Being 5 is Great!!!

Happy 5th Birthday to my adorable nephew Ryan!!! I can't believe you are 5 already, Ryan! You are such a sweet, smart and fun boy. We love you and hope you have a great day!

Teeth Update

Just for the record, if anyone is keeping track, Ally now has 4 teeth! Two on the bottom and now two on the top! The top ones are just barely peeking through her gums, so when they come in more, I will post some pictures of our smiley, toothy baby!

Happy Earth Day!

Even if you don't know a ton about "being green" (like me), there are some simple things that everyone can do on a regular basis to help the environment. I have decided to make an effort to increase my own "green-ness" and want to teach Ally about the things she can do to help the environment, so she and one day her children will have a nice place to live.

Some Simple Earth Day Tips:
*RECYCLE!!!
*Buy and use the reusable grocery bags
*Unplug your cell phone charger from the wall when you are not charging your phone
*Turn off lights and electrical appliances when you are not using them
*Wash your clothes in cold water (cold water gets your clothes just as clean as warm water)
*Donate your old clothes to charity (or maybe our friend Crys can turn them into great new green fashions for her green clothing label: Label Yourself!!)
*Switch to paperless billing and pay your bills online (Really, all you folks out there who are scared of paying bills online...you'll be fine!!! I have been doing it for years and have had no problems that I wouldn't have had with paper statements!)
*Turn the water off when you are brushing your teeth or washing the dishes
*Slow down in the car...stop speeding! (studies have proven that for every 5 mph you go over 65mph greatly reduces the gas mileage you're getting)
*Plant trees in your yard and community
*Get some live plants to help with the air quality in your home
*Carpool when possible
*On nice spring and summer days, line dry your clothes (you will be helping the environment AND your clothes will smell great!)
*Set your thermostat comfortably low in the winter and comfortably high in the summer. Install a programmable thermostat that is compatible with your heating and cooling system
*Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater to 120° F
*Clean or replace filters on furnaces at least once a month
*Turn off kitchen, bath, and other exhaust fans within 20 minutes after you are done cooking or bathing

HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE!! Please take care of our Earth...we only have one!

Label Yourself

We had a very busy day today, but had such a great family filled day together. I REALLY love days like today.
After a morning of picking up around the house and trying to get a decent nap in for Ally, we rushed out the door to make it to Goodale Park by 2:45. Our very talented friend Crystal (or Crys as she is known in the Fashion World) was part of a fashion show at the Earth Day Celebration today! We made it just in time to see the start of her show and it was great! She has redesigned some really great pieces and despite the rain, there was a good turnout for her show.
Over the past couple years Crystal has developed, Label Yourself Studio: a Green Redesigned Fashion Line. She takes recylced clothing and she redesigns it to make it wearable and fashionable again. She uses Eco-friendly paints and buttons and her husband, Eric, is her photographer and he also designs and hand-cuts all the stencils Crys uses in her designs. They are both very talented. Crys' studio is located in her home in Gahanna and she will be holding an open house in July...I will post details closer to the open house. She is currently working on a new children's line of redesigned clothing. Can't wait to snag a custom designed outfit for Ally!
Unfortunately, because we were rushed to get there, I didn't get pictures of the actual show, but I did get some after the show of Crys and the models (and of course some cute photos of Ally!).


The fabulous Crys Lappie...Crys and some of her models...


Ally was really watching everything going on around her. She LOVES being outside!Hanging out with Daddy and Rosie!
Ally has been attempting to lean over and pick things up lately. Here she is trying to get a hold of some grass to play with...As you can see from the picture, she usually finds it easier just to plop down and get whatever she was after.
I am so glad we could make it out to this event. You did an amazing job Crystal! We are very proud of you!! Thanks for inviting us to your show!

After the fashion show ended, we made a quick scan of the Earth Day festival and grabbed some really yummy ice cream from Jeni's on our way to the car. We even let Ally have her first taste of ice cream (Salty Caramel) and she LOVED it! She cried when we took it away, because she wanted more (she was fine again once the stroller started moving...so easily distracted at this age!). :-) We had to scoot out of there fast, because David had made an appointment for 4:00 with a client who also happens to be a co-worker of mine, so we didn't spend a ton of time looking around.
Thanks to my friend Lindsay who let me and Ally tag along after the Earth Day Show for the walk-through of her new condo that is being built. Lindsay is working with David to purchase a condo in a great development near Goodale Park and I was really excited to see it in the process of being built. I get to hear all about it from Lindsay at work, so it was nice to see it in person. I am so happy for Lindsay...the place is going to be gorgeous!!

