Anthony's Graduation

On Saturday, we went to Cincinnati to see my brother walk graduation and then we had a little party with Chelsea's family afterwards. Including Anthony, Chelsea's family had 4 people graduating from CCU. When they asked for alumni to stand up to be recognized during the ceremony .... I swear Chelsea's whole family stood up! We are thankful for their love of Cincinnati Christian University. Because of that they forced Chelsea to go there for one year, knowing she would not choose a major at that school. In that time Anthony and her met, fell quickly in love, and wah-lah I gained an amazing sister in law. It is all part of God's plan! Anyways, here are some photos capturing the day!

Very dark- but this is Anthony giving his valid-dictorian (I do not know how to pronouce or spell this- but you get the point) speech! Yep, he's basically a genius and for this I am very thankful that I came first as to not be compared to him!

My parents so proud of their graduate!


Unc and Ivy (with a very rotten face!)

Ivy adoring Baby Lila- with her precious painted toes. She was so excited to "hold" the baby.

The whole fam~ A couple things I must point out:

a. Chelsea and I are wearing matching prints... great minds think alike!

b. Greg and I are VERY SHORT!

c. Ivy is still showing her very rotten face!

The three-some! hahaha - that is just for you, Chelsea!

All of Unc and Esie's neices and nephews!

Dad and Anthony in deep laughter... what is wrong with this picture?

They are standing on a huge clif with my child.... Don't think so!

Ivy with her Pops and Unc!

The lovely graduate and his bride!

Mommy and Ivy (again, notice the face!)

Ivy's Talent

When Ivy tries out for Miss America someday this will be her talent..... She sure is a classy girl! To give you a little background- this is a talent that my mom and I discovered while eating lunch at Subway. Ivy simply stood up in the booth and wah-lah, she put on a show for all who were watching.

Please forgive Ivy for her bout of 2 year old attitude that she shows at the end of the video. I believe we are just hitting the rotten 2's!! But hey, we love it all the good, the sweet, and the (at times) downright ugly.

Mother's Day

To my Momma,

Happy Mother's Day! I have learned from the greatest to be joyful always, give thanks continuously, and love with all of my heart. Thank you for being an amazing mom and best friend. Thank you for being Ivy's "MyNana" and for caring about Greg like he is your own son. I love you!

~ Sarah

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

To my Ivy:

I am so thankful to be your mommy. I couldn't have picked a better job. You are a sweet girl with lots of spunk! I have so much fun seeing life through your eyes... always ready to discover new things and appreciating little things along the way. I am so thankful that God blessed me with your precious life. I love you, little Ivygirl!

~Mommy

Farewell to Friends!

Greg, Aaron, and Jake exhausted from putting in LONG hours for their last week of school!

This week we had a farewell dinner with some of Greg's great friends and their fiances. I don't know if you know anyone in the landscape architecture, architecture, and/or interior design programs at UK but they put in VERY long hours for a class called studio for 5 years. Aaron, Jake, and Greg have probably spent more time together in the last four years than they have spent with their own families. They are all so excited to be out of school but they will miss all the time they had with one another. We were sad as we said farewell to Jake and his fiance (almost wife), Megan. They are moving to Minnesota this week. But they have good things coming: a wedding, a new job, and a new house! Greg is so thankful that Aaron will be staying in Lexington for the time being, and all the boys will be together again for Aaron and Erica's wedding this July. I am thankful that Greg met such good guys at UK and I know they have formed life long friendships!

To Greg, Jake, and Aaron:

CONGRATS ON GRADUATION!!

You all did it.... you are finally finished!

Swimming Ready!

Today to beat the ugliness of the rain, Ivy and I pretended it was a gorgeous summer day! With that we decided to try on her bathing suits from Meemaw and Nana. We loved them both. Ivy continued to screech "Go swimming!"~ while she ran around doing her arms in a swimming motion. She was pretty heartbroken to take off the swimsuits and put on a long sleeved shirt. But before long, those summer days will be here and we will be ready!

Pizza & Popsicles

Last night we went to Georgetown to visit the Becketts. Ivy had been talking about going to see Baby "Bayden" all day and she was quite shocked to see that he wasn't too much smaller than her. He could toddle, jabber, and play with his own toys! At first Ivy wasn't sure about this but once she warmed up they had a great time. They played, hugged, ate pizza, slurped popsicles, and giggled at one another. As I say each time we get together.... the 10 months between them is closing. I can't wait until this summer when they are running around together and next summer when they will truly be able to communicate. Not only did Brayden and Ivy have fun- but it was great to catch up with our friends. Ashley offers so much encouragement about next year. She teaches second grade and is getting her masters and truly has found balance. She gave me some tips about how to manage full time with a baby and I felt so encouraged by her. It is hard to not be consumed with the overwhelmed feeling I felt when Ivy was a newborn. But I am comforted by the fact that she is bigger and she has a great time at her babysitters. I know that being with other kiddos (without me hovering) will give her balance. And most of all I can look around and see so many people (including myself) who turned out to be smart, independent, and very much loved children who had working parents! But again Ashley, thanks so much for your positive attitude and for sharing your working mommy ways with me!

Here are some pics to capture our evening:

A pic of the Mommies without the babies!

Rocking in Brayden's rocking chair.

Enjoying popsicles after pizza.

Showing off the stickers on their foreheads... what silly babies!

This was quite the game that Ashley had going with Ivy. Ivy was still talking about it this morning. Ivy would run through the kitchen with Ashley chasing her... then she would scoop her up and run her back to the couch. Ivy was very determined that she only wanted "Ashee" and "Dew" could not play!! Then she would shout "Again!" Ashley said this was just the workout she needed to get bikini ready!

Now I know my ABC's.... well kind of!

Ivy has been running around trying to sing her ABC's for a couple of weeks and just in the past few days she has really mastered all the letters besides Y and Z.... at which part she said "W, X, A, B, C!" This is our first attempt at getting her on video, that I absolutely had to post because it displays her silly personality all too well! Greg and I were quite humored by her total randomness.

So here is TAKE 1:

* Sidenote 1: Kaya is our poor cat that is tormented by Ivy always yelling her name. She has named all her babies Kaya and screams her name ALL THE TIME!
*Sidenote #2: I guess I should let you know that Ivy was not being bribed with a cupcake... in fact she has had about 3 cupcakes in her life yet this is a pretty common topic of conversation!! The girls loves her sweets :)

And here is our final chance to capture her ABC success.... and we almost got them all!