Congratulations Kristen and Steve!

Kristen and Steve had the most amazing wedding! The church was beautiful and although they had 5 flower girls, I was a little nervous that Grace wasn't going to make it down the aisle. With no nap, she was in rare form by 3:30 and had to be bribed with the promise of lots of chocolate to perform her duty. As she walked down she waved and shouted in that sweet little voice, "Hi Daddy" which nearly brought a tear to his eye. She also sat quietly (for the most part) during the ceremony, unlike Lily who had to be escorted out by Brooks (the girl loves to scream when she is excited!). The reception was picture perfect and we had lots of fun. Grace was really tired after a long week and fell asleep while I was holding her on the dance floor. We had a wonderful time and are so happy for Kristen and Steve.

The Newlyweds

Dad and Mom

Poppy and Nanny

Thanks to Mary K for taking lots of pictures and

sharing them on FB (most of these are hers)!

Daddy and Lily

Our hands go in our mouth when we

are not in the picture taking mood...

Photo Shoot at the Lighthouse

Sisters

Jen and Dennis

All the Kiddos

Nana and Grace

Three Generations

Getting very sleepy...

Alli on the Drums

Morgan had the Moves

Sadie the Bridesmaid

Rehearsal Dinner

Thursday came fast and it was time for the rehearsal dinner already! The food was great and it was lots of fun. The only part of the night that was a big dissapointment was when I discovered my camera was broken. I think it must have been dropped earlier that day at the nail salon without me knowing. It still took pictures, but I was unable to see them and I wasn't really sure if they were actually taking . Thank goodness for Facebook because I've stolen lots of pictures that other people posted from the wedding...

The Cute Couple

The Girls

Morgan, Gabby, Alli and Lily

Nanny and Poppy

Just loved being able to spend time with them!

Jake is just so sweet and helpful with the girls!

Lily loves her Papa

Morgan made sure her front tooth was out just in time for the wedding...

Wednesday in NY

Wednesday we spent the afternoon on the Reale's boat. I just love being on the water, especially with them! Grace had lots of fun playing on the boat and swimming in the water.

The Girls

Help me Daddy

She loved going in deep without her life jacket...

Captain Grace

While we were having fun on the water, Nana took care of Lily and Papa was the airport shuttle for family arriving for Kristen's wedding. Once everyone arrived we went out to dinner to start celebrating.

Nanny and Poppy

Uncle Frankie and Aunt Lois

The Bride to Be and Morgan

Friends in NY

I feel pretty lucky to still have a great group of friends that I grew up with in NY. Although we don't see each other much, we always have a great time when we get together. I just love seeing the kids play with each other and since my mother watches most of them, they are all pretty comfortable at the house!

Do you think she has enough floatation devices?

Lily loving the water!

Kiera and her Daddy

Lauren

Gregory (AKA Batman)

Batman decided to put all the dads in jail that night

(I don't think Brooks minded as long as he could bring his beer).

Owen loves cupcakes!

Anthony and his Daddy

Congratulations to Sally and Jorge who are

expecting their first baby in November!

NY Visit

Our trip to NY went by way too fast! We had such a great time with family and friends and wish we could visit more often. Our visit started with Brooks heading to New Jersey (by taxi an train) to visit with his college buddy John and his wife Tara. While he was on the Jersey Shore, I was on Fire Island for my sister's bachelorette weekend. We both had lots of fun (probably a little too much) and the girls had fun spending time with Nana and Papa and of course their cousins.

Bachelorette Bash

Thanks to Nana (and Papa) for watching all the kids!!

Jake and Grace

Alli and Lily

Morgan and Lily

Lily and Jake

Lily

I have lots more to post from our trip, but it is probably going to take me a while to accomplish. I went to school today to try to get my room ready, but brought Lily along because she wasn't feeling great (she was teething pretty bad and running a fever). I officially go back to school tomorrow and Lily is officially sick with some kind of virus (high fever and slight rash). She was pretty pitiful all day so not much is getting accomplished around here except cuddling with my poor baby.

Summer Fun

The girls and I have been having lots of fun this summer and I'm so sad that it is almost over. I had to go to a training day for school last week, so Grace and Lily went to "school" for the day. I was sure both of them would cry when I left, but nobody did which made things a lot easier on me. When I picked them up they both seemed happy and I even had a good note from Grace's teachers that read, " It was a pleasure having Grace with us today. She did well going to the potty and playing with her friends." I was so proud of her for that small little note, so I think I'll try extra hard to write lots of positive notes this year at school.

This summer the girls have enjoyed going to the pool (which is short wagon ride across the street for us), going to the water park and sometimes just playing all day at home. The only thing that could have made our summer better is if daddy had as much time off as me!

Here are a few pictures from our summer fun:

Swimming in the Baby Pool

Lily loves to splash in the water!

Talking on the phone

(which wasn't even a phone) in her Tutu (so sassy!)

Taylor and Grace at the water park

Lily loves the water park too, and still loves to play with a spoon...

Grace LOVES boiled peanuts just like her Booker

(and most southerners, including me).

There's nothing like a juicy piece of watermelon on a hot summer day!

We are headed to NY for over a week on Friday for my sister's wedding and lots of family time. It will be a nice way to end my summer vacation because I will be forced to relax and not think about going back to work.

One last thing... Grace has done poopy on the potty three times this week, she was so proud of herself and so was mommy and daddy!

Lily ~ Nine Months

I just can't believe my baby is already nine months old! We won't be able to go for her well check-up until next month (it's really hard to get an appointment with our new pediatrician), but I wanted post some pics and let everyone know how she is doing.

Lily is a climber and can make it all the way up the stairs by herself(with me behind her of course). She loves to wave her hand at people and for people to "give her five". If you've been around Lily, you know that she can get loud...she loves to scream! She also makes some other funny sounds (one particular one that we need to get on video is her growl!).

Look at all that hair!

Standing up and ready to go!

Look at those beautiful blue eyes

(we get lots of compliments on those)!

Baby in Blue

I took the girls for pictures when my parents were here.

They got some good shots, but still not a great one of them together.