Archive for the ‘family’ Category

Lucy’s dedication last weekend was absolutely perfect. Seriously, I couldn’t have asked for anything better, from the ceremony itself to the weather. It was a wonderful day.

We had about 25 family members and friends there. It was so obvious how loved Lucy is. Some of our good friends drove about 3 hours to get there, which really touched us and meant a lot.

The ceremony was held in my parents’ backyard overlooking their lake. Just about everyone was involved. My dad welcomed everyone; my brother, Ryan, read a Bible verse; my grandpa dedicated Lucy; Joe’s dad said a Hebrew blessing; my other brother, Randy, played a hymn; and the two moms invited everyone to lunch afterward. What made it extra special was that Lucy was the first great-grandchild my grandpa has dedicated. I know it meant a lot to him to be able to perform the ceremony.

We had a haystack lunch afterward — for those who don’t know, that’s Fritos topped with chili beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olives or anything else you like — and one of my moms group friends made Lucy’s cake. It was seriously delicious. Everyone kept commenting about how good it was. It was so pretty that I didn’t want to cut it!

Lucy loved the cake, too!

And, Lucy was so beautiful in her white dress. I can’t believe she managed to keep it clean!

And, of course, she had a BLAST hanging out with all her cousins! She spent a lot of time playing with Rivka while Marshall napped.

It was such a nice day full of such great memories.

We had a fun family day at Tellus last Sunday as the in-laws came up for the final day of Rockfest.

The day started out with lunch. Joe and his dad had REALLY been looking forward to the barbecue from one of our local restaurants, which was a vendor at the event. Between that, my black bean burger, a HUGE plate of fresh potato chips and large glasses of fresh-squeezed lemonade, we were all stuffed. Lucy had yet another chance to taste lemon. I believe it’s still the only food on her “hate” list.

However, she didn’t really learn and kept leaning in for more every time Joe stretched his finger out toward her.

After lunch, we browsed some of the vendor booths and then headed inside to escape the insane heat. Not too long after, Rachel, Dave and Rivka showed up, and we all wandered around together. All the fun wore Lucy out!

Our last stop was the children’s area, where we put the babies on the floor and let them play. Rivka took all the toys! Rachel would ask if she wanted to share, and Rivka would look at her like she was thinking, “Yeah, right!”

The size difference between the two babies still amazes me!

And, for your viewing pleasure, a video of the girls playing.

We’re all getting together on Sunday for Father’s Day, and I’m excited to see the girls playing together again. I think they’re going to grow up to be good friends.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there, especially the two best Dads I know:

It’s been a while since I’ve been around the ‘ol blog. Life has been the same old, same old for us, though we have had some fun things going on.

Last Friday, my mom’s group came up to Cartersville for a field trip to Tellus. It was a lot of fun, and it was nice to get to know some of the other moms a bit better. Lucy had a lot of fun, though she was dying to get down and play with the other kids in the fossil dig area. It’s too bad she can’t walk or crawl yet. Soon, she will be down there with the rest of them. I didn’t take my camera (I know, bad mom!), but I did get this shot of Lucy with my phone as we sat on the edge of the fossil dig area.

On Sunday, we headed to the in-laws for lunch. It was a nice visit, and the in-laws got to see Lucy eat baby food.

Joe’s dad had fun playing with Lucy in front of the bathroom mirror. Lucy LOVES “baby in the mirror”. It’s one of the few things that will calm her down when she’s really upset.

Lucy was worn out from all the fun!

After lunch, we headed back for a photo shoot with Bailey, the daughter of one of Joe’s coworkers. He’s doing her pictures every month. After the shoot, Lucy and Bailey hung out for a bit. Lucy loves other babies! I think these two will end up being friends.

So, that’s what we’ve been up to. We’ve got some busy weekends for the next few weeks. I’ll be ready for everything to calm down and am really looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home at some point!

Last weekend was full of driving. It was exhausting but a lot of fun.

We started out by heading to Atlanta on Saturday morning for the 2010 Arthritis Walk. I always love the energy. It really gets you excited.

Braves legend Hank Aaron, who also has arthritis, was there, and as we passed by we got to shake his hand.

After the walk, we headed south of Atlanta to meet up with my sister, brother-in-law and nephews who were in town for Jacob’s soccer tournament. My parents and brother came down from Chattanooga, so we had a lot of fun. We don’t get to see my sister often.

From there, we headed to Blue Ridge to spend the night at Joe’s parents’ cabin. On Sunday morning, we were off to Mountain City in Northeast Georgia near the North Carolina border for the 2010 Southeast Warrior Dash. It was insane. Most racers were dressed in costumes. I have never seen so many men in dresses before. The best costumes we saw were a group of what we think were frat guys with one dressed in a wedding dress and the others in bridesmaid dresses. And, of course, they all donned Viking hats.

Everyone who participated got a Viking hat. Lucy was a junior warrior.

After the boys checked in, they got all decked out in war paint.

The Dash included a 3-mile run and a bunch of obstacles, including wading through a lake, climbing a wall and cargo net, going through mud and jumping over fire. We were able to watch at the very beginning at the lake and the very end where the fire pit was located. It was hardcore.

I can’t wait to see what costumes the boys come up with for next year.

After the Dash, we raced home to get ready for our LOST finale party. Lucy had so much fun playing with Uncle Randy and Aunt Lisa.

It was a really fun weekend, but now I’m looking forward to catching up on sleep!

My first Mother’s Day was absolutely perfect. It was full of my favorite things with my two favorite people.

When I woke up after sleeping in until 9 a.m. (!!), I woke up Lucy and Joe gave me my gifts — a pretty necklace with a pink stone, a bracelet and a book titled “Guess How Much I Love You”, which was from Lucy. He also had gotten me a huge bouquet of Chrysanthemums on Friday.

Then, Joe made breakfast — chocolate chip pancakes and hash browns — and we got ready to head out to the Rome Braves game. I was *so* excited to take Lucy to her first baseball game. She was a hit there, and everyone we passed (including the Braves girls and players) ooohed and aaahed over her. But, really, I didn’t expect any less because she was ridiculously adorable.

She also got to meet the mascots, Romey and Roxie.

And was pretty interested in the game.

We left the game a little early to head over to Olive Garden since we knew it would be packed. We didn’t have too long of a wait, and once we got to our table, Lucy scoured the menu for the formula section.

On the way home, we stopped by Dairy Queen. Someone was tuckered out from her busy day and passed out.

It was the absolute perfect day.