Wordless Wednesday ~ Daddy's Little Girl

(A picture of Liv that "melted her Daddy's heart!")

Jenny's Wedding (3)

This post is going to be a bit more selfish -- all the photos have my little Livie-Bug in them! Perhaps this is why I wasn't able to get more great pictures of the Bride & Groom... My eyes and camera were fixed on our daughter the vast part of the night.
Can you blame me though?  :o)

One of the 1st photos of the night...

Livia & her Papa Bill

Then Livia got to meet her 3rd [twin] cousins, Nora & Zane

 

Liv & Nora really hit it off!

Livia absolutely loved Nora's sparkly shoes

 

Nora giggled as Liv bent down time & time again saying,

"Pwetty shoes! Dey're pink an' got park-els... So pwetty!"

Here Livie is 'cheesing' it up for the camera

 

"Chseeeesssseee!"

Our daughter was even given a special bag, just for her.

 

Liv definitely had fun with the candy!

Brian and Jenny had the BEST wedding favors ever! They're both dentists, and in the little treat bags were a toothbrush, toothpaste, & floss. Great for all of us who were out of town, and such an awesome idea. And in Liv's goody-bag:  coloring crayons & books, candy, and even little-kid toothbrushes & toothpaste. It was perfect! It was so sweet of them to have such a cute, special packet for Livia.

As we were waiting for the food to come, Perry thought it would be a good time to try & get a good photo of me & Livia.

Liv was actually looking at the camera & smiling...

Just before this picture.

Darned salad -- came at just the right wrong time.

Here Livia is with her Aunt Carol & Zane

Would be a great picture if someone

wasn't stickin out her long little tongue!

I love this shot of Livie & her Papa Bill

She just looks so sweet!

Nora & Liv lovin' on each other again

 

Those girls were so cute together:  Hugging...

And Dancing

 

Grinning & laughing all the while!
I SO wish we lived closer.

Livia even got some very special pictures while we were there:

Being held by the Beautiful Bride...

 

Livia just loved Jenny's necklace (I did too!)

Jenny's jewelry was just beautiful. She told me that her wedding band

was specially made to go with her stunning engagement ring.

The engagement ring is actually an antique!

Later we went into an elevator with a mirror,

And Liv thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Even when the night was getting very late...

 

Livia had plenty of energy to dance with her Papa Bill!

Though, from the looks of this one with me...

She was really getting worn out!

(I'm sure she was praying not to fall asleep!)

As soon as we finally made it out to the car,

 

She realized how tired she really was!

Amazingly, she did not fall asleep on the way back to the hotel. She just cuddled and sang to her baby doll the whole way.
So sweet!

Til the next time, I hope everyone is doing well! Take care and God Bless!

Jenny's Wedding (2)

Featuring the happy newlyweds...

 

 

I wish Jenny and Brian the very best as they begin their lives together -- and I hope they have a wonderful time on their honeymoon in Mexico!

More pictures to come later  :o)

Jenny's Wedding

This past weekend was so amazing! As I was looking though photos, there were dozens I wanted to edit and write about, but for now I've just chosen a few of my favorites...

My absolute favorite being...

Brian & Jenny ~ Just Married!

I can hardly find the words to describe how stunning they are!

Before this weekend, I had never met Jenny in person. I knew she was absolutely gorgeous (from pictures), and upon formally meeting her in person, I found that she's even more beautiful on the inside. She's certainly a woman after my own heart on SO many things!

I unfortunately did not get a ton of pictures of Brian & Jenny, but I hope to do another post featuring what good photos I did snap.

The wedding day gave me ample opportunities to capture some cute shots of Liv...

 

Just before she jumped down & sprinted out of view!

And Liv with her Daddy

 

Grinning from ear-to-ear

And even one of all 3 of us!

 

We had such a wonderful time together  :o)

Perry caught this one of me & Livia...

 

See how much happier she is with her Daddy?? Liv just looks bored out of her gourd in this photo!

Well, after we had plenty of time to socialize, find our tables, and snap fun pictures it was time for the Bridal Party to make their grand entrance...

Though this picture doesn't include quite all of the members,

you can see that it was quite a party indeed!

Skip ahead to later in the night, for the dances...

This one certainly wasn't the most important,

but it sure was the cutest!

 

Livia's dancing with her 3rd cousin, Nora.

I fail to remember the other two little princesses' names!

