Diaper Cake for Claire

My Mom, Aunt Libby and I all threw a baby shower for Claire and Tony.  Of course Claire was the one who got all the good pics because I am TERRIBLE at remembering to take pictures, but here is my first attempt at a diaper cake.  It was actually a lot of fun to make.

Had to stick them on the porch so we could work  ;)

(kidding)

Ketchup

Wow, I have been MIA for quite a while on here.  I need to step up by blogame.  Especially since the next week or so is going to be BIG TIME for some of the people closest to me.  Have to document some very important babies!!

So, I'm going to play some ketchup.  Sorry for all the back logged posts.  I will try to space them out a bit.

One moment, Marlee has a call...

Ok, we're back.  It was just a sales call.  Uggh, they are relentless.

Memorial Day 2012

We spent our Memorial Day weekend on Lake Hartwell....big surprise, right?  We planned to go up on Friday morning and come back Saturday evening.  However, some gorgeous weather, excellent company and some "positive peer pressure" from that excellent company changed our plans a bit.  We ended up staying until Monday...lots of fun, and exhaustion upon our arrival home.  :)  Definitely worth it, though.

When we got there Friday, Mikey, Parks, Marlee, Shayla, Kaly and me all took our first family swim in the lake.  We have some new life jackets for the kids that are much more comfortable than last year's were.  Marlee LOVES the water.  She continually dunks her face in and comes up and coughs...repeat.  It's hilarious.  She squeals and giggles and smiles so big.  Parks was a bit more pensive, especially at first. He just floated there without moving a muscle but taking everything in with his eyes.  By the end of the weekend he was kick-kick-kicking all over the place.  My parents showed up as we were hiking back up to the house (the water is wayyyy down, so it's a bit of a hike down to the dock).  We hung out for a while and then Libby, Grandpa, Patrick and Michael all showed up within seconds of each other.  We had a few hours of nice relaxation and then I headed for bed.

super fuzzy but it's all i got

sportin' the new b-suit

My mom discovered that "Seneca Fest" was on Saturday, and they had a 5K race in the morning.  Since I've been training with Kim, I thought it would be fun to try the run.  My dad agreed to run it with me, so we headed out about 7am and found the race just minutes before the starting gun.  It was HOT and HUMID and I was HURTING.  I ran it in 26:28 and am really mad because I don't think I've ever walked in an official race, but I had to walk at the end...probably during the last 1/4 mile.  It was fun and I do enjoy the extra adrenaline I get when running in a real race.  Mikey ran most of the race and then stopped about 1/4 mile from the turnaround and waited for me to be heading on my way back (2nd leg of the run).  He was barefoot running, and tried to "motivate" me by talking and telling me who I needed to pass and stuff.  It was helpful, I guess.  My dad did awesome too.  He said he was going to walk it, but when we were looking for him near the finish line, we looked up and saw him barreling down the hill in a solid run.  Pretty awesome!!!

Later on Saturday, Erin, Taylor, Bella and Baby Gus (Mikey's nickname for our soon to be nephew) showed up with their friends Sarah and Joseph, and their awesome dog, Cash.  Cash can climb ladders, jump through screen doors without making a sound and can swim for hours on hours.  He's amazing.  They were all great to hang out with and Sarah and Joseph fit right in.  I hope they come back!

The rest of the weekend consisted of a lot of eating, swimming, boating, grilling (by Patrick and Michael) and did I mention eating?  We are infinitely grateful for the amazing help we have from family and friends with corralling and entertaining our kids.  We wouldn't be able to do ANY of this stuff without them.  I am amazed each time we go up there at how perfectly God has made us all to fit together, work together and use each of our "gifts" to become one body.  I pray I will be able to "return the favor" and serve these people in the ways they serve me.

I only took a couple pics...

Libby watching for fish

Parko driven with Grandpa

teeheehee

THIRTY

Mikey is 30 years old.  And his name is still Mikey.  :)

Yesterday my amazing, generous, selfless, funny, athletic, strong, loving, goofy, perfectly-fit-for-me husband turned 30 years old.  I reflected on his birthday more than I did when I turned 30 back in August.  For some reason it didn't really hit me that 3 decades have passed for both of us until yesterday.  That's a long time...and in 10 more years, we will be 40.  Eek!

We weren't able to do much by way of celebration on his actual birthday because he had to work and we had small group that night (Ahem....and I am a terrible planner).  We did spend the evening with some of the greatest people we know discussing the awesomeness of the Holy Spirit and eating cookie cake with icing and chocolate chips.  I'd say that's a win.  And.....we are going to have a little "getaway" with no kids...and I can't wait!  Contingent on his work schedule, I am hoping we can go soon.  We have some good friends who recently moved to Charleston, so that would be my first choice since we've been wanting to go visit them badly.  We have also considered Greenville, St. Augustine, New York, Destin....so many choices...and we want to take FULL advantage of a weekend away.  This is sounding like a present for ME...which it definitely is...but I promise he wants to do it too.

Anyway, I love him so much.  I hope he has a wonderful 30th year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKEY!

Tattoos

Mikey and I have talked about getting a tattoo for several years, but it was never something we were actively pursuing.  Lately, it's been a lot more fun to talk about and plan for.  Mikey is all about it lately, and even came home from the store the other day with a magazine all about tattoos!  There are so many options that I have such a hard time deciding.  Mikey is more of the "let's just do it and we can always get another one later" mindset.  Ha!

We were playing around the other day and I drew this one on him:

I don't think he would do it there, but he has been wanting to get a circle around his ring finger...and we thought it would be cool to do the wave thing around his finger.  Mikey loves waves.  A lot.

There have been several tattoos I've seen lately that I really REALLY like...but I am generally wimpy in these types of things.  I am trying to build the courage...we shall see what happens.   I am loving white ink lately...and the lace design on shoulders is freaking awesome!

Jessica...should I do it?!?!  Kim...I know your answer!   Claire...will you shun me?!?!  :)

Do the Hokey Pokey and Turn Yourself Around

Our big boy has officially TURNED AROUND!

I had to take a couple quick pics of Parks and Marlee on our last ride with both of them facing backwards.  Parks got a new forward-facing seat.  He likes it so far.  :)

I will post the new seat soon.  :)

Goose Egg

Marlee was in such a great mood on Saturday night.  We were playing in the play room, and she walked into the kitchen to get a toy...and slipped.  She landed on her head and it swelled SO FAST.  It scared me because it was a first for me.  The swelling went away fast and she was fine, but I hate seeing my baby hurt.

It's hard to see how far it poked out in the pictures...