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.