Go Big Red (White and Blue, too!)

Happy 4th of July Patriots! Hope you all had a wonderful, wonderful time, on this the most terrifying of holidays. :) I decided to get a little brave this holiday and take Hallie and Adam to Nebraska to see so many of our fabulous family and friends. Matt sadly could not join us due to his work schedule and I know what you're thinking, a seven hour car ride with a two year old and seven week old?!?...that's a special kind of crazy. And while it's true that I am that, it was very manageable and fun due to the tremendous help of my folks and Lisa and Dante without whom, this trip would never have been possible. They were amazing! They were understanding when our little seven hour jaunt ended up taking closer to nine hours and they were patient when (only 2 hours into the trip) Adam had already asked, "What's that?" for the 3, 675th time. We stayed with my grandparents, Nonnie and Petesie, and who spoiled us with so many things and so much delicious food. We all had a blast. The day of 4th was a marathon of fun events. We started the day by visiting my great-grandma Tella and taking some fantastic pictures, including a photo of 5 generations of first-born women (Tella, Nonnie, my mom, me, and Hallie). What an amazing gift! After that Tella boarded our party train as well and we headed to the Rotella picnic. It was wonderful to get to see so many family members that we had not seen in many years. After the picnic we headed to my Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathleen's beautiful lake house where we had a great time swimming with cousins and aunts and uncles and finally the party train headed to our last stop; my Uncle Larry and Aunt Becky's lake house for more food, fun and fireworks. It was a fantastic day and the kiddos had a great time and held up well emotionally, behaviorally, and fashionably. (The fashion part was due in total to my mom and Lisa'a brilliant idea of changing them into new, yet coordinated outfits for each party we attended. It was like Independence Day at The Emmy's.) My only wish would have been for more time so that we could have stayed at each party longer and been able to visit more, but we all know my feelings about time already so I won't go into that. :) Instead I'll say how blessed I feel for the time we had. It was a wonderful trip and I am so grateful to everyone who made it possible.

Below are some pictures of the Freedom-Funtivities as well as Christian's birthday which we celebrated yesterday when the little man turned 3! Happy Birthday Christian!!!! Thanks to all who sent me pictures so that I might shamelessly post them on my blog and pass them off as my own. :)

Hallie-lujah Part Deux: The Return of the Good Reverend

Greetings friends and family! Hope you are all well. This last weekend was a big one for us. How big, you may ask. So big it requires 2 slideshows. On Sunday, not only did we celebrate Father's Day but we had Hallie's baptism as well. We were so fortunate to have my grandparents Nonnie and Peetsie and my cousin Nick come in from Nebraska to celebrate and what a weekend of festivities it was. We had cookouts, some pool fun for the Adam and Christian, a giant Father's Day feast, and even ventured to Elitch Gardens, which contrary to popular belief, is no longer Six Flags (Lisa, you know who you are :). Adam did rather well at the amusement park and even went on about 3 rides pretty willingly, which for Adam is about 3 more than I would have thought. That boy is often a big risk taker in the fashion world (as some of you may have noticed by his choices of hats, i.e. his potty seat, buckets, the dog etc.) but at this point is not much of a risk taker when it comes to rides, slides, or swings. I'm sure it's just a phase and as a 29 year old woman who has to watch a fireworks display with her fingers in her ears, I can respect the fear. On Sunday morning we were so fortunate to have Hallie's baptism at my mom and dad's house. It was beautiful and we felt very blessed. Hallie was so beautiful and did a great job during her big day. She was able to wear my baptism gown which Nonnie and Peetsie had bought in Italy before I was born and had on shoes, socks, and accessories from my mom and a keepsake bonnet from her Grandma Rose all of which were gorgeous. Father Marty, who baptised Adam last year, baptised Hallie and did a beautiful job. He joked that he would see again next year for the twins, although Matt failed to see the humor. :) And in his sermon he spoke about happy surprises and these past years certainly have been filled with many happy surprises for us and for all of them we are so thankful.

