Aunties, aunties everywhere

What a fun weekend. Aunt Sue (or "Soup" as Julia calls her) came to visit from New Jersey, and as a bonus, we got a surprise visit from Aunt Lisa who drove over from Naples.

We went to the Brevard Zoo on Sunday, a cute place, but I'm not sure Julia was all that into it, and the giraffes stayed in hiding all day, so that was no fun...

But it was so nice to have all the Cherry family in one place. It was the first time Julia has ever been with both her aunties at the same time. Makes me sad we all don't live closer.

Want to move to Florida, Soup? heehhhe We wear silly straw hats here...




Also last week, our sweet girl turned 18 months old. It's so hard for me to fathom that she's smack dab in the middle of toddlerhood. I'm clinging to the little bit of baby she has left -- she still has these delicious chubby little fingers and such a baby face, she babbles in her own little language when she's mad or when she's reading her books. She still likes her milk in a bottle (yeah, yeah, I know. But it's only twice a day -- before nap and bed.) And she still sleeps with her butt up in the air....




But she's also becoming quite a "big girl" learning to feed herself with a spoon, saying a billion words -- quite the vocabulary, this kid. She blesses us when we sneeze. She wants to brush her own teeth, comb her hair and she's already had her first scraped-up knee. She can even sing a few bars of the Sesame Street theme song --- Sunny days.... chasing the clouds away...

Ahhh. My heart just breaks. Can't she stay little forever?

This is her on her 18-month birthday and the other two are some of her favorite activities -- sorting through recipes and playing with pots and pans. Could we have a future Rachael Ray?

On a roll

Two posts in one day -- a record for sure.

But here is our sweet Julia Tuesday morning at breakfast. Notice something on her head?

Need a closer look?

Yes, that would be two slices of banana.

I can offer no explanation other than I left the room for a minute and this is how I found her when I returned.

Oh happy day!

Finally! Kris and Philip tied the knot. I think they've been together longer than Mike and me...



The wedding was beautiful and we were so honored to be a part of their special day. When Kris asked me months ago if Mike and I would tie a rope around their necks during the ceremony, I thought she was joking.... It's like her to say something like that. I just said, sure.



The wedding was Catholic with Filipino customs and Mike and I were the cord sponsors, which meant we tied a rope around their necks during the ceremony. Actually, it was more like laying it on their shoulders, as a symbol of unity, but we did tell Kris to give us a signal if she wanted us to pull a little tighter on Philip's side. (We would have considered it payback for the snoring in Charleston SC, but that's another story....)





They are such dear friends to us and I'm so sad that we live so far away.



Anyway, I snapped this shot of Philip just as the doors to the church opened and he got the first glimpse of his bride... So sweet.








Speaking of sweet, check out Miss Julia. She was a dancing fool, and quite a hit in her black and white polka dots. And yes, that's Ella on the dance floor...















And I'm glad to report that the plane trips to and from WV were smooth for everyone. Julia is already a much better flyer than her mama. The secret: Elmo DVDs.








A perk of our trip was going to Huntington to see my college roomie. Look at my hot mama best friend Tara who can hold two babies. That's right, two. Count them. She rocks.








And all this wedding talk has made me reminisce about mine. So here are a few pics from that fateful day in June 04.

Catching up

So much has been going on that we've been neglecting the blog. But have no fear. Lots of pics are on the way. These are from Easter. (Well the first one is a cutie pic of Julia playing in the yard... but I couldn't resist.) Aunt Lisa, Uncle Frank, Nick and Madison came in from Naples for the weekend. We had a little Easter egg hunt around the house and Julia was all into it. Not sure she grasped the concept but she liked finding the eggs, and she especially liked all her loot from the Casales and Nana. It's a week later, and she's still carrying around her Elmo basket. Julia was shy around her cousins for about a minute then became a total showoff for the whole weekend. I know she misses Mad too. Every now and then, she'll just say "Madison" out of the blue. So cute.






Coming soon, pictures from Julia's wild, wonderful West Virginia trip....