i wanna soak up the sun...

Ok ok, here are some Warren pictures. This is not an exhaustive list so I'll TRY to post some more...

a month in the country, a day by your side...

The Weltys, Russells, and Slaughters all took a picnic to Washington Monument State Park and hiked up the trail to the monument. It was a breezy evening with perfect weather. I'll post more pics once the Warrens roll in!

Here's Jonathan outside the monument.

Caleb and Erin about to walk the winding stairs up to the top - it was so dark inside!!
The whole group (or most of them anyway) having a picnic after the hike.
Annie, Joshua and Bethany at the top of the monument.
Wes relaxing with a beautiful view behind him.
Isaac on the stone wall.
Molly showing us how big the view was!

it would be so fine to see your face at my door....

I just have to say.... We are SOOOOOOO excited to see the Russells in less than two weeks!! I didn't have pics of all of them, but here are a few of the faces that will be at our Virginia door pretty soon!!

oh i wish i was in the land of cotton...

Hey, good-lookin'... Whatcha got cookin'?

Erin made her first batch of chocolate cookies the other night when we had a cookout with the Ridleys. Mostly she just stirred the batter (occasionally flinging it onto the counter and stove), but she loved every minute of "helping" her Aunt Vanessa bake!

Hello, yeah its been awhile...

Wow, we've really let this thing get stale... So here's a quick overview of May: 1.) Mom came for a visit which was supergreat. We got pedicures, ate fabulous food (chinese and Chipotle), and obsessively watched American Idol (woohoo, Soul Patrol!!). 2) Caleb and I went with his family for an action-packed weekend in Baltimore, complete with a visit to the Baltimore Aquarium and an Orioles game. Here's me and my handsome husband at the game:

3.) A couple weekends later we celebrated with friends at two weddings, both grooms being Caleb's childhood friends. We made it to the ceremony of one wedding and the reception of the other. Congratulations, Kenny & Courtney and Josh & Amy!! 4.) We rounded out the month nicely with a fun Memorial Day weekend. After lots of hard work fixing up the rental townhouse (Caleb, the Weltys, and Dave S. did it all, I just watched Erin), we had a BBQ with friends from church. The weather was great and it was fun catching up with the friends who have moved out of state.

And of course here's the little angel... Erin is such a hoot these days, and even more of a challenge each week. We're finding out (through the rod of correction) that even 100% consistency doesn't produce a perfect child immediately :-) Too bad I believed all those Michael and Debbi Pearl lies!! But we're chipping away at her, determined to train her to obey the FIRST time and EVERY time. One of these days we'll see the fruit of our labor, but until then we'll enjoy the journey - she is such a blessing!!

EDIT: I've been trying for about two weeks to post this entry... Blogger is so frustrating!!

she's going for distance, she's going for speed.

So roughly two months after taking her first steps, Erin has finally put crawling away for good. I was surprised to see her walking (or trying to walk) at 11 months since she was such a late crawler, and now she toddles all over the place looking like a drunken sailor. Blessedly, this has slowed her down somewhat... and if she tries to run away when she knows she's in trouble, she usually topples over pretty quickly. Now we enter a LONG season of bruises and skinned knees...

resurrection sunday

We are blessed this year to have my sisters Beth and CJ visiting us for the holiday weekend (see family blog for that pic), and we had a great time visiting with the extended Welty family for Easter dinner. This is Beth's first time in Virginia, so we'll take her downtown this week to see all the monuments and whatnot. More pictures to come!

it takes some work to make it work.

I love this time of year... After playing with Erin outside for awhile, I laid her down for a nap and then planted a whole row of pansies. The weather has been perfect and sunny, and I got the flowers done just in time for some good rain this weekend. Last night Caleb and I started on our spring cleaning, and its also about time to dust off the grill and start enjoying hamburgers, hot dogs, and shrimp kabobs. This is the life.

there's no time like the present...

Waiting for her guests to arrive...

Cupcakes!

Erin loves chocolate.

One of her new baby dolls!

Opening a present.

Her dad decided she needed her own cell phone and car keys... She loves them!

i'm so much older than i can take.

Today is my 1st birthday, and my parents took me to Grand Rapids Michigan to celebrate! We attended the Mangione/Bechtle wedding, played with a lot of new friends, and ate a lot of good food... and my favorite new friends are Travis and Lelia Mangione. What a great weekend!

this is as close as you and i will ever get to the ocean...

