Julie's Birthday

Aunt Julie has now joined the 3o year old club! Devin threw her a dinner with some surprise guest and we got to be a part of it! He is one good husband. It was a fun time and Julie captured some great pictures of our time together.

All dressed up for dinner!

Devin and Marianne waiting for our table at the restaurant on Sunday morning.

Marianne is excited about her blueberries at brunch.

Marianne helping Julie open her card and gifts.

In the afternoon we went to get yogurt. Across from the yogurt shop was the this cool fountain that Marianne wanted to see. She loves to walk so walked over. Check out her shoes!

After brunch we took a walk. Here Marianne is looking at the ducks swimming in the pond!

Aunt Julie is HILARIOUS!

Recent and Random

June and July found us having a lot of fun with family and friends. Here is just a random sampling of some of the highlights.

Almost a month ago now our friends Justin, Raluca, Alina, and Nathanael spent the night at our house on their way home from Nashville. It was great to see them since they are moving to Colorado. Hopefully we will make it out to visit them and go skiing! The girls had a slumber party in which they both slept in the same room but since they went to bed a different times we did not realize they were wearing the same pajamas until the next morning! (The picture is a little blurry, sorry!)

Marianne is still learning to be gentle with a new baby but she had fun playing with Nathanael!

We had a lot of fun while Sandie and my dad were here. Here we are at the Coke museum where Marianne could not take her eyes off the polar bear!


Marianne is so happy to have her Aunt Sandie here with her! It was a very special treat to have her here for Marianne's birthday!

It is so fun to see how much Marianne and Zoe love each other. Here Zoe is helping Marianne drink her bottle. While she held her Zoe said: "My sweet Marianne" and gave her a kiss on the head. How precious is that!
This picture is right before we went to Matt and Julie's annual Bastille Day party. To get in the French spirit Chris and Marianne wore their berets. The dress looks great with the hat but it is Hungarian, not French!

Marianne's Gigi, Granddaddy, and Great-Grandma sent her some money for her birthday. Chris and I went to Target and got her this wagon! She likes to ride around the house and the neighborhood in it. It has two seats so that Marianne and her friends can ride together and the seats fold down so you can use it like a regular wagon. As you can see she loves it!

Marianne is 1!

I can't believe it! Chris and I were watching the major league baseball all star game on Tuesday and talking about how little Marianne was when we watched the game last year. She has grown up so much! It is fun and exciting and sad all at the same time.

One year ago she was so little and could hardly open her eyes!

Now look her!

The celebration started on Friday night since that was her real birthday. We didn't have cake but we had plenty of presents!

This ball is one of her new favorite toys. Also that purple ball in the background. She has one upstairs and one downstairs and she never gets tired of rolling them around.

Check out the rocking chair. She is still a bit young for it since she would rock herself right off onto the floor if we let her but she loves it! It is fun to see her rocking herself. Today she spent a lot of time sitting on the floor and rocking the chair against the wall...

Saturday was the party!
(Note: I have been struggling recently about taking pictures versus living out the experiences. I find that I cannot both engage in a situation and take pictures at the same time. I am either observing or being actively involved. Thankfully other people took these pictures for me and allowed me to be somewhat engaged with Marianne and our friends and family during the party. Thanks to everyone who snapped some pictures with my camera!)
A few years ago I taught two sweet boys whose moms now own a business that personalizes party supplies. We went with the Peter Rabbit theme but they have tons! You can check it out at: makeitmineparites.com! I thought it was a nice touch. Now we are going to hang this sweet banner in her room.

Since we had so many more adults than kids at the party we thought it would be fun to have goody bags for them. Here is the candy bar we had set up. I think more candy got eaten during the party than actually got taken home but I think it was a success.

My friend, Casey, reminded me about the hats and suggested that we take a picture of all the kids wearing them. They weren't a huge hit but it was fun to try.

Marianne worked very hard to get her hat off! It said "It is my birthday!" on it. All the other hats said "Marianne is 1!" Check out her adorable outfit! It is seersucker (from Charleston) and has a cupcake with 1 candle on it. Thanks, Wes and Lysa!

We planned on having bubbles out on the deck but the rain got in the way. Our dear friend Gary ran out in the rain to save the bubbles and the kids enjoyed them on the front porch. Here Marianne is watching the bubbles with Uncle Craig while still holding her hat!

