July 2014

Judging from the pictures, July was very busy! Lots of traveling and fun times with family! We started the month in VA for Aunt Jenny and Uncle Steve's July 4th bash. The kids swam for HOURS and finally relaxed a bit with a movie in the basement. 

More July 4th fun at Grandma and Grandpa's with sparklers. 

Patriotic baby.

After the 4th Gianna went to Nonna's for camp Nonna with her cousin Bella. It's their 4th time doing it, but this time it was a whole week. We sure did miss her! But the boys and I had fun with Grandma and grandpa at the beginning of the week before heading home.  We went to the park on the hottest day of the summer. Would have been more fun without the heat...Mark was over it fast!

Back at home we hit up our local bounce place. Joe can't do much there, but boy did he love this bat and ball. 

The girls were finally back home just in time to celebrate Isabella's 7th birthday. I don't think there has been a more authentic looking Anna and Elsa!

The girls did lots of tye-dying at Camp Nonna and Bella's birthday party...even made shirts for the boys. How cute are they!?

Doug's cousin Julia came for two weeks in July too. She stayed with us for a week and with Nick and Elizabeth for the second week. She's an amazing girl. We love spending time with her!

We returned Julia to her parents at my father-in-law's 60th birthday party. Elizabeth's sister Kate also took some professional family photos that day. It was such a nice celebration. Happy Birthday Pop-pop!

June 2014

Ah, June. The beginning of summer. This month marked the end of first grade for Gianna. We are so proud of what a wonderful student she is and of how well she handled moving in the middle of the school year. We really didn't want to do that to her and it wasn't always easy being the new kid, but she handled it like a champ!

Last day of school pictures. 

First hot day. Time to bust out the sprinkler!

Hard to tell, but Joe loved the sprinkler too. I didn't bother fussing with a bathing suit so he just got soaked in his clothes.

Waiting for the arrival of our former neighbors and dear friends. I love how little Joe looks next to them...that won't last long!

Reunion with Joe's BFF Lucy who we used to live next door too. Just five days apart. I hope they're friends forever.

Father's Day! We took Doug out for brunch. It was a lovely and delicious treat!

Avert your eyes if you don't like gross skin conditions! Joe got a hideous virus that made his eczema explode. It was so gross and he was so uncomfortable. I felt so bad for the poor kid. Four or five trips to the doctor, some meds, and some moisturizer and he was back to normal!

Though concerned about Joe's skin, we braved a trip to the beach to see Doug and Nick's old college buddies. The weather was glorious! I didn't sweat one drop! And the kids had a marvelous time.

May 2014

We began May by celebrating Doug and Nick's 35th birthdays. Their parents were up so it was a fun time for the family. And we got to check out a local bakery cake...delish. 

My boys love a bath!

 The kids are really enjoying living near their cousins. They find such productive uses of their time together. I mean, if they lived far apart, it might take months to perfect these crazy faces. :)

Okay, so we knew we bought our new house close to a flood zone (and we got the insurance, you better believe it!) but we didn't think we'd get have to be so nervous about it so soon after moving it! The water actually got a couple feet closer than this. Luckily we've already made friends with the neighbor next door and he promptly texted reassurances to me that it would recede before it came in the house. Thank God he was right!

After a couple days, the kids were ready to explore our giant puddles. We made a special trip to walmart for the boots, I figure this may happen again. :)

Gianna's class had a special mother's day tea. It was so cute!

And Joe is still here. Sleeping and playing quoits. 

Joe's First Birthday and Easter

Well, much to my dismay, it happened. My baby turned 1. He loved his presents and celebrating with his whole family. Just 1 week after moving in was Easter so both sets of grandparents, plus Aunt Jenny and Uncle Steve came up to see the new house, celebrate Joe's birthday and celebrate Easter all at once. It's so great that Nick and Elizabeth are just 10 minutes away so we can share in family fun whenever there's an occasion! 

A few things about Joe on his first birthday. He says almost nothing, an occasional dada or hi and that's it. He loves to eat. He's an accomplished walker. He loves men-folk: daddy, grandpas, uncles, male strangers, he doesn't care. If you're a man and you're nice to him, you've got a friend in Joe. 

Enjoying cake on his actual birthday (this was after the weekend with the family, so he already had cake experience :) 

Joe opening and enjoying presents. He truly loves that vacuum cleaner.

 

Birthday party with the fam. Pizza and cake was easy enough since we weren't all unpacked yet. Notice the lack of carpets or anything on the walls :)

The cousins. 

Not sure what this cake thing is all about it, but he eventually got into it.

 Easter Sunday. Not exactly a formal pic, but at least you can see how stinkin' cute the kids are. Those boys and their ties are too much for me.