First California Wedding 2011...Auntie Robin

It is only fitting that we provide a recap of the first California wedding of 2011 days before we fly out for wedding number two. We are just a bit behind these days. In any case, at the end of July the four of us headed out for sunny southern California to celebrate Auntie Robin's big day.

Everyone was excited. Callie was especially excited because she was promised a day of pampering with the girls to help prepare Auntie Robin for her wedding. And this pampering, against our better judgment, included her first pedicure. Leave it to southern California to have salons not only willing to give pedicures to children but also to have specific pedicure offerings for children. In fact, Kate and Callie enjoyed soaking their feet in bubbly water that had floating duckies. And as you can see here, they both dressed up for the occasion in their best ballerina outfits, which they actually wore all weekend long.


The two of them were absolutely hilarious and definitely indulged in the whole experience of the girls' day out. Here we see Kate and Callie sitting together and looking through the latest People magazine. The two of them really enjoyed hanging out throughout the entire time we were there.




Of course, it is not just about Kate and Callie these days. The gruesome twosome has now become the fabulous foursome. And with Ashlyn, a.k.a. "The Body" and Reese in the picture, the Perrone household was always a loud and active place. It was so wonderful to watch all of these relationships grow and we are very thankful that Lauren and JP embraced our presence during the time we stayed at their house. Hopefully this is just the beginning of countless moments spent together in the years to come.


So what's louder than a house of four girls under the age of 4? How about a house of seven girls under the age of 4. On Saturday afternoon, we had a little barbeque at the Perrones that included the Leshney gang - Tyler, Stephanie, and their three little ones - Nora, Claire, and Paige. The picture below says it all.



It is also important to mention that the Perrone family has accepted the fact that little girls love pink, princesses, and jumping around. You don't get the full view, but the seven girls in the picture above are sitting in front of a sizeable bouncy castle which JP and Lauren are the proud owners of. They can set it up in their backyard any time they want to. Just give them a call and they will be ready to go. As much as we wanted to mock them for this investment, it was fun watching the girls bounce and giggle the evening away.


So now on to the real reason we made this trip. It was a gorgeous day in southern California, and the setting could not have been more beautiful for Robin and Chris's wedding. The evening started out with cocktails, continued with a touching ceremony, and concluded with some great food and even better dancing. And the dancing that night was just a warmup for the four young women pictured here, who reconvened later in the week for some more dancing and shenanigans in Cabo San Lucas.


Robin was a beautiful bride and it was clear throughout the entire weekend that she was simply over the moon happy about marrying Chris. You can't ask for anything more than that for your friends, can you?



This year we have made a lot of quick trips to California to celebrate milestones in our friends and family's lives. We wouldn't miss these opportunities for the world. And as we always say, the only thing we wish is that we could spend more time during each visit.

A Look Back at July

It is hard to believe, but it has been more than a month since the 4th of July. Heck, we are almost halfway through August. Time is flying by and shows no sign of slowing down. So it is definitely time for us to spend a few moments talking about some of our activities from last month. It all started with a great day in downtown Lexington when we watched the 4th of July parade with the Johnsons.



Seth and Jessica certainly come prepared, as the picture above shows. Here we see Callie, Vivie Ann, and Mason all riding in style on our way to the parade.

This year it was obvious that Callie not only enjoyed the parade, but also got really excited for each float or group as they made their way down the street. We didn't have the heart to tell her that this wasn't the most exciting parade in the world, because even the random politician in a convertible received a squeal of delight. We better keep going to parades to build her tolerance before we hit the mother of all parades - the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Based on our current rotation, that should be November 2012 so we have some time.

Every year at Easter we take a picture of Callie in her bunny ears to mark her half-birthday. It is only fitting then, that we start a similar tradition for Reese. The only holiday that makes sense is the 4th of July. So each year we plan to dress Reese up as Uncle Sam.



The first year was definitely a success. She's not old enough to have the beard yet, but that will come in time.


We are happy to report that July marked a big turning point for Reese when it came to finally accepting solid foods. To be honest, we need to thank her teacher at daycare, Miss Janet, who pushed through the pain and many tears to get Reese to understand that solid food is a good thing. It makes a world of difference to be able to feed Reese her dinner without feeling it's a wrestling match that you are losing. And at this point Reese's menu contains sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, spinach, acorn squash, and apples. We are hoping to expand the options starting next week.

