Busy Busy Busy

Things have been CRAZY as you can imagine, and I have lots of pics to upload when I get a chance. Here's a brief recap:

We headed to Muskegon for our annual camping trip/Colombian Connection Picnic. It was nice to be able to go without being sick/pregnant, and the girls are both getting old enough that camping is actually fun! We hung out at the beach and went to the zoo in Grand Rapids again. Lots of fun!

The week after our trip was my sissy's wedding, so you can only imagine the stress level during that time! Fortunately, the wedding went beautifully, and the newlyweds are doing great. We are waiting for our wonderful photographer to finish with the pictures, but if you want a preview there is one picture on Elizabeth's blog!

Wednesday after the wedding Mom and I took the girls to the Toledo Zoo. It was a little sad trying not to think about the last time we were there, Grandma went with us. So many things triggered memories, and although they are happy memories it's sometimes so hard to accept that she is not here. The girls had a lot of fun, though, and the weather was perfect. It was just cool enough that all the animals were out and very active. Selah, like her daddy, was obsessed with the polar bears, while Elianna bounced from exhibit to exhibit.

The weekend after the wedding we headed up north for some much needed R & R. The girls had a riot, and the first day it was hot enough for them to play in the lake! G-ma took us out for ice cream, which made Selah's day. She is an ice cream addict like her daddy, and all the way to the ice cream shop she was saying, "Selah want icy cone! Selah eat icy cone!" (icy cone=ice cream cone, in case you were wondering.) And yes, she does always talk about herself in the third person.

In other news, I have been having some health issues, and have had some tests run. We should get the results back by the end of this week, and quite frankly I really need your prayers!!!! I let you know more when I know more.

I'll get pictures up when I can. I am so behind in uploading it will take me a while to sort through them.

One More Week!

We are down to the last week of wedding preparations!!! (Check out the wedding blog for all the details.) We have SOOO much to do, but everything is rolling right along. My mum-in-law is sewing the vests, and Elianna wanted to help. So, I gave her some pins and fabric to work with. She was so proud to be "helping"!

I am so grateful for everyone that has been pitching in and helping out. We are truly blessed with such a wonderful, supportive group of family and friends!

Girls Night Out!

*UPDATED - See bottom of post!*

When Sarah was a little girl, she declared to my mom that she wanted a surprise wedding. Mind you, she didn't mean that she wanted to surprise her family when she got married, she meant she wanted to show up somewhere and , "SURPRISE! You're getting married today!" Well, unfortunately I wasn't able to fulfill that childhood dream, since I'm pretty sure she knows her wedding is coming up. So, we came up with the next best thing: a surprise bachelorette party! Since I am the entire wedding party in the female category, I decided to enlist our cousins to liven things up. Mind you, I can be a party by myself, but the tendency to nod off or try to wipe someone's nose has crept in since motherhood. Not cool. So I invited some younger, hipper family members (Beth, Rach and Michelle) to help out in the cool category. (Jess & Liz, I SOOO wish you could have rounded out the OVER 18 girl cousin category - we would have had a blast!!!)

We started the evening out with strawberry coladas, virgin of course. (Hey, I am the big sister here.) Jess taught me how to make these and I LOVE them. Then we headed out to Applebees for dinner. Since I am running out of time, money and energy as we enter the wedding home stretch, I don't see a personal shower on the horizon, so we decided to bring the fun gifts now! (Plus, opening kinky gifts in a restaurant was supposed to be embarrassing. I should have known: nothing makes Sarah blush.)

Back to my place afterward, which I had exterminated for husbands and children. (Chad headed to his mom's with the girls for the night.) We enjoyed Fre White Zinfandel and munched on chocolate strawberries and Russel Stovers while soaking our feet in bubbling foot massagers. I chose a movie I felt was appropriate for the occasion, "Down With Love," but we basically blabbed the whole time and didn't really pay attention to it.

Sarah was totally surprised, and we had a really great time. It was nice to kick back, pamper ourselves, and spend time with family that we don't spend enough time with!

*UPDATE*

I added some pics of this event on the wedding website, so you'll have to go there to see them!

