Mom and Dad's trip to Wine Country

Well, my apologies for taking such a long time to post something new. It's been a bit crazy with me working more, vacations, bearcat games, and now preparing for the holidays and a 1st birthday! But it's all fun! Justin and I recently were able to skip town for a long weekend to Napa...like a honeymoon all over again! It was awesome, like it always is, and I think we were either drinking wine or sleeping the entire time...we strongly endorse you all opening a bottle of Toad Hollow if you can :) Luckily, the girls had an even more fun time hanging out with all their grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Lilly still says "Momma far away. Now back." with a big smile.

Tasting in a wine cave... ah relaxing...

We're all so happy to be home now though!!!

Pumpkins and Dancing!

One of the cutest days I've experienced with our family of 4 and friends :) Something about kids dancing will never get old for me.



The theme of the day was that the girls were interested in Food and Pumpkins... if you didn't have one of those, you weren't important. They loved the walking taco and funnel cake the best!

Lilly spent quite alot of time picking out specific pumpkins for everyone. She wanted a small pumpkin, and wanted Carolyn to have a big one.

She wanted to get in the goat's pen :)

Something tells me that this one is going to be a little shopper...

Easter Fun!

I think this Easter weekend could have been the best all time. I may be biased though, because there is something so awesome about seeing the holiday through your kid's eyes. I mean, how cool is it to find random eggs in your yard that have chocolates and jelly beans in them!!?? I wish I could remember when Jan and I were little-- I'm sure we had such a blast! It already has me very excited for next year when Carolyn is in the mix :) But before I get ahead of myself... let me show you the fun that was had this weekend! Most was spent with the Sebald fam, which made everything so much more fun because both Lilly and Mom and Dad had some friends to share it with!

First there was the night before Easter at the Sebald house. Lots of fun doing arts and crafts....

Carolyn watched on during all activities....

A little egg coloring... Both gals found it more fun to crush the eggs than color them, but oh well...

Egg Hunting... Lilly did not share the insides of her eggs with Carolyn or Mom!

Both were on the hunt for the elusive chocolate filled eggs....

Easter Day brought even more fun with more hunting... and lots of slide and swing time! Pap and Pop Pop gave the Dads a break and put some hours in pushing and helping the girls climb to the top!

Carolyn had some quality time with her Godmom-- this time she did not poop on her!

And by the end of Easter, sometimes you just pass out while playing!

Finally-- I had to put this picture in... Love you Grandma! :)

Baptism Weekend

It was an amazing weekend that started with Mikey and Alyssa's engagement party, and ended with Carolyn pooping all over her Godmom :) Here's all the fun summed up in a few pictures...


Great Grandma V came into town with Great Aunt and Uncle Barnes (Thank you Thank you)!

The Happy Couple...

Aunt Jan joined in...

Godmom showing off her beautiful Godchild in the beautiful dress she got her...

Godmom and Godfather putting on the beautiful dress

Mommy's Angel...

The defining Moment....

Vinci Fam....

Shafer Fam...

Check out that chubby baby above the dessert table :)

Happy New Year!

It's a new year, and it's a new era at the Shafer home-- an era where babies rule and us parents are just trying to keep up! We have quite the little divas here lately. Lilly has decided that she is fine with Carolyn getting lots of attention, but only if there is someone around to give her potatoe chips and twizzlers and play doll babies...mainly this is Dad :) Carolyn is destined to be a little girlie girl if her potential :) Godmom Ashleigh has anything to say about it... check out the hair pretty below! Luckily, both of them were good girls on New Years eve and let us get out for a swanky dinner. Carolyn had to tag along, while Lil had her own party at her friend's house.

In memory of the 2009 Steeler Season... May 2010 be better to us!

Trick or Treat!...and Homecoming!

I can promise you that I was the cutest ladybug in town this weekend! You'll have to scroll down to see the pictures though, because I first need to tell you about Homecoming! It was a mighty cold day, but I had fun at my second homecoming parade. I liked the Bearcat the best, and I liked my hat the least. I cried for about a half hour before realizing it was a battle I wasn't going to win. Atleast I tried. Bearcats won the game and I can't wait until next year, when I can show my sister what campus is like!

Cindy and Ernie came into town for the celebration. Many stories to share of course...

Me and my fellow bearcat legacy hung out to watch the parade.

Okay... and now onto halloween! The night before, we carved pumpkins! By we, I mean Dad :) He spent awhile tearing out the insides and making them look scary! I was not a fan of the messy insides, but I did like the end result. You can tell it took awhile because i start with clothes on, and end up running around with a diaper on!

But they did look pretty good in the end! Nice work Dad!

Then came the Trick or Treat part. First, mom baked cupcakes for me, so I could load up on sugar before going out. She said that I couldn't have the candy when I got back, since I had a cupcake, but that turned out to be a lie. She's a pushover. :)

Here's me departing our house....after throwing a small fit about having a hat on. Eventually, I kept the hat on because I was worried about someone taking my candy. But I do not like hats!

Here's me at my first house. Mom and dad were quite impressed because I walked to about 5 houses before needing a rest. I don't think they understand that I'm a very smart girl, and I realized after the first one that this was the easiest way to get candy without them saying "No"!

And here I am taking a break from all the walking to eat some of my candy-- yum!

And finally, I need to give a special thanks to my Aunt Alyssa who made my halloween costume! That's right folks, she made it all by hand...even the hat! Thank you!

Weddings, Pumpkins, Haircuts and more!

Before I start, Have I mentioned how much I like Mexican food? Chipotle Gift Certificates for Christmas stocking Mom and Dad!

So Here is tons of pictures of tons of stuff going on the past few weeks. In between it all, Mom and Dad are starting to put together my new room and organizing stuff for my sister. It's a crazy time here! And in the coming weeks we have UC's Homecoming, Halloween and other fun stuff... all before the holiday season and my sister come around!

First off... Mom thinks her egg having two yolks is bringing us good fortune... I think she's a little high on estrogen and pregnancy hormones. :)

First we have My First Haircut. I told mom not to take too much off... but it's still way more than I wanted! Luckily, my hair seems to be growing fast and already is recovering.

Then, here are more pictures of the pumpkin patch! I really had a great time. Here's the mom's trying to get baby pictures... Of course my mom is taking a picture of them taking pictures. (She's a little nutty these days)

I liked being on dad's shoulders rather than in the pumpkin patch.

And like always, I love seeing animals. They had goats and horses and chickens and rabbits!

And Finally we have the big wedding event from this past weekend! Joe and Sarah got married up in a really pretty park. But before the wedding, we of course had to have some fun wine tasting :) You can see I was right up on the bar with the rest of them. My Favorite was the Strawberry wine :)

Here is proof that Daddy isn't perfect. He was best man, but you'll notice he's missing. That's because he forgot the rings in the hotel room!! Haha!!

Here's the happy couple! What a pretty bride and what a pretty day!

Here's Mom and me, and my sister

My Crazy Shafer Aunts!!

Here's me dancing with Daddy. I was such an angel all night. I danced a bit, had some cake, and then Mom and I turned in a little early while everyone else got a bit crazy. Mom and Dad said if only I was better in the car ride, it would have been a perfect weekend. And to that I say... No one is perfect! :)