Twin Auntie!

I can finally spill the beans!  My SIL, Kelly, and her husband, Jesse, are expecting TWINS!  I am just sooooo excited for them.  She is due in early March but with twins that could be a little earlier.  We've known for a while but they just told the kids over the weekend (I have a video to post of that later) and then she announced it on Facebook last night.

My MIL and FIL are thrilled too - 2 more grand kids!  I can only imagine there will be piles of gifts for them under the tree this year at Christmas even though they won't be here yet.  And now I get to help plan the baby shower!  I've been pinning baby shower ideas on Pinterest for a while now.  There are so many cute ideas and twin ideas too!

Oh and guess what, I get to start giving my baby stuff away!  I took Kelly all of my maternity clothes this weekend (good heavens it was a lot!) and I know I'll be bequeathing other baby things to her soon enough.  Did I mention I already have a (gently used) double stroller?  It was just meant to be!

So much excitement in Jason's family these past few weeks!

Wedding Recap

Jason's brother, Jeremy, and his fiance (now wife), Julie, got married on Thursday, July 12 at the Island View Waterfront Cafe.  Thankfully they missed the extreme heat of the past few weeks and had a normal summery evening for their ceremony.  They wanted something small and intimate with just immediate family members and close friends.  It was a really fun night.  Both Jer and Julie are pretty laid back, non-formal people so this totally fit them.  They had a red, white and blue theme with it being July although not necessarily a "stars and stripes" patriotic theme. You can imagine my excitement upon finding the girls matching RWB dresses at Crazy 8 and a RWB shirt for Bryce.  Just perfect.  

Before the ceremony:

Caroline and Piper were honorary flower girls - no duties, just hold some flowers.  They were happy!

Hanging with Aunt Kelly at the bar!

My boys

Time for the ceremony

The biggest surprise of the evening was that Julie had a hawk be the ring bearer.  When it came time for the rings, her brother stood up, put on a glove and this huge bird flew in out of nowhere.  The rings were on a pouch on its foot.  Apparently she had won the service at a bridal show in the fall and had kept it a secret from almost everyone.  My kids were COMPLETELY blown away by it - it was so cool!

Uncle Jer  & Aunt Julie pose with nieces and nephew

 At the dinner reception following, Piper made friends with Julie's nephew, Connor, who is 10 months old.  Such a sweet little boy - they couldn't stop hugging on each other the whole evening.

Julie really put a lot of thought into the evening and it was so well themed. And then on Saturday, they had a big reception/party for all of their friends and family - and Julie did NOT disappoint on her attention to detail even though it was a bigger event.  Check out the candy bar!  My kids ate, well, I can't really put this lightly....a LOT LOT LOT of candy.

They had a DJ, pit beef, karaoke (my mom sang several songs!), and even corn hole outside.

The girls hang with their little buddy Connor.

Tell me that guy standing next to Jer doesn't look like Pitbull? (Not Jason for once!)

 And finally, the happy couple!  It was a really nice couple of days and I'm glad we were a part.  The ceremony and reception felt just like them - laid back and relaxed - which is nice since weddings can sometimes be so formal and complicated at times.

Congratulations to Jeremy and Julie!

Welcome Baby Flora!

My cousin had her baby last night at 3:30am!  This is the first family baby on either side except for my kids, so I'm just thrilled!!  Congratulations to my cousin, Adriane and her husband, Drew, on the birth of baby Flora.  I can't wait to see photos!

I haven't talked to my cousin yet but I'm guessing that little Flora's name may have something to do with Flora who was the Roman goddess of flowers and spring.  Obviously she was born in spring and my cousin is a botanist and avid nature lover, so it totally makes sense that their little bundle is named so appropriately.

I need to call my grandmother since I am sure she is bubbling with excitement upon the birth of her 4th great-grandchild.

Congrats K&K!

