Spring Break 1

It's a few weeks past spring break, but I thought I'de go ahead and post some pictures of our week off. Andy and I spent five days down in the Outer Banks with my Berlin grandparents, JD and Nancy. Nags Head is such a special place for me, as my family has spent a week in my grandparent's condo there every summer since I can remember, and my whole extended (Berlin) family gets together in a big house there for Thanksgiving break every year as well. It was extra special going with my grandparents this time. I can't think about the Outer Banks without thinking about my grandparents- the two go hand-in-hand! It was also special because it was Abby's first time (besides when I was carrying her last summer). I hope that she will have as many good memories visiting Nags Head as she grows up as I have.
We had such a great week, eating shrimp and carolina bbq, going to the shops at Manteo, visiting a quilt show, walking on the beach, and of course playing lots of games!

We went shopping one afternoon (and by "we" I mean my grandmother and I!), and this is how we found the boys+ Abby. Whoever thought to put a couch in a department store is a genius! I bet more men would be willing to go shopping with their wives if all stores had places to sit like this!


This is Andy "duck hunting" at the museum in Manteo. The museum is the coolest- it has all these interactive exhibits for kids to learn about the history of the area. As you can see some of us thoroughly enjoyed this.






My grandfather was SO cute with Abby. She loves her great grandparents!


And of corse, what is a Berlin family get-together without some friendly competition? The girls took on the guys in a game of "Head and Foot," but unfortunately, the guys won 3 out of 5 games. We'll get 'em next time.


Abby had a blast too!


Daddy and baby taking a walk on the beach. I think the Baby Bjorn looks pretty hot on him, what do you think?


And of corse, Abby fell asleep in the frist five minutes of the walk. Must be nice to be a baby.

Easter dress

Last summer when Abby was still just a little pea in my belly, I bought a cute little dress from a shop in Harrisonburg. We didn't know what we were having, and though most people (including us) were convinced we were having a boy, part of me secretly hoped for a girl. When I saw this dress I HAD to buy it, and when I brought it home to show Andy he thought I was crazy! "We don't even know we're having a girl! And besides, if we do, how do you know it will even fit her?" He was probably right, I was kind of crazy- because a week later I bought another cute dress from TJMaxx, still secretly hoping for a little girl. Then on November 16th I was delighted when our sweet Abby was born! One of the first things I told Andy was, "see, now she can wear all those dresses I bought her!" Hahaha. And, the dress just happened to fit her perfectly for easter.




To Abby, the dress wasn't so "cute and precious," it was more of a fun thing to play in and eat!!

It's a beautiful mornin!

Perfect saturday morning:
8:30, wake up to the sounds of Abby cooing in her crib. Go and grab her from her crib and bring her into bed with us. Abby sandwiched between us, cooing, talking, smiling, eating her fingers... we adore her, kiss her and slowly wake up
8:35 Bruiser jumps up on the bed, lays down at our feet, and then scoots himself up between us all, head resting on Abby's chubby belly. We let him stay because he's being so sweet. Our little family all together
9:00 sleepily slide out of bed. I feed Abby while Andy does last nights dishes and gets stuff out for breakfast
9:15 Abby is in her swing, content. We make breakfast- Saturdays are for waffles! And bacon, and cappuccino! we enjoy a nice, lazy breakfast. Bruiser is at our feet, hoping we will accidently drop some food on the floor for him.
9:45 Belly's full, and nothing to do but enjoy our sweet girl and this beautiful day that the Lord has made

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Preggo Buddies

And of corse, What would a post about Lallie Beth be without another back-to-back pose with me and Alexe?? I thought I'de post all the old ones, too, becuase it's fun to remember!

Lallie Beth!!!

Yesterday we had a special visit from the Weymouths, with their new baby girl, Lallie Beth! Lallie is such a little miracle, she's been through a lot in the short month that she's been here, but is now a thriving, healthy, BEAUTIFUL little girl! It has been such a blessing going through our pregnancies together, and now we have the wonderful joy of having daughters together, too!!

The girls meet for the first time...

...and Abby wants to eat Lallie!

What a cute new family! So happy to be three



Can you believe she just had a baby? She's glowing!

And of course, at some point we had to nurse. THank goodness for Hooter Hiders! A must-have for every nursing mom! And so stylish, too.

Our men and their girls...

Growing girl

Abby is growing so fast! Up until about a week ago, she HATED it when we put her on her belly for "tummy time." She would last about 3 seconds until she would start crying. Then, all of a sudden, I put her on her belly and she actually enjoyed it!! She can hold her head up so high now and look around, and is ALMOST rolling over! She can roll up onto her side, but hasn't quite figured out how to make it all the way over- she doesn't know where her arms need to go in order to be able to roll. We get really excited every time she seems to get close- it's pretty hilarious how excited we get over the little things these days!

She has also finally started grabbing at her toys and bringing them to her mouth. For a while she coudln't quite figure out how to get her hands where she wanted them- she would get both fists really close to a toy, bring them together, and inevitably miss the toy by a few inches. Now that she's figured out her new trick, she can't seem to get enough of it!


Double fisted!

Best Friends

Our handsome pup loves his Abby-cakes

the winners..

The boys won. poo.

Head & Foot

Anyone who knows my family well knows that we Berlin's LOVE to play games. Whenever we get together, most likely every evening will be spent playing some sort of card game or Setler's. And, we tend to get a little competitive. Tonight the ladies (my Grandmother and I) SPANKED the gents (Andy and my Grandfather) in the card game Head & Foot. If you've never playerd Head & Foot I highly recommend it, it provides hours of fun.


Winning faces:



That is, of corse, unless you are loosing, as you can see from the pictures below.

Loosing faces:



To be fair, we are actually tied. The past four nights the ladies have won twice and the gents have won twice, so tomorrow morning we have the tie-breaker. Will keep you posted...