Emma's 4th Birthday

Emma Kate turned the big 4 today, I just can't believe it! Well I guess I can by the way she talks ~seeing as how she talks like she's already 5 or 6 ;) Gotta love her!! Here are 4 things Miss Emma loves:
1. Her Family
2. Barbies
3. Squealing
4. Carbs

Here are some pics from her birthday celebration:

Tribute to (Great) Gram Hopper

On Monday November 24th, Chris's Grandmother passed away, she was such a huge part of our family and she will be greatly missed. We can take comfort in knowing she lived a long and happy life. She was always there for Chris & his Sisters while they were growing up and every time I saw her she would remind me to "take care of her boy". Ben & Emma loved going to visit Great Gram "Popper" as Emma called her. They enjoyed visiting her cottage and seeing the fish in the pond outside. We are so sad that she is no longer with us, but we are happy that she is no longer in any pain.






Obituary:

Elizabeth M. (Liz) Hopper
Hopper, Elizabeth M. (Liz) On November 24, 2008 Elizabeth M. Hopper joined the Church Triumphant. She was born on July 4, 1914 in Coleman, Texas to Armistead F. and Madge Martin. The eldest of four children, Liz grew up in numerous towns in Texas. She attended the University of Texas at Austin where she met and on August 21, 1935 married the Reverend Hubert H. Hopper. Liz enjoyed the life of wife, mother and community volunteer. She was active in her church, her daughters' schools, the Girl Scouts and PEO. After the death of her husband in 1976 Liz moved to Grace Presbyterian Village where she lived for thirty years in Cottage 50. She served on the Board of Directors of the Village, and volunteered many hours assisting fellow residents. She also edited the Village newsletter for many years. Liz experienced wonderful travels with her sister and brother-in-law, Jean and John Bardgette, and was a devoted mother and a grandmother extraordinaire. Liz is survived by her sister, Jean (John) Bardgette; daughters Mary (Ned) Benson and Ann Scheurer; grandchildren Jean (Scott) Miksch, Amye (Brian) Webster, Kelley (Chris) Stratton, Chris (Katie) Scheurer, Sarah (Wes) Burton, Mary Scheurer; and eight great-grandchildren.

1st time in Exersaucer

This was Ginny's first time in her Exersaucer, as you can see she wasn't quite sure at first what to think! But Ben & Emma certainly loved showing her all of the fun music.

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY BEN!!!

WOW, I can't believe my first-born is already 6 years old~time sure does fly by!! Benny is such a smart, sweet boy!! Here are 6 special things about Mr. Ben:
1. He's Mr. Curious, ALWAYS asking questions & trying to figure things out
2. He LOVES building things and seeing how things work (a future Engineer perhaps?)
3. He is such a sweetheart to his sisters
4. His love of reading
5. His answer to "how are you today Ben?" is ALWAYS "I'm doing great"! Such a positive little person!! :)
6. His drawing abilities~ he is a "professional" already!! ;)

Here are some pics from his 6 year birthday celebrations:

Happy Halloween!

What a fun Halloween we had, the festivities started on Wednesday morning when Emma, Ginny & I went to our MOMS club annual parade at the Senior Center. We had tons of fun and Emma got a big kick out of parading around the indoor swimming pool!! Then Thursday night we went to Ben's school's Fall Festival, the kids did a cake walk , went through a haunted house and played putt putt. Of course they also went trick-or-treating through the halls of the school and got tons of candy, what fun!
Friday, GaGa & PaPa and NaNa came up to spend Halloween with us and to watch Miss Ginny and pass out candy while Chris & I took Ben & Em trick-or-treating. They made out like bandits!! Ben was So funny this year, he was just SO excited!! He was also the BEST big brother, helping princess Emma down the stairs at the houses and helping her hold her VERY heavy candy bag! We had such a wonderful Halloween!!

It's been awhile...

Charles Martin Gilligan (PaPa, Great Grandpa) (1927-2008)

I have been trying to find the words to type to describe my feelings and there really aren't any...
Those of you who know me really well, know that things have been a little nutty around here the past few months. My Grandfather passed away the end of August, I still can't even believe he's gone :( I feel like I'm in limbo or something (that time is just kinda standing still) He's one of those people that always made you smile and the world is definitely a sadder place now that he's gone. He's the best person to just get to sit on a couch with and hug. He's THE Irish Gentleman, always had a twinkle in his eye and always a BIG Flirt ;) (Ya know the whole kissin' the Blarney Stone thing ;) )He is thought of daily and missed SO much!!! I'm just so grateful that Ben & Emma got to know him and I am totally saddened that Ginny never go the chance to meet him.