Just wanted to congratulate my brother, Kevin, and his wife, Kelly on their new home! They just moved in on Saturday and they are official homeowners now! Unfortunately, they did all their moving in that HORRIBLE weather this weekend and were up pretty much most of the night on Saturday dealing with a few wrenches in their moving logistics (and on Kelly's birthday, no less). My parents helped them out a lot so they are now in and unpacking. I took the kids a few weeks ago to see it when after their bid was accepted, so we've gotten to see it, but I'm hoping we'll get to squeeze in a visit this weekend to see it now that they're in.

They stayed in the area too, so I'm very happy that they aren't far off so we'll still get to see them a lot - I know the kids are especially happy for that. They love some UK and AK!

Anniversary Day

Just wanted to wish a happy anniversary to my brother, Kevin and his wife, Kelly - it's their 1st! They came by my mom's while we were there to pick up the top layer of their cake. They also wanted us to meet their new babies - two baby Sugar Gliders named Tulip and Tango. They were interesting little animals - nothing I'd ever heard of before. But since they had just gotten them that day, we couldn't look at them too much - they had to stay in the "bonding pouch." It was kind of wacky. We thought they were playing a joke on us when the came in and noises started coming from the pouch Kelly had around her neck.

I think as they get bigger and are used to Kevin/Kelly, they could be a lot of fun for the kids. Definitely not something I was expecting but then, who knew Sugar Gliders even existed???

Oh and a happy anniversary to Katie and Landon too! May 31 is a popular day!

Happy Birthday, Kev!

A big Happy 29th Birthday to my little brother, Kevin! (I KNOW you're reading...)

How can you be 29? I still think of you as a cute, grubby little 8 year old sometimes. It's so funny because I see so much of you in Bryce these days. His feet and hands remind me of yours when you were little and he's just so animated, boisterous and funny, just like you were as a kid. I remember when you used to annoy me and how I thought you had dirty hands and stinky breath all the time and hated if I ever had to share a bed with you when we went on a trip. I remember thinking you were yucky. And now, well, now Bryce reminds me so much of that and it's funny how I can't help but just completely love him and I totally understand how much mom just adores you. (Not that I don't!) But I just see things differently now - makes me appreciate you more.

And what's crazy to think is that now that you're approaching your 30th year, it's weird to think that mom and dad almost have 3 kids in their 30's. How is that possible? We were all just kids a few minutes ago.

I thought you should know too that when Bryce came stumbling into my room this morning at 6:30am, the first thing he said was, "It's Uncle Kevin's birthday! I wonder what his cake will look like." We love you, Kev!

Happy Birthday Chrissa!

Just wanted to wish my sister, Chrissa, a HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY! Hope you have a great day (I think you're going tubing today) and don't get too down about being 30. We love you and wish you were here with us!

Not Forgotten

I almost forgot to acknowledge that July 15, was mine and Jason's 8th wedding anniversary! Definitely not an anniversary we'll ever forget what we were doing - holding our 3rd baby and introducing her to Caroline and Bryce. Not exactly romantic, but certainly special.

Do you think we look older? (It's okay to say yes.)

Also, I wanted to wish Miss Lucy a happy first birthday on July 15 as well. You are just the cutest thing and we're so happy to have you as our friend! I don't think we'll make it to your party, but we'll have to get to celebrate soon.

Congrats Kevin & Kelly!

For anyone that didn't know, my younger brother, Kevin, got married yesterday. The wedding and reception were at Oregon Ridge and it was an absolutely wonderful day in which Kevin and Kelly were finally married. It was a long day since Bryce was up at 6am and we didn't all get in bed until midnight (the kids DID take naps, though) but completely worth it. The wedding seemed to go off without a hitch and all the careful planning they'd done over the past year paid off. Given their theatrical inclincation, they made the whole wedding and reception into a sort of performance including a cabaret of singers during cocktail hour where they both actually performed a duet together. Add that to lots of singing from other friends and then their final dance of the night was a carefully choreographed tango that none of us could believe! So there are lots of stories to go along with the day but I'm too tired to think of them all right now. Midnight bedtime and a 6:30am wake up - don't my children KNOW how to sleep? The kids dressed up and HAPPY to be wearing their finest - I was so relieved! My parents, brother, and the kiddos. They seemed to turn up in a LOT of photos unexpectedly: Chrissa, Kevin, & me (and baby #3): During the ceremony - Kelly looked amazing! I have a lot more and I'll be interested in seeing real photos in a few weeks or so. I'll share more later - we've got a post-wedding brunch to go to.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Just wanted to wish my Daddy-O a big Happy 58th Birthday! He started the day with 9 holes of golf and this evening we're going over there to hang out and eat delicious things my mother has prepared. He certainly got a lovely day for a birthday, huh?