Hallie-lujah, How Sweet Life Is

Greetings and Happy Summer to one and all! In true Carly fashion, I know that I have been slow with posting pictures, but truly I cannot believe that it has already been over three weeks since Hallie was born. It has absolutely flown by in a way that has me sitting on my couch, misty-eyed listening to Meryl Streep singing, "Slipping Through My Fingers" as my Mama Mia soundtrack plays on the stereo. Ok, maybe that has a little something to do with hormones as well, but 90% of that is really about how quickly time is passing. And these last weeks have been such an amazing time, watching Hallie grow and seeing her change every singe day. Some days I swear she changes two and three times an hour. It has been amazing to watch Adam with her and seeing him become such a big helper and brother to her already. It has been amazing to see Matt become a fantastic father of two and how much his daughter already has him wrapped around her finger. And finally it is amazing that it now only takes me 4 and a half hours to get myself and both kiddos dressed and out the door, of which I am very proud. Although inevitably, an hour after leaving I will catch a glimpse of myself in a reflection and think, "Oh. Dear. Lord. How did you leave the house looking like that?"
It has been great to spend so much time with family and friends and even introduce Hallie to her future BFFE (daughter of one of my BFFEs), Ashlyn Benik, who was born only 24 hours after she was. These three weeks have been so amazing, I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer brings. Just as in the ABBA lyrics as sung by the incomparable Ms. Streep, "...I try to capture every minute, the feeling in it..." So true ABBA, so true.

A Star Is Born

Announcing the Arrival of

Hallie Piper Kirwin!!

Born: May 12, 2009 at 11:39 a.m.

Weight: 7lbs 2 oz.

Height: 19 inches

Loved: By so many, but by her mom, dad, and big brother especially

A Womb with a View

Captain's Log: UterusDate 3/11/09. Tonight Adam, Matt and I traveled boldly into the future and got to experience one of the technological marvels of our time, the 3D ultrasound, and we are so glad that we did. It was amazing! We were able to see and get pictures of Cherry Chip moving around, sucking on her fingers, and even smiling (which my sisters have said is very cute and just a little creepy :) It was fun to see that she is doing so great, has some hair, many of her dad's features and what looks like her mom's dimple, but we'll have to wait and see on those for sure. It was such a gift to see her! Now we'll just be waiting for her to keep on growing and cracking herself up in-utero until the day she is ready to come out and meet the family who is dying to meet her.

Turning 2 and Movin' On Up to a Big Boy Bed: Jefferson Style

Greetings! This past Sunday Adam made the momentous jump into the (so-far, fingers crossed) terrific twos! And with this big-boy birthday came some big-boy events, a new big-boy bed, a big-boy party, and all around big-boy fun. Adam was of course spoiled-rotten by family and loved every minute of it. He was thrilled to see the party had his favorite theme of Cars and a wonderful time was had by all. We were so glad that my grandparents, Nonnie and Petesie, were able to come out and join in the festivities as well. Ok, to be perfectly honest Nonnie wasn't just out here on a pleasure-cruise. We put her to work... work fit for a little girl and a little-girl bed that is. This weekend we went about the business of not only helping Adam into a new bed, but also in converting his former bachelor pad, into a co-ed/brother and sister living in peaceful harmony/tranquil haven. Now you may be asking yourself how one could invite their grandmother over for a visit and then put her to work painting walls, but if you want a ceiling done right, you bring in Michelangelo, and if you want a beautiful nursery wall, you bring in Nonnie and my fabulous mother as well. You've probably heard of their early work: Lisa'a Jungle Nursery, a true creative feat. As well as my mom and sister's beautiful work on Adam's original House on Pooh Corner walls. :)
We worked during the morning adding a few flowery touches to the room, while Matt used his handy-man capabilities putting said big-boy bed together, and by party time the room looked great. It is really fun to see the room coming together and Adam growing into a little boy. The year between Adam's first and second birthday flew by and with all of the wonderful surprises and changes this year has brought our family, I can't wait to see what the next year will bring.