media challenged

okay so we are at the fabulous beach ... & like so many times before, i am capturing AMAZING moments of our girls

in years prior i have been able to ...

use the Sony Cybershot

capture TONS of pics

upload to the Macbook

edit/crop/organize

create mixed-media videos as seen here ... and here... and here

this year i am able to ...

use the Sony Cybershot and my new Canon DSLR xTi

capture TONS and TONS of pics

upload to my dad's old laptop (PC) :(

save to my external hard drive

email good ones to David, because i can't crop/edit/enhance them :/

which means, this year Daddy doesn't get to see all the fabulous things his girls are doing and how terrible we miss him. i know it seems silly but david and i spent a lot of great summers waiting to get to 'the beach' counting down the days, driving back and forth, whatever it took ,for whatever we had, even if was only a day or two, it was worth it. so every time i climb over the dunes i remember when we came out in Oct of 03, 2 months before he proposed, right after the hurricane to see how much damage there was, or when we were in the ocean after the hurricane in 04 or when the Duke boys came out with us, or all the Easter weekends we celebrated or tears we cried because we laughed so hard... the beach is about family & it began with mine and blossomed into ours, so i miss him, terribly. these videos i made the last 2 years, were more of a way to give him a piece of what i was sharing with Faith and now with Isabelle... so i'm a little bummed.

but it is the beach... and there is nothing better than beach therapy, except when you get to enjoy it with the greatest love of your life. miss you.

David....

( a special thanks to Jocelyn for reminding me to tell my husband thank you, to tell him i respect him, and i appreciate all he is fir me, for the girls, for us, thank you)

Dear David,

I love you. I have always loved you, from the very beginning, through the ups and downs, with every victory with every challenge, I have loved you. I love you for being you. I love you for being a man of God. I love you for the way you love our girls, take care of our family. I love you for always being the man of our house, for being my soul mate, my teammate in life, in love & in marriage. I love you for talking, communicating, verbally working through all of those times. For expressing love for me, for our girls, for our family through actions & through words. I love you more when you are away & even more when you are near. I respect you, adore you. I rejoice in your victories & I pray for you often. I love you, with all my heart, and I am grateful God gave me you. I love you. It can be difficult to balance our love, our family, our jobs, or errands and simply life all while praising God, giving thanks, and showing unconditional love. I know I feel overwhelmed, stressed, tired, anxious and I know you do too. Every time I seek God for strength to be all our children need in a mother and more, all you need in a wife and more, I pray for you, too, because it is so much more challenging to be a father, a husband, and you do it so well, you really really do, and I love you, we love you, unconditionally. So, love-of-my-life, I love you, thank you, and may you always feel the love we have, may you always know the love your girls have for you, the pure adoration of you and everything you are, and may you forever feel the overwhelming love, gratitude, respect and joy I for you as your wife, your best friend, your teammate, your confidant, your other half.

I love you

Happy 5th Anniversary

Our love is unconditional

we knew it from the start

I see it in your eyes

you can feel it from my heart

from here on after

we'll stay the way we are right now

and share all the love and laughter

that a lifetime will allow

I cross my heart

and promise to

give all i've got to give to make all your dreams come true

in all the world, you'll never find

a love as true than mine

you will always be the miracle

that makes my life complete

and as long as there's a breath in me

ill make yours just as sweet

as we look into the future

it's as far as we can see

so let's make each tomorrow

be the best that it can be

and if along the way

we find the day it starts to storm

you've got the promise of my love

to keep you warm

in all the world

you'll never find

a love as true as mine

Weekend Updates

Friday we had a BCG family event....

Toy Story 3 @ Studio Movie Grill....

O.M.G

:)

Considering Faith is a huge Toy Story fan... plus her latest & greatest addition of the talking Jessie doll & Jessie accessories (thanks Fancy Nancy), we were all set. Faith dressed 'just like Jessie' all the way down to her skinny jeans & boots/Uggs. I tried to put sandals on her & this is what happened...

"mommy, how bout boots?"

"you don't have boots baby girl"

"how 'bout my Uggs? remember those how 'bout those, like Jessie"

"you're right, we have Uggs, I'll go get them"

then it was Fancy Faith Part III on Saturday which included pool time/fun, showing off her mad swim skills, then home for Uncle Chris famous burgers, presents & birthday cake she had her very own active particiaption in making/decorating

and Sunday was Father's Day, and of course, that meant lots of loving on D.A.D.D.Y

10 years ago...

today, i officially** started dating the most amazing man ever... for the last 10 years we have been through some pretty amazing things, together, always supporting each other, always loving each other, unconditionally.... growing more and more in our faith, trusting in God to guide our hearts, light our paths, strengthen us as individuals, a couple and now as parents. He is my teammate, my partner for life, my greatest gift from God, not only because of who he is, but of who he is becoming and where he is allowing God to take him...

today, I thank God for guiding me to you, David, you are my everything

i love you

**officially being the word of choice you use in high school when you both know you are dating & so can everyone else

coming soon, Fancy Faith, part III - photos are still being collected :)

Boston Consulting Group : Take Your Kid to Work Day

Highlights from a day working with Daddy

The Boston Consulting Group

learning how to properly use a dry erase marker

oh what view Daddy has

writing slides

"Daddy goes to work & spins in his chair"

Sisterly Love....