Happy Birthday Mom!

I just wanted to wish my mom a very happy birthday! We started her day by calling her at 7:15 and both kids sang a very nice "Happy Birthday" to her. I was VERY impressed that they sang it together and very clearly - I know my mom was just tickled by it and said it was such a nice way to start her morning. I liked how Bryce ended the song by "blowing out the candle." And of course, then Caroline wanted to inquire all about what Venus was doing too. So we won't see her tonight to celebrate but she and my dad are supposed to come over tomorrow night for dinner (I better figure out what to have, huh?).

Happy Birthday Kev!

Just wanted to wish my little brother, Kevin, a Happy 28th Birthday!!! 28 is going to be a big year for you, huh?

Marathon Day

We embarked at 9:30am to make it downtown in enough time to see my sister, Chrissa, running in the Baltimore Marathon/Half-Marathon. Thank goodness we left early because we did NOT anticipate running into Morgan State University's Homecoming parade that closed a fairly big throughway to get down further into the city. After meandering through some neighborhoods we'd never seen before and hoping that we'd be clear of the parade route, we made it past and had NO problem getting close to the marathon route. I'd received a text message on my phone that Chrissa had made it to 5.9 miles so we were hoping we still had time to cheer her on. We were able to park right at the corner of 33rd and Ednor and were there only a few minutes before we were joined by Mark, Sara, Zoe and Taki who were there to cheer on another friend too. Then, just a few minutes later, there came Chrissa! I managed to snap this photo as she passed. It was really amazing to see so many people dedicated to running. You could tell some were having no problems while others were working very hard to keep going. Fortunately, we were at the highest point of the race and the runners were all headed downhill at that point which we told them as they ran past. Then after cheering on some more runners, we stopped for a pitstop at Mark and Sara's and then headed over to a little eatery near JHU to wait for Chrissa. While were at Mark's I got a text message that Chrissa had finished the race with a time of 1:44:29 at an average of 7:58/mile. Pretty darn good considering she said she never trained that fast. We were all really excited to see her when she got to the restaurant and had lunch with us. (Mind you, she had finished the 13.1 mile run, walked back to her apartment, showered/changed/stretched, and then RODE HER BIKE up to where we were eating. And then later she was headed to a friend's for a BBQ. All in a day's work for her!) Caroline decided to go home with my parents and Bryce snoozed the whole way home with us and now the boys are headed out to Sam's Club for much needed supplies. So now it's time for me to get cleanin'. I finally got my mp3 player cover/armband so I won't have to worry about dropping it in a toilet.

Happy Birthday Chrissa!

I've already called her and both kids sang a rousing version of Happy Birthday to her on the phone, but I wanted to wish my sister

Happy 29th Birthday!

I can't believe she's 29! But then, I'm closing in on 31, so I guess that's reasonable, right? The funny thing is now that when people meet us, aside from no one ever guessing we're sisters, they usually guess she's the older one. Not that she looks old or haggard or anything. :)

But it has been funny this week, I've had 2 people tell me that I look VERY young and they can't believe I'm 30. My new GA thought when she met me last week that I was another GA. (How cool is that? An early 20 something thought I looked young!) And then Bryce's allergist commented he couldn't believe I was old enough to have 2 kids and then when I told him I was almost 31 he told me I had the face of a teenager. Thank goodness I don't have the acne of a teenager. So I guess all in all, it was a good week for being 30.