Obituary:
When Charles "Chuck" M. Gilligan, 81, of Columbus, died Saturday, August 23, 2008, the world lost some of its humor. This Irish gentleman was known for flirting, telling jokes and having a broad smile. He lived life to its fullest. He was born in Toronto, Ohio and was the oldest of two children of George and Mary Gilligan. He graduated from Toronto High School in 1945 and served briefly in the Navy at the end of World War II. He moved to Columbus to take accounting classes. On April 1, 1952, he began working as bookkeeper for Reis Bros. Trucking Company, where he was employed until mid-February 2008. He now joins his beloved wife of 38 years, Virginia, who preceded him in death, to continue their love and companionship and to watch over the family they love.
He is survived by his five sons (and spouses/companion), Michael (Liz) of Plano, Texas, Patrick (David Bishop) of Columbus, Gregory of Richmond, Va., Daniel (Lesli) of Pickerington and Mark (Barbara) of Pickerington; eight grandchildren, Shaun (Mandi), Erin and Colin Gilligan and Katie (Chris) Scheurer, all of Texas, Matthew, Ashleigh, Michael and Owen Gilligan, all of Pickerington; three great-grandchildren, Benjamin, Emma and Virginia Scheurer, all of Texas; a sister, Rosemary Onia of Crown Point, Ind.; four sisters-in-law; two brothers-in-law; and 17 nephews and nieces; and special friend, Betty Campton of Grove City.

**I promise the next post will be on a happier subject!**

Emma's First Haircut

Miss Emma Kate has been wanting to go to the Salon with Mommy for quite sometime, so we finally decided to take her. We went to Baxter's Salon in downtown Plano (also known as "Miss Mary's Salon"), Emma did great!! She got her hair wetted down and she sat like an Angel while she was getting it cut. Don't worry, we didn't cut off too much, I still have to be able to put it up.
Here are the pics:

First day of Kindergarten!!!

Today was Ben's first day of Kindergarten, I can't believe my baby is a big boy now and is going to school!!! I know in my heart of hearts he's ready and he will do wonderfully, I just can't believe it!! He was SOOOO excited, and he did great when I dropped him off!! Now I'm gonna go cry in my coffee ;(



*Update*: Ben had a wonderful first day and is LOVING Kindergarten!!! :)

One Month Old!!

Time sure does fly, Miss Ginny is ONE MONTH old today!!
Here are some pics of our precious girl:

Bathtime

Miss Ginny had her first bath, she wasn't all that thrilled with it, but she sure was happy once we bundled her up in her towel!! Check out the thumb in the mouth on the last pic ;)

PaPa Scheurer's Birthday & Farm Fun

Sunday we went over to MiMi & Papa's to celebrate PaPa Scheurer's birthday. We had a yummy lunch and cake and Ben & Emma got to feed the chickens, see Papa's new tractor and run around outside! What a fun time we had!!

Sweet & Sassy and Friends

Nana took Miss Emma Kate to get her nails done for the first time. She took her to a place called Sweet & Sassy~it was perfect timing since she got them done right before Aunt Sarah's wedding!! Nana also got her an adorable sassy outfit for their fun day out together!! Emma got pretty pink nails with hearts on them and of course they had to glitter her hair up!! She also had really cute purple glitter stars in her cheeks! Emma had such a blast with her Nana!!

And Ben got to have his good friend Andrew over for a playdate, the boys had fun playing legos, cars and talking about star wars and playing Zingo!! What a great day!

More Ginny Pics

Here are some pics from the last few weeks of our new little darlin' :

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!

INTRODUCING MISS VIRGINIA GRACE!!!

At long last (or so it seemed to me ;) )Miss Ginny is now here!!! I started having really hard contractions Saturday night and then of course they stopped... Then Sunday morning (7/13) about 9:00, they started again, really strong and anywhere from 3-5 minutes apart. So we called PaPa Gilligan to come and stay with Ben & Emma. We called the Dr. around 10am and then my Mom ~So she could meet us at the hospital and away we went.

We got there about 10:50am and got into my room. Of course my contractions though still hard were still not very regular~So the nurse called the Dr. and told her the situation. The Dr. wanted her to start me on pitocin, but the nurse was my AWESOME advocate and asked if she would come in and break my water (since I wanted to have the baby naturally). So the Dr. came at about 12:30 to break my water and Ginny was here at 2:31PM~The Dr. barely made it into the room for the delivery ;) (Ginny was here literally 2 minutes after the Dr. walked in~ The nurse showed Chris on the monitor afterwards.)

The Dr. asked Chris to come over and announce if it was a boy or girl and when he said girl I was ECSTATIC!! Though I was a little surprised ;) She was so bright eyed and alert, it was amazing!!

Here are some pics from the hospital:

The Countdown is on!

WOW, I TOTALLY can't believe that we are so close to finally meeting our newest little monkey!!
We are tryin' to keep Peanut from coming before July 7th, My Dr. wants me to be at least 37 weeks, as she doesn't think the baby is that big to begin with. So I've been having to take it easy for the last 2 weeks and I have to continue taking it easy til then.
In other wonderfully happy news, I am now an Aunt! Chris's Sister had her first baby yesterday, a daughter and she's beautiful!!! It looks like the cousins may be even closer in age than we would have expected!! ;) I'll make sure and post pics when Peanut makes his or her grand entrance into the world!

Happy Father's Day Chris

Happy Father's Day to the BEST Daddy in the whole world! We are so lucky to have you in our lives, you are so patient and loving with our kiddos!! I can't wait to see you holding peanut here in a couple of weeks!! :)

We LOVE you SO MUCH!!!