Barbie is married!

Barbie is married...Well not really....but ever since my wedding over 5 years ago my sweet Erin Taylor won the name Barbie in the eyes of my family. Erin and I have been friends since high school. We met back in high school while attending a leadership conference at Meredith College. We both knew we would end up at Meredith and from their the rest is history. We have been friends for a very very long time. We have been through a lot together and have always stuck by each other's sides. Erin put all her faith in god that she would find the perfect man in her life. I have witnessed god test her in many ways over the past 10 years....but when Erik Rice came into her life I knew immediately this was it. I am so thankful that she was patient and willing to open her heart to him. I had the pleasure of standing beside her at her wedding as one of her bridesmaids. If you know anything about Erin you know she works at a Lily Pulitzer signature store and she wears ALL THINGS Lily Pulitzer.

Her wedding was nothing short of a Lily Pulitzer catalog shoot!

We started off the weekend at Southport, NC at The Pharmacy for a bridesmaids lunch.

It was very intimate and yummy. Erin's grandmother framed the invitation for her and it was a very specail keepsake for her. She looks so bridal!

I was lucky enough to have the best seat in the house at the luncheon...next to the bride!

Erin's sister Anna is pregnant with identical twin girls. She was 31 weeks pregnant at the wedding...What a brave sister to make the trip to the beach in her 3rd trimester! Isnt she gorgeous? The other sweet girl is Izzy her daughter.

After the luncheon we lounged around before getting ready for the rehearsal and dinner. The bridal party all stayed at a bed and breakfast right at the water: Lois Jane's. We loved the big white rockers on the porches!

You know she found the perfect man, when he was willing to wear Lily Pulitzer shorts to their rehearsal dinner!

We had a really nice evening and the weather was perfect. We enjoyed over 20 toasts that were so personal. Everything too place under the stars overlooking the water. What a fun evening celebrating their love for each other.

The next morning we woke up to a house filled with the smells of southern cooking. Philip got up early and went golfing with a few of the other husbands so he missed out on the breakfast...but I can reassure you it was amazing. They had anything you could possibly imagine and it tasted scrumptious. The table setting was precious.

After breakfast we decided to do some shopping up and down the main street to kill some time before the hair dresser was to arrive and lunch was ready. We made a few little purchases and enjoyed spending time with erin relaxing before her day. It was so laid back.

Lunch was prepared by a few moms of the bridesmaids and was also delicious. Things started to get a little crazy because by this point we found out the hair dresser was running at least 1 hour late. Panic set in and we worked hard to calm the bride. Her sister started her makeup and we all distracted her. I made some not so nice and firm calls to the hair dresser to get her estimated time of arrival. She finally showed up almost 1 hour and 45 minutes late. Several bridesmaids were supposed to get their hair done but due to the time constraints we nixed that plan. Erin was the only one who got her hair done. Their losss $.

Her hair turned out perfect and we all gathered around her as she put the finishing touches on her wedding day attire. How about those Lily dresses!!?!?

Of course Erin wore hot pink HIGH heeled shoes. And she kept them on almost the entire night. She is dedicated!

It was finally time to head off to the wedding. While we were getting ready we found out that a scuba diver went missing earlier that morning. It turned out that the grooms mom and sister had seen someone out there early that morning but didnt think anything of it. They ended up having to give eye witness testimony. In addition the black helicopters were swirling above the ceremony almost the entire time as part of the search and rescue, but we preferred to call them her paparazzi

For favors Erin and Erik gave out "Rice" Krispie Treats.... yum!

Lily Pulitzer table accents - of course to match our dresses!

I loved this logo that the reception hall did as a surprise for Erin on the bar.

I got to reunite with two of my favorites: Anne and Sara

We had a great time catching up and dancing!

and of course.... we took a photo at the end of the night of everyone that was wearing Lilt Pulitzer at the wedding. WOW! That photo needs to go in a catalog!

Congratulations to my sweet Erin T who is now Mrs Rice!