Before the night got too awfully late, we wanted to make sure that we went upstairs to the Grandmothers' hotel room. This is a moment I've been dreaming of for more than two years now...

You see, Livia has not only her parents & grandparents, but she also has 2 Great-Grandmas (one on my side, one on my husband's)... And she even has a Great-Great-Grandma! I've been waiting for so long to get a photo with all 5 generations; I finally got my wish:

 

Perry, Livia, & her Papa Bill ...

With Great-Great-Grandma Beabout & Great-Grandma Evelyn!

 

Great-Great-Grandma will be 100 in February!

It was so amazing to talk to this woman - she's so spry & alert. And I've never seen anyone smile & laugh any more than she did. It was so sweet how excited she is about being 99 years old! I absolutely cannot wait until February -- her family will be throwing her a wonderful Birthday bash, and in the words of my husband, "We won't miss it for the world!!!"

Brian & Jenny had also wanted to say thank you & good-night to the Grandmothers before they retired for the night... So they actually excused themselves from their own wedding reception to come up and visit them while we were there! I had tears welled up in my eyes as I realized how big of a heart this young woman has (and Brian too). Jenny sweetly smiled as I snapped photo after photo of her and her new husband with all who were in the room.

And this was the icing on the cake:

 Me & Perry with Jenny, Liv, & Brian

Livia held her arms up to Jenny shortly before this picture and asked, "Hold me?" And Jenny immediately scooped her up. One of those moments that just absolutely melted my heart! I'm sure Brian already knows this, but he sure has a very special young woman.

And I certainly have quite an awesome husband as well... I know he's not huge into weddings, and I had to work super early in the morning on Saturday (which meant I slept pretty much the whole way to Ohio!) So he did almost all the driving. Which was more than 12 hours in less than 2 days -- just for our little family!

I love him so much I could just kiss him!

And I certainly did  :o)

(Fingers crossed, more to come about
Jenny's wedding later in the week!)

Safely Back!

The weekend I never thought would come, is now all but over -- in the blink of an eye, I tell you!!

This was the weekend that Perry's cousin, Jenny, was getting married. I was so excited to have a reason to drag my spouse allow my wonderful husband to take me Ohio! I had hoped that we would have a nice time, and that I'd get to meet some of the Fultz family that I never had before...

My hopes certainly came true -- and then some!!!

I'm downloading pictures right now, as I watch my daughter play in the bathtub. And as soon as I get that tired little toddler down, I hope to post some pictures and wonderful stories about the fabulous time we had!

Wish me luck...!
xoxo ~ Amanda

Little Climber

I'm starting to wonder if there's nothing that Liv cannot climb!

We were at church for Family Day a couple of Sundays ago, and Livia and I were playing in the little park area.
Then she happened to catch sight of someone off in the far distance, beyond the playground fence safely keeping her in...

Amongst our church friends, Liv spotted her Nana and Papaw!

And once she had them in her sights...She wasn't about to let that little fence stop her!

Within seconds, she was at the top!

And that's when her Mommy finally put down the camera -- good thing too because she was SO close to going over!

Who knows what she'll be trying to climb next...!

SYATP

Today in schoolyards around the US - and in other countries as well - children and young adults have the opportunity to participate in See You At The Pole (SYATP). SYATP is an annual event -- the morning of 4th Wednesday in September -- for Christian students to gather in prayer around the flagpole at their school...

I remember participating in SYATP when I was in high school, though that was between 10 and 15 years ago! I was not one for getting up early... I'm still not, to be quite honest. But See You At The Pole is something much more important that a few extra minutes of sleep...

Back when I was in high school, I was a relatively good kid. I never got detention; my grades were almost always reasonable; I was quite involved both athletically & academically; and I still went to church with my parents. My parents really didn't have to worry what I was "up to". We lived out in the country, and it was almost impossible for me to get into trouble out there, and I didn't dare ever sneak out.

SYATP was definitely for me... But it was also for EVERYONE! It didn't matter if you went to church 3 times a week or 3 times a year. SYATP drew in students from many different crowds & cliques. Our school was small -- not even 400 students; but we still had many participants for SYATP.

Today, See You At The Pole has just exploded! I keep hearing on KLOVE (my absolutely favorite Christian Radio Station) how many hundreds of millions of students & teachers from around the world will be participating. People were calling in and sharing how SYATP was such an important step in their walk towards Christianity.

