blessed to be able to celebrate it with both sides of our family.

Flippin' with Friends

Hannah started gymnastics when she turned two and still continues to love it.  I found out that her gym does an awesome birthday party and we thought it would be perfect for our December birthday girl.  They close down over the school break, so we had it a couple of weeks early.  Hannah invited about ten friends and it was a great couple of hours!  One of her teachers, Ms. Jennifer, had everything decorated and ready to go for us.  The kids were able to play on all of the equipment, had fun with a parachute, ate jungle themed cupcakes, helped Hannah open presents, and played some more!  I think several parents commented that their kids were asleep before they left the parking lot!  It was such a great day!  My good friend and photographer, Jennie Larson, took a ton of great pictures of the day.

The birthday girl "hangin' around"

 One of her best buds, Jackson. I've been friends with Jackson's mom since high school!

 The kids LOVED the parachute!  The parents had to do a little work, but it was so worth it to see their faces!

 Daddy and Hannah

 Love this picture of baby brother playing in the foam pit!  Such a precious smile!

 Jaxson and Cash -- KC buddies (their daddy's coach basketball)

 Having some Rodie Races -- LOVE Emma's piggie-tails!

So many friends came to help Hannah celebrate!

Jaxson, Cash, Ania, Bailey, Addie, Jackson, Hannah & Emma (Cameron & Jack were off somewhere else)