So this past weekend I was certain Faith had developed her sense of jealously when I overheard David and Faith having this argument...

David: That's Isabelle's dress, and that's Faiths

Faith: No Daddy, that's MY dress, not Isabelles.

David: No that one is Isabelle's not Faiths.

Faith: (grrr noises) NOOOOO thats MY dress, not Isabelle's.

David: No, that's Isabelle's, go ask Mommy

[at this point I am certain I am in for something good...]

Faith: Mommy is that my dress or Isabelle's?

Me: Honey, what dress is she talking about?

David: The really pretty one, that's yellow with bright dots.

Me: Faith, that's your dress. Honey, that's Faith's, not Isabelle's.

David: Really?

Me: Yes, that's Faith Dance Costume. She was really excited to show it to you. Daddy, you were wrong.

David: Sorry Faith, Daddy was wrong.

oh brother... I guess we have to get Daddy on board. I am still wondering if I should be concerned about how David dragged me into this one. :)

PS=check out the "really pretty dress"

Also, in all fairness to David, Faith's costume is short & it was hanging next to one of Isabelle's dresses that was a similar length.

1 point Faith = 0 Daddy

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!!

love Isabelle

love Faith

Family Moments

Happy Valentines to my favorite Valentine

this is going to be a blog devoted to my best friend... my husband. he is my perfect half, my better half, my soul mate and i have known it from the very beginning. Yes, ten years ago I feel for him, and fell hard. it was his devotion to God, his never-ending pursuance of Truth and Love that radiated from his smile and buzz cut high school football player look. sure he has always been one hot Valentine, but i can remember just knowing that God had a plan for my life that included him and it was going to be great.... We will celebrate our 10 years of dating, 5 years of marriage this June and I am still head over heels for him.

the journey GOd has lead us on has been incredible and I could not have asked for a better partner, teammate, encourager, teacher, friend, lover, husband that what he has been. its in his smile, the way his eyes see deep past mine and into my heart, how we can look at each other and know exactly what we are thinking or laughing about and just smile like we have this secret the rest of the world doesn't know about. and our list of secrets keeps getting bigger and better, and the laughter is what keeps our hearts light and in love. we have fun together as we travel down these roads and we have enjoyed the ride.

it's in his gentle kiss goodnight and the way he scoops up Faith and swings her around as every father should with his princess, the way he looks into Isabelle's sweet eyes as he rocks her, just like he did when Faith came into our world. It is how he absolutely loves being in a house full of girls and how he is growing and turning into this amazing Father, not that I have ever doubted him, but watching him just fall in love with these precious miracles is amazing.

i am grateful, daily, for him, my Valentine. i know i am blessed with unconditional love in our marriage, i feel lucky to know true love with someone , my husband, my friend.

happy valentine's day ... i love

Funny Holiday Footage

forgot to post this awhile ago.... silly daddy

Adorable Father-Daughter Moment

I must first tell you that if it wasn't the morning I would take a picture of the giant smile I have across my face, but no one really wants to post their morning face for the world to see, and if you have in the past, I am sure you at least flipped your hair or applied some light powder, maybe waited until your eyes fully opened to snap that picture, well not me, I just opted out and went straight to typing this post after consuming some nice cereal and blueberries....

I awoke, 2.5 hours later than normal, thanks to my fabulous hubby taking some Daddy duties this morning, not that he doesn't but you never know with work stuff and life how much 'extra' sleep you can steal. Well, I got a good amount. After realizing how lucky I was, I embarked on my venture to the living room where I was sure to find Faith playing, David on his laptop and a quick shift into Mommy duty.... nope.

Instead David and Faith were curled up on the couch watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Adorable.

What makes this even more special is the fact that David has not seen this movie and Faith is simply in love with it since we saw the play this summer. She knows the songs, all the characters names, what happens next and even tries to adopt behaviors they demonstrate. For example, in the beginning of the movie the Dad and his 2 children(Jeremy & Jemima) sit to eat at home and place their checkered table cloth in their shirts. Something that Faith trys to do every time we go to Grimaldi's where they, too, have a checkered table cloth. It wouldn't be too bad except she insists that Daddy does it too, since that is what they do in the movie. Then there are the endless request to sing the songs with her, which David never knew, until now.

So naturally, I am ecstatic. This means Daddy has been initiated into the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang hall of fame. So proud.

