Craft time

Afternoons go so much more smoothly if we have some little project. I cut a door and a window into an OJ bottle with a box cutter and after some creative interior and exterior decorating by Caroline - voila! - instant fairy house. We went to Michael's and picked out some tiny wooden things to make the fairies' abode a bit more comfy. I got some peg dolls and fashioned some wings out of pipe cleaners and faces with markers.

The great thing about this project is that it has entertained her for hours. I had been looking at fairy dolls at toy stores for around $10. This entire setup probably cost me $10 and she loves it! A toy store doll would have been boring after a day, I'm certain. This homemade version has inspired a whole lot of imaginary play, flitting about, and pixie-dust sprinkling. Happy Caroline = Happy Mama!

More visitors

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Get your own

Emily and Jonathan came to visit us last weekend. Saturday morning was yucky and rainy, so we waited until the afternoon to head downtown. We went to the Contemporary Art Center. It was built by a famous architect, so Emily and Jonathan really wanted to see it. It's also the home to the Unmuseum. Caroline had a blast exploring and touching and doing. I think the adults enjoyed it a little bit, too!

It's really easy to entertain two architects for an afternoon. We just hopped in the car and took them by all the neat and famous buildings in town. :-) There are quite a few, especially on the University of Cincinnati campus.

After the driving tour, we headed down to Newport and went to the Hofbrauhaus. It was very fun. Caroline is still doing the chicken dance.

Sunday, we had waffles at the Coffee Emporium - about 2 blocks away from our house. That's dangerous. Those waffles were delicious! Then we took Caroline to the park. Emily must have pushed Caroline in the swing for 30 minutes. Kevin swung the baby right to sleep. With all the children in expert hands, I really wished I had brought a book along with me.

It was another great weekend entertaining guests!

4 months

I just don't have words to express how incredibly blessed the three of us feel to have this little one as a part of our family. She is so amazing and we praise God for her life!

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
Psalm 103:1-2

Stats: 11 pounds, 11 ounces; 23.5 inches long

Play dough

Homemade play dough inspired an afternoon of creating.

Mommy made a bunny.

It was a very fun activity!

Visitors

We had a special set of visitors last week - the Halford girls! We loved having our friends here!

Story time

Slumber party!

The Dales visit

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My family came to Cincinnati and it was a lovely visit. We went to the Zoo on Saturday. It's a really nice zoo and we enjoyed so many of the exhibits - the gorillas, the manatees, the baby tigers. We wanted to eat at the Hofbrauhaus Saturday night, but the wait was too long. So we wound up having a good time at Johnny Rocket's instead. I was a little disappointed, but as my mom reminded me, it's really just about having a good time together no matter where you are! And we certainly had a good time all weekend long!

Park

Home in Cincinnati

Here we are! The move went well, but we could have done without a bum U-Haul, a shared illness, and plumbing problems. We think our new home is very nice. We are very fortunate to have found such a well-kept rental home. I think we were able to adjust quickly because it's very similar to our Midtown Memphis house.

Our living room

The girls' rooms are upstairs with a bath between them. Caroline wants to show you her room.


She has a huge closet for an overabundance of toys. Closets are a novelty for us. We had one real clothes closet in Midtown. Now we have 3!


Helen's room needs some work. She's still Mommy and Daddy's roommate, so it's a low-priority room. I'll get some better pictures of it later.

This little area at the base of the stairs is our "playroom." The window seat opens up for storage. I'm thinking I need to make some pillows for it...

Downstairs master bath

Our bed really isn't this shiny. The flash must have been working overtime.

Dining area

Here I am, probably on my way to do something wifely.

We have a lot more counterspace in this kitchen, but we miss our big pantry!

The basement isn't much to look at, but it's a fantastic multipurpose room - laundry/ironing areas, a sewing/craft area, an extra refrigerator (Kevin's much-coveted "beer fridge" :-) ), a computer workstation, a TV/play area, tool storage, and plenty of room for Caroline to have wheely bee and tricycle races. It's a really great space.

