Time for some fun!

So, I'm posting for the second time today. Not because I have plenty of time on my hands, but because my mom was mad that I posted my previous blog entry without calling her first to tell her what happened.  Sorry Mom!  So... she was wondering why I had not posted an old school picture post of my aunt and cousin, like I had in honor of my girls visit.  So... I thought I'd do it right now, while Caroline is watching Blue's Clues.  :-)  

Also, before I forget, you must check out this singer, Yancy...  I found her through my bloggy friend Amanda who is having a give-away of this awesome music!  Even if I don't win (which I suspect will be true since I just won Love As a Way of Life from her most recent give-away- Thanks again, Amanda!- and I am expecting it to arrive in the mail any day now)... so, like I was saying... even if I don't win, I will absolutely be purchasing the Little Praise Party My Best Friend album by Yancy.  It rules!  Seriously.  Go listen.  Just click on the last cd on the page and you can listen to it!  Caroline and I have been dancing and singing to it all day long!  

Okay... so, without further ado...  here are some FANTASTIC old school pictures of my beautiful cousin Erika and her rockin' momma!  (With a few old embarrassing ones of myself thrown in for good measure!)  Enjoy!  

We'll begin with a beautiful picture!  Ah... motherhood, ain't it grand?  

And me, Erika and Eskimo looking oh so cute!  

This one is THE BEST PICTURE hands down ever taken of me and Erika! Look at my chubalicious self and Erika's "duh" face and our PeeWee Herman pajamas!  Oh my gosh!  It's too much!!!  

And another lovely picture... man, we had some major awkward times! 

And the classic birthday picture from my previous post!  So lovely!  

And well...this picture just speaks for itself.  haha

And here's one with Nanny!  What the heck are we wearing?!  No sense of style.  

These pictures CRACK ME UP!  So, these wigs were from an old family friend after she passed away and Erika somehow got possession of them.  So weird.  Erika was maybe 12 (at the oldest) in these pictures, but she sure can pull off that old lady look!  aww... and RIP Mavis (that's the dog).  

I'm sure Donna will love me for this one!  And look at how little James was!  SO CUTE!  Fortunately, there were no wig pictures of me.  I was just the photographer!  Smart thinkin'! 

 

Okay... so, with all of those scary pictures... I know you must be thinking, "does she have ANY good pictures of these people?"  Well... yeah... I guess, if I must... 

Mom, Me, Donna, Erika and I'm holding baby C!  Look how little she was!  This was the last time I saw Donna, so she is in for a treat with how big Caroline is now! 

Finally, Caroline and Erika at Christmas, which is the last time I saw my beautiful cousin!

So, there you have it!  It's been TOO LONG!   I'm SO excited for their visit, especially since neither of them have been here to visit me in the almost four years I've lived here AND neither of them have ever spent any time in DC!  WOW!  So, we will have plenty to do!!!  Tomorrow morning their train will be pulling in!  horray!  

Now, I must get back to work.  I still need to fold laundry, dust, and mop the kitchen and bathroom floors!  wah hoo!  

So scary!

Today was definitely my scariest motherhood moment to date. This morning, after breakfast, we were upstairs so I could take a shower.  Caroline is always so good while I'm in the shower.  She reads books and plays with her toys and is just content entertaining herself.  Anyway, I was finished and ready to come downstairs.  So, I opened the gate at the top of our stairs and Caroline bent down to pick up her cup that she had brought up from breakfast.  I reached down to grab her cup, because I knew she couldn't hold it and walk down the stairs at the same time.  Well, before I could grab her cup and her hand, she reached out for the railing and took her first step... and then, before I could even move, she fell all the way down the stairs to the bottom.  My heart skipped a beat!  I screamed and ran after her and just held her in my arms at the bottom of the stairs.  She was sobbing and so was I.  Once we were both calm enough, I stood her up and checked her entire body.  There was nothing there.  She was perfectly fine, but I was still shaken up.  I couldn't let her go.  It's just crazy how things like that can happen in an instant when you're right there!  It's terrifying and I felt terrible.  I still do.  But thank God she was okay!   It's hard right now for me to not be with her while she's napping. I'm just so blessed.    

Tomorrow my cousin Erika and aunt Donna come for a visit for a long weekend!  I can't wait!  But I have a TON to do before they get here!  So, now I must stop procrastinating and get to work!    

Lovely visit! - TONS of pictures!

It was such a joy to have my ladies here this weekend!  I love them so much!  We did a couple of local things like George Washington's home, Mount Vernon (which is my favorite) and Eastern Market.  I figured since they had been up here before and done the whole DC experience, that we'd do something a little different.  It was such a nice time, really, just relaxing and hanging out.  Saturday, after C went to bed, we had a double feature movie night and watched Rear Window and Little Women, two of my favorites!  Also, Andrew was loving having some video gamers around who would play for hours with him, because we all know he won't get that with me.  Poor thing.  Rachel and Amy were all into some Sing Star with us and loving the Wii games.  Caroline also had such a fun time with her Aunts!  I wish they lived closer and we could see them more often.  boo! 

