Happy 1st Birthday Miss CJ!

The LKs want to wish our beautiful, amazing, miraculous, Miss CJ a very very happy birthday.  We hope you have a fantastic day and may your second year be even more amazing than your first!  You have come a long way Miss CJ and Auntie & Uncle LK & Cousin A love you so so so so much.  We are so proud of all of your accomplishments and can’t wait to see you grow into the beautiful toddler that will drive your Mommy and Daddy bananas!!!!!

We are sorry we missed your party but we love you and can’t wait to see you soon pretty girl!!!!!

hugs and a million kisses

the LKs, A, T & M

There’s A Baby In Her Belly & She Aint’ Afraid To Show It…Show It…

My pretty sister is having a baby!  Actually, both of my pretty sisters are having babies, but this one let me take photos of her.  She looks beautiful & I can’t wait until I get to meet my niece or nephew!  I keep telling her that it is easier in than out, but she will just figure that out herself!  There’s nothing like the joy of your first born…just ask my mom 😉

This shoot was a lot of fun for me.  I got some good quality time talking to my future niece/nephew, got my sister to laugh hysterically, to witness some sweet moments between mom & soon to be baby and even got to feel a bunch of kicks from this kid!

I hope she loves the pics as much as I do 🙂  Again, I was working without my camera which is still on the mend….but we did the best we could!

Home Is Where My Heart Is…

Home is definitely where my heart is, but vacation is where my sanity is 🙂  Our Islamorada trip was awesome.  Although vacationing WITH the 2 year old certainly makes it less relaxing than the old days, her cute bathing suited tushy and big hugs help remind us why we take her with us!  Although Grandma offered to watch her during the next vacation and we WILL be taking her up on that!

Day 1:  We hung by the pool!  (Be prepared to see most of our activities revolve around hanging by the pool!)

 

 

HB had the best handstand….hands down….

Day 2:

We did a little impromtu maternity shoot with Auntie S.  As mentioned, I’m without my camera BFF, but we made it work with what we had!  I think she’s beautiful.  We also went out to dinner at Islamorada Fish Company.  We always like the atmosphere…and my dinner was great!

More to come!

Embrace the Camera Thursday 5.17.12

Mister LK and I were married 3 years ago.  It feels like yesterday and a million years ago at the same time.  I married my best friend that day & he’s been making my dreams come true every day since.  I am so thankful for my husband who does everything he can to make me a happy wife.  He told me last night that he does this selfishly…so that I will be happy and in turn be nice to him!  Not only did I marry a handsome, funny, caring man…but he is SMART too!

Happy Anniversary Mister LK…I am still shamelessly in love with you!

Yesterday we celebrated another happy occasion!  My step sister, Auntie Sh & her fiance J got married!  It’s a great time for a wedding!  Check out the happy couple, and adorable flower girls!

** Please excuse the photo quality…we are having a little repair done to my lens & so my photos will be taken with my ever versatile IPhone for a little while (sigh) **

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wonderful mom’s I know.  Today you should be showered with all the love & praise you should get everyday, but probably don’t since there’s not much time in our regular days for that!

To all my mommy relatives & friends:  you’re amazing.  Each and every one of you has taught me so much and has helped me along this rocky path of mothering a toddler!  Thank you and Happy Mother’s Day to you!

To my Grandma in heaven:  You were the most influential mother in my life & I thank you for being the tough, do it all, know it all, handle everything, love me like no one else could Grandma and best friend.  I miss you every single day.

To my Grandma here on earth:  You are so sweet and kind and tolerant.  You have patience like no other woman I know and I love you so much!

To my Mom:  I don’t think I would have made it to A’s 2nd birthday without you!  You’re the first place I go when I have questions, need to vent, need someone to laugh or cry with…you get A to listen like no one else, and seeing her smile when she sees you makes me so happy.  I hope you know how important you are to me and my family, on Mother’s Day & every day.  You have told me that motherhood is a thankless job, and even though you’re right…on most days…today I am thanking you.  For putting up with all the SH*T that my sisters and I put you through for all of these years, for all of the early years that I don’t even remember, and for all the future things you will help me through.  I can’t thank you enough.

