Lily's Tea Party! She is Four!

She turned four! Four years ago, life changed forever as we welcomed little Elna Lily into our lives. She was so excited for her birthday and is very interested in what it means to be 4!

We started off the day with breakfast and presents in bed....

Then we were off to the fish store to get Flippy! Our new pet....a beautiful pink beta fish!

One of her favorite gifts was her huge bubble wand! She could have played with that all afternoon. And thank you for the darling butterfly dress Grandma Suzi!

We ended the day with a special dinner out for Lily!
She was so excited about the mammoth piece of chocolate cake!

Again, our amazing friend Michelle pulled through to make Lily's beautiful cake!!!
Perfect for a tea party!

Look at our fancy ladies at tea!!

She blew out her candles in one little Lily breath!!

We love you Lily! Happy Birthday to our little one, who isn't so little any more!

Aunt Monica Comes For a Visit!

We love all of our Aunts and Uncles and were so blessed to have a visit from Aunt Monica this last weekend! Cole was smitten and kind of had a crush we think!

We took Monica to Brookside Gardens and we were so overwhelmed by the azalea bushes!

After 5 minutes of walking uphill, Lily was pooped!

A picnic on the Mall! How perfect!

We had such a wonderful time with you Mon! We miss you already!

Easter x 2!

Yes, it is true....the Easter Bunny visited our house twice this year! He came one week early while our Daddy was still in town, then again the next week
(thanks to Grandma Debbie leaving some extra Easter treats for the kids!).

You would think this photo was of our second Easter, but no, this was the first! Priceless expression on our Lily!

Cole was more interested in the Easter grass, but this bunny on wheels was quite fascinating too!

Yeah for Easter!

We stayed pretty busy Easter weekend (you have to pack the days in when you are adjusting to the first weekend of many without Daddy for a bit.....)
So, we dyed eggs.....

Made delicious sugar cookies....

Made a beehive cake....

...and to top it all off, indulged in a yummy Easter feast!!!

We had a wonderful holiday and are so grateful for the true meaning of Easter.
We love you and miss you Daddy!

(you gotta love self timers...Cole, not so much)

Cole is One!!!!

One year ago our little buddy joined our family!

Over the past twelve months, I have learned some things about my little boy....

1. He throw things, instinctively
2. He eats, and eats, and eats
3. He loves to cuddle
4. He loves the box of Efferdent in the bathroom (don't ask why I have Efferdent)
5. His favorite place in the world is Lily's room

Our good friend Michelle made his cake....one big one for the family, and a special little cake just for the birthday boy! We think Michelle should enter the Food Network's cake competitions!

Not so sure about the party hat, but LOVE the cake!!!

The best part about being a parent :)

Super Target....not so super

So, remember that great scene in You've Got Mail when Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) is in the big Fox Books store eavesdropping on an ignorant sales clerk?

I had such an experience yesterday. Target has a book section you know. I thought, maybe, just maybe, they have Jane Eyre. It is a classic, and new movie.....

One employee tried to help me without luck. She then spoke to another employee, a young man. This was their exchange:

"Hey, do we have Jane Eyre?"

"Who?"

"Jane Eyre."

"Whose that?"

"No, it's a book!" (the employee and I said this at the same time).

"Oh, what? I don't know books dude!"

I was laughing my head off. The first employee then said to me, "You know there is a Barnes and Noble right around the corner."

Right, I thought. So much for my one stop shopping at Super Duper Target.

I wish I could go to Kathleen Kelly's Shop Around the Corner :)

Family Photos

Yeah for professional photographers, and amazing ones at that!

We had an incredible experience the weekend before Ryan took off with Stacey from Labor of Love Photography. If this sounds like a testimonial, it is. We highly, highly recommend her to anyone in our area! I only wish she lived closer to everyone I love. She captured our family perfectly and helped us create amazing memories that we will never forget.

Here are some of our favorites. Enjoy!

There are about 145 pictures total...you may just see a few more show up here from time to time! Happy weekend to all and to all a good day :)

It's Now February!

December and January were great...just in case you were wondering! Life continues to challenge us with new adventures here in Maryland with a new residence in Texas for Ryan followed by a period of military medical service in the Middle East (I think that sounds a little less dramatic than deployment!). Kids truly keep you living in the moment though, and living in their moment to moment experiences leaves no room to build up worry, which is really good for me.

Look at those boys...matching in their army green!

This is Cole's favorite place in our house - Lily's room

We just spend the weekend at Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. We highly recommend the making snow angels, having an ice skating lesson, and our favorite, the sleigh ride on local Amish farmland. Our sleigh driver enlightened us about his views on natural and organic farming...nothing like getting it from the source!

It has been a wonderful winter so far and we are looking forward to Spring! Stay tuned...with Ryan "taking leave" for a while, my updates will be more frequent, I promise!