Graduation Weekend

I can't believe it, but my baby brother graduated from high school this weekend...exactly ten years after me! That makes me feel old! He's excited to be off to college this fall. He's going to be a Boilermaker, and study business management (with "maybe" a double minor in Marketing and Econ (blech!!) I love the Purdue campus, so I'm excited to visit him over the next four years. (Did you hear that, Jonathan? FOUR years. Not five. Or six.) I'm really proud of him, and a little sad that he's so grown up too. Here's Jonathan with his two big sisters after the ceremony.

And Jonathan being Jonathan..."I'm too sexy for this robe, too sexy for this robe, so sexy, yaaa...."

And finally, Mom threw him the open house of all open houses. She claims she won't have empty nest syndrome when Jonathan leaves for college, but I find that a little hard to believe. :) Here's Andra with "Uncle J."

Sooooooooooo close!

I think Andra's taunting us. She's SO CLOSE to crawling...and I think she likes seeing her parents make idiots of themselves when we start chanting, "Come on! You can do it!! Just CRAWL!!"

As you can see, she's on the verge of crawling. She just can't figure out how to get that second leg under her (you can't see it from this angle, but that second leg is sort of tucked under her). Once she figures it out, I know she'll be off! Other parents have told me I'll want these "stationary" days back. I agree...she'll be much harder to monitor once she's on the move (even though some people don't understand this girl's ability to roll!). But I'm also really excited for her to reach this milestone. So, we'll keep you posted!

I also had to post this picture because it makes me laugh. This is her new hand gesture she's been doing the last few days. It's like she's waiting for us to plunk her allowance in that hand. You have a few years to wait, Andra!

Family Ties

We decided to take advantage of the long weekend and head south to Kentucky so Andra could meet Grandma V.'s side of the family. It was a fun trip! Even though it's a little exhausting "road tripping" with a baby, Andra always surprises me how well she travels.

Andra got to meet her Great Grandma Mills for the first time, and we got this wonderful photo of four generations together. We loved showing her off to the family, and everyone kept commenting on how much Andra looks like her daddy!

Great Grandma is quite the gardener. Veggies and fruits are her specialty, but I'm a little afraid to visit that garden because I've heard stories about Great Grandma killing snakes back there. So instead, here's Andra checking out her rose bush with Grandma V.
We're back home now, and glad tomorrow's a holiday so we can recover from our little road trip!

Christmas in May

It's finished!!! After about five months of squeezing in a few stitches here...a few stitches there (mostly during naptime and after she was in bed)...I finished Andra's Christmas stocking today! Yes, the stocking missed her first Christmas, but now she'll have it for every other Christmas to come.


I have this funny habit of sewing Christmas stockings. I made one for Dave and one for me before we got married. Then I made one for Pudge of course. :) And now Andra has hers too! Hers was definitely the most challenging...it had a lot more beadwork than the others. There were a few times I thought my eyes were going to cross.

I love being crafty when I can manage to find the time, and I love being creative--so I had fun making this. I still have the Christmas stocking my mom sewed for me, and I love knowing that it was handmade by my mom. So I hope someday Andra treasures her Christmas stocking too--knowing her Mom thought about how much she loved her while she sewed every stitch! So Merry Christmas...a little early!

My First Mother's Day

Whenever we would ask my mom what she wanted for Mother's Day, she'd always say nothing, that we were gifts enough. Now I understand that. What I wanted more than anything on my very first Mother's Day was to spend time with the gal who made me a mommy. Time with Andra is the best gift of all.

So to my dear sweet Andra, you've changed my life in a way that words can never express. My heart bursts with love for you every single day, and your smile lights up my world. I love you beyond words. On this Mother's Day, this is my prayer for you...

I pray that God will give your heart the desire to serve Him.

That He will guide your hands and feet every day of your life.

That He'll keep an army of angels by your side to protect you (I've said that prayer since the moment I found out I was pregnant with you!)

That God will give me the wisdom, guidance and faithful heart to lead you to Him.

I pray that your smile and blue eyes will bring joy to everyone you meet. They already do.

And finally, I pray for your future husband. Silly, I know. But each night I pray you'll find a man who will make you as happy as your Daddy makes me. So someday, you'll know the joy a baby brings to your life too.

You're my angel. I love you.

Mommy

Roly Poly

Andra's latest accomplishment is that she can roll. And roll. And roll. Across an entire room--in about 30 seconds flat!

Actually, Andra's been rolling since she was about six months old. She'd occasionally flip from her belly to her back, or her back to her belly. But she really had to be in the mood to do it. When she first rolled, I braced myself, because I thought she was offically ON THE MOVE. In fact, Mady (Shannon's baby) started rolling across entire rooms months ago. So when Andra rarely rolled, and only when she was REALLY in the mood, I was a little worried.

Well, this girl's making up for lost time. It was like something clicked overnight...her mind and body finally made a connection, and she realized she could cover some serious ground! Now, if you lay her in the middle of a room, she rolls to one wall, then changes directions and rolls to the opposite wall. It makes me think of those toy cars that hit a wall, and just turn another direction and keep rolling. That's Andra right now. Our roly poly. So here's a picture of our little gal--traversing the room mid-roll!
And I couldn't resist one more photo. This is when she woke up from her nap today with the biggest smile on her face and her rosy I-just-woke-up cheeks. She must've had some funny dreams. It's moments like this when I feel like everything's right with the world.

Marathon Man

Dave ran the Mini Marathon (13.1 miles) today--in record time! His goal was to beat two hours, which was his best time so far. He definitely beat it! He came in at 1:46. I'm so proud of him! He trained harder this year than he'd ever trained before, so he deserved it. Andra and I cheered from the sidelines this year, but I'd really like to be running it again next year. I loved running it in years past. We'll see...it's hard to find time to train with a babe in the house!

My little bro Jonathan ran it too, for the first time ever! His girlfriend, Rachel, kicked his butt! :) Actually, she only finished about 8 minutes faster than him. I'm really proud of Jonathan too. He never thought he'd be able to run that far, and he made a great time today, especially for it being his first Mini.
But that was only the beginning of his day...Senior Prom was that night! Luckily his girlfriend ran the Mini too, so they'll be equally tired at the prom. So here they are all dressed up. Aren't they cute???? Can't believe my baby bro is a senior. :( (I told Jonathan I ended up marrying my date to senior prom!)


Me and my baby bro. How'd he grow up so fast? And get a whole head taller than me? It makes sad how fast time can go.


No, Jonathan, Andra can't be your date to the prom. She didn't even have time to go dress shopping.