Alan and Andrea's Wedding!!

Our awesome friends, Alan and Andrea became Mr. and Mrs. on Aug. 11th!! I finally have a picture I can share with you thanks to our friend and photographer, Karen! Here it is:




The happy couple had a beautiful outdoor wedding in their new back yard (which, lucky for us, is in our neighborhood!!) with all of us friends and family there to celebrate. I'm telling you, it was the most lovely, intimate wedding I have ever been to (and I have been to a lot). Way to go guys!

Alan and Andrea met online back when they were in high school....10 years ago! Isn't that just the most adorable story ever? Andrea moved out here from Oklahoma about 3 years ago and they are the GREATEST couple. We are sooo glad you came out here, because Andrea, you have become one of my best friends! Congratulations!!!

Little Dude is Walking All By Himself!!

Well we had our friends, Mike and Beth (who are also expecting their first baby in April!!) over for dinner last night and Little Dude decided it was the perfect time to show off how he has been taking steps. For weeks now he has been taking a step here, a step there, but last night, with Mike, Beth, Bill and me cheering him on he got all the way to 6 steps in a row!! YAYAYAYAY! It was so much fun to watch him working at balancing. My little baby isn't so little anymore.

As of this morning he refuses to hold on to anything and just keeps trying to take steps. His "walking" has slowed him down for a short bit, but I know once he has it down he will start running again, only now I won't be able to count on him stopping when the furniture or wall stops...uh oh! hahah!

On the teeth frontier, Little Dude now has 6! I think the two side lower ones (nice description, I know) are coming in, so we will see! I am now having lots of fun brushing his teeth at night and he really does seem to like it. It probably feels good against his gums where he is cutting teeth still. Bill says I am a little obsessive about brushing his teeth; however, I am a child that had baby bottle tooth decay and trust me it is not fun. I have nursed Little Dude up until he bit me again last week....his second offense was the third strike...lol...so he is now done nursing (which we were down to just one nursing at night anyway.) So now at night before bed he gets a bath, a bottle, teeth brushed, story time and put him to bed. So far the routine is working OK, he cries for a bit, but for the most part will go to bed pretty quickly.

Little Dude has also gotten very curious about how things work and work together...he has a blast putting the cap on a water bottle and it will entertain him for a LOOOONNNNGGG time. Which is nice, but I also have to sit and watch him to make sure he doesn't start putting the cap in his mouth. I need to find something that works the same way but with a slightly bigger cap, so he can still hold it easily, but not get it in his mouth. If you guys think of anything, let me know.

Dakno is going great and I am learning tons about the Real Estate field and Web Design. You guys should check out our website Some of it is still under construction, but I think you will enjoy seeing what I do! And the new look is really sophisticated! I had originally been thinking I would go back to teaching pre-school once Little Dude got into school himself, but now I am reconsidering. I am learning so much by working at Dakno and it is really fun work too! We do web design and hosting for all kinds of websites, but our program is geared towards making a REALTOR'S life easy. Honestly, too, I don't know how any real estate REALTOR can afford to not have a website set up by Dakno Marketing. Our program is amazingly easy for updating and as a REALTOR you could have us do all the busy work updating your listings.

Also, I am just LOVING working from home, making my own hours, and still making enough to buy cool birthday presents for Bill! ( I got him a Wii and a ton of accessories and games with the money I have saved. Let me just say the only way to play a Wii is on our projector!) Now I am saving up for a cool dishwasher. Ours is crazy old and doesn't work so well. I found a great one at Home Depot. The info on it says not to pre-rinse because it wastes water...the dishwasher has its own disposal/food trap and will get all the food off...amazing. No pre-rinsing? It is the Frigidaire FDB2000RFC and I am in love with it. I'm still in love with the Dyson vacuums too, but since they are far more expensive, and I keep finding other items for the house to buy first, it may be a few more months before I get one. Besides, the one I want is the newest Animal model, so if I wait til the 08 model comes out, then perhaps the price will go down? Maybe? We will see.....

Our Trip to Texas

Here is my cousin Erika and her new husband, Jim, right after their beautiful ceremony. they have been together 5 years now and just a most wonderful couple. Isn't her dress georgeous?

Her new in laws fell in love with Little Dude so now she is under pressure to have some grand babies. Maybe I'll be going back down for a baby shower soon!







My little sis, Lisa, caught the bouquet!!! She looks so beautiful holding the flowers....kinda like a bride! One of my cousin Kurt's friends caught the garter...his girlfriend was not amused when my Aunt joked he and Lisa had to get married. The two of them thought it was funny though and even shared a dance. Fun times!




Here is Little Dude having "ABC" pancakes I made for him! Aren't they cute? This was the morning we left for our trip to Texas to see my family.




This is my Grandma and me! She is 89 years old and still gets around just fine. I am so proud of her! Also, isn't she just so beautiful? She is 1/2 Navaho Indian and Mexican. None of my friends would ever guess I had any of those genes in me! Haha! I got all the lilly white genes from my Dad's Irish family.

Below is a group picture of my Texas family having fun at Applebees before my cousin's wedding. It was a great way to relax and talk before all the wedding craziness.


Left to right: Grandma (Little Dude's Great-Grandma!!) My cousin Kurt, my sister Lisa, Bill, Me, My Aunt Marla, and my Uncle Bruce. Little Dude is asleep in the carrier at the bottom of the pic, you can see the top of his head. It was soooo wonderful to spend time with everyone and catch up with my cousins. I am hoping I get to go back down soon and do some site seeing with them.











Here is a family pic at the pool of our hotel in Texas. It came out very well even though I was holding the camera! See how Little Dude is pointing at the camer? That is his new favorite thing to do. He loves to point at everything he sees and have us explain it to him. CUTE!!! Also, guys, he is saying Dada and Mama!!! YAY!! I think he also says Yay! But I am not sure if it is Yay, or just a sound like it, but he does use it correctly! SOOOOO exciting! As of Saturday the 11th, he is now standing all by himself! He has been walking/running all around so long as he can hold the wall or furniture, but Saturday he stood up all by himself and didn't have to hold anything to balance! AWESOME!!!


Here is a beautiful picture of Bill and Little Dude playing in the pool at our hotel. In character, Little Dude is about to eat the pool side. Aren't their eyes lovely?

My, time has flown

Well, it is the countdown to Little Dude's first birthday! I can't believe it will be here so soon...this has been the fastest year of my life. Every moment I look at him I am just amazed that I helped bring such a wonderful spirit into the world. So, in 3 weeks my little baby will be a big toddler; the big 1 YEAR. WOW.

In other news, our trip to Texas was wonderful! Little Dude met his great-grandma, who is 89 this year! What a blessing they got to meet and I hope they have many more to come! Erika and Jim's wedding was so much fun and very beautiful as well. I will post pictures as soon as I get them off the laptop.

We have the prospect of moving again....I know, AGAIN....I want to pull my hair out. However, this move comes as a permanent one that includes a huge promotion for Bill and a lovely raise. So, we are debating and might possibly be moving the Orlando, Florida area. It will be sad to leave all our friends and family here in NC, but, of places to move, Orlando is not a terrible choice. We can pretty much live anywhere in central FL since Bill's job involves travel anyway, so as long as the drive to the office isn't to crazy, where ever I choose is cool with him. Nice, eh? We will see though, as I said, it is still up in the air. Though the thought of a house with a pool and season passes to Disney World really is appealing...and the best part is that I can continue my editing job for Dakno! Isn't the internet just amazing?

OK, Little Dude has figured out how to get up stairs...so I am going to go stop him. Talk to you guys later!