The wedding we've been waiting for...

When Katy started working for us a little over 2 years ago, she told us about her boyfriend, Andy, who she knew she'd marry someday. I've mentioned Katy lots and lots over the years, as she was our nanny for the previous two summers. She has a bright smile and a beautiful heart, and I knew her man must be a lucky one. Now she is a first grade teacher and I think that every child who gets to learn from her is so blessed (the parents too!). My girls still have such an attachment to her even though they've only seen each other a few times since last August.

The first summer she worked for us, while Lily planned out her elaborate 4th birthday party, making Katy PROMISE to attend, Katy planned out her wedding to Andy also PROMISING to invite Lily (to sit a special 'kids only' table - which didn't happen and luckily Lily forgot about it finally just a month or so ago!) Katy also had Lily help her to stop biting her nails, you know, so that when she had a ring on her finger she wasn't showing it off with her bloody stubs! :) So last summer when Katy came to work for us again for a short 2 months, she was still unengaged. She and Andy had finished up their student teaching and Master's programs for teaching and were actively searching for jobs in a struggling Portland teacher market. Katy wasn't discouraged, she knew it would still happened, as she helped Andy's sister plan for her wedding for early this summer. Finally in December I got a text that she was engaged! So last weekend, it was hard to believe that the big weekend was already here. July 17th. It seemed like that day was a million years away when I first had Bryson.

A few months ago I looked through a summer scrapbook that Katy made with the kids. At the end, she wrote them both a letter. At sweet letter of how much she loved them and how great she thought they were. It made me cry. So I got out the scrapbook from last summer, more tears. I thought about how lucky my kids were to have her in their life.

On Friday, I felt antsy for her the night before her big day and on Saturday morning, I was so excited for her, thinking of her jumping out of bed and squealing, "today! this is my wedding day!" For some reason I was so reflective about how she was feeling. I kept thinking about how Katy is so bright and her smile is radiant on a bad day, I couldn't imagine how she would glow ON HER WEDDING DAY! She's one of those adds energy when she walks in to a room girl. As we pull up to the beautiful golf course and farm, Langdon Farms, where the wedding was located, I felt weepy. (and kinda silly because I'm often weepy).

We decided to leave Bryson with Sabine and just take the girls, so we could have some fun time with just them, and so we could stay later and enjoy ourselves a little more too.

The girls were so excited to see Katy. I was worried because the bride, on her wedding day, often does't get a chance to spend as much time with everyone as she'd like, and I didn't want the girls to be disappointed when she didn't say hi when the first saw her, walking down the aisle.

But as usual...Katy didn't dissapoint...

In fact, she DID say hi to my girls while she was walking down the aisle, she teared up too. She actually stopped at the end of the aisle, said hi to my kids, and was so happy to see them at her wedding. So touching. More tears.

The excitement on her face and in her body was overflowing. She was gorgeous, ravishing, amazing, not enough words to describe her. Not just her outer beauty, but it was honestly like happiness was just dumping out of this girl. She was following no rules of trying to look composed or "just right" and because of that, she looked incredible, more beautiful than usual. You guessed it, more tears.

The ceremony was beautiful, short, sweet, and meaningful. Katy was so excited to be named man and wife. She might have even pulled out a fist pump! She's THAT cool. At the reception she somehow found time to give the girls lots of love and attention and announced to the room that it was her perfect day and now, she just wanted 'to cut a rug'.

Addie went up to her right away when it was finally community dance time, but then just stood next to her, holding bear-bear and not dancing (and for the record, bear-bear only got to come out because it was nearly 9pm, and Addie was exhausted, so I was eeking out another half an hour of wedding enjoyment.) When Lily got out there, she just wanted to hold hands with Katy and was not much of a dancer next to K's little cousin who had some serious moves. Don't get me wrong, Lily did "dance" but it was apparent that she just wanted to jump around hugging Katy on the dance floor! :) She announced that the wedding dress was "kinda scratchy". Yeah all those beads and crystals are not for cuddling, Lil. The girls had a skirt twirling contest, started by Lily, which Katy happily participated in. Man, I love that girl.

Lawrence and I realized as we were walking to the car that we didn't take a picture together, so Lily took one of us, from her car seat. So it wasn't the beautiful golf course setting, but actually, it was a decent picture of us! On the drive home, we talked about how much fun we had and remembered about the first time we'd told each other "I love you". It's funny how weddings do that to you. Make you remember your own love. The way you felt on your own big day.

Congrats to Katy and Andy. We are glad you are in our life, can't wait to see what your future holds, and we know that if you can keep this kind of excitement about your love, you'll have many years of happiness ahead. Thanks for reminding us about our excitement for our own love, too.

Katy's getting married!

If you know us at all I'm sure you remember our summer nanny for the last two summers, Katy. Katy worked part time for us while she was getting her masters and waiting to become a teacher. There was one other thing Katy was waiting for while she was working for us. She was waiting for the love of her life to propose. And finally in December, he DID!!! They have a July wedding planned.