Fort Construction 101…

Last week, we got the chance to visit with Auntie S2 & baby Cousin CJ!  We don’t see them nearly enough, so when they came to Long Island to visit family, we made sure that we got to see them at least for a quick morning visit.  We didn’t get to see too much of Baby CJ since she was napping most of the morning (like a good baby!) but Miss A had a BLAST with her Auntie S2!  They got lots of fun packed into such a quick visit!

A showed Auntie S2 some of her favorite movies and introduced her to the Backyardigans.  Auntie S2 showed Miss A how to build a pillow fort and how to hide & check out her surroundings in her new hiding spot!  A thought this was very very cool…

Then Baby CJ woke up and I got to see how big she’s gotten since last time we saw her!  It is amazing how much she’s grown since Thanksgiving.  She is beautiful & I miss her tons already!

 

I think the next time we’ll see Auntie S2 and Cousin CJ will be in June, and we can’t wait!!!

Embrace the Camera Thursday 4.5.12

Mister LK and I love to travel.  Well…I love to be away, but hate leaving home and Mister LK loves it all.  As everyone with kids knows, these amazing kiddos…they do complicate travel plans!  We’ve been away pretty frequently the past few weekends and one of those weekends was an “A-free weekend”!!!!  We had a wedding for one of Mister LK’s college friends up in Cape Cod.

In my life full of poop, thrown food, play doh, dirt & a million other dirty things, I live in sweatpants.  All The Time.  It was really nice to get away and be able to put on some pretty clothes & shoes & dance the night away with our friends.  Mister LK has great college friends…and their wives & girlfriends are pretty great too!  We always have a good time!  We even got a picture of ourselves which we NEVER do!

We weren’t the only ones who appreciated this trip!  We were really living like old times….just LKSquared & T.  He got to travel in his bag hiding from the hotel authorities, from everyone at the diner, and stealing coldcuts at the afterparty!  He also got to enjoy a car ride without being told where to sit by a bossy almost 2 year old!

A spent the weekend with Gramma.  She told me she didn’t miss me when we got home.  Hmph…I didn’t miss you either A! (lie)

We are also wishing Uncle P a Happy Birthday today.  Maybe we’ll be seeing you in May!  Hope you have a super day & lots of fun with all the family visiting this week…they’re sure to keep you busy & smiling!!!

Happy Birthday to the Family Sheriff....

 

2012…March Came In Like A Lamb & Went Out Like A Lion !

It’s not even that cold here, but compared to last week it is relatively frigid!  Last week was H O T up here…we went to the park with Cousins S & A, and of course Auntie H & Gramma too.  The girls had a blast as always, and shockingly, no one came home with a sunburn!

Apparently…these ballet flats are not meant for running around a park.  She was missing 1 shoe the entire time.  Pick your battles…

Oh the vomit wheel!  Gramma’s favorite park ride!

These girls adore each other…

How sweet do they look?!?!

And as Mister LK knows…its not a trip to the park in the hot weather without a visit from the Mr. Softee Man!

Who needs a spoon?!?!

Yes…it is down to 50 degrees from 80…and it feels freezing…but we’ve been super lucky with the weather this winter & I’m hoping our summer is equally as mild.  I’m not into sweating…

Auntie Sh + J 4Eva

Auntie Sh got engaged last week & we got to see the main event!  We went to the Bryant Park Grill to wait with the family & watch…then have a nice lunch!  A entertained many restaurant patrons that day by running from table to table giving them a singing and dancing show!  I wish I had gotten that on video…but I didn’t and she’ll have to rely on my memory for this one! (So I’m documenting it here!)

Auntie Sh + J look very happy & we wish them the best of everything!

So Hard To Say Goodbye…

Our last day in Buffalo Grove was a beautiful day!  Very different than our first freezing windy day, it was sunny and warm and the perfect day to play in the grass!  And that is exactly what we did!

Auntie E is always making A laugh!

Silly Auntie!

Auntie E's friend CB came to play with her some JB too! Here she is playing pretend with A...she's a kitten & A is not sure how she feels about that!

Best Friends

Everyone wants to wear A's hat!

Sharing!!! Gold Star for A !

A really enjoyed playing with JB!

A loves her Uncle C!

Giving goodbye hugs to CB! See ya in Michigan 🙂

Sweet kids! When they want to be 😉

Amazing ladies!

Thanks for a great weekend!!!!

Thanks again to the B family for a wonderful trip!  We hope we see you again very soon!  In Long Beach or Chicago…it will certainly be a great time!

Sending you lots and lots of love 🙂