Monday, April 30, 2012

So close!

We are only $64 away from raising $8,000 for the March of Dimes!!! If you'd like to donate, there's still time - just visit our TEAM PAGE.

And now I leave you with this awesome video of Charlie from the day of our walk, demonstrating exactly how he planned to march for babies :)

Sunday, April 22, 2012

March for Babies 2012

Team Three Cheers for Babies
This year's March for Babies was a wet one! Not nearly as bad as in 2010, thankfully, but not nearly as picture perfect as last year. Still, all of our amazing friends and family braved the impending rain storms to join us as Team Three Cheers for Babies. Together we have raised over $7,600 for the March of Dimes! I didn't get as many pictures as I'd hoped, nor did I get pictures of all the people I wanted to, because the rain kicked in right after we finished walking and people scattered everywhere to stay dry, so I can only offer a tiny snap shot of our day. But from the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who donated, fund raised and walked with us today. We are forever grateful for all your love and support.

(If you wanted to donate to the March of Dimes but haven't had the chance, there's still time! Just visit our TEAM PAGE.)

Charlie and Lily rode in style.




We had friends and family join us from all over. The Shay family came from over 2 hour away!
As always, Colleen was kind enough to supply the team with butterfly stickers in memory of Annaleigh.
Aunt Rhea and Uncle Larry.
Joe and I have incredible friends.
Even Charlie and Lily's favorite baby-sitter, Kelly, marched with us.


Until next year!



Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Play Hard or Go Home

First thing's first - this Sunday is our March for Babies! Team Three Cheers for Babies is so excited and touched to announce that we have already raised $5,600 to date for the March of Dimes! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated. If you would like to contribute, there's still time! Visit our TEAM PAGE now :)

And now, on to the play! Charlie and Lily have been doing a LOT of that recently, so here's a little recap of some of the fun! The week before Easter Auntie Linda and Uncle Mike came over to visit and bring Charlie and Lily some wonderful Easter baskets. After dinner, they helped Charlie and Lily decorate some cupcakes that I'd made with the kids the day before. Uncle Mike was excited to introduce Charlie to the art of using Peeps as cupcake toppers.
But for Auntie Linda and Lily, it was all about sprinkles.
My oldest and best friend, Colleen, lives about 2 hours away from me now. With 5 kids between the two of us, we obviously don't get to spend as much time together as we'd like. But last week Charlie, Lily and I made a road trip to Colleen's to spend the morning with her and her kids, Jonathon, Caitlin and Danny. We spent a solid 3 hours outside in the yard (even snack and lunch were al fresco) and the kids got along great. It was so much fun!
Future best friends :)
And speaking of friends, I am lucky enough to be part of an amazing foursome of ladies who have truly helped keep me afloat during some of my hardest times. We all have kids around the same age, which makes for great play dates (with some time for us all to catch up!).
Abbie was unimpressed with Charlie's charm, lol.
Even when there are no friends around, Charlie and Lily have had no problem filling their time thanks to their new swing set. They love it so much!
Okay, where are my babies?!?! Surely that's not them on the big kid swings.
Lily loves art. She asks to paint all the time and is happy to sit making finger painting after finger painting. Charlie likes it okay, but not as much as Lily. In this picture, for example, Lily is on her fifth painting and Charlie is pretending to throw a birthday party for the dump truck-shaped cookie cutter I gave him to use a stamp. The butterfly cutter was apparently wearing a party hat ;)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Monday, April 9, 2012

Easter 2012

Easter this year was a lot of fun, and we really had a great day! Charlie and Lily understood things this year and had a blast with it all. They awoke on Easter morning to discover that the Easter bunny had paid them a visit.
They each got a book and some new Play-Doh toys. Charlie's basket was filled with some Thomas trains and Cars cars, while Lily had a Dora doll and some new cards for her current favorite toy, Alphie.
Lily also got an Ariel figurine, which Charlie clearly found very exciting.
We hadn't had a chance to dye our Easter eggs, so we decided to do them after breakfast on Easter morning. Charlie and Lily had a great time with this activity, even if they did throw the eggs a little too enthusiastically into the cups and wound up dyeing themselves.
Then it was time to put on their Easter outfits. Lily was thrilled with her dress and hat. (I bought the dress at Cracker Barrel! I was very excited by my find.)
Did you know that if you plant jelly beans on Easter Eve, they grow into lollipop flowers the next morning? If you didn't, you clearly need to spend more time on Pinterest ;)
Picking their "flowers."
It's not Easter without an egg hunt. I hid eggs all around the yard for the kids to find. Some had a few jelly beans, some had a few M&Ms, some had goldfish crackers and some were empty. Lily happily collected all eggs in her basket, but Charlie quickly caught on to the fact that some eggs were empty. So he started just picking up eggs and shaking them. When they sounded empty, he tossed them over his shoulder and moved on. When he found one with treats, he ate the goodies and then threw the empty egg on the ground. No eggs actually made it into his basket.After hunting eggs Charlie and Lily played in the tunnel that goes with their new swing set. Joe and Uncle John are working hard on putting it together. It's going to be awesome...once all 600 million pieces are together.
After nap it was on to Uncle John and Aunt Bec's for Easter II. Mom Mom of course had plenty of goodies for Charlie and Lily.
Blowing bubbles with Mom Mom.
Charlie and Uncle John are best buds.And Lily loves her Pop Pop.
It was also Uncle John's birthday. Lily and Charlie were happy to help him blow out his candles (and eat his cake). Happy birthday, John!
We hope you all had a wonderful Easter/Passover with your families!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Three easy ways to help us support the March of Dimes

It's April, which means it's March for Babies Month! In just 20 days our team will walk together in support of the March of Dimes' important mission. Without the crucial advancements funded by the March of Dimes, Charlie and Lily would not be with us today to take advantage of all the joys of life....like donuts :)Here's how you can help!

1) Donate to our team - CLICK HERE to make a donation to our March for Babies team, or to join our team and walk with us if you're local!

2) Buy some Pampered Chef - CLICK HERE to shop my virtual Pampered Chef party. 15% of all proceeds will go directly to our team, plus my friend and Pampered Chef consultant, Nancy, will donate 5% of her commission as well. (Just remember to choose the direct shipping option if you don't live in NJ!)

3) Eat some cheeseburgers - Local friends and family, please join us on Wednesday, April 4th from 5:30-9:00 at Cheeburger Cheeburger. 20% of orders from the night will be donated to our team! (Please email or Facebook me for details and for the flyer that you need to bring with you.)

Thank you so much for your support of the March of Dimes. One day, all babies will be born healthy. Until then, we fight.