NYC, Part 1

Chris & I had a great time in New York City last week. We didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but I think we got some good ones. Here are several from our first couple days:

In honor of our youngest, of course! Our hotel was right in Times Square, and we took this picture on our first night as we were walking to Mickey Mantle's restaurant for a late dinner.
Monday was our first full day in the city, and I made the most of it! While Chris attended his conference, I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral and shopped at Macy's. Then later that night, after a wonderful Indian meal at the Ghandi Cafe, we went to the 8 o'clock show at the Comedy Cellar. It was a really good time, despite the fact that we were in the front row & got picked on by almost every comic (especially Robert Kelly... he was relentless!)
Tuesday morning, bright & early, I rode the subway to lower Manhattan and visited Ground Zero. I was moved more than I expected, due to the pictures commemorating 9/11's 5th anniversary. The huge pictures run along one whole corner of the site, right at the World Trade subway entrance. It's called "Here Remembering 9/11," and, taken in its entirety, it's quite sobering, of course, but also strengthening and uplifting. I feel lucky to have had the chance to see this place in person.

More pictures from the rest of the trip on the next post!

Tic Tac Toe, Three in a Row!

I almost forgot to post this! Last Sunday, we all had lunch together at Max & Erma's in Lexington before Chris & I left for NYC, and I took this picture while we were waiting for our food to arrive. Jordi was learning how to play tic-tac-toe from Nana & Grandad, and, as you can see, was loving it! The arms-up-in-victory was, of course, accompanied by a verbal shout: "Yay! Tic tac toe! 3 in a row!!" Y'know, the nice thing about playing these kind of games when you're 3 is that you get to celebrate no matter who wins!

Breakfast with Caroline

Caroline doesn't have a lot of patience to wait for breakfast in the morning, so here's a picture of her enjoying her own private meal in the hotel in Lexington last Sunday. (In case you're wondering, it's instant oatmeal, made with hot water from the in-room coffee machine. Ingenious, I know!) See how happy she is to be getting some food in her tummy? And once Caroline's happy, then the rest of us can be happy!!

Later that day, Chris & I left for NYC.... Stay tuned for pictures from the trip!

Kentucky 31 - Ole Miss 17

Go Cats! Last weekend, we traveled to Lexington for a little football fun. It was the first game that all four of us attended together, and I like to commemorate this annual occurrence with a family photo. Here's our 2006 edition:
Each of us enjoy watching the game in our own way. Here's Caroline, who seems to think that she'll get a better view by wearing my sunglasses!
Jordi, meanwhile, eagerly awaited the halftime show so she could do a little conducting of the marching band! Judy told me that this started spontaneously the previous week, and sure enough, here she is, at it again. I was glad to get a picture of such a cute moment!

Poage's Landing Days

Last weekend was Ashland's annual festival, Poage's Landing Days. I took this picture of Jordi last Friday night as we were jammin' to a great band. It was a lot of fun: we saw friends, Jordi jumped in the inflatibles & danced to the music, and we all split a yummy (greasy!) funnel cake while walking home. The celebration lasted all weekend, but we had to miss the rest since we were off to Lexington the next day for tailgating & football fun. I got some cute pictures of the girls in their cheerleader outfits, so check back soon for another post!

Grandma's Garden Bunny

As we were shopping in the garden section at Lowe's last week, Henri decided that the girls should have a little flowerbed friend, just for them. As you can tell by these pictures, she was right!

Caroline took an immediate shine to the little fellow, and gave him a kiss right off the bat! Even now, a week later, she still likes to stop and pat him on the head whenever she passes by.

Jordi didn't want to get too close right away (in case he was real...), but didn't seem to mind posing for the camera. Her reticence only lasted a little while. Once she realized that she could store things (like rocks or chalk) in his little sack, then they were fast friends!

Pictures from Last Week

I made a conscious effort to keep the camera handy while Henri was visiting, and the payoff is that I captured many wonderful, ordinary moments, the kind that make everyday life with our girls so special. Here are a couple more of my favorites:

Jordi is still chalking! But note the change in how the hands are drawn: a circle for hands and smaller circles for the fingers (instead of just a line). Pretty good!

Caroline is becoming quite the cut-up. She's standing at the small window on the landing of our stairs; it's just the right height for little girls to look out of. I'm not sure what tickled Caroline more: seeing Mommy outside or rubbing her nose on the glass!

In the Garden with Grandma

Grandma is so great! She lets you do things that Mom never does, such as:

play in the dirt...
...and use scissors! (those weeds won't trim themselves, y'know)

Enjoying Central Park

One of our favorite features of our new neighborhood is that Central Park is a mere two blocks away. We take the girls there to play as often as possible, but now that the heat of summer has passed, it's so much more enjoyable! I took these pictures last Monday, on Labor Day:

Here's Jordi on the "big" swing. She's trying hard to get the hang of pumping, but still needs some assistance to get going (but not too high, mind you!) And the good thing about Grandma pushing is that she doesn't mind pushing & pushing & pushing (unlike Mom!)
A rare family Pullem family photo! (yet another benefit to having Grandma around!)

Fun with Grandma

The girls have been having a great time with Grandma Henri. Seems like something fun & different happens each day! These pictures are from last Sunday:

In this one, Caroline has just discovered that extra yummy milk (sweetened by cereal) comes out of that green thing when she puts it in her mouth. Doesn't she look delighted! I hadn't thought to offer her the straw yet since I remember not only was Jordi older than Caroline when she started using one, but she also had a hard time getting the hang of it at first. Not so (apparently!) for little sis!

Here's Jordi, enjoying the end result of the cookies we started a couple days earlier! We made that one especially for her with her name on it, and she couldn't wait to get her hands on it! Fun!

Caroline WALKS!

Monday was a big day around the Pullem household... Caroline finally decided to walk on her own! We've been waiting a long time for this day, and are very proud of our little girl for achieving this milestone. Doesn't she look like she's enjoying herself!


I also couldn't resist posting this picture of Caroline, getting her first taste of the frosting beater. Funnily enough, Jordi had no interest whatsoever in it, but it only took Caroline one lick to decide that this was a good thing!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jordi!

Jordi turned three years old on Saturday, and we celebrated with a lunchtime family party. Everyone had a lot of fun, especially the birthday girl! She'd been talking about having a Backyardigans cake for months, so we were thrilled that it came out so cute. Here are a few more pictures of the good times we had:

The day before the party, we had lots of cooking to do. Luckily, Grandma Henri is here to lend a hand. In this picture, we're making cookie dough. Jordi was quite happy to help... and sample!


The next day, Jordi's birthday got off to a great start as Uniqua was there to greet her when she woke up. As you can see, Jordi formed an immediate attachment to her new toy!


Here's a picture of Jordi with Richard, Caroline, & Emily, getting ready for the birthday song. (Jordi insisted the Uniqua sit with her in the chair!)


Jordi got lots of wonderful presents, too. Here she's modeling one of her favorites: a Dora umbrella from Nana & Grandad!