After leaving the downtown area, we made a quick stop over at David's dad's house to pick up some cute outfits/jammies that Aunt Kelly got for Ally. She loved her duck jams! Thanks, Kelly!
Then, we started for home, making a quick stop in for some City BBQ for dinner...YUMMMM!
All in all, it was a super day!

"Hoppy" Easter!

I'm sure my husband is getting REALLY tired of me saying this, but I think it is a cute play-on-words! Our Easter was VERY "hoppy" and was Ally's first. She had a blast and got almost as much loot as Christmas (thanks to everyone who gave her Easter presents)! It was a really nice day to visit with family.

I will let the pictures take you through our very busy day...

Riley started off the day by sniffing out everything the Easter Bunny left for Ally...only thing that really caught his interest was of course the plastic Easter grass (weirdo cat!)

Then Ally and Daddy made their way downstairs to find the Easter baskets that were left...

This was VERY exciting as you can see (you can also see by the looks of their hair that they had both just woken up).

Yea! Cheerio filled Easter Eggs...my favorite!Ally wondering what IS UP with this weird plastic grass??As you can tell by the preceeding pictures, Ally made out like a bandit this year! Three baskets filled up with fun stuff for babies...a brand new sippy cup, a stuffed bunny, some crayons made just for littles, a brand new beach towel with her name on it and...some candy for daddy. :-) After baskets, we all got dressed and in our Easter best and headed to mass with Grandma and Grandpa C. We thought Ally would sleep through the whole thing (the reason we decided to wait and go to noon mass), but she was more interested in waving to everyone around us and looking at everything she possibly could. After church, we made a mad dash to Grandma Lang's for a nice Easter lunch. It was great to see everybody. While we were there, Ally snuck in a short nap in Maw-Maw's arms...

Cousin Jilly showed up in her Easter finest...pretty girl! We wish she would have been feeling better on her first Easter, though...pesky colds! (Get better soon, Jilly!!)Cousin Kaylie was putting on a show for everyone, looking as cool as can be in Aunt Tiffany's sunglasses. :-)We woke Ally up from her nap and made a beeline for Grandpa and Grandma T's house, where Ally got a new pinwheel which she enjoyed very much. Grandpa T. showed her how to get it to spin and she really tried hard to do it herself (she'll figure it out soon enough!). Granddaddy came down from Mentor, OH and it was very nice to see him, as always. We had another Easter meal, giggled at Ally and Jillian playing together, got some great shots of Ally in her pretty dress and then we were off to our next stop...

The last of our stops for the day was to the Henderson's for Easter dinner and red velvet cupcakes...yum. It was DELICIOUS, even after all the food we had already eaten. Of course, like at the other two stops, Ally was showered with gifts. She got finger puppets, a new outfit and...

BEACH TOYS...yea for vacation only being a couple months away!

Cousin Dylan was all dressed up and looking as cute as ever in his little sweater vest...Here, he and Uncle Dave share some time on the couch watching The Masters...
Ally and Grandma enjoy some time and smiles together after dinner...It was a great day and thank you to all of our wonderful family for a wonderful Easter. We love spending time with each and every one of you and we miss those of you who were not able to be with us. Happy Easter everyone!

EGGS-TRAVAGANZA!

Today we had a little egg coloring party at our house to celebrate Ally's first time coloring Easter eggs. We invited all of the local cousins and the Aunts and Grandma's and we even asked a few friends, though they already had plans. It was a last minute decision to have the party, but it went so well that it has been suggested we make it an annual thing, which of course, I am totally for (those of you who know me well, know I ADORE planning parties and I ADORE traditions even more!). We will look forward to an eggs-tra special time next year! Ha-Ha!

The gang's here and ready to color eggs!!

Here's Ally taking a stab at dipping her first egg:

And here she is with blue egg dye all over her :-) :

Jillian says, "Where's my egg? I'm ready to make something pretty!"Aunt Pam reading to Dylan:A little play break was needed:

A little cookie decorating is always fun...Jillian didn't want to pose with her egg...

And Ally just wanted to eat hers...

Dylan is all snuggled up and ready to go home and eat. See you next year!!

Easter Pictures

We had Ally's Easter pictures (and what was supposed to be her 9 month picture, but was more like an almost 10 month picture...mommy was a little behind this time) taken a couple weeks ago and I was able to pick them up today. I thought I would post some to share with anyone reading our blog. I am very pleased with how they turned out. I think she looks adorable, especially in her cute hat!