Reunion...Round 2

The gang...

K, K, K, A, A

sadly missing an extra "A" and "K" to complete the

KAKAKAK group

also, cutie face, aka (ha! gotta keep using those two letters!) was already asleep when it was photo time

Kristin, Krista, me&J, Karin, the twin


poring over our old yearbooks



we can't believe it!



too funny!


(me, the twin, Kristin, Karin)
Love you girls!!!

Life...10 years later

I Heart Faces is having a "Just for Fun" Theme that is non-judged this week. I've been meaning to post pictures of our 10-year reunion (last Saturday!) but haven't gotten around to it...here is just a taste of what is to come...and a peek into what our lives look like 10 years post-graduation.

We were all part of a nerdy, sheltered, Christian, good-girl clique (and, quite frankly, I'd be THRILLED if Baby C followed in my footsteps in that regard). We made the Junior and Senior shirts together and all of us had names that stared with an "A" or a "K". Sadly, we were missing 1 "A" and 1 "K" but the rest of us had fun poring over old yearbooks and just reminiscing...

We're all married, some of us have 1 kid and some of us are expecting our second or our first...so fun to continue to be in the same stage of life.

You know you are life-long friends when you can pick right up where you left off! I love you all!

PS: For more "Just for Fun" pictures (or for their judged "Wedding Bell" pictures) please visit I Heart Faces! Just click on the button!

Happy {Belated} Birthday, Mom!

My mom often has to share her birthday with Father's Day. As her birthday is the 19th, it is almost always on the same weekend. So why not celebrate again one week later? happy belated birthday, mom!

This was C's first opportunity to celebrate her Mimi and she celebrated in style--

by helping Mimi blow out her birthday candles



(getting in practice for her birthday!)



and eating chips + refried beans for the first time at Mimi's celebratory luncheon at a local Mexican restaurant.


Unfortunately, she didn't get any of this fabulous cake...we're saving that for 7 more weeks...when it is C's time to celebrate HER birthday (sniff sniff)



We love you Mom/Mimi!

Bubbles and Baths err...Pools!

Shucks! I love using alliteration but it looks like this post title isn't up for it today. Maybe tomorrow? :)

So happy to be blogging a bit more on the Cutie Face blog! I love posting personal updates about Baby C. I did just realize, though, that I somehow posted my Wordless Wednesday post twice. Huge apologies about that!

Anyway, back to C: She continually cracks us up because she cracks herself up. Seriously, if I'm not actively trying to make her laugh she'll start trying to make herself laugh. What a joyful fun spirit she has! Of course, she does cry and get sad but, for the most part she is happy happy happy...

Last week we visited Mimi (my mom) and Aunt A (the twin) and Cousin R. Mimi set up her little outdoor pool and brought out the newest toy--bubbles! Here are a few classic shots of the girls learning about bubbles, bubble wands, pools, and how necessary it is to take off your clothes before you get in the pool!

{Don't forget--if you want to see the pictures up close and personal, just click on them and they'll pop up bigger!}

going back for more...

lookout! here come the bubbles!

after attempting a few head-first-dive-ins, we stripped the babes and threw them in

Wordless Wednesday: Didn't anyone tell you...

that caffeine will stunt your growth...?

C LOVES all cups. Guaranteed to make her happy, especially on cartrips

for more WordLESS Wednesdays, visit 5 Minutes for Mom
and
for more WordFUL Wednesdays, visit 7ClownCircus

Mommy's little helper

Less nap time = more wake time = more activities for me to find to keep C occupied.

Lately, she has been helping me in the kitchen.



She loves her plastic (BPA free, of course!) tubs



See how happy she is?



and how proud she is? Look at that pleased little face!



now to just teach her how to put the dishes away...

Hooray for Fathers!

From the moment J became a father, he was a different man. Yes, he was the same incredibly kind and compassionate husband but, man oh man, was there a new lady in the house that I had to contend with! He was a smitten man.

I love watching him love our daughter. He is kind, patient, fun, creative, and loving. He takes joy in reading her stories and playing on the ground with her. Due to crazy work schedules, he is gone Monday-Thursday but he makes up for his absence when he is home!

Baby C reserves her biggest smiles for him and definitely knows so say Da-Da when she spots him. We both love you, J, and thank you for being an incredible father and husband!

Now, of course, this post is not complete without mentioning the other fathers in my life.

• My dad--an amazing man of faith who constantly points me back to my Heavenly Father. He is the reason i am generous and gregarious--two attributes that he daily models and that endear him to all who know him!

• J's dad--an incredibly creative and tender-hearted man who loves his family in many quiet but mighty ways. C is blessed to have him as her grandfather as well, he surely dotes on her!

• My Heavenly Father, without whom I would be a hopeless sinner but who redeems me daily and calls me His child. We pray that C can learn to lean on Him and call Him her Father, too.

Wordless Wednesday: Flower Power!

for more WordLESS Wednesdays, visit 5 Minutes for Mom
and
for more WordFUL Wednesdays, visit 7ClownCircus

Concrete vs. Grass, Walking vs. Crawling

Our apartment feels like it is getting smaller, especially now that Baby C has been moving horizontally (ie crawling). I feel like we'd have so much more space in our apartment if C started moving vertically (ie walk). Here are my attempts. Clearly, you can see that she chose Grass over the Concrete and Crawling over Walking

Made it!

oh Cutie Face where have you been?

Little Cutie Face has been busy since we last posted!

She explored the blocks (a steal from a local consignment sale--this whole box, including the tupperware, was $2!) and really got into gnawing on the 'shroom. Side note--I gave her mushrooms for the first time on Sunday and she was a fan err, intrigued. Kind of foamy, i guess.

She sampled my first batch of rosemary + garlic homemade bread.

I think she liked it...

Rosemary + Garlic bread Drool (enlarged for your viewing pleasure)

This past weekend, we were in NC for my cousin's graduation. We decided to do a photo-op in the Residence Inn. Classy.

Baby C finally got to meet the Uncle who officiated our wedding. While i'd like to think she was enthralled by the company, it wasn't until Zoe, their Dachshund, arrived on the scene...

...that she got (literally) tickled.

She was also entertained by our cousin's cousin (but not our cousin--got that?) who was fresh in from the mission field with her amazing family (they are missionaries in Brazil). Here they are plonking down on the piano (the only saving grace for poor Zoe)

While the ride up to NC was a breeze,

C wasn't too thrilled with it on the way home:

Today we went for a later-afternoon run so that we could hang out at a local track meet (i'm a competitive runner so it was a real treat for me to hang out at a track meet. Yes, I'm a nerd)

Stay tuned for more pics of what we did on Monday--I don't want to get all crazy on you and post everything all at once! Look for it in a Wordless Wednesday post tomorrow :)