No fancy cake here but it is hard to think of a way to decorate with cream cheese icing! All the cupcakes had these toothpicks so we took a few extras to put on the cake. The plate is from a Peter Rabbit set that someone gave me when I was a baby.

I was afraid all the singing might scare Marianne but she did great as always! She did need a little help to blow out her candle.

She loved the carrot cake! I think she would have eaten the whole thing if we had let her but once she started to slide it around and it almost hit the floor we decided it was time to take it away...

We had more presents to open on Saturday. Zoe was so sweet to help Marianne.


We had a wonderful time celebrating Marianne's birthday with family and friends. Thank you to everyone who made it so fun and special. We love you!

A late note on Father's Day

I started this post in late June but then had trouble uploading the pictures. Better late than never!

I think Chris had a very good first Father's Day. After church we came home, changed our clothes, packed our lunch, and headed to the Braves game. We had a fun time at the game and Chris was such a good dad he even let us leave a little early since it was so hot for Marianne. After a nap, we took some pictures (because we didn't take the time to do it at the game) and Chris opened his presents. Marianne helped him of course...After that we changed our clothes again (because none of us, not even Marianne, can wear Braves gear to watch Carolina play) and watched the Gamecocks win on their way to being National Champions for a second year in a row! Chris was even talking about what a great day it was on Monday morning!

Marianne and her daddy love cheering for the Braves!

Chris let Marianne help him open his presents and read his cards too!

Check out the mug Marianne "made" Chris for Father's Day. My good friend, Vickie, came with me to help paint Marianne's hand. Wasn't that sweet of her?

Marianne "telling" her daddy all about how she made him this mug.

The front says "I Love Dad"!

Hampton in May

Wow! Time flies! I can't believe I am just putting these up and it is almost July! We went to Charleston on Memorial Day weekend (picture of that amazing time coming soon) and we thought we should go to Hampton since we were so close. We had a great time relaxing in the quite and peace that is the rural low country. It is always such a treat to spend time with Gigi and Grandaddy! Marianne loved her great grandparents, the animals, the fresh air, and all the good food Gigi made! She probably ate here weight in pound cake...

Don't they both look so happy?


Marianne liked showing everyone her clapping skills!

Gigi was so excited to carry Marianne around while she showed us all her plants.

Marianne loved the cows! She thought they were very funny.

Summer Fun

Even though summer has just started we have already had a lot of fun. Marianne tried to enjoy the hot weather by getting in our neighbors baby pool but she hated it and screamed to get out. So when my dad suggested we go swimming in the Chapin Presbyterian Church office pool we were nervous about how it would go. She loved it! I think she likes the warmer water and the fact that she gets held in the big pool.

Chris slowly eased Marianne into the pool until she was comfortable and happy!

Aunt Julie makes everything fun!
Riding on a float with Grandan is relaxing!

She didn't love that I was making her try to swim...
But once she got the hang of swimming she liked it!

Abuelita got her to kick her legs and moved her arms like she knew what she was doing!

After it was all over you could see how much she enjoyed it!

After a long day of swimming it was time to take it easy. The next day we visited Mimi and Papi and had a relaxing afternoon.

Here Marianne is enjoying looking at the lake in her new chair.

The following weekend we attended a fun birthday party. There were tons of baby pools and a slip and slide for the children to enjoy in the hot sun! Once again Marianne screamed and cried when we put her in the baby pool. Instead Marianne enjoyed watching her friend, Campbell, open presents and crawling around in the yard.

Every time we tried to put her in the pool Marianne would hang on to our shirts for dear life!

Marianne didn't need to be in the pool to have fun. The bubble blower was endless entertainment and she liked to watch the big kids popping all the bubbles!

Chris's Birthday

Chris is having a long birthday celebration since he is turning the big 3-0 this year. His secretary and one of his friends at work decorated his office in honor of this big birthday. Later that morning Marianne and I came by to bring him so donuts. Here are the pictures...

This was on his door. Aren't the pictures hilarious? They asked me to find some funny ones of Chris and then they blew them up and cut them out

Pictures and balloons everywhere!

All of the chairs in his office were full of confetti.
Chris and his friends who helped with the surprise.

Check out the donuts Marianne and I brought.

The box isn't long enough to fit birthday straight but it is still cool, huh?

Marianne loved all of her daddy's birthday balloons. He let her take one home.