Wedding: Munchkin-Free Zone

I had someone ask me on the wedding blog if Sarah & Eric's reception is adults only. I know this is touchy, but unfortunately the answer is yes. The Fellowship Hall of our church will not be set up to accommodate small children, and there will be lit candles, string lights, fountains that can be toppled, among other non-child-proof dangers... This is excepting the wedding party, immediate family and little, non-mobile babies, of course. (So Elijah had better be there!!!) We are very sorry for this inconvenience!!!! Now you have an excuse to get a sitter and enjoy a nice evening out anyway. Thanks for your understanding.

P.S. If you still have not received an invitation or announcement, again I apologize. I am working diligently with the lady I ordered them through, and we are frantically working on it!!! If you have received yours, please don't forget to RSVP! Send back the little reply card or else you can do it on the website here.

Blink

This post from Bring the Rain is an emotional one, but so beautiful I had to share. Angie Smith has a writing style that makes me cry every time... yet without feeling sad. She is the perfect picture of what true peace is like. It doesn't mean you are always sitting around with a serene look on your face, unaffected by the world. It's an inner peace you have even when everything around you seems bent on tearing your heart out. It's real life, and I love her perspective.

Mommy and Selah

Daddy snapped these while we were partying at a Gemini concert!

Pool Pics with Daddy

Daddy finally got to go swimming! Poor Daddy works such long, busy days that this is only his second time in the pool. At least someone else could help supervise so I could finally snap a couple pictures!!

Also, this was the first time Elianna asked to go under water. I made sure she understood how to hold her breath, then dropped her under! She was a little scared, but liked it enough to try it again. Selah kept begging to "go un-dah" as well, but she has outgrown the instinct to hold her breath and comes up sputtering and gagging. So she'll just have to wait. She still likes to get thrown around, though, as you can see.

Hooray for Resale!!!

I have to confess, I love resale shops. Not the dirty, smelly ones, of course, but the cool ones. I think it is the thrill of the unpredictability, almost like a treasure hunt. (Only it's designer shoes and cool toys instead of gold and jewels.) Some people may think it's icky to shop there, but I honestly think even if money weren't an issue I would love those stores. I have found one I particularly like, since it's where all the rich people dump their stuff, and they have a particularly large shoe section. I managed to drag Chad there yesterday. (Chad is not as big of a fan, since he gets stressed out chasing the girls around the toy section.) This time, I struck gold in the toy department! Here are my finds, all under $2:

2 brand new 24 piece Pooh puzzles
1 Leap Frog USA floor puzzle with special decoder to read facts about each state (a little old for them, but cool enough to put up for later)
1 brand new Animals Complete Learning Set - I spent almost $20 on this for my nephew for Christmas, and here it was under $3!!!
Hasbro Whac-a-Mole - the girls have been loudly banging this all morning, so I'm beginning to doubt the wisdom of this purchase
Finders Keepers - a really fun game similar to I Spy
Cranium Cariboo Treasure Hunt - This has been Elianna's favorite so far, and one of the best ways to get her to practice her numbers and letters!!!

The big find for Mommy were two pairs of Candies jeans (so Sarah, no more laughing at my Kohl's jeans) for the whopping price of $3. Daddy found some brand new shorts (American Eagle, of course) and I got a stack of jeans for Elianna at $1 a piece. So, if my Mum-in-law reads this, THANKS for the coupons! We definitely got our money's worth as we hauled four garbage bags of booty back to the trunk. Now I have to get rid of stuff at home we don't need to make room!!!!!

Little fishies

My girls are loving the pool, but it is too hard to get pics when I am out with them! (I am paranoid enough keeping track of two fearless girls in a four foot pool.) They have these flotational bathing suits, which are simply ingenius. Elianna paddles all around in hers, while Selah still needs help staying right side up. Her bottom is too buoyant! They both love the water and ask to swim in it EVERY day. I am just hoping to get a bit of color before Sarah's wedding...

In praise of baldness

Selah has decided she doesn't like hair. Not her own, necessarily, but anyone else's. If she wants to snuggle you, she pulls back and says, "Move hair." You then have to pull your hair back away from your shoulder. She'll lean forward and inspect your shoulder for a second, then snuggle in. Any other time, if your hair brushes against her face, she pulls back and gives you a disapproving look until you "Move hair."