Shower Time for Baby Luke

Some good pals of mine, Dan and Mary Beth, are expecting their baby boy sometime this month (October) and to celebrate, the Greenies threw them a baby shower/BBQ on perhaps the second best day (weather-wise) this year!!

In preparation of the shower, I first sewed them a baby blanket and incorporated their beloved Winnie the Pooh. It was super soft and turned out pretty adorable! Here's a shot of the front (and just TRY to figure out my color scheme...first time I tried to incorporate FOUR separate colors AND a patterned material):
The back was a neat-0 green polka-dot that further incorporated all of the colors of the Pooh fabric:
And a close-up:
I thought it turned out pretty well and I hope Dan and Mary Beth liked it too!

I took a bunch of photos from the shower for Baby Luke (which yes, will be his name), so I thought I'd post 'em up here. I have to say, ALL of their friends and family were terrific and ALL of them were so nice!!!

We'll start with our guests of honor (yes, I made everyone pose with the silly sign - I'm compiling a little "memory book" for Dan and Mary Beth with all of these pics and some "advice" from each guest):
A few shots of the crowd:
Matt - Mr. BBQ:

Carter, who pretty much spent the entire time running around the back yard, taking a short break for a snack:
Carter - golfing (hey, the putting green came with the house, ok...):
My co-hostess, and very, very good friend, Holly (in yellow), serving up perhaps THE tastiest cupcakes I've ever had (from a local bakery - The Grove):
Holly also made the adorable party favors - the "pacifiers" - completely edible!
Gift time!
Dan - Completely unsure about this whole "diaper thing"...
And finally, shots of the guests (for the memory book) - Mary Beth's parents:
Dan's sister's family:
Mary Beth and Heidi (who is one of my co-workers):The Greenies - hey, we tried...
Amanda (our neighbor - who was also one of Dan and Mary Beth's nurses) and her son Jake:
Mary Beth's brother's family:

And Holly and Bevin:
It was a wonderful, wonderful shower and I CANNOT wait to meet Baby Luke!! Watch the blog for an update once Luke arrives in this world! Congratulations again to Dan and Mary Beth!
~kerrie

Lovely Day for a Picnic

My local Society of Women Engineers (SWE) section held their annual summer family picnic on perhaps THE most beautiful day of 2010! Great turnout, great conversation, and a great time!

I snapped a few photos of the fun - starting with Matt and Carter:

A few shots of the crowd:





Some "SWE" brownies, made by Stephanie:
And Carter playing with the blow-up Spiderman bean-bag toss game thingy (I'm sure they have a better, more marketable name that that...) - these shots also have Vanessa's boy, Marcos:

And Taylor, Denise's little girl (she has grown SO fast - seems like only yesterday she was attending our SWE meetings from her carseat/carrier!):
All in all, it was a terrific picnic! And Racquel is indeed a TERRIFIC hostess!
~kerrie

Furniture Relocation Specialist

I'm sitting at home today with a heinous head cold (long story short, I've had about 3 zillion sinus infections in the last year and cannot seem to get a good diagnosis as to WHY I keep keeping them....) - anyway, since I'm on some gnarly head meds, I thought I'd do a little catching up on the blog. Also figured that this was NOT a good time to make engineering decisions or correspond with my clients...

So, hope you have fun catching up with me!

This first post is about Carter's knack for relocating the furniture. Apparently wherever we seem to put the furniture is WRONG and MUST be corrected immediately! A few shots of Carter relocating his snack table before school:
Oh well, we don't mind him relocating the furniture as long as he puts it back. Oh wait...

Also wanted to share a short little video of Carter's second favorite obsession - dancing. They have music time every day at school and the kids "sing" and "dance" with the teachers. Well, while poking around on the internet the other day, I came across the "Gummibar" song (that's with an umlaut over the a) on youtube (link takes you to this wonderful, wonderful song...). Anyway, as SOON as I played the video, Carter went nuts! Dancing, spinning, clapping, and just having a blast. Tried to catch it on camera, but didn't quite come out as hilarious as it really was...

