Weekly Wrap Up

What a nice week and weekend we had at the Stillinger home :) With no firm plans and very little on our 'to-do' list we still got lots done and had time to enjoy together.

Rose got a new umbrella that she enjoyed trying out this week

Rose also discovered that she enjoys dumping and refilling the book tub (with herself inside)

Rose got to eat theripe tomatoes from the plants she's been growing

Here's a pic of Tahnee who has also been enjoying herself this summer :)

Justin got a few house projects done and if you drive by our the porch roof is now nicely painted. Saturday after Rose's nap we headed out to a local park for some family fun time. Rose is fearless on the playground and loves everything.

 We ended the weekend with some really yummy chocolate chip cookies

This week will be busier and this weekend is the annual Bechtel Family clambake...so it's a good thing we were able to take it easy, but we are excited too for the busy too :)

Weekly Wrap Up

While there are some other things to share about our week and weekend, first things first: Rose {finally} made it to Knoebels!!! We had tried to take her last summer, but due to weather had to go to plan B and then never got to reschedule. Looking back, it probably worked out for the best. Rose would not have even been 18 months when we were planning to go last summer, but I think she was just the right age to have lots of fun this time around, and she did! We met up with the Jacobs Family (Jeremy, Becky, Abraham, Anna, and Caitlyn (niece/cousin) on Friday for a picnic lunch and several hours of fun in the park. Although I have been MANY times, it was nice to have another family and someone Rose's age to go around the park with for her first trip. Enough talking, I'll let the pictures share our day!

We had an AWESOME time and can't wait to go again!

While the rest of the week/weekend was not as exciting as Knoebels, we did have lots of fun (except for the short naps...). Our little Rose loves all things arts and crafts. In order to keep her well stocked, I have started making most of her supplies. I have been making her play dough all along (this last batch I added cinnamon, it makes it even more fun!), but this weekend we also made finger paints. I had also made her sidewalk paint, but thanks to a friend, I froze it in ice cube trays with a pop sickle stick and this was waaaay less messy! Bath time is also paint time as we mix some cream and food coloring and paint the tub or Rose :) 

Weekly Wrap Up

It was such a relaxing and easy going week/weekend, compared to the last few we've had lately.

Rose spent lots of time outside this week (as always).

Rose is eagerly awaiting red tomatoes (she did eat a green one this week...)

 (on another note this dress seems to be Rose's first favorite outfit, she picked it out 4 days this week, every time it was clean and in her dress stash!)\

She helps water and weed my flower beds. I won't brag about how large and beautiful my flower beds are this year. Really I don't have much to do with it. I picked native and hardy plants when planning the beds and so they don't need much attention, which is a good thing!

 Rose also dug in the dirt...

 And stomped around in it too :)

This weekend Justin also built the climbing wall as part of Rose's play house. In a few weeks my sister will bring up an extra slide she has, so Rose can climb up on side of the deck and then slide down.

Friday night we decided to head out for dinner. Rose has been doing much better staying seated at restaurants and so we can actually all eat at the same time :) Rose's favorite part was the chips and dip, she frequently used the same chip to eat as much dip as she deemed necessary :)

On another update, Rose has passed the 50 word mark! Part of me really thought we would never get there, but we have, and she keeps going. Rose is more willing to try to repeat new words and is using words as much as pointing or signs to communicate with us. She is still working on making some sounds and her clarity, but we are getting there :)

Weekly Wrap-Up

Marriage, marriage is what brings us together today...or something like that according to The Princess Bride movie. It was actually two marriages that filled up our 4 day holiday weekend :) And although we are exhausted we are so happy to have welcomed new family members and shared in their special days. 

We have been preparing for Uncle Matt's wedding for almost a year. Justin was asked to be the Best Man and Rose got to be a flower girl (along with another little cutie). Thursday started our wedding festivities with rehearsal. Luckily, Rose and I got to skip most of the setting up because of her nap :) The wedding and reception was at Landis Valley Museum. It was a beautiful site to hold a wedding, if a bit sizzling ;)

 Before the rehearsal got underway we walked around the grounds a bit...do you see the sweat on Justin's back? Yes, it was HOT this weekend!

  

Look how big my girl is getting

 Rose and Jaylan (the other sweet flower girl) made fast friends during rehearsal which we hoped would carry over to wedding day.

Rose loves anything and everything Aunt Jenni and totally agreed with Uncle Matt's choice for our newest family member :)

 3 Stillinger women, tomorrow there would be 4!

I made sure to get a couple pictures of our happy family :)

Rose did great through rehearsal and the dinner afterwards, we didn't get home until after 9pm and Rose refused to sleep in the car. She was out once she laid down and slept until after 8am (which is sleeping in for her!). 

Friday was Wedding Day! Since the wedding wasn't until 6pm we had all day to get ready. Grandma did Rose and my hair in the morning and after Rose's nap we headed to Jenni's parents home for pictures with the ladies. Rose was a trooper with all the car rides to Lancaster this weekend!

Here is my sweet little flower. This dress was handmade by a coworkers mother and was PERFECT!

The wedding was beautiful

And the flower girls were perfect! A little encouragement from the mom's and these two walked holding hands and then threw some petals down the aisle :)

Here is the wedding party

Rose got to spend lots of time with family including Grandma

And Great-Grandma (Great-Grandma had a beautiful dress FULL of sparkles. I was wiping them off Rose and myself all night!)

Rose lost interest in looking at whoever was snapping pictures, but here we are with the newest Stillinger :)

My two loves {sigh}

And our family picture :)

Here is the happy couple with Rose, who is smiling, but not at the camera...I think it was well after 8pm by this point, so she was running on fumes. 

We wanted to stay for as much of the reception as we could. Since the wedding only started at 6pm, we knew it would be a late night. After dinner, toasts (Justin had a very thoughtful toast that made me cry), dancing, cake, and a special song from Matt and Jenni it was 10pm and we took our little flower home. She did awesome all night and I think she loved every minute of it! 

Saturday we attended my cousin Sarah's wedding also in Lancaster. Her wedding ceremony was at the Marriot and due to running a bit late, finding parking, and Rose insisting on using the potty, we missed the entrance... During the ceremony if Rose would start to make some noise we would say 'shhh', and then she would say 'shhh' right back at us (not very quietly). 

Their reception was also in a barn...I guess that's the cool thing now :) 

Rose mainly enjoyed two things at Sarah's wedding:

1. Great Grandma's wheel chair

2. Dancing with the other kids

Also enjoyed by Rose were the Hershey Kiss's in the favor glasses (I think we let her eat 3)

And spending time with Nana and Papa

It was another late night as we didn't leave until 8:30, but Rose did fall asleep on the way home and stayed sleeping as we tucked her in. 

And my favorite picture from the weekend was all of us looking cool in our shades.

Today we all took it easy and just hung out around the house. Rose slept until 9am, which I think is a record for her, but much appreciated by her parents who also remained in bed :) We caught up on the regular weekend chores and had dinner with my parents. I really don't feel like going to work tomorrow  :(