 

So, I'll share some pictures of our time together... 

Friday night Sing Star competition...  (for some reason there's no pictures of me playing, but I can assure you that I sang my little heart out to some Mr. Big, Whitney, Spice Girls and Wilson Phillips)  Don't be jealous!  ;-)

  

Saturday morning at the lovely Mount Vernon.  Though it was very crowded, we were thankful for the great weather!  The funniest part of this trip was that I got yelled at for not spitting out my gum in the trash can before we entered the house.  Because I was obviously going to stick it to furniture in the house.  I'm such a rebel.  :-)  Really, I told her I was putting it in a paper in my purse.  I thought she was going to run after me though.  Those crazy Mount Vernon ladies.  They are way into their jobs.  

Back from Mount Vernon, hanging out with the babe... who was being oh so sweet!  :-)

Sunday was Eastern Market, which was too hot to take pictures.  We were roasting, but I still was able to make some fabulous purchases...two containers of okra for only $2 (woo hoo!) and a beautiful picture with four photographs of the tidal basin during the four seasons.  So gorgeous! Anyway, it was super hot, so we didn't last long, before we returned home, where we just lounged around for hours doing a whole bunch of nothing.  Caroline was just loving all the attention! 

And then... it was time to say our goodbyes.  Caroline gave everyone tons of kisses to thank them for coming! :-) 

The weekend went by too fast.  I love you girls and miss you already! I hope we'll see each other sooner than later!  

Now only a few more days until our next visitors, my aunt Donna and cousin Erika!  yay!  

My girls are coming to visit!

YAY!  This weekend kicks off the "let's wrap up summer" festivities!  First on the list is a visit from some of my favorite ladies, Rachel, Amy and Kim.  I LOVE THEM!  I'm super excited they are coming because the last time they were here for a good visit was pre-baby and pre-marriage.  Now, obviously I've seen them plenty since then, but it's still fun to see them on my turf!  wahoo!  

So... now, in honor of my girls, I'd like to take you for a trip down memory lane...  Join me, will ya!   

A long time ago, somewhere around 1989, I met two of my dearest friends in the whole world, Rachel and Sara.  Here they are celebrating a birthday with me... I'm guessing my 9th year on the planet.  Ah... to be young and innocent with paisley vests sewn onto your shirt. 

 

If you like that one... you'll love this one.  It's classic, really.  I have a picture like this with every single person at that birthday party that year, including Sara.  We were so hot!

  

Rachel and Sara stayed close through the years and we added others along the way.  In 5th grade Kim entered our world looking as adorable as ever!  For some reason, Rachel and Kim were the only 5th grade school pictures I came across.  Interesting.  

Now, 5th grade was also the year that I met Amy, but she was too cool for us then.  Or something.  Who knows, really.  We were just not in the same circle for many years, unfortunately.  She was wrapped up in boys and good grades.  What?  Not that the rest of us weren't.  :-)

  

6th grade came in with a new member of our clan, Ms. Karla Jean.

 

 She and I came to school to register at the same time and she couldn't figure out her combination lock.  So, of course, I helped her.  Such a sweet girl, I was.  And such a riveting story of how our friendship came to be.  ;-) 

So... as the years went on, we grew into beautiful young women who loved to take pictures and act silly!

We definitely got hotter. hehe  

Okay... maybe we got hotter AFTER 9th grade.  I mean, come on!  Who's really hot in the 9th grade?   

Me looking indifferent about whatever Kim is horrified over.  Such weirdo's. 

And here's a classic Rachel and Kim, probably after some sleep over at my house, looking oh so lovely! 

And then... evidence of what being bored in Lynchburg will do to you.  This is me and Kim dressed in our finest crazy clothes... interesting.  Nice rollers, Kim.

  

  And who could forget, the Spice Girls?  Ah...  good times!  From left to right... me (Ginger), Sara (Baby), Karla (Scary), Rachel (Sporty) and Kim (Posh).  SO FUNNY! 

 

Here we have yet another lovely dress-up picture of Karla, Kim and myself dressed in Karla's sister's finest dresses!  wow!  I look seriously intense.

 Luckily, after high school, going our separate college ways did not hurt our friendships, if anything it made them stronger.  Finally, Amy decided we were cool enough to hang out with and we were happy to have her!  :-) I still saw these girls as often as possible and especially on holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas  and New Years Eve!   

(Making up for lost time with Amy with LOTS and LOTS of pictures of her!  This should prove that I love her even if she didn't like us in the 5th grade.)    :-) 

Even after college, we stuck together through all our different endeavors.  These girls have been with me through thick and thin!  

So, anyway, like I said, the last time these three girls were here... we had a blast!  

But it was before this incredible wedding... 

And before this beautiful miracle...  

So... needless to say, it's time for their butts to come visit!  YAY!  I can't wait!  

Stay tuned for an update of our weekend adventures, along with the fantastic events to come:  my Aunt Donna and cousin Erika visit next weekend, our trip to Ocean City after that, and mine and Andrew's anniversary get-away to Philly!  Good times to be had, my friends!  Good times!