Family Photo Shoot

Before we moved away from New York we had our friend Angie take some family pictures for us. The weather was perfect that day, and she did a great job as usual! We started out at Washington Park where we had often gone as a family on walks, to festivals, to feed the ducks, and to play.

After we were done at the park, we headed over to Emack & Bolio's, our favorite icecream place, for a treat. This was Ethan's first experience with icecream, and he LOVED it!

My Graduate.

Mark graduated from law school back in May, and just a few days ago, after 2 months of studying practically 12 hours a day, he took the bar. (now we just have to wait 2 months for the results!) I am so proud of him! He has been going to school for the last 7 years, ever since we got married. He has sacrificed and worked so hard to finish, all so he could make a better life for our little family. I love him for all he has done!

Here we are waiting for the graduation ceremonies to begin. It was tricky keeping the kiddos occupied, luckily I had plenty of help!

All the graduates.

Mark with his proud parents.

Mark's friend Max. They are hoping to open a law firm together some day.

What a happy day!!! I can't believe we're finally done with school. Hooray!!!

Easter

Our Easter festivities began with decorating Easter cookies at a friend's house. Cala was in heaven! She LOVES sprinkles and frosting!

Cala with her friends.

Us after church on Easter morning. It seems to be impossible to get the kids to both look at the camera at the same time.

Then we had Easter dinner at Nicole's house, which was yummy. We had ham cooked on the grill and all kinds of other delicious food.

Here are the husbands.

And the wives.

Next we had an Easter egg hunt for the kiddos. I love watching it! At the end we got them all together for a picture, and I think it's impossible to get two kids to look at the same time, try getting 11 kids to look at the same while holding baskets of candy-filled eggs... IMPOSSIBLE!

Cala checking out what's in her eggs.

This is such a cute picture of Georgia and Ethan.

We have loved our Easter tradition of Easter dinner and Easter egg hunt at Nicole and Carter's house. This was the last year since almost all of us will be living all across the country by this time next year :( I'm so grateful for the good friends we made in New York, and I'll always remember our fun times!

Baby Shower

Ok, back to catching up... My friend Nicole and I got to throw a baby shower for our friend Tiana in April. We had so much fun planning this baby shower! It was the day before Easter so lots of my spring/Easter decorations came in handy. Cindy, another friend who moved to Indiana a few months ago, surprised us by showing up for the baby shower. Nicole had been keeping that secret for months, I couldn't believe it! It was the best surprise! Cindy came and put the finishing touches on all the decorations, which made everything perfect.

We of course had a candy bar, what's a party without one.

And lots of yummy food. Thanks to all those who helped!

And here is Tiana on the right. This is the only picture I have of her at her own baby shower!

Congratulations Tiana on your new baby girl, she's adorable and I'm so glad we got to celebrate with you!

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe my sweet little boy is turning one year old! I love him more than I can say! He's so loving and happy all the time. His favorite food is grapes, he loves to sleep on his tummy with his bum straight up in the air, and he loves to play with his big sister. Happy birthday my little man!

We had a birthday party for him on July 4th so that everyone could be there. Here are some pictures of the decorations.

The cake.

The food.

And the birthday boy!

He didn't love his cake quite as much as I expected but he definitely made a mess out of it!

And of course Cala had to jump in and help him eat it.

I think this is Cala's 3rd donut of the morning. I just kept telling myself that it was a party and who cares if she eats 3 donuts, cake, and candy... aaahh!

That night we went to see the fireworks.

Today we went to the pool where he got to play with one of his new toys.

Then we went out for icecream!

Happy Birthday buddy!

Crafting it up!

I got really crafty this spring, it was so much fun! It all started with an egg wreath for the front door. I saw the idea on this blog and convinced my friends that they should also have egg wreaths. It looked so cute on the blog, but making it ended up being quite a process. First we had to go shopping for the stuff (hello just-opened Hobby Lobby!), then came priming and painting the eggs (we got spray paint all over my front sidewalk, sorry landlord!), and finally putting it all together.

Here's a picture of my friends on the day we put them together.

And here's the finished product! I love it and can't wait to put it up again next Easter!

Next came jelly bean topiaries, which were so adorable!

Then a pink peep bunny bunting.

And finally some blossom branches.

Phew! I'm not sure where I found the time for all of that, but I had so much fun!

First Steps

Well, before I start catching up, I wanted to post this video of Ethan's first steps! I was so excited that it took me a minute to set up some video so I could show his daddy when he got home. I feel a little bad that he cries, it was about the 6th time I'd made him re-do his "first steps" but I had to get a video of it! I'm so proud of him!