Fiona in January

Fiona in January

Thursday, July 29, 2010

It's Simple

Ok, this is a simple post that will include photos that really just encompass how awesome my nieces and nephews are. I'm such a lucky "Auntie Em"!











Say hello to Baby Thatcher...he's my newest nephew at about 8 weeks old! He is Aaron's brother Adam's little boy.














He is followed closely by Baby Reagan (AKA Baby Ray) who is almost 6 months old now! She is my older sister Kate's daughter and is rolling around and scooting like crazy. I've gotten to know her since the literal day she was born (see above) and for the first 4-5 months of her life I got to live with her...fun times!














Next up are Lance (L.T.) and Jade (Baby J)! L.T is the son of Aaron's sister Amanda and Baby J is Adam's daughter. They are only about a month apart and are about a year and a half old! I can't believe how big they are and I'm so lucky to be able to spend a decent amount of time with them both this summer!














Then we have Cameron...Cam just turned 4 in June and is a seriously smart preschooler! He's been reading since he was 3 and is now at a first grade level, he knows all his numbers, colors and recently asked me if I was going to "saute those onions first" (yes - we watch too much food network!). I love him to death and had so much fun living with him and his whole family for 10+ months! He also obviously loves sunglasses, popsicles and Transformers. He is Kate's little boy and will talk your ear off about everything from Bakugan, Transformers and dinosaurs!














My last and definitely not least niece is Patience (Pae). I've actually known her since she was a few months old, as she is Andrew's daughter from his previous marriage and he and Kate have been friends since before she was born! I can't believe I got to celebrate her 9th birthday with her this summer...I don't get to see her as often as I'd like to because she spends most of the year in Florida with her mom, but I can't wait til she comes back to celebrate Christmas with us this year!

I am truly blessed to have so many wonderful kids in my life and I can't wait to meet the newest one (due Dec/Jan)!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Thankful

Nothing like following up a semi-whiny complaining post with one detailing just how thankful I am...

Today I am doing one of my very favorite things in the world. Something I often took for granted when I lived here and sorely missed when I spent those 8 years in Indiana...I'm going to the beach!

To be fair, lately, this isn't exactly a novel outing for me. I just spent the day there this past Thursday with my in-laws-to-be, not to mention spent a week on vacation not too long ago down in Cape Charles, VA right on the water. But I crave more. There is always something mystically soothing about the water. I don't mind lakes, I enjoy rivers, I put up with the Chesapeake Bay (thank GOD they're cleaning it up now) but the ocean. Wow. The ocean.

I love looking across the waves and knowing that right on the other side of the Atlantic is my friend Becks, my absolute best friend in the world growing up...we've known each other since we were about 9 years old and grew up in the same neighborhood. She just came to town recently and I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with her and her husband, Chris...and even better news...she's coming back in October to be in my wedding. I'm so thrilled I can't stand it! So the ocean holds that meaning for me...a reminder that I do have people who love me and know me so well and treasure our friendship so much that they would fly across this wide expanse of ocean to spend time with me. What an amazing relationship!

So today, not only do I get to spend time at one of my favorite places in the world, but I also get to hang out with another one of my fantastic friends who has known me since high school and coincidentally is also going to be in my wedding. Thankfully she is only about 2 and a half hours away and loves the beach even more than I do (if that's possible!)

This, ironically, is a photo of (L-R) Meghan, me and Becks circa summer 2001 at King's Dominion. in VA..yeah...they'll probably both be on their way to murder me anytime now! This was one of the last times we all hung out together before I headed off to Indiana for college - it feels so great to be back in MD...even with the 105 degree heat index! Seriously though, it's going to be a great time hanging with Meghan today and the beach...how can you not love the beach? Can't wait!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Wedding, here we come!

Ok, I can't help it - I have to post something about the upcoming wedding (T-3 Months).

Everyone keeps telling me that I'm way ahead on the planning compared to any other bride they've met, but I still can't seem to keep myself from feeling scattered about the details. I know its the psycho-planner in me that I desperately (and mostly successfully) to hide on a daily basis, but there are so many mind-numbing details!

I'm very blessed to have wonderful people in my life who can help me with so much, but at the same time I really wish I had my friends closer (geographically). I had a great day yesterday with Aaron's mom and Kate when we went to Michael's to pick out what we wanted to do with ribbon, centerpieces, shower invitations, church aisle decor, blah blah blah and they were wonderful! So helpful and calm because I swear I am missing some kind of girly gene that is supposed to make me inherently know what kind of ribbon I want! I just can't squelch that feeling of wishing I didn't have to put so much pressure on them and lean on them for every detail. And they're so sweet about it - I just, well, feel kind of guilty letting that wedding stress slop over on them.

AND I spent half my evening last night trying to design something fun for my wedding shower invitations and all I got was supremely frustrated. I am usually great at coming up with things like that, but I honestly feel like I'm tapped creatively...time for a breather! And looking at my guest list for the shower is a bittersweet thing because so many wonderful women are on it who I am so privileged to call my friends...but seeing their names and locations in print makes me homesick. Not homesick for a specific place, but homesick for that warm feeling of community with those fantastic people in my life.

So I apologize for the wedding post...and the somewhat whiny nature...but I had to get it out of my head and so I move on...to find pre-made shower invites because if I look at those blank templates one more time...they're going out the window!