A visit from Auntie!

Danielle came to visit this past weekend, which I was so thankful for. Being in Baltimore has been good and hard @ the same time. But hanging out with her the past few days has been refreshing and fun! We took a walk around the neighborhood (walked the Avenue), went to the Towson Mall, watched The Nanny Diaries and skyped with Uncle Aaron. I am thankful to be blessed with four sister-in-laws...a perk to having two brothers, and Mark having two brothers also! Thanks for coming to see us Auntie...Ella did ask for you after her nap;0) Danielle and Aaron are expecting in October, so it was great to talk about baby stuff with her, they are going to be great parents!

Here is Danielle with the girls @ the mall

home sweet home

Here are a couple pictures of the new place...They are only preliminary pictures, it is still a work in progress!

The girls play area in the basement (as you can see already put to good use)



The living room...love the new rug from IKEA


The girls room


Ella on the stairs... she thinks it is one big playground


Mark and I's room...I told you they were still a work in progress!

Promised Pictures...

Here are the pictures I promised...some are from the resident party @ Travis and Ashley's on last Thursday and some are from moving (and one from a time with ladies from my church)...no pictures of the actual house yet, I am still working on those, so this will have to suffice your curiosity.

Julie, me and Ashley

All of Ella's boyfriends...Trevor, Micah and Alex

A family pic

Ella's last hug from her friend Trevor


Luci's first cheeto..



Ella and Ryan in the moving truck...at this point it s mostly unloaded



Ryan teaching Ella how to blow dandelions...I love Ella's face here.



Nana and Papa by the BIG moving truck!


Daddy and Ella @ the IKEA cafe


Here are my friends from Church!
Oh, how I will miss them!!!

wow...

we are here (minus Mark...he is back in Glasgow... )
I don't have any pics to post yet, I am still looking for the cord...and well also the camera. I know they are here...but where is another story. We had a great moving weekend not to mention awesome help. Of course moving to Baltimore wasn't complete without of first trip to IKEA. So, we did that before Mark left yesterday. More pics to follow of our new additions. I miss everyone in Glasgow...thanks for the fun party on thursday...those cupcakes were just as good the 2nd day!

Packin'...Packin' and more Packin'...

That is what I will be doing for the next week, Mark and I feel like we have sooo much more to pack, even though we have been doing it slowly for about three weeks. But officially on Friday we will be heading to Ohio...then on Saturday to Baltimore! Exciting and overwhelming all @ the same time! Of course I will post pictures...of the main event in about a week and a half...depending on when I get Internet access...

But this weekend we were in Louisville for the KAFP conference. My parents came and stayed with us so they could watch the girls while we attended a reception and casino night. It was so awesome to have time alone with my husband...ok it wasn't alone, but @ least minus the kids:) It was my first time playing Roulette. On the last hand, I chose 18 (just for the fun of it) and that is the number that was rolled!!!! It was a lot of fun playing with FAKE money!

The night before we went to see a LATE showing of the movie of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian-----AMAZING, loved it, would see it again in a heartbeat...and even cried a little @ one part...of course I love the books, too! I am pleased that the director does a really good job sticking to them. So my recommendation---GO SEE IT....NOW (or maybe read the book first...do one or the other)!

But, going back to the conference, my parents got to go swimming with the girls, we went shopping and they rented Horton hears a Who @ the hotel...The girls had so much fun!! You can tell in the pictures below:)

Mark and I all dressed up for the reception and casino night!

Hanging out at the pool...Ella liked to got up and down the side of the pool while holding onto the edge, what an arm workout-she is tough!

Another swim shot, the water was so warm (sorry, Jill:0)!

My Mom took this picture...so cute!
Paw Paw and his girls...

We went to a park to enjoy the great weather..Luci loved swinging!




Maw Maw and Paw Paw also bought the girls (and Abbey) matching dresses for Ryan and Jill's dress rehearsal for the wedding...here is Luci sporting the dress.

Lastly....I gave Ella her first french manicure before we left for Louisville, unfortunately all the swimming washed most of it off...but I did catch a picture before we left. It turned out pretty good for a two year old who has ants in her pants:)

Good Times with Friends...

