Phone Photo Friday

05/04/2012

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Cincinnati Trip – April 2012

05/02/2012

It keeps happening. I intend to document an event, a trip, a visit with friends and I come home with a camera full of pictures of my daughter. I don’t know how it happens…

A couple weeks ago we took a weekend trip up to Cincinnati to visit our dear friends Sean and Renata and their kiddos. It was rainy and cold on Saturday so we went to the aquarium.

They don’t allow strollers in the aquarium. I thought that was the dumbest thing until I realized how packed it was in there. It was hard enough just to move around all of the standing people. Our very heavy little girl needed to take a nap anyway, and Daddy’s shoulder is the perfect spot.

I call Precious Ali-gator all the time as nickname for her real name (does that make any sense?) so I thought it was pretty awesome to get a picture of the gator under a Gator Alley sign.

She’s not really anything like an alligator. This guy was massive!

There was a trippy and very relaxing room full of neon lights and various kinds of jelly fish. I could have watched them for hours.

We caught a brief penguin show, too. This sweet family will be welcoming a new baby boy on Precious’ birthday in July!

Precious is a wonderful traveler. Look, all she needs is a shoe to chew on…

Sean and Renata have a beautiful, comfortable mid-century modern home. We love visiting them!

We even worked in a little time for antique store browsing this trip. We didn’t come home with anything but I enjoyed seeing these Curtis Jeré (real and/or imitation) metal wall sculptures.

I might regret that we didn’t buy this to put on our yet-to-exist fireplace.

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Cousin Love

04/17/2012

Just a month ago, my siblings and their spouse and kids came to visit from Pennsylvania. Two weeks later, Jason’s older brother Steve, his wife Char and their 3-year-old Aiden came to visit, too. It was so wonderful to see everyone. The cousins met each other for the first time. They were very sweet together…lots of hugging and kissing going on. We went out to dinner and ice cream one night.

Char with Precious and Aiden, being silly at Oscar’s Taco Shop:

…and looking normal:

Uncle Jason and Aunt Martina with Aiden at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams:

Another day we had a cookout at my in-laws house. I didn’t do a very good job of documenting the adults. Oops. The three cousins had fun playing together.

The three Ahlbrandt cousins looking sleepy together after dinner and afternoon of playing:

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Easter 2012

04/12/2012

I had every intention of getting a photo of the three of us all dressed up for church on Easter…but it just didn’t happen. After church, we had lunch at Cheesecake factory with both sets of parents plus Jason’s brother Dan, our sister-in-law Ginger and Precious’ cousin Eliza.

These two couldn’t be more different but I hope they grow up to be great friends. This photo just cracks me up:

After we all had afternoon naps, it was time for a quick photo shoot of our beautiful baby girl. (Jason and I had already changed into our comfy clothes.)

These two have a special relationship. Jason can make her giggle and laugh more than anyone else. She says “Dada” 30x a day—that’s 30x more than any other word. He adores her. And she adores him. It’s almost like she knows she came THISCLOSE to growing up without a daddy, but he fought hard for her—we both did—and Father God did a big miracle for our family in allowing us to stay together.

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Posted by mahlbrandt

(Adopted) Baby Buddies

04/09/2012

We’re grateful that our daughter has three cousins within 6 months of her age. We’re also really blessed to have close friends Jeremy, Leila and Jaron right around the corner from us (from our old house and our new one). Not only is their son just 4 months younger than Precious, he was also adopted. They’ll have each other for support and encouragement through the ups and downs of these journeys, just like we have our friends.

We live close enough for spontaneous trips to the park together.

Paratroopers?

Enough evenings are spent at their house that Precious practically has her own bed set up there. She falls right to sleep in the pack ‘n play, which allows us to hang out and visit as late as we please. Right after these pictures, we put the babies to bed and ate a late dinner together.

They’re starting to hug, kiss, and grab each others’ hands. Cutest thing ever!

He’s such a handsome little fella.

Aren’t baby feet some of the best things in the world?

Thank God for good buddies!

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Posted by mahlbrandt

38 Years

03/01/2012

Tomorrow my parents celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary. I am so thankful for the example they set for me and my siblings with their relationship. At one point in elementary school I remember learning about some of my classmates parents getting divorced and I was concerned that my parents might get divorced, too. My mom reassured me that it would not happen. “How do you know?” I asked. “Because, we decided a long time ago that divorce is not an option for us.” It felt good to know that as a kid and it’s something I’ve carried with me into my own marriage. We will never even consider divorce as an option, no matter how angry we might be with each other or no matter how much we don’t feel in love at any given point.