Love you both and wish you a lifetime of love and happiness.

in the spirit of the high holidays

As we approach the Jewish High Holidays....

some good ole Rosh Hashanah song and dance!

Update on Asher at Dinner

This is a long video but the last 2 minutes are worth the wait...At least we think so!

Happy Friday.... been busy writing blogs to post this coming week.

Photos take forever to upload :)

Molars!

I am excited to report that Asher's first 2 year old molar finally popped out.

Bottom Left molar! YAY!

After months of fevers it has finally broke through.

Boy do I love this face.

Wedding, Beach, Tot Shabbat, Greek Festival... all ahead...

All kinds of sickness

There are no photos to describe the sickness we have experienced the past 3 weeks.

I cant hold a camera still enough to catch a photo without coughing my brains out.

THREE FULL WEEKS of sickness without a break.

We are exhausted. Spent. and STILL coughing. Hacking and Gagging.

Our house is one ball of stress.

Missed days of work, missed days of school, and a slew of other things that are coming down the pipe that will be postable in the near future. Oh and I am in a wedding this weekend, ekk.

Needless to say we have nothing to show for it.

You dont want to see our nastiness.

I ran around yesterday with the lysol spraying everything. I mean everything. I was gagging.

I am over it. Philip is over it and Asher is flat out over it.

Ear infections, bacterial infections, viruses, phlem, snot, coughs, cough drops, antibiotics, steriods, vitamin C, water by the gallons, hot tea, loss of appetites, bad behavior...

Catch my drift.

We are all sunshine and rainbows here....

Prayers for a long weekend, lots of sun and a healthier home!

xoxo

oh and bella got a haircut. she looks cute.

at least she is now a clean dog laying on clean laundry.

NYC Cousins Visit!

Our cousins from NYC came in a few weeks back to visit during their summer break between camp and school! We had lots of fun. The first day we went to Monkey Joes and played around....Jordana having a blast...

The only thing Asher wanted to do the entire time was ride the merry go-round or play with the video games. He had ZERO interest in the bounce houses or blow up equipment...must have to do with his balance?

The only time I got him to go on the bounce house was when I showed him Nemo....

then of course he scrambled off and ran here...

and here...

In the morning the kids would crawl into the sleeper sofa and watch a movie...

We never use a stroller but my cousin brought her double and Asher loved crawling into it and being pushed around by his Great Aunt Doris

We went over to my parents one night for a cook our. Asher and his poppy were getting very very silly...this is one of many very ridiculous photos of the two of them that I couldnt resist including...

Jordana LOVED... I mean loved Philip. Either Philip has a way with girls or she just thought he was cute. EIther way they had their own little thing going on the whole visit.

My Cousin Robin with Spencer

The boys cutting up at my parents house in their sun room.... on the recumbent bike

Asher managed to fall off of it 2 times. Clearly its not meant to be a toy. He had other plans.

Example of Jordana & Philip play time...

One afternoon Asher and Jordana decided to get a little cozy on the floor while were sleeping.

What trip isnt complete with a big bath party!!?!

I love this...and can't wait to save it for their wedding slide shows...hee hee

We are so glad that our children to hang out together,

get to know each other and love on one another!

As they were getting ready to leave Asher was calling for ...."Pencer and Jadana"

Asher-isms

"I did it...I did it!" He loves the feeling of accomplishment

"Baby-double, T.D (TV) double, More double" - Everything is DOUBLE?!

"Let go!" We caught him pulling a wooden screw out of a hole in his work bench and yelling at it "Let go" hahah

"Thank you Velcome" These two go hand in hand. He often says them together.

He is now appropriately saying Please, Thank you and Velcome, YAY manners!

"Dumma Haff" (from the book Drummer Hoff - which is one of his favorites)

"Temple and Shabbat" - any day of the week... we pull onto Shalom Park his first comment is

"Temple?" then he quizzocally looks at us and asks, "Shabbat?"