If you're so inclined, here's the 12-second video of Carter jammin:




And a photo of that uber-enjoyment:


The kid's a nut, I tell ya! But we still love him!
~kerrie

Congrats to Clay & Jill

[Updated to include a photo of Baby Charlotte!]

Just a quick little post for our pals Clay and Jill....

Starting with a big....

Their little girl, Charlotte, has arrived! Can't wait to meet the lil' gal in person - hopefully before this year is up! And after seeing a few photos on Facebook, she is BEAUTIFUL! A big congrats to Clay and Jill and here's a quick shot of the Spiderman quilt I made for her back in June (Clay's a big comic book geek):

And a photo of Charlotte posing with the quilt:
Heartfelt congratulations from the Greenies and here's to a few rest-filled nights!
~kerrie (& matt & carter)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Just a short post to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY (number 60!!!) to my amazing father!

And for fun, here's a photo of my dad on one of my jobsites in Albuquerque from 2006:Great looking guy, eh? Now you all know where I get MY good looks! :)

Hope your day is amazing, Dad! We love you!
~kerrie (and matt and carter)

Keys Please...

Well, well, well....somebody got himself a new car! Introducing Carter's new ride - the Cozy Coupe:
Technically it's "hybrid" - either self- or parent-powered:

Dent resistant panels - in fun bright red! With snazzy yellow trim!

Fully functional horn (here's a test shot):
Although it's a "coupe," there's ALWAYS room for Mr. Bunny:
Driving is indeed thrilling - see?
And all this for the low cost of $49.99!

Plenty more photos to come, as this is indeed a "favorite" toy for Carter. When he came downstairs and saw it in the kitchen on Tuesday, it was just like Christmas morning!

Drive safely!
~kerrie

See's Please...

Been about 300 years since I've been able to type up a blog, eh? Too much traveling, working, and living, so I'm behind, behind, behind in fun stuff!

This is a short little post highlighting my return from San Francisco for SWE in mid-August. I brought my boys back some See's Candies (which are made in the L.A. area) as a special little treat. Matt ate half the box, I ate the other half, and it was worth every calorie!

We did let Carter try a piece of chocolate and I'll let you summarize his thoughts with these few photos:
I think he used the phrase (which is one of his favorite phrases) "MMMMMMM!"

Tasty, tasty stuff! :)
~kerrie

Congratulations to Ryan and Ashley!

A short post to accompany a VERY LONG (and crazy!) adoption story...

My college buddy Ryan and his wife, Ashley, welcomed their son, Luke Adler into the world this weekend! Yay!
The Greenies would like to wish them a VERY BIG congratulations, as they've endured every emotion in the book to bring this little boy into their family (read about it here on their blog - which is crazily-addictive, soooo well written that I read it every single day). We wish them all a wonderful, healthy, and happy life together!

Congratulations on your new family!
~kerrie (and matt and carter)

Best Friends

...are supposed to be here for you always, right? Well, I'm hoping that statement rings true for my very near and dear friend, Renae. You see, Renae was in a tragic car accident last night with her infant son, Micah, on the way home from the grocery store.

Luckily, Micah is okie-dokie, but Renae didn't make it out as well... I'm told she has some some broken bones (4 ribs, broken clavicle, fractured sternum, wrist, and 2 severely sprained ankles), but is in recovery and is going to make it. Slowly, I'm sure, but she's alive.

Pheww.

I won't lie, I'm sitting here at my desk this morning with tears in my eyes. Renae is so very near and dear to me and I can't imagine a life without her. I can only hope that she's out of there in no time and is back to her funny, warm, and beautiful self soon.

We love you Renae and we wish you a very speedy recovery. And Chris, please know that we're here for you and will drive to OKC in a heartbeat to be with you and your family.

For Renae:
All our love,
~kerrie (and matt and carter)