4 Years Old - Part 2

We had a little party for Natalie to celebrate her birthday with our family... 

The birthday girl with her Dora cake.

Natie with her cousin, Riley.  I love that these two are buddies.  Riley made her a birthday card that said "We're best friends and we love each other."  How cute is that?

Riley was goofing around, pretending to punch Natie. :)

We tried to get a picture with the cousins but Natie was too busy licking the frosting off  Dora, Diego and Boots.

Look at our new niece, Lucy.  She's just the tiniest, sweetest little thing.

Mimi with Joe and Quinn

Peyton holding Baby Lucy

Natie got this awesome jeep from Nana and Poppy.  Its a miracle that this crazy driver hasn't taken out their flower beds yet.  Notice her monkey, Megan, riding shotgun in her undies. :)

4 Years Old - Part 1

I cannot believe Natalie is 4 years old!  What a sweet, silly, smart, creative, beautiful kid, she is.  I'm so proud of the little person she's becoming.  She's our little ray of sunshine.  We decided to take her to the coast for a few days to celebrate her birthday.  Since she loves learning about dolphins, whales and sharks, we took her to the Aquarium.  It was a fun family vacation!

Here's our birthday girl

She got a set of golf clubs for her birthday

Excited to see the Aquarium!

Natie checking out a leopard shark in the shark tube.  It was the coolest part of the aquarium.

Justin with the girls in the shark tube.  You can see a batwing ray in the upper right corner.

Her expression cracks me up.  It really wasn't scary!

Natie and Daddy being silly

Natie checking out the jellyfish

This kid loves the sand...digging, building, collecting.  The first day we were there was beautiful and sunny!

The second was chilly and misty.  Here's Natie collecting rocks and shells with her Dad.

HERE is Natie being silly at dinner.  And THIS is what Quinn is doing during all the commotion.  Who knew a straw paper could be so entertaining?

Natie and Dad being silly at dinner

We stayed at a super cool place that overlooked the ocean.  Natie got to go in a hot tub for the first time and she was so excited about it!

Dance Recital

First, here are a few recent videos of Quinn...

- We started solid foods about a month ago.  She's slowing warming up to them.

- She loves the Jump-A-Roo.  She goes crazy in it!  Look at her cute little feet.

- Here's another peek-a-boo video from a couple weeks ago.  I love how she rotates her feet and hands when she's excited.

Natalie took a ballet/jazz/tap class again this year and her recital was a couple weeks ago.  It was circus themed so her class was a bunch of dancing puppies.  The performance was chaos, but they were pretty cute and she had fun!

Here's Natie in costume getting ready to take the stage.

This was at rehearsal before makeup.

Here she is with all the little girls in her class.

Cleveland

Justin and I went to Cleveland over Memorial Day weekend (no kids!) to see my good friend Jacquie get married.  It was a weekend of super fun wedding festivities!  The rehearsal dinner, wedding, and reception were all held at the groom's uncle's house in the country.  It was a beautiful and perfectly intimate setting.  I must say that these two are perfect for each other and its fantastic to see my friend so happy!

Jacquie and David, the newlyweds!

Here are my besties from college.

The bride and I at the rehearsal dinner.

Justin and I at the rehearsal dinner.  We were having fun, can you tell?

This was the coolest thing.  David's dad built this.  There are arrows for every guest's hometown.  There were a lot pointing west!

Here we are again at the wedding.  So fun!

Our Preschooler

Natalie attended preschool this year and I'm so happy with her experience there!  She has grown so much!  Since she has a summer birthday, she got to celebrate it early with her class in May.  I got to bring snacks (donut holes!) and spend the morning with her.  It was so fun to see what she does there.  Almost all of the kids were so sweet and well-mannered.  She loves her teachers and they seem to adore her too.  Here are some pictures of her birthday celebration and the end of the year celebration.

Natie standing in front of her classroom.  This is a temporary location since her school burned down in March. 

The birthday girl with the birthday crown her teacher made her.

Enjoying the donut holes with her little girlfriends and opening the book that her teachers got for her.  So sweet.

Scooping ice cream at the touch table with a couple friends.

Dabbing at the art table.

A self-portrait

I love her drawings.  They're almost always of people.  I think this one was of she and I.

Doing giant bubbles outside.

Storytime (Natie's in the front)

Her last day of 3 year old preschool.  She's grown so much since Sept!

Natie and her friend, Bereket.

Singing songs for the parents.

Natie with her teacher, Mrs. McCullaugh. We're sad she's retiring.

Natie with her other teacher, Mrs. McGuire.  I love that they hug the kids.

Mother's Day

I'm planning to make a post every day this week to hopefully get caught up!  Below are some pictures from our Mother's Day brunch with my parents.

Also, Quinn thinks her sister is hilarious...watch this.

Natie, Quinn and I with my amazing mom

Quinn and I

Natie with Nana and Poppy

These were the string of pictures I took before the cute one above.  Still.....figuring out how to smile for the camera.  Sheesh.