A year and a half after she first entered our world, Bitty Baby remains a big hit with Callie. In fact, last Christmas Callie received several additional outfits for Bitty Baby, although she still tends to spend most of her time naked. That's Bitty Baby, not Callie, by the way. However, Callie enjoys every opportunity she gets to have her and Bitty Baby wear their matching dresses. So far we have managed to have Bitty Baby dress for, but not officially attend, Sunday church services or other formal occasions.


July witnessed a significant breakthrough for our evening routine. Bathtime had often become a struggle with Callie, who had to be persuaded at great length to take one. But now that Reese is in the tub with her, we barely turn the water on before Callie has hopped in and is ready to go. It is awesome. And they both seem to enjoy every second they get to spend in the tub together, splashing around and having fun. Hopefully it will only get better as they get older.


Words cannot truly introduce this video. We must first say that we have no idea how Callie came up with the main subject of her song. It came out of nowhere. However, the rest of the routine is not abnormal these days. Callie loves dressing up in her princess dress and dancing. She dances to anything and everything, showing a remarkable diversity of styles. Take a look.



Since Callie's interests have only grown this year, we have decided to sign her up for an official dance class. She will be in the same class as Vivie Ann, which will be extremely helpful since Callie still has to overcome her shyness at times. We hope that by the time the big recital comes next year that she is as comfortable in front of a lot of people as she is with us at home.

Reese is making all sorts of progress these days, and in July she was sitting up by herself and showing the first signs of wanting to crawl. In fact, when Sarah left for four days for a weekend with friends, Reese fast forwarded her development and not only began crawling but also pulled herself up to a standing position using the coffee table for support.



On top of all of that, she decided to pop out two teeth as well. You can tell from the look in her eye in the picture above, she intends to make our lives very interesting. And yes, if you have been keeping track, she continues to look a lot like her big sister did at this age. It's quite impressive.

As this first picture in a three part series shows, Reese has a little attitude. She is ready with a big smile when she wakes you up at 5am, and there is definitely a bit of sass in her. She is very determined, and unlike Callie has already indicated the desire to possibly climb out of the crib. We have a feeling that we will need to keep a closer eye on this little bugger.



One of Reese's favorite pastimes lately has been sticking her tongue out, perhaps as a means of communication. Who knows what is going through her mind when she does it, but in any case it is fun to interact with her. She loves to laugh, and more and more is becoming entertained by her surroundings. This is especially true when it comes to Callie. Reese loves to watch Callie, and Callie loves to find ways to make Reese laugh. We are very lucky and can only hope it continues as they grow older. And yes, we know we say this every post. But maybe if we keep saying it we can make it happen.


This final picture is a demonstration of Reese's alter ego, someone John and Callie have labeled, "Grabby McGraberson." John is lucky enough to get to spend a couple of hours with the girls every morning, and during this time Reese not only gets her morning bottle, but John, Reese, and Callie get some good play time together. Out of this morning fun has come numerous alter egos for Reese, including "Stinks McGee" and "Sneezer McSneezerson". Who knew we had such strong Scottish blood? In any case, Reese likes to grab everything within reach, and her grabbing fixation is enhanced whenever she gets sleepy. Apparently she has decided that grabbing her parents necks or other reachable locations is soothing. That's fun.

So that covers most of July. But there is more to come. As the picture of the girls sleeping in the Vegas airport indicated, we also made a trip to California. Stay tuned.

What Five Minutes Can Mean

This is a random post and it takes us out of order from a chronological standpoint. But it was critical to post this picture asap. After a wonderful trip to Los Angeles for Auntie Robin's wedding (more pictures to follow soon), all we needed to do was make our connection in Salt Lake City. Apparently we didn't run fast enough from the C terminal to the D terminal, and the plane had pushed back from the gate. Three hours later we were on a plane to Las Vegas, where we had to wait for three more hours. The picture below shows what you can do to try and keep the kiddos on their sleep schedule in stressful circumstances.



Not picture here are the numerous slot machines yards away shouting "Wheel! Of! Fortune!!!". It truly was a wondrous experience. Amazingly enough the girls slept through it all. And we made it home safe and sound, just in time to get the girls to daycare and the two of us to work. Isn't cross-country travel fun? We can't wait for Auntie Pi's wedding in just a couple of weeks. At least this time we have a direct flight both ways.