Yay...all of my sewing things! I've been using this area quite a bit already. I picked up about 6 new projects to work on before we left Memphis. I feel very lucky that we had enough room for me to bring all of my fabrics and ribbons and notions.

Our backyard is lovely. It's shady and has a great deck.

Guard dog - looking for squirrels, I'm sure.



Our neighborhood is nice. There are a few young families, but we haven't made any playmates yet. We can walk to a downtown-type square with shopping and dining. One of our next door neighbors is the sweetest lady - 82 years young and does all her own gardening! It's an amazing yard and she has already been very generous in sharing her flowers with us.

Everything we need is so close by. Caroline's school is about 1 minute away from the house. It will literally take me longer to load the kids in the car than it will to drive there. I'm sure Helen and I will be doing some strolling to drop her off and pick her up.

Our adventures here in Queen City are off to a wonderful beginning! We're looking forward to this year!

Independence Day

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About a week before the 4th, I bought tickets to the Cincinnati Pops concert on the river. I purchased lawn tickets and had grand visions of lolling around on a picnic blanket, enjoying the music. No one told me to plan on rain and temperatures in the 60s on the 4th! We decided early in the day to upgrade our tickets to pavillion seats. We were still able to make it a very enjoyable evening. Caroline got a tattoo at the kids' station - very exciting. Caroline really enjoyed the music, but was scared to death of the fireworks (even though she told me as she was headed up for bed, "Mommy, I really liked the fireworks!"). Helen was good and relaxed in the sling for most of the evening. I don't think she fussed once - not even during the fireworks. It turned out to be a fun evening and I'm sure we'll always remember it!

(If you're getting this update as an email, make sure you click on "View All" to see our pictures.)

31st

My 31st birthday party was planned by Caroline. She did a great job. I had dancing, balloons, a cake, singing, and presents - a perfect party! (I did cook dinner, but that's hardly a chore for me!) Kudos to Kevin for always involving the kids in planning and executing special days for me. It's neat to have a husband who really listens to his children.



My cake top was a little haphazard because the real bakery worker was on a break. Didn't make one bit of difference in how yummy the cake tasted!


Caroline sang "Happy Birthday" to me. It was great!










Kevin told Caroline what letters to write on her card envelope. She did the writing all by herself. She wrote her name on the inside of the card, too. Kevin did not have to tell her the letters for that word! This was a gift in itself! I am so proud!

3 months old

Our littlest one is 3 months old! Time went quickly with Caroline, but it's going by even more quickly with this second child.

She is a delight and we are so proud to take her everywhere with us. She smiles and talks and coos and giggles for Mommy and Daddy - but especially for big sister Caroline. She loves Caroline. I know they will have their differences as they grow up, but I pray their bond will always be a close one and that they will always be friends. Watching Helen love her big sister has given me a completely new understanding and appreciation for my little sister.



Kevin jokes that her favorite family member is the ceiling fan. If there's a fan in the room, she's entertained and happy.

She is busy, busy, busy. I had a dream on night that I put her down on the floor to play and she rolled over and crawled off! I think that's really how it will be. I'm not going to be able to keep up with this one! Helen wiggles all the time, even in her sleep. She won't stay swaddled anymore, but we still try because it makes her feel good. She loves me to help her stand on my lap. Then Caroline and I sing silly songs to her and help her dance and she thinks that is the greatest entertainment ever.

Helen can put herself to sleep most of the time and that's really great. But I know these days of total dependence on Mommy are flying fast. So I still snuggle and cuddle with her as much as she'll let me.

She's still a tiny little peanut. I haven't gotten on the scale with her lately, but I bet she's not much more than 10 pounds.



Our two girls bring us so much joy and happiness! I've said it before, but God is very, very good!

Silly Tigger

Oh, this funny, funny dog we have...