I'll be praying for all participants of SYATP... and especially for those not attending the event.

What a Week...!

It's already Tuesday, but the week sure feels awfully long for going by so very quickly...

Sunday, Livie & I were out at my Mom & Dad's -- and it rained all.day.looong! It was impossible for me not to succumb to a cat-nap, and what better weather to make chocolate cookies?! They're my "specialty" (read, "one talent") in cooking... Though we didn't get to "Bo farm!" as Liv loves to do on Sundays (oh - 'bo' means 'go' in Livie-language. How cute, huh?!)

Yesterday started out rainy as well, but turned out quite beautiful - and eventful!

I went to work extra early since I had an appointment for my knees at Tri-State Orthopedic Associates. They've been giving me issues ever since the half-marathon last year, and I was convinced that I'd done something to permanently disable them. Luckily I was totally wrong!!!

Dr. Lee said that my joints look great - the only problem is that they're very, very loose. My Doctor wiggled my kneecaps, and they have so much 'play' that she said she could practically dislocate them right there. The extra wiggle causes friction, and therefore inflammation & pain.

The solution? Well, there are a couple of things they'll be doing to get my knees better. Dr. Lee said that strengthening exercises & outer supports will be the main keys. I'll be starting physical therapy tomorrow and they're going to putting me in some braces as well. The knees will be 'trained' to only move how they're supposed to.

I was so excited to find out that I will be able to run again - Dr. Lee assured me of it! So after picking up Livia from day care, I headed home. I noticed quite a few police cars on the way there, and even more in & around our neighborhood... As I rounded the curve of our road, I saw even more police cars & a news van!

I called Perry as said, "Babe... Is there something I should know?!" Apparently, there was a robbery in our city, and the suspect was on the loose... IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!!! GAA! Just was I was about to turn around to get out of the area, my husband said "Oh, but they finally caught him." He was captured less than an hour before I got home - it took about 5 hours to apprehend him! Scary, huh?

Liv got to bed just after 8; since Perry was planning to stay in & watch the football game, I decided to go back in to work. The area in which I've been working for the last couple of months has drastically picked up, and they're actually asking for overtime again. I live less than 10 minutes away and it's so handy to just go back in for a couple of hours after our daughter goes to bed.

That's not happening tonight though! I've already put in 4 hours of overtime in this week - whew! I'm sure the rest of the week will be great -- especially this weekend! Our little family will be headed to Ohio on Saturday for the wedding of my husband's cousin, Jenny! Livia & I have never been to Ohio to see Perry's family, and I can't even begin to describe how excited I am!!!

I even bought a 'new' dress from Molly's on Main (an A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E!!! little consignment shop less than a block from where I work). The dress is black with a little bit of ivory on the top, and it falls just below the knees. The best part is that the dress still has the tags on it! Original price on the tag says $179.00; Molly had it priced at $50, but she just happened to be having a 75% off sale -- the dress included!

I'll have to get some pictures just to prove how cute & classy it is. I'll try before the end of the week, but if nothing else, I'm sure to get at least a couple of myself in it at the wedding :o) I'm not so sure what shoes or jewelry I'm going to pair it with, but I suppose I have yet a few days to figure that out...

I can't wait to see what the rest of the week will bring...!

Laura & Michael's Slideshow

For my sister's wedding reception, she had a wonderful slideshow put together by one of our great friends from church - Jessie Marvel.

I absolutely LOVED it - so beautiful and perfectly put together. I definitely had tears in my eyes watching it. I was kinda sad that I only got to watch it once...

That was until Jessie got with my Aunt Tanya. Tanya was able to put it online for us all to see!!!!

Michael & Laura's Slideshow

There are pictures of both Laura & Michael growing up, and them growing together. It really is a great slidesow, and I'm so glad that I now get to see it whenever I want - thanks again Aunt Tan!!!

Flashback Friday ~ Halloween 2008 (A 'Magical' Day!)

Last year for Halloween, Livia was a Purple Unicorn - she was so incredibly cute, and luckily I have some great pictures to remember it by. Our life was insanely busy back about a year ago... There were days where I had trouble remembering my name! Luckily, I did remember to take photos!

Is this outfit not the cutest?!

Here she was at her Grandma Triby & Papa Bill's

And she even crawled around like a 'real' unicorn!

This pic just cracks me up every time I see it!