Click HERE to see the most amazing engagement photos I've ever seen. Not to mention some pretty cool shots that show of how beautiful Portland's downtown waterfront is! How beautiful of a bride is she going to be? I can't wait!

Do over, I want this photographer to do MY engagement photos. (No offense to Lawrence's dad, Steve, who got some great shots of us in their NJ front yard next to a killer bush for our engagement photos!) I felt better when I told my friend Carrie about our bush engagement photo background and she said, "Engagement photos, what engagement photos?" :) Okay, good.

CONGRATS TO KATY AND ANDY. I'm sure I'll have an awesome blog post about how much fun we had at their wedding later this summer.

Catching up on August

Day 8 -
So 7 blogs in 7 days motivated me, it did, and even though, I'm not going to commit to any more days, I'm proud to say that this is day 8 in a row of blogging! :) As I looked back over August, it is sparse, and while each of these photos could be a post on their own, that's not happening so I chose a few of my favorites to share the month of August that I didn't already share in the sad 8 posts that I did write. Oh the freeing feeling of being almost caught up on something!

Barney and Addie at Chuck E. Cheese
Clifford and Addie at Chuck E Cheese. Clifford is Addie's favorite, both of the girls love him. We just found out that he will be coming to our children's museum from Oct - Feb, and both girls are so excited.
Pink Day with Katy - This was her last day.
Silly Katy and Addie
Lily harvesting her tomatoes from the "miracle" tomato plant. I got this in my office for Earth day and it has been spilled and replanted, and broken more times that I can count, yet it has continued to produce tomatoes. Luckily Sabine likes tomatoes because no one else in the family eats them unless they are cooked.
Katy and Lily fun fun fun
I NEVER want to let her go!
Lily at her last ballet class
Sabine and Addie watching Lily's last ballet class
More last ballet
The girls dancing at music in the park in West Linn. These dresses were SO awesome to wear to a crowded event like this. It was SO easy to spot them in the crowd with just a glance!
Before the music started Lawrence and Sabine took them to the playground and waterpark.

Wilsonville Family Carnival - this is a great FREE event for kids and families all around Portland. We went with Lawrence's parents who visited at the beginning of August. It was hot but we all had a blast. MORE Jumpy HOUSE! Lily is so sweet in the Jumpy houses by watching out for Addie and making sure she is safe. Addie's excited little voice exclaiming "DUMPY HOWZ" is so sweet!

Crafting at the kids carnivalOn a ride with dad at the kids carnival. He panicked half way through when Addie's eyes rolled back in her head and she looked like she was going to be sick. No more "teacup" type rides for Addie for a while. Our annual family picture with Lawrence's parents after brunch at our favorite, Hayden's by the Lake in Tualatin. Lily was being a stinker and I know we got a picture somewhere with her looking, maybe I'll find it and show the series.Grandma letting mama sleep in AGAIN and downstairs reading to Addie. What a nice quiet sight to wake up to. And the coffee is always made. :)
They went to check out Katy's new apartment
The three of Katy, Addie, & Lily
This pink wig was such a HIT, trucker hat on top...BO_NUS!
Getting ready to take Lily to ballet. Over the summer the girls really became "Friends", they watch out for each other and hold hands voluntarily. Really it is adorable.

Katy put a bun in Addie's hair too this day for Lily's ballet. So funny! She only kept it in for 3 minutes! :)
It even got to come home for a while. Don't tell Lawrence, but I think Lily looks kinda cute with hot pink hair.

God's love, need I say more. Be still, my heart.

Addie reading books waiting to go POTTY.

Dress up with Lily and Addie, this is one of my new favorite pictures of the two of them together, they are so HAPPY with the best smiles!
They are sad that it is the last day - saying good bye

We love you Katy!

I left off August pics from our family reunion in July, and will have to make that a seperate post. As you know, when my mom is present, I have too many pictures to choose from (Um, as opposed to when she is not present?). But anyway. I'm getting there. Who knows, there could even be a day 9, GASP!

Sabine is here!!

Our new Au Pair, Sabine, arrived from Germany on Friday. After months of choosing the perfect Au pair for us and then months more of staying in touch, getting to know each other, it is hard to believe that the day actually come. And can you believe that the NIGHT before I still had a million things on my to do list that were left to finish until the next day. Things like wash the bedding from my in laws visit, almost 2 weeks prior, putting shelf paper in her dresser, moving our skiing stuff out of her closet, printing some of her pictures to hang on her bulletin board, cleaning her bathroom. Things that could have been done for weeks. But actually, if you know me, you know that I always have a million things to do that don't get done until the last minute.

Well we got a bit of bad news on Friday morning (more on that later) and it threw my day off, exhausted me a little bit emotionally and long story short a week later she still is sharing her closet with my snowpants...but her bedding and bathroom are clean and she loves her room, so I'm not a total failure.

Sabine had a great week at Au Pair school and she had fun on her NYC tour, though it was too short. It was only 4 hrs and even 4 days isn't enough to see all you'd want to in New York. But she got a taste and knows that she wants to go back to see more now.

