East Coast Crew

I enjoyed having Stephanie visit recently as much as I enjoyed having Truman, her son, visit from Virginia. Stephanie and I were pregnant at the same time and now that our babies are 4 months old, we are calling each other to talk about raising babies instead of making them! It's actually quite funny-the dynamics of our phone calls. The topics range from gripe water to rashes to bath soaps to husbands ('your husband did what?'....). She's a joy on the phone but it sure was great to have her in person.

Trumie is so different than Kaitlyn. From his size to his demeanor, the two cousins are as different as night and day. I was beginning to think Kaitlyn was enjoying her cousin so much she was becoming 'Little Miss Rascal' as she continually was in his business! It was hilarious to watch unfold.

Part of the weekend festivities involved visits from Uncle Darin and Uncle Scott...and was wrapped up with a lovely afternoon at Great-Grandma's where Great Aunt Sue came along! The cousins were always in arms of love...

Hip Fashion for the Sole

This was fun, shopping for Kaitlyn's shoes. As if the trendy styles weren't enough, the metallic pink put me over the edge. The metallic silver ones will grace her feet this winter when she's more grown-up (but not too grown-up, she has a long way to go until she can fit into something my size)!

24 hours of GRANDPARENTS

How lucky is our sweet girl?
She has her Nana only 50 minutes away to the west, her Grandma & Grandpa only 35 minutes away to the east along with her Great Grandmother 45 minutes south. During the past 24 hours she has enjoyed quality time with everyone of them! It all started yesterday with a slumber party at Nana's, lunch today with Great Grandmother and then dessert with Grandma & Grandpa. I think this daughter of mine keeps my social calendar filled to the max--I'm not complaining, I am so grateful for every ounce of their love!

Bling, Bling...

It happened! We took Kaitlyn to Claire's at the Lakewood Mall and got her ears pierced! I was so nervous and felt my insides turning around until we met Nellie, the Piercing Expert...she was WONDERFUL. Within minutes Kaitlyn began crying, more out of being tired and hungry so eventually I nursed her to calm her. Then the piercing began...thirty seconds of what seemed like an eternity for Kaitlyn, resulted in two stunning crystals occupying her lovely earlobes only to showcase her gorgeous eyes and contagious smile (even though the smile didn't come until after the two full minutes of screaming--which made me feel like I was abusing my child until I looked at her and melted). I didn't cry, good ole Nellie kept me strong along with my Mother-in-Law! Sarah was snapping away, documenting the moment step by step in pure delight! We wrapped up our outing with a summer sunset stroll, pierced and happy!

Kaitlyn,
Nellie really was a Piercing Expert--it all started when her mother pierced her ears at home when she was four days old and truly that was just the beginning. Nellie was pierced all over. While I appreciate that Nellie positioned your crystals so that if one day you would like to get another piercing on your lobe I would hope you won't follow in Nellie's footsteps and pierce your lip (both the upper and the lower), your brow and even some of your cartilage either in your nose or going up your ear creating a train of studs and hoops. If you do, possibly you will say what Nellie said, 'It's a phase.' I love you sweetheart, with or without earrings...

Kickin' it with Cuz...

What an absolute treat...Natalia came for a visit and it turned into a slumber party! She stayed over with her mom, Kaitlyn's Aunt Sandra. The gals had such fun in their bumbo chairs and Natalia, being that she is 3 1/2 months older, enjoyed playing with some of Kaitlyn's toys that she doesn't know exist yet! As a mother, and wife to one of the Patterson twins, it was such a lovely visit with Sandra (married to the other Patterson twin). I feel as if both her and I have grown so much as individuals due to being married to these brilliant twins but especially due to becoming mothers. Life becomes more full, your perspective on living becomes deeper and your awareness of every action taken and word spoken becomes magnified. Children change hearts, lives and even your own purpose.
Sandra and I went to this great clothing store, Naartjie, and got lost in the baby clothes. The fashion possibilities were overwhelming. Needless to say we both made a dent in our pocketbooks picking out some of the store's finest!

San Diego Sun

Kaitlyn has been waiting for this day to arrive--she met her cousin, Truman, this afternoon for the first time. He is only a week older than her and lives in a town outside of Washington, D.C., so the opportunity to hang out is very rare. While this meeting was short, the two of them will have multiple days together in a couple more weeks (this basically means more pictures to come)!

Kaitlyn thought Truman was hilarious as he made high pitched screeching sounds during lunch and he loved making grumpy faces even though he was more than happy to be in Grandma's arms. Kaitlyn couldn't decide if he looked more like his dad, Uncle Jeff, or Uncle Benet (see photo).

I'm quite impressed with this little gem of mine. She endured two full days in the San Diego sun over this Labor Day weekend and definitely did not get her mother's skin. She showed no sign of sun damage, only a soft dusting of pink upon her cheeks and nose to prove she was outside enjoying the summer days. I on the other hand roasted and turned out like a lobster. Saturday she met some of Steve's dear friends, the Pentheroudakis family--a vibrant Greek family with a daughter, Eleni-Steve's classmate during Med School, who married into a vibrant Italian family. The festivities continued when today she met her two aunts and their sisterhood circle of friends. It was a jammed weekend of driving and socializing, she handled the stimulation with great finesse!

She's got legs!

Yes, my girl has the legs that will take her far in life, I just know it! 'Baby Chub' is too cute!