Miss America?!?!

So far being part of the Antholz fam has been pretty sweet. This weekend, however, my sisters got to get dressed in their prettiest dresses to go to Omaha to meet Miss America and the five runners up. And all I got was to hang out in this activity center for the first time...


From what I hear the evening was dreamy for Emme and Sutton. They got to attend a private VIP reception where they were able to talk with the "princesses" and also get their pictures taken with them. Then they went on to a fancy dinner. Following dinner Miss America and her friends performed the talents that they had performed at the pageant. My sisters thought it was pretty awesome!

Sisters...

I happened across a quote the other day that stuck with me... so I thought I would share.

"How do people make it through life without a sister?" ~Sara Corpening

In our case, I hope that our daughters always wonder how people make it through life without two sisters.

Emerson Jules
Sutton Grace
Eastyn Kate

Piano Man... or Girl

Last week Papa came to town pulling the trailer and hauled away the extra couch and chair that have been sitting in our living room for the last year (yikes!) as well as the headboard, footboard and frame from our old bed, which had been sitting in our living room for the last month. Yippee! We're more than a little excited, as our living room sort of looked like Travis's old college house.

More importantly, however, Papa dropped off the piano that my parents have held on to at my request for a very long time. We found the perfect spot in our living room, and Travis and I look forward to many hours of listening to the girlies tickling the ivory. If they are anything like their mama was growing up, we also look forward to many years of hounding them to practice!

So far, both Emme and Sutty sit down at the piano at least a couple of times a day and do a little "pounding." Sutton has been playing while singing "O Christmas Tree..." on a very regular basis since the piano arrived.

Funny girl...

I thought this picture of Baby E was too cute not to post. Mom had to go back to work last week. Boo. So after a week snuggling with Grandma Jules, our funny girl in the heart-shaped glasses is making her daycare debut.

Today, she is spending the day with our beloved La La because it's President's Day and she was kind enough to help us out since Anne (new sitter) couldn't take her until tomorrow. I have to admit it felt natural to drop her off with La La. While we are so happy that La La is starting her new retirement adventure, we are sad that Miss Eastyn will not get to spend more days with this wonderful lady who we love like family. That makes today all the more special for us.

With that being said, we couldn't be happier to have connected with Anne. We're excited to get to know and love her like we have La La. She comes highly, highly recommended by teachers and friends whom we trust. In addition, from the moment that we sat down on her couch last summer for our interview, we just had that "feeling." Those of you who have been blessed to have wonderful child care providers know what I'm talking about... there's a good vibe when you meet and it just fits.

Don't get me wrong, it's never easy to drop the kiddos off for the first time, the second time or the 150th time. I, like every other mommy out there, have days where I question whether I should be at work full-time or part-time or perhaps not at all. I feel blessed that those thoughts have nothing to do with the quality of the people who care for our children while we are at the office. A wise and wonderful man whom I used to work with once told me, "just remember that you are expanding the circle of people who will love your children." What he didn't add was how much we would grow to love those people in return.

So, here's to our funny girl in the heart shaped glasses and the circle of people who love her too!

What we've been up to...

So it's February and my last post was in June... really?!?! Yikes! Needless to say much has happened since the summer. Much that definitely deserves a place on the Antholz Adventures blog.

The short version goes something like this. Summer went. Fall came. Eastyn Kate arrived on November 11, following a short 2.5 hour labor and delivery that did not "really" involve an epidural (definitely not by mama's choice). The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays descended upon our house. Suddenly it was 2011. Lo and behold, Valentine's Day found me starting back to work after a three month hiatus.

So, I definitely will try to do a recap of all the fun (or at least a little of the fun) that we've had since last June. But for now, I think it's most important for everyone to see what we've been working on since November 11--Baby Eastyn's cheeks and thighs! I think the whole family agrees that Miss Eastyn is the bomb-diggity, and we simply cannot imagine our family without her. She is not only all cheeks and thighs, she is all smiles, coos and giggles. We are in love, love love!