August Events!

Jared and I have been so busy this past month, because school started for me, Sara started at daycare, and we moved from our townhouse to a 2 bedroom condo (all at the same time!).  However, we were able to squeeze in a few fun events.

• Our friends Missy and Tim came from Pittsburgh to meet Sara and spend one last day at the beach.  This was Sara's first time in the ocean! 

• Jared celebrated his 31st birthday!

• Jared's cousin Meredith welcomed her baby boy, Brady Frank.  He was eager to join us and made his appearance 8 weeks early, so he is spending his first few months in the NICU.  He continues to improve every day, but please pray for his recovery and ability to go home!

Here are a few other cute pics of Sara that we have collected:

 

 

Sara's first attempt at eating rice cereal (the flash made her eyes big!).

 

Ready for her first Penn State game!!

 

18 Years of Olive Garden...

When my three girlfriends below and I were going into the 8th or 9th grade (we still debate about which year it was...), we got all dressed up (hair and makeup included) and had our parents drop us off for dinner at the Olive Garden.  We had such a fabulous time that we agreed to continue setting aside one night per year to get dressed up and go to the Olive Garden.  We eventually ventured out to other restaurants, but it is always the same four girls without anyone else.  It is a great night to get caught up and enjoy each other.  This was our 18th year!

 

Last year I was pregnant and unable to take part in the wine festivities.  This year my friend Kristin is due on Sept 5.  She was gracious enough to be our designated driver =)

Sara is 4 months old!

OBX 2013!

We had a great family vacation to OBX this year.  It was so nice to get all of the families together under one roof again =)  The number of kids in the family continues to grow, and we were so excited to have both Sara and her cousin Olivia (who was only 2 weeks old!) with us on vacation.  Below are some highlight pictures:

The view from our balcony

Family photos!

The Grandchildren

 

The Guys...

The Girls...

 

 

 

Our beach set-up...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy and Luke riding the wives...

 

 Rented paddle boards that we couldn't get out into ocean over the waves!

 

 

 Sara and baby Olivia!

 

 

 

 

July went sooo fast!

The month of July seemed to fly by.  I can't believe we are already in August and started to prepare to go back to school.  We had some exciting events, including the birth of a new niece and nephew during the month of July!  Sara is going to love having so many cousins to play with.  Here are some fun events that we had in July:

• Sara turned 3 months!  She had her first professional picture taken after I failed to get a good shot =)

• My sister gave birth to baby Olivia on July 11.

• Sara met her Great Grandmother Helen who came all the way from Minnesota and was very excited to meet her!

 

• My sister-in-law gave birth to baby Will on July 29.

 

• We put a contract on a new house (and it fell through after the home inspection).  We put our townhouse up for sale (and sold it!).  So we are now scrambling to find a place to live.  We have put a deposit on a 2 bedroom apartment in our current town, so we at least have there to live.  In the meantime, we have been going to open houses and checking out all of the active listings in the area.  Cross your fingers for us! 

Below are some more cute pictures that I've been collecting...

My sister-in-law Megan is quite the fashionista, and it seems like my sister and I are always trying to copy her.  This past weekend, I realized that I was wearing an outfit that was completely styled by Megan!  She either bought me the piece (shirt, clutch, necklace) or advised me to buy the piece (pants and shoes).  She is the best, so I thought I'd share my fashionable look =)

Fun in the Sun!

The weather has finally started to feel more like summer around here.  It has been hot!! and we are enjoying the time spent in the sun.  We started with a trip to the beach one Sunday afternoon.  It is only an hour and half away, so we picked up our newly engaged friends Jim and Colleen and headed to Long Beach Island.  Unfortunately, a thunderstorm was rolling in just as we were getting there.  We had enough time though to take a couple cute photos.

 

 

 

Jared's cousin Meredith moved into a new house with a pool this past winter.  We have been dying to go over and swim in it!  So, on the fourth of July, she had the entire family over for a bbq/pool party.  We had beautiful weather and a great time!  There were plenty of willing adults there to take care of Sara inside, so Jared  and I were lucky enough to spend most of the time in the pool =)

 

The next one is clearly a joke meant to give Jared's dad a heart attack!  (Eric is a Michigan alum)

 

Finally, this past weekend, we went to Annapolis to visit our friends, Chris and Neilye.  They have a five month old son, named Tucker.  They have the best house, because it is located directly on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay.  We love to sit on their back porch and watch the sail boats go by with the breeze from the bay blowing.  During the day, we were able to get together with one of my great friends from high school, Christie and her family.  She has two sons, Nolan (2) and AJ (4 months).  We took the kids to lunch and created a stroller parking lot!  Saturday night, we took the babies on their first boat ride (just a slow cruise around the shore line).  Then, on Sunday morning, Jared and I tried paddle boarding in the bay.  We wiped out a couple of times, but it was a very cool experience!  It was an interesting weekend, because we all kept commenting on how life has changed.  We used to worry about who was bringing the booze and now we are sharing stories of our kids =)

 

 

Getting Sara and Tucker ready for bed - Sara was fascinated with the mobile over the crib!

Jared paddle boarding...

My turn...