Board

We have a neighbor who is a teenager who rides his skateboard all over town. Julie probably sees him at least twice a day going by our house on his board. She always has a comment to make about him or his board or about how fast he is going. Basically, she is always interested.

So, today, John decided to get her started. I was inside reading and when I looked out the window, this is what I saw.
She was seriously booking down the road. All self propelled, having a great time. She had been riding her bike a few minutes before, so she was already wearing the proper safety gear. Andy was not a fan of this whole thing, he can be very protective of her. He proved that today by yelling "NO!" every time she went past him on the board.
Unfortunately, however, she is still learning, and I will spare you the after shots, but she did stop abruptly and go face first into the front of the board at one point. I thought she had broken her nose at first glance because her nose instantly swelled and turned blue and she got faint black eyes. And she was crying a lot. But we asked her to tell us what was wrong (like where it hurt) and she said, "I just want to skateboard some more!!" So John put her down and she kept going! The swelling went down and her nose and forehead are just a little blue now. Nothing she can't handle.

You may be asking where she got all this mad skill. Oh yeah, she is Daddy's girl!

Everett

On May 15th, 2010, Everett Rulin Asdel Cisneros joined the world!

If there was ever a time that I wished I could be in two places at once, this was it. But, even though I didn't get to see him when he was hours old, I got to see him today. And I fell head over heals for him.

I was only there for about an hour and a half, and I only put him down so he could get changed, and so I could get a picture of him with his parents.

He is so serious! The whole time I was there he had his brow furrowed like he was really worried about something. And look at all that dark hair. He for sure has Christina's ears, but that was about all I could tell. He is such a handsome combination of the two. Look at what a pretty family they are. Christina looks amazing and they are so relaxed! The act like Everett has just always been there, not like they are still figuring out this crazy new life.

I do know how to hold a newborn, I swear....just not in this picture apparently.

I love the cloth diapers. They made him look so bottom heavy! It was so cute!

This was us introducing Everett to his new alien that I made him. He didn't seem to enthused at first. I am sure he will grow on him.

By the time I left, Everett had already warmed up to the green thing.

See what I mean about the seriousness? Brian and Christina are going to be in for it if he continues to give them that look! Although, I remember thinking Andy was going to be the serious one...and look at him now.

Everett is so adorable. I was having such flashbacks because he was wearing Andy's old jammies when I got there. He is so serious and quiet (at least when I was there, I am sure he has his moments). I know that Everett and Andy will be great friends. They are just about the same age difference as Andy and Julie, and I am sure watching them will be just as entertaining!

It is funny because ever since I left them, I miss the Cisneros family like crazy! I can't wait until they become A-towners again!

Stephen and Sarah Gasch

Stephen and Sarah got married yesterday! Everything about the day was beautiful and sweet. The bride looked amazing and Stephen looked so happy!

The first memory I have of my life is going into the hospital to hold my little baby cousin Stephen the day after he was born. I had to put on a yellow gown and a hat. I was a little over 3 1/2 years old. I remember feeling so privileged to be able to hold him. And now, I feel privileged just to know him and be part of his special day, because he is one of the most caring, genuine, loving people I know. And he married a girl who lives up to every dream I have ever had for my baby cousin.

So on that note, here are the pictures.


The groom and his parents.

Julie did a great job as a flower girl. She was happy throwing the flowers on the ground, then when she got to where we were sitting, she threw her basket down and ran over to her daddy.

The bride. She walked down the aisle with her grandfather. It was very sweet.

The girls. The one in the middle with the long hair is my cousin Mariah. She is beautiful, seriously.

These dresses were made by my amazing and talented Mother! The girls looked so beautiful and the colors were perfect. The dresses fit like a glove and every girl loved them!

It was the most beautiful setting.

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Gasch.

Andy and his beautiful Aunt Audrey. He is a serious ladies man. Mom, Jus and I. Aren't we pretty?

Arlene and my cousin Mariah.

I love this picture of Julie and Sophia being held by John. Julie is smiling away and Sophia is giving her the "Who the heck are you?" face.

Me and my sweet Geekboy. I LOVE this picture!

These are all the Jutras people that were there. We missed everyone who wasn't able to be there, but man, it was a party!

This picture cracks me up. Andy is climbing up and both Stephen and Sarah are giving him the "Where the hell are your parents" look. My kids get that look a lot....hmmmm.....

The Mother-Son dance. It was very sweet.

And last, but not least, look at these silly gooses!

Dance Julie, Dance!

Today was Julie's first dance class at the Community Center. Ever since she found my old tap shoes in a box in the hall closet, she has wanted to tap and sing and jitterbug all over the place! So I signed her up for the first class I could find.

It is a combo class, both tap and ballet. There are only two other kids in her class and they are both under 4 but older than Julie. She was so excited to go, and even though I wasn't able to, Daddy and Grandma say she did awesome! And she had so much fun, she didn't want to leave so they stayed to watch the big kids dance a bit.

They started out by stretching.

Not really sure what they are doing here, another kind of stretching I guess, but whatever it is, they are pretty cute!

"Where is Thumbkin?......"
There is my little dancer!
And I don't know why more dancers don't think of this, but you don't need leg warmers if you just wear you cowgirl boots with your leotard!
The teacher announced that there is going to be a recital in June! So we will see how that goes and how she likes it. I am sure either way, we will be amused by the adorable little girls on stage!

Milestone?

Today Andy is the exact age that Julie was when he was born. I don't know, but for some reason it seems like a milestone! I feel like she was such a big girl when he was born, but then, at the same time, Andy is still such a baby in so many ways.

At 19 1/2 months Julie and Andy said the same things, could do the same things, ate the same things, and yet, they are so very different. And that is a beautiful thing!

Sarah's Wedding Shower.....and More!

On Sunday we went to a beautiful bridal shower for my cousin Stephen's fiance Sarah. It was a gorgeous day with great company. Unfortunately, I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, but this is what I got.

This was towards the end, so Julie was pretty ready to go home and sleep (she fell asleep in the car on the way home). But otherwise a lovely shot of some lovely Jutras women.
Julie and Dusty were so cute watching Sarah open her gifts. Dusty and Julie are going to be the flower girls at the wedding.

See how cute they are? They played together so nicely at the shower. They are only about 4 weeks apart in age, so they have a lot to talk about. Although, Julie has a lot to talk about in general, so it works out.

The dress Julie is wearing in the above picture is one that I made for her because I was kind of obsessed with the material. It has the cutest little strawberries on it! I have a feeling you will be seeing more dresses and shirts like this before summer is out.

Which leads me to my next topic. These are some of the super fun crafts that I have done for recent baby showers. These particular ones were for Christina, but I did them in some different fabrics for other friends this spring.

Burpies. They have cloth diapers in the middle so they are SUPER absorbent.

Flannel Blocks. These are so fun. My kids have loved playing with them and I have made a bunch of sets. I am starting to think that they may be better as first birthday gifts, but they looks so cute tied all up for a shower. I made these and the above burpies out of receiving blankets that matched Christina's nursery theme. I got the ideas here. Of course, I modified them a little because I can't follow a pattern exactly.

Then a sling to hold the lovely little boy. The best part though is that this is material Christina had lying around that had a former life as a shower curtain! That's right!

And, there was enough left over to make a simple tote. I am ALWAYS looking for bags to put the kids stuff in to go to Grandma's or the beach or where ever. Or, since this is sturdy fabric, it can be used for groceries or dirty diapers or whatever! (Kinda hard to see, but there is a pocket on the front.)

Now, totally unrelated, here are the Hunter kids, sitting on the front porch, eating home made applesauce Popsicles.

Yes, our life is that good.