Happy 4 years to my better half, I love you David

4 Years ago today I honestly married my best friend. We knew back in high school there was something special, something amazing about what we had.... after 5 years of dating we were married and shared in a perfect day full of love. And even though all the details were fabulous, what I remember most, was the look in his eye when we were standing there, in front of our friends and God saying our vows, and how our first dance felt like it was just the two of us wrapped up in love.... Happy Anniversary David... I love you

Year 1 - Celebrated with a nice dinner and matching tattoos! Haha, that's right aren't we so rebellious...

Year 2 - We celebrated with a 2 week old... wasn't she stylish...

Year 3 - We had a casual dinner out, just the 2 of us, after a month full of weddings and parties..

Year 4 - another night out for just the 2 of us.... at? who knows, but it requires cocktail attire and babysitters which means I get my hubster all to me for a nice meal, free of toddler talk ... yay

I LOVE YOU DAVID

Okay... so a little later rather than sooner....

because David is GRADUATING this weekend!

Go Daddy! Congratulations on completing two long years in Business school at DUKE UNIVERSITY!

From the very beginning we were all excited about your adventures at DUKE, PartII...

Even when you had early mornings and late nights you were always there to laugh and play and read books and sing songs. You always found lots of time to love on me and give BIG Daddy Hugs and lots of Daddy kisses. Mommy would tell me all the time how lucky I was. It was always a lot of fun to help wake you up, especially when you would fall asleep way before bed time... Get.Up.Daddy!

I look up to you all the time (literally,too) and one day I hope to be as smart, scratch that, smartter than you.

So this is it, our final time to walk the halls of Fuqua, but I will never forget our times here, times in North Carolina where it was just us, as a family, having fun.

We love you and can't wait to celebrate in North Carolina this weekend....

Therefore, all of you will have to await our return (which includes the unpacking, washing, folding, sorting,etc process) before the house pics get up... yay!

WE LOVE YOU!

Some Advice...

Here is what happened this morning:

Our entire family is home...<<10am-door>>

David opens the door to find a nice salesman? with a flyer

David: Hello

Man: Hello. Is your mother home?

David: No. I am the homeowner and she doesn't live here.

Man: Oh here is some information...blah blah blah

Are you serious? Who says that? Well, regardless, we all got a good laugh at it. We did try to come up with some comebacks if this ever occurs again... 

-no, but my wife and daughter are here

-'slam the door'

-why? are you selling candy?

Any suggestions... we could use a few more laughs at this gentleman's expense.

Happy Birthday DADDY

Yay David is finally 26 years young.... we are officially the same age, at least until September, when I become 'the older one'

Faith and I have been planning Daddy's birthday for a week now. Everytime we talk about it she says "Happy Birt-day Daddy" so I keep telling her no, not today but on Wednesday. Well kids, it's Wednesday....

Daddy's birthday events are as follows:

Banner & balloons in the study for his morning surprise (I am sure I will still be asleep when he gets up so I have to plan ahead)

Mid-morning-mid-afternoon : sort of up in the air since he is working from home/on the phone,etc, but it is Daddy's day so whatever he wants goes

Afternoon Family Fun walk around the block

Dinner: Homemade Buttermilk Chicken and Mushroom Rice -sounds not healthy or good, but it is both and it is fabulous... I can share the recipes if you like.

Dessert : Left over cake from his Monday birthday celebration with the Martin/Bucaram bunch

After-Dessert: Faith filled evening of dancing and playing - I vow to capture video of Faith who now dances with complete, thoughtful moves and moments to any given song, but in particular to Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" which Daddy introduced

I VOW to get pictures up by the end of the week, the reality is I finally have my little work niche going and found the camera cable... yay so we can hook up and load up

and in closing.... 26 reasons we love you on your birthday:

1. you like to dance with both of us, often

2. you make a fantastic grilled cheese

3. you read books while teaching colors/shapes and more in the tub (its Daddy-multitasking)

4. you love numbers, which is great, because one of us has too

5. you give big Daddy-sized hugs

6. and kisses

7. you make yummy oatmeal and share with those under 4 ft

8. you stop working just enough to sit and watch Tigger  & Pooh, Handy Mandy, or Sid the Science Kid

9. you make sure those shows are recorded daily

10. your kisses make everything better

11. you cuddle 

12. you can decipher Faith-talk

13. your feet are giant, and perfect for little toes

14. you are attracted to the color pink, often

15. and it makes you smile

16. you work hard

17. you never forget about the ones you love

18. you take care of those around you often

19. you have enormous compassion for people

20. you enjoy a nice dinner with your family, in comfy cloths

21. a little ice cream now and then fixes everything

22. you rise early and still have enough energy to keep up with us

23. you smile every morning when you see our sleepy eyes open

24. you pray with us

25. you laugh with us

26. and you love us more than we know and you show us this daily

WE LOVE YOU DADDY! Happy Birthday to you.. may all your dreams come true!