Back from Cousin Chaos

We're back from Michigan (Carly & I, that is, Greg took the week off). We finally got to meet my favorite (and first) niece and, let me tell you, she is quite the demure little lady. She's got 3 older brothers screaming, crying, throwing toys, running around in circles, leaping up stairs and down stairs basically at all times and yet she peacefully chills out in her bouncy seat and tosses out the occasional adorable giggle. It's really divine justice that Julie & Judd have a beautiful, low maintenance little girl.


Here's our baptized girl!



...and her adoring family



...and the rest of the Fords



Were you actually wondering if Carly would have another cousin bath? At what age does Nick get kicked out anyway?



And a few of you asked whether Joey & Carly (6 mos. apart in age) were getting along, so here you go

Jack Attack!

It's Cousin Season for Carly this month. First up, cousin Jack's visit with Aunt Michelle (pronounced "ahhhnt Michelle" as opposed to "ahhhn-teee Bridget" and "ant Julie"...Carly has a tough road ahead keeping up). We were honored to have the little guy in town during his all-important 1st birthday week, during which he exhibited some impressive moves. I don't think it's a coincidence that the little guy has a thing for baseballs, bats, and basketballs. Here are highlights:

Getting Reacquainted


Does this guy look like me or what?!




Checking out the ducks.


Jack & his bean talk.


Bathtime ritual.


A visit to the Zoo.




Final hugs/pushes & a tearful goodbye (COME BACK SOON JACK & MICHELLE AND PLEASE BRING DAN NEXT TIME!)

We're in Baby, We're IN!!

FANTASTIC news this weekend: Carly got into Harvard Business School, em, I mean preschool!!!!!! After 1 preschool "fair" during which Carly got kicked out of the 30 min daycare option, 4 open houses, 1 precarious interview (and one pretty-sure-they-were-checking-her-out visit), 5 preschool applications, 1 expertly written essay (a 2-pager after 3 glasses of wine and I am thinking about selling it to next year's suckers), 5 lotteries yielding 1 rejection and 4 waitlists......... we got the call Friday that SHE GOT IN!!!

Obviously, we celebrated all weekend.

The Carousel Ride

What did you do last weekend? Attempting to avoid our to-do lists, we headed downtown to walk around and check out a few museums. En route, we passed a carousel (a fancy word for merry-go-round)*, which caught Carly's imagination. Below is a quick overview of how it went:

*Clearly, I've been reading too many Fancy Nancy books.

Carly first catches wind of the music and the kids giggling on the carousel, within seconds we have bought tickets and have our kid seated on the dilapidated machine. Success, right?




Carousel takes off at supersonic speed, Carly grabs on for her life and may have cried but for the fact that her parents were laughing so uncontrollably.





Ride concludes, all is well in the world. Carly vows to herself never again to ask her parents for a ride on a shoddy machine (except her dad's car).

Easter Fiasco

Notice anything wrong with Carly's Easter outfit? Although I told the folks sitting next to us in church when I noticed them snickering that "her dad dressed her..hahahhahahaaha!", it was really all my fault. Hey-at least we made it to mass and got home in time to hunt down those eggs.

Spring on the Gulf of Mexico

Ahhhhh, yes, the sweet breeze of humid sea air hit us like a ton of bricks upon landing in Florida. Our eyes bounced on colorful flowers and foliage in every direction. The nurturing sunshine felt glorious on our faces, the flip-flops felt inspiring on our feet. Alas, it was spring break baby!!!

Oh, we had our share of bad weather and mini-dramas, but springtime at Nana's beach generally rocked. Here I present a visual timeline of Carly's second spring break...

Day 1 at the beach: Carly not a big fan of the wind, Greg silently struggling with new Walmart shades



Did I mention Carly knows where her teeth are? (hey folks, the learning doesn't stop just because we're on spring break)



Day 1 at the pool: Carly's first strawberry daiquiri







Day 2 at the beach: fun with sea life



Day 2 poolside: I am my Aunt Julie's niece

**Ed Note: Here I must interject that, for those of us who know Carly's Aunt Julie Quinn, you will understand Carly's pool preference. Don't get me wrong, Julie loves the beach, so long as she is looking at it from 50 feet away while resting comfortably on a clean, sand-free lounge chair by a pool.






Sometime in the morning midweek: This photo is notable because it captures Carly's crib-in-a-closet: creative risk, yet total success.



Sometime around happy hour time midweek: looking for the damn seagulls with Grandma Rita



Glamour pose...


Sometime toward the end of the 10 days: a true water baby

(I have to just say, in my own defense, that I was not sunbathing or reading or drinking while she did these daredevil moves.)



And, finally, a quick video that highlights Carly's beach-to-pool progression...

St. Patty's Day

March provided some outdoor entertainment in the form of the local St. Patty's Day parade, which is held earlier than most. Sully and Carly were equally excited to brave the wind and check out the crowds, including all the dogs that were marching in the parade and participating in the dog contests. When Greg suggested that Sully and I enter the "Dog's-Hair-Most-Resembling-Its-Owner's" contest, I didn't know who was more insulted.