the baby's room

and here we go!  we cleaned out our spare room and we're ready to turn it into baby's room.  we put our artist/designer tanaya in charge of the decorating.  she picked out the colors and designed it just as she felt it should be. it was a big secret to us and we had to wait to see it unfold with our own eyes. it was a lot of fun.

we took tanaya to the store and she picked out the colors she wanted, stressing how much easier this would be if we would just find out the sex :), then she set up shop

we waited for instructions from her on which color went on what wall and then started painting (don't worry - this paint has no VOC's & is safe for pregnant momma's to use)

i LOVE the colors she picked

john had been busy all week taking apart & sanding down his childhood dresser and a rocker we received from a co-worker of mine

than he stained them both to match the baby's crib

after we painted the walls tanaya was left to create her vision

half way done - i'm LOVING it!

the furniture - all brand new with new cushions too.  THANKS for your hard work babe!

and the AMAZINGLY AWESOME baby's room!!!  we are in such awe at what a BEAUTIFUL job she did and how PERFECT it turned out!  THANKS for such a wonderful room & all your hard work tanaya!

8th grade - crazy hair day

this is one of my favorite days.  i love seeing what tanaya will come up with.  she was sent home last year for her mow hawk so she had to come up something that was crazy without breaking the school rules - and she succeeded.  a fohawk with corn rows

since last year her friend tyson has been wanting to do her crazy hair day with her. unfortunately he was immediately asked by the school to wash it out

tanaya, not taking any chances, spent the school day avoiding the principal & vice principal, just in case they felt her hair was too extreme and tried to send her home again.  she went in the back school entrance in the morning, took the long way around to her classes, and ran around the corner when she saw them coming.  little did she realize that later that day they would have an assembly and call her up on stage in front of the whole school to accept an award. she had to walk right passed the principal & v.p. on stage and when they saw her they just shook their heads :)  she received another 'mighty panther' award - she rocks!

chicago baby shower

blair was so sweet to offer to throw us a baby shower while we were in town for bill's wedding. it was such a crazy week for the family there was no other way we could have pulled it off. 

she put SO much time, thought, and effort into this day for us and we love her for it! nancy & kathy were an amazing support and were so helpful in bringing this day into being. i hope the pictures can convey how amazing this shower was.  every detail was thought out and planned to the tea.  it was simply, perfect!

the menu:  does it get any better than this, really?!

the amazingly delicious food

it was SO yummy!

visiting and storytelling

the manly friends who came to save john from the 'girly' baby shower :)

tanaya and the girls being anything but 'girly'

the adorable cake! ...and scrumptious too

the presents:  we were so loved!

the cookie party favors. such a cute idea

delicious food surrounded by great friends and family - it was a perfect, perfect day.

bill & jessicas wedding

we spent memorial weekend this year in Chicago for johns cousins wedding.  it was such a beautiful wedding and was fun to have another reason to go to Chicago and spend time with family & friends. 

at the airport.  tanaya LOVES when i kiss her

i wasn't quite sneaky enough to land this one :)

all of us at the wedding.  it was outside underneath big beautiful trees. as we waited we listened to an orchestra, were served ice cold water, and given cloth fans to cool us from the heat.  such a pretty setting.

and then the wedding begins.  uncle rich & aunt karen dressed to the nines

kelly looking amazingly gorgeous

bill - nervous :)

jessica - so elegant and pretty

the HAPPY couple!

it was such a perfect day.  we are SO happy for them. they are a very cute couple!

gone with the breeze

tanaya, our talented and amazing actress, was in the play production 'gone with the breeze', an adorable take on the play 'gone with the wind' at which she obtained the lead role of daisy lou bowman.  she was the lead on monday, wednesday, & friday nights.  on tuesday, thursday, and saturday she played a variety of roles of which included a tourist, a camera man, a pageant girl, and a wann-be jezebelle o'toole.

she did such an amazing job and it was SO fun to see here play these parts and give each role such a different personality.

 here she is as a 'wanna-be jezebelle o'toole'

and here as a 'pageant girl' in which she had to pick an audience member to dance with. she picked the cute little guy :)

and my favorite! her as the lead - daisy lou bowman :)

she played the part to a "T".  the outfit she created, the accent, her mannerisms - we all had smiles on our faces watching her. she was pretty dang great!

her final night as the lead.  her whole extended family showed up in support of her. she is VERY loved!

saturday night was bittersweet for her and the crew. they celebrated a successful week but all cried that they were going their separate ways as some kids weren't planning on, or able to, come back next fall.  they all went to arctic circle to eat then sat on the lawn for hours just playing and making memories.  they planned get together's during the summer and exchanged phone numbers to stay in touch.  it was a really tight nit group of kids and they had so much fun together. it was a neat experience for tanaya and she can't wait until next fall!