Kelly and I celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary on March 1st! How did we celebrate, you ask? Well, I paid a visit to my eye doctor and got my pupils dilated, and Kelly worked. Exciting, right? Well, it gets better…that evening we romantically dined at a noisy steakhouse with Kelly’s mom and step-dad. I think Kelly and I can confidently proclaim that we are living the dream!
Now, let me caveat all of this by saying that it was around this time that the Federal government was threatening civilian employees with 22 unpaid furlough days due to sequestration, so Kelly and I were in all-out financial belt-tightening mode, which meant we cut a lot of “fun stuff” out of our budget... including eating out. Consequently, you may notice a lack of exciting, extra-curricular activities mentioned in this blog…you’ve been warned.
Anyway, the rest of March basically consisted of baby showers, bachelorette parties, and birthday celebrations…namely, Amy and Zack’s baby shower, Ashleigh’s bachelorette party, and my 31st birthday. Amy and Zack’s co-ed baby shower was at their house in Fort Collins, but we also had a bowling match that afternoon in Denver. Our plan was for us to drive up there together, and I would carpool back down to Denver alone with a few teammates, who were also at the shower while Kelly stayed awhile longer and then drove home with the girls. Sounds like a good plan, right? Well, it was, up until the moment in the car on the way to Denver that Kelly called asking where the car keys were. The stark realization that the keys were still in my pocket was only the first in several brainless mistakes I made that day; a day that ended with me arriving back in Fort Collins 5 hours after the baby shower began to my fuming wife, fussy baby, bleeding toddler, and two gracious party hosts, one of which was very pregnant. Oops!
Olivia officially turned two years old on April 4th! Kelly and I are amazed how quickly time has flown and refuse to acknowledge that she’s one year older, and thus one year closer to leaving the nest. We threw her a “two-tu” party that weekend and enjoyed watching her parade around in her adorable pink tutu, then promptly smear cake into it…*sigh*
For some reason, spring is garage sale time. Perhaps it’s supposed to coincide with spring cleaning? Anyway, a couple of weekends in April and May, we could be seen either wandering around various Erie neighborhoods looking for cheap treasures, or trying to pawn our stuff off on other people. Kelly began attending a monthly get-together with other ladies from our neighborhood and has been enjoying the opportunity to get to know other women in our community.
Olivia began attending ballet class in mid-May. This class is designed to convince parents that their kid is the cutest, most adorable little dancer in the whole world…which, of course, is true in our case. Seeing the pictures and watching the video of Olivia prance around in her leotard almost made me squeal from all the cuteness. Seriously, it’s ridiculous how cute she is.
After MOPs (that’s short for Mothers of Preschoolers) ended in May, Kelly made the decision to become the MOPs Coordinator next year. She hit the ground running and immediately began conducting planning meetings with the steering team. If you know Kelly at all, you know she has a gift for administration, and she’s looking forward to helping run the show in the fall. We received some great news near the end of May: my impending furlough had been cancelled! After three months of anxiety over our financial situation, God answered our prayers and we couldn’t be more thankful for His faithful provision!
Furlough notwithstanding, we had saved enough money to continue our tradition of visiting a new state each year. On May 31st, Kelly and I left the girls with the grandparents, and flew to sunny California for a kid-free visit to Yosemite National Park. We spent the next few days exploring the park and soaking up the breath-taking scenery. We were awed by the iconic vistas, sheer granite cliffs, towering sequoia trees, and thundering waterfalls that comprise the landscape in Yosemite. We rented bikes, took a canoe out for a spin and hiked up to a few waterfalls. Suffice it to say, we took plenty of pictures and were reluctant to return home, even though we desperately missed the girls.
Last weekend we celebrated Sophia’s 1st birthday. Kelly had the bright idea to throw her a sunshine-themed party. Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun. Anyway, our little ray of sunshine is growing bigger every day (not to mention her appetite!), and we love watching her learn new things and develop her own unique personality. She's not walking yet, but we expect that any day she'll be chasing Olivia around like a pro.
That’s it for now. See you next time!
