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.

Easter

 Here are some pictures of Easter back in April...

The 4 of us

The cousins - Riley, Natie, Peyton, Quinn, Kennedy and Joe

Riley and Natie hunting eggs at Mimi and Papa's house.  It was a beautiful afternoon!

We colored eggs a few days before...

This pirate is ready to dye some eggs

Not sure what is happening here

Quinn and Dad

More Quinn at 5 Months

I took these yesterday.  I can't get over how cute she is.  And I can say that because I'm her mom.  :)  HERE is a video of her sweet voice.

Hawaii

I took the girls to see my brother and sister-in-law in Hawaii last month.  This was the first time they had met Quinn so it was a special trip.  My parents were there too.  We had a great time.  Justin stayed home this time so of course, we missed him.  I was a little nervous about traveling with both kids by myself but they did great.  Natie played with a new Polly Pocket girl the entire trip over, both flights, only taking a 30 minute break to watch a Thomas video.  Incredible.  Starting with the lady at airport security, Natie introduced herself and Quinn to everyone that we encountered.  "Hi, I'm Natalie.  This is my baby sister Quinn.  I'm 3 and a half."  She made lots of new friends. :)  Check out THIS video of Natie enjoying the hula show.  :)

Michelle, Natalie, Nana and Quinn at the beach

Here's Quinn.  It was fun to see her chubby legs in summer clothes.

Poppy and Natie throwing rocks into the water

Natie had a blast playing in the sand.  Look how big she looks.

Natie and Auntie at the hula show.  Poor Auntie hurt her ankle and was on crutches while we were there.

Natie and I at the hula show

Here we are on the boat at the Hilton.  We went to see the dolphins there.

This picture kills me.  Classic Natie smile.

You might remember this lady

She was a couple months shy of 2 years old here, April 2010

She was only 10 months here, April 2009