Work party

This first full day of our vacay in Eagle Crest was spent running wedding errands and arranging wedding flowers. Jake and I adopted the 'divide and conquer' approach where he took Ashley and I kept Natalie. I must admit it worked out rather nicely! I was able to help Kathy and Katie with the flowers and Jake and Danny managed to check all of the things off of their list.
That evening we threw some chicken and sausages on the grill and spent time hanging out with family and friends that arrived early for the wedding festivities. There's nothing better then BBQ, beer/wine and family gossip!

Lucky for Daddy and Mommy there were swings and slides close to our condo
The beautiful bride checking out her flowers
Sniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiff! Love me some lilacs!
Trying my hand at floral arrangement
Such perfect colors
Don't let my tiny stature fool you - I was set here to make sure my crew keeps on task
Brr! The sun is shining, the water is warm, but the wind is CHILLY!!
PS Don't mind Mommy's completely inappropriate swimsuit. She's getting a PG-rated one before swim lessons start this summer!
Practicing my strokes
Aunt Katie, cousin Maddi and me waiting for some of that yummy grillin'
Enjoying a nice rest after a tough day of slaving over flowers
Hey where's my ball at?
Betcha can't find it!

Lovin' it

Natalie has enjoyed her rice cereal from the first day we introduced her to it. Now that Angie is married and Shawna has been to visit, things may slow down a bit which will give us the opportunity to start 'real foods'. But before we do that I wanted to share a picture of Natty Kat. Isn't she darling?
And don't worry; once I work my way through the 600+ wedding and Shawna-visit pictures, I promise to share. You'll just have to be patient! :)

Don't you just love my baby blues?

LOL

It's not a very good video, and in fact you have to turn the volume up as high as it'll go in order to hear it, but it's worth it! Check out this (click here) video of Natalie's laughs and snorts. She's just so adorable!

Wedding bells

The house is buzzing because we're leaving today for Central Oregon for Angie and Chris' wedding! The dresses are made (BIG huge thanks to Grandma Marilyn!), the bags are packed (4 suite cases, 3 bags, 4 boxes, 2 Pack-n-Plays, lots of odds-n-ends) and the car is getting clean and shiny (go, Jake, go!). Look out Eaglecrest, here we come! It's our first family-of-four vacation and we're ready to make memories!

Backwards

Natalie USED to sleep through the night? She used to go 8, maybe even 9 or 10 hours before she woke up. So what on earth happened? Why, for the last 10+ days, is she waking up multiple times during the night? What is going on? How come she's waking up after 5 hours *starving*, and then trying to get a snack 2 or 3 hours later? Even Ashley was sleeping through the night by this stage.
If she doesn't get back on her old schedule by Sunday night she's going to get a hard dose of reality when I just let her cry herself back to sleep. It may take a night or two of crying it out, but it's worth it if she goes back to her usual Sleeping Beauty self.
This is brutal.

Girls gone wild

The fun continued after Angie's shower when the girls hit the town!

Enjoying dinner and drinks with Aunt Jean and Dawn (yay that Dawn and family are back in Oregon!)
Photo op
left-to-right
Bride-to-Be Angie, Lindsay, Mother of the bride Kathy and Grandma Marilyn
Party girls
Left-to-right
Jessie, Katie, Kathy, Dawn, Me, Angie, Jean, Lindsay and Grandma Marilyn
Paparazzi shot
(Jean probably won't be happy this picture made it on the blog...)
No night is complete without a self-portrait. The fact that I look extra freaky in this one (I guess cause it looks like I don't have any hair) is an added bonus

April Showers

It's taken me long enough, but I've finally got pictures ready to share of Angie's bridal shower last weekend. It was a enjoyable afternoon filled with both loving and naughty shower gifts! And possibly the best desserts ever!
Congrats Bride-to-Be Angie! We had a wonderful time showering you with gifts (and watching you blush!).

A little dance party before the real party starts
Whoa hold on! Gotta catch my breath!
So 'dorable
I love rocking just like Grandma
Getting tickled by Aunt Lindsay
Mommy's shoes make a great statement don't you think?
Leave me alone Mommy!
I won't repeat what Katie said, but she sure wasn't happy that Angie's dress was so much better then hers!
Such lovely gowns (I was one of Angie's designers and we WON!)
Are you a nun or a bride?
Helping Aunt Ang open her presents
Ooh la la! There's a book Daddy and Mommy won't ever be reading to me!
Nothing says wedding night fun and excitement like edible booby-tassels!
Trying to get a picture with Great-Grandma Lorraine and I refuse to cooperate!
Chilling with Aunt Katie
All Mommy wanted was one good picture with her Polka Dot Princess', but that's just not going to happen
Smile Great Grandma Marilyn
Party crasher (but he's so cute)!

A sneak peek

Here's (click here) a sneak peek of what my day is like. The video is only 2 minutes long, so just imagine this going on all.day.long, dawn til dusk. Look closely because at 1 minute 15 seconds Midget actually runs into the refrigerator. I don't get it that great on camera, but it's still pretty funny knowing she can't slow down long enough to pay attention to her surroundings!
Never a dull moment!

Somebunny loves you

Love, love
Kiss, kiss

A pretty flour

After making calzone dough the other evening, Ashley couldn't wait to get her hands on my rolling pin. The result? A very happy, and messy, Midget!

I rooll it! I rooll it!
I'm a natural
Slaving hard over dinner - you guys better appreciate this!

Transportation

While one figures out how to run off in my boots...
Another works on rolling over...
Why are they working so hard on leaving me?

It never gets old...

...taking pictures of my girls wearing the same clothes, striking the same pose.
I just love em!

Ashley - 3 months
Natalie - 4 months

And she's off

Just a quick note to share that Natalie rolled from her back to her belly for the first time about 5 minutes ago (and there she goes again!). I guess all of those 'practice sessions' my dad had with her are finally starting to pay off. Thanks, Dad.
Yowsa. Here we go.

Taking this show on the road

It appears that in addition to trying to cut some teeth, Natalie is working on figuring out the Army crawl. Ashley never tried 'the crawl' and instead went straight to getting up on all fours, so this is all new to us. It's pretty entertaining watching Natty Kat stick her little Huggie's tushy up in the air at the same time trying to figure out how to suck her knees into her chest. She's a long way from the Boston Marathon, but she does manage to gain an inch or two while she's working.
When did my littlest one stop being so little?

Step 1. Assume the position
Step 2. Begin pulling knees in while rear is making it's way upward
Step 3. Nose to the ground, rear in the air and make forward motion