The Welty family went to Hilton Head Island last weekend for a family reunion. Here's Erin admiring the ocean.

Here's Erin before being traumatized by the icy waters...


Erin and Luke

Her adoring fans.

And finally, being rescued by Grandpa after Daddy stuck her feet in the cold Atlantic waters.

Who am I to say this situation isn't great?

Carrie Ellen has been over to play quite a bit since she moved in, and now Erin Grace is not content without her playmate. Although they don't necessarily play together, they play well *beside* each other. And this is good enough for their moms. What sweet girls!!

There's the moon asking to stay.

January is like I imagine post-pardum depression must be. Taking down decorations, throwing out the tree, and seeing the Christmas lights slowly disappear from the lane is torture for me and I'd just as well sleep through the entire month so as not to be reminded daily that my favorite season is being packed away. I even dread this time well before Christmas even arrives. I dwell on how sad it will be when it is over - how sick is that? Anyhow, we're back to normal non-holiday life. Life where Caleb heads off to work every morning, Erin and I read books and visit our newest neighbors, and I get reacquainted with my kitchen and daily food preparation. Yep, this month is like the flu...

Erin is working on her second ear infection of the year. I hate the idea of keeping her drugged but I hate the idea of oozing and burst eardrums even more. She's a trooper though and I'm always surprised at how she's able to go about her normal routine despite the chronic pain. Her curiosity is growing by the day, and she is into everything faster than I can chase after her sometimes... And apparently she thinks she's more capable than I do - I find her trying to stand up in the middle of the living room with nothing to steady herself. She gets up on her hands and feets, looking much like an upside-down "V" and then fusses when she realizes she can't go any farther. Hopefully she'll be toddling soon and I won't have to worry about finding her stuck like that.

We had a fun ski trip to West Virginia with Caleb's family last week. It was warmer than normal and even rained one day, but they still got in their fair share of skiing. I only went a couple of times but because I ski so infrequently I'm not talented enough to stay upright on slush and ice. It was just as well, because our cabin was fabulous and I did a lot of resting and reading by the fire. Erin loved exploring the place and had all the attention and affection that a little girl could want. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera so you'll have to check Emily's Xanga for pics...

No sleep til Brooklyn!

Two great smiles! Erin loved all the attention she got from her Texas family, not to mention all the candy and cookies :-)

Fighting off the volatile grey skies...

It was such a blessing to see the progress Dok made from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I'm sure she'll find out more about what happened to her when she sees the specialist next month, but its obvious to everyone that the Lord is healing her and it makes us happy to see the light in her eyes again. We love you, Sis!

Don't drink the water...

Ah yes, having babies seems to run in the family... but then again, I guess it runs in every family. This is Kristen and me with our cousin Allison and her daughter McKinley. We had such a good time fellowshipping with my dad's side of the family in Ft. Worth and its always amazing to see how everyone changes (and multiplies too!). More pics to come...

Tradition, tradition!!

Carrying on yet another treasured Warren tradition, it is Erin's turn to wear the family bonnet that graces the top of our Christmas tree every year. It originally belonged to our cousin Michelle who wore it to her father's (Dad's brother Bill) funeral in September of 1976. It was then passed to my oldest sister Aubrey and has been worn by every Warren girl since.

Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow...

This is Erin having her first taste of Granny's buttercream frosting.... She liked it.

Here's Erin wearing her Mom's new hat - 9 months old and already borrowing my clothes! Frosting my first cookie and looking much more ghetto than I intended, which I blame entirely on the brother beside me.

Dok, looking cuter than ever... We're so happy she's feeling better :-)

Today was Cookie Baking Day at the Warren house!! We frosted about 10 dozen cookies and most likely ate half of them on the spot. The kids had ohso much fun with red, green, blue, yellow, and white frosting, and so many sprinkles and red hots it should be illegal.... actually, having this much fun in one day is the real crime. Hooray for cookies!!

Heedless of the wind and weather...

Here we are with our humble tree - just the right size for the amount of ornaments we have -and this is us getting ready for a church Christmas party. It was a nice break this year not to have any formal affairs to attend! Erin had TWO babysitters (Steph and Vanessa) and did very well despite being nervous about the new experience...

We're heading back to Texas this week and hoping like crazy that there are no new mutant viruses making the rounds again :-) If you're reading this from the Lone Star state, we hope to see you while we're there. Drop us an email or just stop by the Warren house and say hello!