When she arrived here she was a little shaken from some serious turbulence. We were happy to see each other, and then both went straight to bed once we got home, we were beat.

On Saturday we did the FAAN walk (another post) and Sabine came, we weren't sure she'd want to with all the travel and jet lag, but she said she felt great and joined right in. She squeezed between the two girls in their car seats, since we hadn't moved seats around yet in the trailblazer. It ended up being a great opportunity for her to bond with the kids on the way to Vancouver.

They absolutely love her. I'm so glad we skyped all those times because they felt as though they knew her and were only shy for a few minutes. When they woke in the morning, they could not WAIT for her to get up.

We are having fun getting to know each other. She speaks wonderful English, but it takes some time for us to always understand each other. Mostly because we don't know how the other describes something like a garbage disposal or a cell phone charger. The words don't translate exactly. Then there is the fact that she has never heard of Budweiser! :) And in Germany women put Sprite in their beer. Ewe! :) Ruining perfectly good beer???

Anyway, we are all having fun with it. Lawrence and I have a very sarcastic sense of humor. That also doesn't translate. Like today when I told her to throw a fax machine out the window (she didn't). She did laugh hard when I told her to put it on Lawrence's pillow.

On Sunday we relaxed a lot and it was a good thing because Sabine seemed to be getting a bit of a cold and wasn't feeling great. Even though she didn't think the jet lag affected her, I think that it did affect her body by hitting her with a stuffy nose and sore throat. Josh, Shawna, & Rachel came over for a BBQ and to welcome her. On Monday, she also wasn't feeling good. It was our anniversary (another post) and she was scheduled for her first day, and a long day. She is such a trooper. She has great work ethic and really powered through, even showing unending patience for the kids, while both Lawrence and I were home training her. She also went to the park with the kids and Lawrence. He has been making her drive whenever they go anywhere and she is definitely a good driver. Then you read the post below about the Rose baby and how Monday finished up! :)

Last night we went to Jeremy and Jennifer's for a BBQ, she had a great time, and that is when all the Budweiser talk came up because she brought 2 beers for Lawrence, one from Germany one from Poland. Lawr split them both with Jer, his partner in beer tasting. Jeremy works for Budweiser and couldn't believe she didn't recognize the can. He was asking all these hard differences trying to figure out things in Germany that were not like the US and vice versa. She was a great sport and a great help with the girls, even though she was not "on duty". We are both figuring out how she fits into the family and how it works when she is on duty but we are home and how it works when she is with us but not on duty. So far, it is going better than I could have hoped.

Today Katy came over to drive them all to ballet, and apparently the girls gave her a little harder time with Katy there too. But Sabine and Katy had heard A LOT about each other and really were glad to get to meet. In the afternoon Sabine and the girls had a great time, including ice cream for snack because it was such a HOT day. Tonight Lawrence had a Hood to Coast meeting and Sabine and I got to chat over dinner after the kids were in bed. Then we got her set up to download pictures and set up Skype on the home computer with a new webcam with microphone. It was a busy night, but we had fun. Thanks to my brother Matt who spend about 45 minutes on the phone and skype with us to get it all figured out. He must think I am SUCH an idiot sometimes, but I think he likes how much I need his help for computer type stuff.

There are many things that Sabine does, little things, that show us we made a perfect decision of who to ask into our home for a year and care for our kids. She shows so much respect and consideration, she is caring with the kids, she can be firm with them when needed, and she is an extremely hard work. She also did a lot of homework reading the family manual I wrote from her and when she pulled out her copy I could tell she'd gone through it with a fine tooth comb. It's hard to describe how you will know if someone is going to be a good fit for your family. Because you don't. But there are so many little things that are NOT annoying and that are NOT invasive and that show what a quality person she is. YAY! So much of my anxiety about this has melted. We have also let her know that she is doing this a very hard way to start off, trying to establish control with both parents at home. I think the next 2 days she will be all on her own and it will be easier with the kids.

For now, there is a lot to do! She still is far from self sufficient as far as driving directions and getting to school, making friends, getting her Oregon drivers license and Social Security Card. But this is a list, one you mark of and go through. These just take time to accomplish and we can do it. While I feel that there is a lot for us to do, and I feel like I keep telling her, we will get to that later, I'm so glad that the important stuff, the stuff that is much much harder to take care of, is going really smooth and easy.

Tomorrow we are going to Music in the Park and Sabine might get to meet another Au Pair from Germany who has been here for two months and lives near the park we are going to. Then this weekend she gets to go to the Beach for her first Au Pair meeting. It will be a great chance for her to meet some other Au Pairs in Portland as well as see the Pacific Ocean!!

In this post, I've listed THREE other posts to come. How will I ever get caught up? Probably won't and you'll say, where is that post on her anniversary that she mentioned six months ago. Hey, my Au Pair needed to learn to work my washing machine so that she could help me with some of my burden...OKAY!!!???? I'm doing my best and for now, it seems good enough...