Over the course of a couple of days, we were able to show off her get-up to those who love her the most... The Thursday before Halloween, CMOE (Childrens Museum of Evansville) had a wonderful party, which my Mom's work helped to put on. It would have been crazy for me not to take Liv there for the fun... and to see her Papaw & Nana!

She loves them both SO much!

We also made a trip out to her Papa Bill & Grandma Trilby's...

Somehow, the best picture of all was without Sugar the white German Shepherd... Sugar just could not stay away from Liv this evening! I think it was the outfit - who knows what that poor puppy thought about it!

Livia and I also made a trip out to her Aunt Kendra & Uncle Matt's... And what did we meet, but a real-life Princess!

Maggie's Princess Costume

She totally fits the part!

So would could be more magical than a Princess and a Unicorn? But wait - shouldn't the Princess be on the Unicorn instead of the other way around...? HA!

And speaking of laughing, this gives a whole new perspective to ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing - yep, that was just for you Mom. Love ya!)
Other than the whole purple being my favorite color, the best part of her outfit was her little black shoes. I thought they looked like little horse hooves.

This is definitely one of my favorite memories, and I hope to never forget how cute she was!!

Now it makes me want to go ahead & get her Halloween outfit ready - no, I still haven't done so. For one, I've been thinking, and since Halloween is on a Sunday this year, I may need 3 outfits for her. 1 for Friday (for daycare), 1 for Saturday (for going out to see family), and 1 for Sunday - a very pretty, dressy church-appropriate one of course.

Any ideas? :o)

Date Night

So every month, my husband and I have made a promise to each other that we'll do a "date night" - just the two of us. This month's is quickly approaching, and it's my turn to choose what we'll be doing! Just in case my husband gets a wild hair & decides to check this blog, I'm not going to disclose any specifics... But it will be lots of fun!

Last time, Livia spent the night with her Grandma Trilby & Papa Bill; and this time we asked my parents to watch her. Except now, they may be off the hook since her Day Care is have a spend-the-night tomorrow evening. She absolutely loves it there, and how could I tell her 'no' when Evan's mommy specifically asked me to be sure to let Liv spend the night so Evan would have his best friend there - awww!! I knew that Livia loves Evan, but it's so sweet to know that he loves her just as much.

Last month was of course Perry's turn to choose, and he took me to do something that we had never before done together: We went bowling! I absolutely loved it - even though my talented husband beat the pants off me in both games.

After that, we had both worked up an appetite. Which is a really good thing, because my husband decided to take us to...

The Nagasaki Inn!!!

They have the absolute BEST food and [indoor] atmosphere in the Evansville area. It's such a treat not only to eat the sushi & hibachi grill, but to actually see our meal expertly prepared. With entertainment too! (ie: rolling an egg across the grill = "egg roll!"; making a volcano out of an onion; and spicing up the night with some fire!)

Stay tuned to find out what this month's date night has in store...! Fingers crossed, we'll be doing it this weekend! And I can't wait :o)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Silver Linings

"Every cloud has a silver lining..."

And some even have a rainbow!

I took this photo several weeks ago, and it just happened to be on a day where things weren't going as well as I'd hoped - this was before I turned to God...

God has a way of making everything so much better. He will give us something wonderful in every day if we'll let Him! Every day in and of itself is a gift; perhaps that's why we call it the present.

Anyway, on this particular day, in one moment, I knew this was His simple reminder to me that I could still make the day great. And it was!

And so is He. God is so Good!

Princess Meg

Last night I popped over to my Aunt's blog and saw this...

This... This cannot be my little cousin!! The young lady in this photo is far too grown-up... She almost looks like royalty!

Now, make no mistake about it - Meg is most certainly a Princess. Not the kind of Princess you find just anywhere though:

Megan is the kind of Princess who loves and is loved by creatures big and small...

She's the kind of Princess who is a natural nurturer & caregiver...

She's the kind of Princess who loves helping...

And she's the kind of Princess who loves to have fun!

Megan is more than a Princess - she's like the big sister that my Liv will never have. I can't wait for the day that we'll be able to move closer to their neck of the woods! And as soon as we do, I've already told my husband that Megan will be spending the night all the time! I think I talk about it too much, because sometimes Livia will even say, "Someday Meggie spend the night wif me?"

Yes, I do love Meg just like my own little girl. How could I not? Everyone loves Princesses! And one last picture of Meg with her Daddy & brothers - just to show how much of a Princess she truly is!