"My turn" - this is one of his favorites, everything is his turn, especially when it comes to food and cooking.

Bless you... whether you cough or sneeze...

Family Date Night

Several months back Philip got a gift certificate to The Palm for playing in a charity golf tournament. It was set to expire so we used it as an opportunity to go to a fine family dinner.

We have lots to celebrate....family, life, love and most importantly that week health. It had been a rough week as far as all of our health goes. We were all sick for at least 2 days and Asher carried a 101-103+ fever for 7 days straight.

We enjoyed lobster for 2...well really 3, but we didn't have to pay for Asher.

From the minute we walked in at 5:40 pm (yes we figured go early not to disrupt the romantic couples enjoying fine dining after 7 pm) he was charming the wait staff. The night before they started a new trend by offering crayons and paper to the kids so Asher was the first kid to enjoy it. Thankfully we also brought the ipad with toy story on it so he say quietly (after a lil fit about getting out of the booster seat) and watched toy story while he ate.

Oh and he really only ate Broccoli the entire dinner. An entire head of broccoli.

And bread. Strangely lobster wasnt his thing...even though he loves fish. It must be that whole, "Mom, I have been sick, I have no appetite")

We were home by 7 pm and our bellies were oh so full. It was quite a lovely evening all of us together enjoying some good ole fine Charlotte dining at a reasonable price!

Messy Art

Asher LOVES to create art.

One of Amanda and Asher's last projects together was to create two canvases to hang in Asher's big boy bedroom.

The final product will be displayed in a later post...

For now enjoy the cuteness... and the mess!

(i love his new art apron from aunt janet and cousin brittan!)

Old Friends New Babes

Before Asher's friends came over to play...he was doing some major chillin.

You can often find him in this position.

Baby in one arm, Blankie made by Softa in the other, no shirt and todays special touch (his puppy dog booties) We cant contain the cuteness.

Jacob arrived first. Ash and Jacob have hung out several times over their short lives.

Jacob is the son of Courtney and Josh two of our dearest friends.

We have known Courtney and Josh dating back to high school...specifically BBYO.

Jacob was born 10 1/2 weeks early. He is now 17 months old, 14 months adjusted and he is flourishing. He also happens to be one of the yummiest boys I know and I could love on him for hours.

Shai is the daughter of Abby and Avram. Philip and I have known Abby dating back to high school through BBYO (our Jewish youth group) She grew up in Roanoke, VA. She and her family currently live in Los Angelos, but were in town visiting.

Shai is 9 months old and is quite the looker! She was feeling under the weather during our visit but she was a trooper and even showed off her walking skills for us!

Daddy's and their boys are so special. I absolutely love love love this photo. So does Courtney.

One big happy, healthy family.

It doesnt get better than these smiling faces sitting on our couch.

We all enjoyed a feast of Salmon, brown rice, salad, guacamole, hummus and chips.

After dinner and playtime the kids ventured upstairs for bath time. Asher and Jacob were so funny in the bath. They were splashing so hard we had to step away from the tub because we were getting soaked.

Asher kept teasing Jacob by putting the "nemo" fish in his mouth and Jacob would try to steal it away. This went on for quite some time.

Asher with his "nemo"

After bath time we got all of the kids in their jammies. Jacob went down in the pack and play so that Court and Josh could stay and hang out a little longer. Asher slept in his crib and Shai got ready for bed so that they could hit the road for Roanoke that night with a sleeping baby in tow.

Quick shot of all the kiddos....always challenging, but worth that one shot!

Then came story time...

The boys loved the story and were engaged the entire time.

Story time is a tradition in our house. We read 1-4 stories each night, sing our bedtime prayers and then participate in a family hug, upside down kiss and tuck him into bed which consists of 3 layers of blankets on top of him and the baby over his face.

Friends forever...we will always be.

Thank you so much for all coming over to our house and spending a wonderful evening with us. It was such a memorable and sacred time for all of us.

until the next time....