Why am I writing about divorce? Oh right…I guess because the key to a long, successful marriage is commitment. It’s not about staying in love, keeping it fresh, romance; though those things are nice. But really, it seems to come down to a decision, a covenant, a contract that’s made between two people that says we will stick it out and stick together. We will not quit. And, of course, if we want to have a happy marriage, a whole lot of love helps, a whole lot of putting my spouse’s wants before my own and finding ways to serve him everyday. My parents’ marriage has been a great example of that, too. My mom loves to serve others and take care of her household. My dad loves to spoil my mom with gifts and dinners out and vacations. They’re a sweet combination and I’m thankful they’re my parents.

Another invaluable piece of advice my parents taught us: a couple that prayer together stays together. Praying for each other, encouraging each other, rooting for each other, honoring each other (especially in conversation with others)… those are all really important, too.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! Thanks for leading the way!

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Eliza’s First Birthday

02/28/2012

My first-born niece turned 1 on Friday.
It doesn’t feel like February 24, 2011 was so long ago.

On Saturday, we celebrated her birthday party out at my in-law’s house. It was a fun party.

Ginger makes the best birthday cakes.

Dan, Ginger and Eliza

Mmm… strawberry cake!

Aunties and couzies. Yeah, we’re nerds.

This sequence was funny. We were trying to get a good picture of the three 2011 babies together. Jaron started fussing…

Precious offered him her thumb. Works for her!

Jaron made a disgusted face. Precious looked at her thumb like What just happened? Eliza was impressed.

Three little buddies. Four months old, seven months old, 1 year old. Chocolate, Caramel and Vanilla.

Happy Birthday, Eliza! Glad we could celebrate with you!

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Posted by mahlbrandt

I love love but I hate Valentine’s Day

02/14/2012

This is the first year that I completely, whole-heartedly am relieved that we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. And not just because Jason is out on tour. A few years ago he mentioned that he felt like the holiday was forced, putting unhealthy expectations on couples, becoming a competition, and setting a lot of people up for disappointment. We never really did much to celebrate the day—usually dinner at home to avoid the restaurants—and maybe a few candles, some chocolates, flowers, the usual. But we’ve moved away from that to not doing anything at all. I’m sure that sounds really cold and unromantic to some people. The truth is, we go on date nights several times a month, we show and tell how much we love each other everyday, we surprise each other with random gifts—we’re both very affirmed in our love and we have a healthy marriage. So take that, St. Valentine. Or Hallmark. Or whoever… And if I feel I’d enjoy some chocolates or fresh flowers in the house—GASP–I buy them! The random delivery of fresh flowers at work just because he knows I’m having a crappy day or the specialty chocolate from some exotic location just because he was thinking of me—those things mean way more to me than anything Jason has ever given to me on February 14.

Valentine’s Day IS a really important day for another reason, though. It’s my dear friend, Laren’s birthday! Precious says Happy Birthday, Aunt Laren! Fun fact: Laren and Precious both have heart shaped birthmarks.

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Thank You!

02/12/2012

Last week a box arrived from a very thoughtful and generous blog reader, Jessica. She had contacted me a little bit ago (long enough for me to almost forget) asking if I’d be interested in receiving some hand-me-downs from her daughter who is a few years older than Precious. I gladly accepted. Many things were never worn since Jessica’s daughter has been in a purple-only phase for a while. I was surprised and so very blessed to see this box on Friday morning at my office.

I couldn’t wait to go through everything. It’s mostly still too big for Precious right now (except for the cute kitty hat pictured below), which kind of makes me want her to hurry up and grow. But, really she is growing fast as it is and I know it’s not going to seem like very long from now when she’ll be wearing 2T and 3T.

The least I could do is to give Jessica a big ole blog public, THANK YOU! She is also a very talented fine artist. Check out her website: JessicaFairley.com. I particularly love the seascapes.

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Phone Photo Friday

02/03/2012

I work with a fun bunch of people. But you wouldn’t necessarily know it since we’re generally over-worked and grumpy. Every now and then, though, our boss pushes us into some forced fun. He returned from the annual general managers meeting at corporate glowing with pride and stack of awards for our office. Following our year in review meeting, we all carpooled over to the bowling alley to celebrate a fabulous 2011. The only catch—it was right smack in the middle of my deadline time at work, when I have the perfect storm of three magazines due within 2 weeks. I debated whether or not to go but ultimately decided that free food was worth an extra long lunch break. Besides I would be coming in early and working late either way. Turns out knocking things down with a big heavy ball is great for stress relief. Plus it’s nice to get off the ole rolling chair and get a little exercise. I can’t say my day was healthy over all—I had pizza for lunch and dinner, two dr. peppers, a cup of tea and a cappuccino that day. My only redemption was a bowl of multi-grain Cheerios for breakfast. (Thanks Mom!) All in all, though, hitting the bowling alley with my co-workers made a crappy day into a good day. Bonus: check out this vintage bowling alley sign. Isn’t it gorgeous?

1 Comment | Art, Art: mid-century design, Art: Phone Photo Friday, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

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