This week has been full of seeing friends, and saying goodbye to friends...On Tuesday I went to Cincinnati to see one of my college friends @ the new IKEA! It was great to see Heather (and her hubby Jeff-who helped keep the kids contained while we talked- and her two sweet boys Elliot and Will). As you will see below, Ella enjoyed showing Elliot around the Panera Bread (she is turning into such a little mother).

Family Portrait-it is always so hard to get a two year old to smile and look @ the camera...let alone @ the same time!

I also ate lunch today @ a great new restaurant (well I guess, new to me) with my Crossroads Pregnancy Center Friends (Mark was sweet enough to watch the kids over his lunch break, so I could have some time to enjoy adult company). They are so fun to be around and such encouraging sisters in Christ. I really felt encouraged by their reaffirming words as we go out on this adventure to Baltimore. I am so thankful for them and hate to leave them...but I am excited to one day spend eternity with them;0)


Holly, Me
Bridget, Connie and Sarah

Three Cheers for Moms!

Happy Mother's Day!!

My hubby brought me flowers and breakfast in bed before crashing in the bed (he had a 24 hour shift-with NO sleep-poor guy)! Thanks Mark-oh yeah-the flowers are from the girls:0) Thanks Ella and Luci, it is a blessing to be your Mom!

Last Few Weeks in Kentucky!

Here is our most recent video of Ella. She is singing Jesus Loves Me:0)...(kinda timidly-for her, at least-she even does the he is strong motion...it's still a work in progress)! She is so precious @ the end of the video she says "see 'em"...that means she wants to see the video on the camera. Kids love technology!

Today, Mark was moonlighting, so we played some outside, I did a little packing and I am going to do some ironing tonight (sounds fun, huh). Here are some pictures of the girls having fun outside.

I handed Ella an inch worm...she thought it was so cool to have it crawl up her arm



Ella, interested in lots of bugs after I let her hold an inch worm, tried to hold this butterfly. NOTE: no insects were harmed during the filming of this blog



Luci has been raising her hands above her head, then holding them there...she looks so cute doing it, I think she likes the reaction she gets from Mark and I.



Yes, she is chewing on a medicine dropper....don't worry there wasn't any medicine in it...only a doctors kid, huh..



I sprayed Ella with the hose...she was so soaked, but of course, had a blast!

Pita Bread...

I am so proud of myself! I made my own pita bread. I like pita bread...especially with hummus! Well I am not a huge fan of store bought pita...it seems sort of dry...so I had an idea to make my own. I searched around the internet for a good recipe! And boy did I find one...here is the link
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread.

I like how specific they were in the directions, and I will show you a picture of mine:) I gave Ella some while she was watching Between the Lions (on PBS)...and she came running into the kitchen where Mark and I were and said, 'Daddy, did you see the bread Mommy gave me?' She was so proud and so was I...now I just have to stop myself from eating them all!

Oh, how yummy!!!!!

Exciting Weekend!

I realized I haven't posted in awhile...mostly because things have been pretty busy. My Mom came down and we had a great time. The girls enjoyed having her here (my Dad was @ LMC with kids from St. Paul)! We had our garage sale (which my mom is a PRO at-she also cleaned our carpets-Isn't she great?)...now we have some $$ to spend @ IKEA for the new place in Baltimore. Mostly window coverings and rugs...We also blew bubbles and played with sidewalk chalk...my Mom is also a pretty good artist...I realized now that I didn't take any pictures of her creations! You will just have to take my word for it.

Mark is back from Kansas City (read his blog for specifics)! We are so glad to have him home! And now we are on vacation this week and hopefully will get a lot of packing done. Our official move date is Memorial Day Weekend! Time is flying by!

We have been enjoying the outside a lot...I think Luci and Ella could live outside, if I would let them...I would to if there was no such thing as bugs or snakes...Well enjoy these pictures:)

Daddy and Luci

Maw Maw with Ella and Luci

Ella enjoying the outside

Bubble time!

Ella hiding behind a tree:)