Hilton Head Part 1

We are three days deep into our family vacation! We have had a great time touring the island by bike, tasting the local restaurant fare, and sinking our feet in the sand! It is such a beautiful place!

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom

We had a great time at the Jewish St. Mary's Healthcare company picnic at the local amusement park. Parker and Lizzie had a great time riding the kiddie rides, and the boys loved the roller coasters.

9-9-09

We celebrated our three year wedding anniversary with a family picnic at Tyler Park on Wednesday. On Friday we went "all grown up" for a charity event that involved art, wine and cheese. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate three years of marriage!

Labor Day Zoo Trip

We spent Monday afternoon with the fraternal grandparents at the Louisville Zoo. Lizzie's second trip ever. She had much more fun this time. Her favorite animal? The monkeys... or "munty" as she calls them."Hi, munty."

Sung as a "bear" in a rug

When you have a baby you stumble upon little surprises... yesterday Eddie found this. Bear nap.

Mrs. Dolle

Andrea tied the knot this weekend. She was a beautiful bride and the reception was a blast.

Liz-in-the-box

Found Lizzie sitting in her ottoman reading to her pink bear.

Henry's Ark

Eddie got off early this Sunday so we decided to make the most with A LOT of family time. The afternoon followed the following timeline:

11 - 1:30 Family Nap

1:30 - 2 Load car, head to Sonic Happy Hour... Diet Cherry Limeade, yum!

2-3 Henry's Ark (free petting zoo or as Eddie put it "Someone's dream come to life.")

3-5 Visit with my parents

5 - 7 Dinner with Eddie's Family

Not a bad Sunday.

Andrea's Bachelorette Party

A night out on the town makes a girl fell young again... until the next morning. Andrea and I used to be regulars at may hot spots around Louisville, but we never made it to Connections for the Drag Show until this past Saturday. Experience. And the next day I felt really old and tired. Congratulations Andrea, can't wait till the 29th!

Eddie's Trip

Eddie is home... this post is a little late. Just wanted to share some photos with you. It was a life changing trip. How could it not be. Thanks to all who sent donations, well wishes, and prayers.

Fun With The Shrums

Spending the weekend with my sister and her family. We had a nice morning walk in the park and wet and wild time in the afternoon!

Lake Cumberland

We had a great 4 night lake/houseboat trip this past weekend. The water was great... lil cold, but beautiful. As it goes with all trips we did have some drama, hail storm while out on the Run-About, kids screaming, and wind blowing. But memories were made... I heart the lake.

Andrea's Shower

This Sunday was my friend Andrea's family shower. As always it was a lot of fun to meet up with old friends. Can't wait to be a bridesmaid in the upcoming wedding... we will all be a vision in lilac!

Farmers Market

Lizzie and I headed to the Deer Park Farmers Market this morning. As always lots of yummy things to buy and eat! Today we settled for two small flower arrangements, corn, green peppers, some fresh basil and of course homemade chocolate chip cookies for Lizzie... and me.

Clip Clop, Clip Clop

I heard Lizzie playing with my shoes, but she was actually walking in my shoes. Too funny, wish I could have snapped a better picture.

This past Wednesday my mother and I attended a triple headliner at Louisville Slugger Field: Willi Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Bob Dylan. It was a beautiful night and we had a really good time. It was nice to see my mom sway and sing along to songs of her own generation. And I have to say Willie really rocked it with some great covers!

18 Months

Lizzie is 18 months today. WOW. One and a half years. In honor of this milestone, I give you 18 things I love about Lizzie.

1) Her deep little voice

2) Her impersonation of a chicken

3) The songs that she sings... well hums, kinda

4) Her baby mullet

5) That she looks like her Daddy

6) the leg roll only on her right leg... it has been that way since the day she was born, which tells me she is still a baby

7) That she is more spunky than sweet

8) Booty, booty, booty rocking everywhere

9) Her early appreciation for ga-gas (cookies)

10) She has my hands, fingers, nails. Its like looking at miniature hands of my own

11) The way she plays with her baby dolls

12) She LOVES shoes... and one day we will share the same size (for a little while at least)

13) Her courage

14) Her excitement to see me when I pick her up at school

15) The way she turns the pages in books to skip to the good parts or pretty pictures

16) Her hard, full throttle, mouth-to-mouth kisses

17) The way she talks to herself when falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning

18) Her smile. Part me. Part Eddie. But all Lizzie.

Silky Blanket

Lizzie has always been attached to her silky blankets. We started out with two, 1) From Nanny 2) From Aunt Lora. Then we thought we lost one and I had to purchase Lizzie one for Valentines day. Needless to say... since they are all visible in the picture... we now have three "Blanes" and Lizzie insists on having ALL with her at night time. I think this might be the early stages of a hoarder.

Miss Fourth of July

Edward, Mom (Pat), Rosemary, and Fran pose for a brother/sister photo.

James chows down on his strawberry while Lizzie settles in to do the same.

Lizzie with her 10+ strawberry, sporting her 4ht of July outfit from Great Granny Ro.

Though the day ended up very rainy and over cast, we still had a great family party. I invited my mothers side of the family over to celebrate my Aunt Fran's return from China as well as our countries birthday. It was good to catch up with everyone and Eddie grilled some killer hamburgers! Lizzie had fun with all her cousins and ate strawberries and blueberries all day long... literally all day long.

Wedding Season

Wedding season is in full force for us right now. Last night Eddie's high school friend, Justin married Tara. It was a fun evening. I am trying to get better about taking photos of everyone... not just Lizzie! Here are a few from the night. One of me with Annie, my 13 year old sister-in-law and the other, me with my beau!

I am so lucky. I really am. Not only do I have a husband who loves and takes care of me, but I also have a cutest little baby girl. I would like to say sweetest... but Lizzie is just to spunky to be placed in the "sweet" category. She is so bright and I love watching her learn new things. Children are so complex and fun. You imagine what they will be like the whole time you are pregnant... and then they exceed all expectations once they arrive.

Weekend Project

Just wanted to share some before and after photos of my Friday night project. This was a little school chair my neighbor gave to Lizzie when cleaning out his garage. I picked us a half yard of fabric and can of spray paint to rework the piece. It turned out really cute and was very simple. The entire project took less than 2 hours to complete... there was drying time involved but that doesn't count. I will have to use this technique again on another abandoned ugly piece of furniture.