Honored to be Godparents!

We are blessed to have daughters (yes, we are having another girl!) and honored to have godsons!  We are thrilled to be the godparents to Danny (Matt and Mary's son) and this month, we became the proud godparents of Troy, the son of Matt and Donna.  Kira was sick, so she did not get to enjoy playing with his older brother, Grant. We did not want to risk her spreading any germs to young Troy, so she stayed home with Omi while we made the trip to Southern Maryland. 

It was a beautiful celebration and blessing, and we are so happy we were able to be there. It also marks the first occasion that we have been extremely early to anything since having kids! :)  I will have to ask for photos of us with the family because I totally forgot to give someone our camera!

I'm a MASTER!

So, I finished my final class with Walden University in August and submitted my online portfolio of work for Curriculum Instruction and Assessment. It was a bit of a frustrating process because my "advisors" at Walden were not very helpful.  If I hadn't been on top of things and sent emails to follow up on procedures, goodness knows how long everything would have taken to receive my degree. I discovered that nobody had been assigned to even look at my work as the final step towards graduation. 

Although I have many complaints about Walden, I liked being able to take all of my classes online and it was the most affordable degree program I have found so far.  I can't say that I would go through them again, but I can say with certainty that if I do complete another degree, I would definitely do it online. I loved the flexibility and not having to sit through long boring lectures or listening to that one annoying classmate who thinks they know as much as the teacher. A s I work towards my Master's +60 credits, I plan to take as many classes as I can through www.thinkport.org.  I LOVED the Web 2.0 tools class that I took this summer.

Anyway....Today, I received the news that my portfolio review was been completed and it passed with flying colors. Now, after 3 years, my degree has been conferred. Yippee! I have a Master's Degree in Education... and I feel... not very different! Honestly, I don't know that I learned all that much, but I'm excited to get my raise! We definitely need the extra money with baby #2 on the way! 

I will post a picture as soon as my degree arrives in the mail! :)

Bye roomie!

So at the end of the summer we say farewell to Auntie Lisa as she moves to Rockville/Gaithersburg to be closer to work and help out a friend. She is beginning her slow move-out and clean-up process and we will be storing some of her stuff until the springtime when she begins a new lease and there is space for her furniture in the apartment.  I think that Kira enjoyed having her Aunt here for almost 7 months and we are happy that we were able to help Lisa out for a little while.

As we took out the drawers from her dresser to make it easier to transport, Kira thought we were creating a new play space for her.  I was able to take these cute photos before realizing that she was getting covered in dust and made her get out. :)

Short trip to Moco Fair

Today we took Kira to her first county fair today at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds.  She enjoyed seeing some of the animals, but once she got out of her stroller, she did not want to get back in.  It was not easy for her pregnant mommy to chase her down, so after spending $50+ for parking, entry, food and drinks, we were only there for a little over an hour.  She was still a little too young to play the games, which of course, cost additional money. C'est la vie with a toddler, I guess, but a little too expensive for us to do that again soon! I have heard that the Frederick and Howard County fairs are cheaper, so maybe we will try those next year. :)

She liked the baby cows, bunnies, and pigs, but was scared of the bigger horses and steer.  I think her favorite part was the french fries and lemonade.

Summer party!

Today we had fun with the Jorgensons and Lindsleys at the Rosendall pool. Kira was excited to wear her sundress which happened to match our gift bag!

This next series of photos cracks me up.  It shows how little time we have to take a nice photo.

 The adorable Jorgenson family!

The Lindsleys were having so much fun in the pool that we somehow didn't get to take photos together because Kira wasn't interested in swimming today. After the party, we stopped into the Tippets house and Kira enjoyed playing the piano for a few minutes. This is now one of my favorite photos of her!

100th post: First Beach Trip!

I've finally written my 100th post!  I guess it is fitting that for number 100, I write about our wonderful family vacation. The last week of July, we were lucky to be invited to go to Wildwood NJ with Matt and Amanda to stay at their family condo for 5 days. I hope they will invite us back... we had such a great time! 

We had a lot of fun during the day, but Kira had a difficult time sleeping in a new place. At the condo, she loved playing with Amanda's iPad, wearing Amanda's water shoes, watching the Summer Olympics and imitating the gymnasts, dancing to music on Matt's iPod, and learning how to fist bump.

Kira loved swimming in the pool and trying new foods on the boardwalk: frozen water ice, fresh squeezed lemonade, and boardwalk fries with ketchup. Here we are having posing on the boardwalk for the first time before we chose a restaurant for lunch.

Kira loved having french fries with daddy and then came over to the other side and enjoyed her first taste of lemonade with mommy. She loved it! :O)







At the beach the next day, she adored playing in the sand and screamed with glee as the ocean waves crashed into her. She had no fear and we had to keep her from going in too deep! 

Here you can see my 5 month baby belly!  When I got tired, we were able to keep Kira entertained by bringing the ocean back to our beach towel!  She loved getting covered in sand and playing with the water while we rested for a bit. :)

Our last day, Kira enjoyed having mommy's mango ice and daddy's strawberry ice. She may have loved the little spoons just as much as the ice itself!

Yummy Yummy!  While on vacation I experienced my first strong pregnancy craving for fresh squeezed lemonade and pizza: sausage and mushroom. :)  Looking forward to more family trips together.

Summer water fun!

This summer, when I'm not juggling 4 classes to complete my official Master's Degree and to achieve my next raise (Master's+30 credits), I'm having fun with Kira going for walks around the neighborhood, going to the library, and playing in the sun. The Lindsley family joined us this year for an impromptu July 4 BBQ and fun with sparklers. Kira and Taylor showed off their similar dresses, and definitely look like they could be related! :)

We discovered that Kira LOVES water and we have enjoyed playdates at the Gaithersburg Splashpark with co-workers. She has absolutely no fear and loved running through the huge fountains pictured below.

Here we are after one of our walks on a hot day.  We take a walk every day and that is helping me to keep off the pregnancy weight! :)  Sometimes Kira goes along for the ride, and other times she likes to get out an push her own stroller. I hope to have her trained to take her sister for a walk by the time she arrives. :)

I also created a "mini water park" for Kira with a plastic wade pool, cups, and toys.  Okay.... I'll admit it.... it was also for me and dipping my feet in felt great! :)

Then a few weeks later, we added a water table that I got a great deal online at Kohl's.  Jon put it together as soon as it arrived and our "mini water park" was complete!

 

 

Girl stole my chair and relaxes with some juice. :)