Happy Easter!

It's only 9:30 on Easter morning and somehow we've already made it to church and back. We took Abigail to the nursery for the very first time today. She cried when we dropped her off but they said she was fine shortly after. 

Thanks, Nana, for the beautiful Easter dress and flower headband! My mom and I were shopping at Burlington Coat Factory when she visited over Spring Break, and mom was drawn to this polka dot dress for Abby. It has a little spunk, no? Then we stumbled across the ridiculously oversized -- but ridiculously adorable -- flower headband and realized they matched perfectly. How could we resist?!

Wishing you Easter joy today!

Thanks, Robert, for getting some good mommy/daughter photos!

And here comes another happy Abby photo shoot.

Why, hello. My name is Abby and I am adorable. 

Here's Abby's first Easter basket. It was filled with eggs and a board book.

Little Fashionista

I know, I know...I'm going a bit overboard with all of these blog posts lately. This week is blissfully empty because Polk State is off for Spring Break and Robert will be in Virginia tomorrow and Thursday so I had to cancel my private lessons. The middle school where I teach on Fridays is off for Good Friday, too. More time = more pictures! Abby has become such a little model. I hold up the camera and she smiles and holds the pose. I snap the photo and she makes a slight adjustment for the next one. 

The photo shoot below only took about 5 minutes. Aunt Bethany picked out the stylish wardrobe. I am a huge fan of "black and white swirly patterns!" and Bethany used to be the queen of hats. Thanks, Aunt Bethany, for the chic outfit for our chic little girl!

chubby cheeks

Here's one of my new favorite photos. I watch Abby gaze out of this back window quite often, so I'm glad I was able to capture the moment. I don't have many pictures of her profile and I love seeing her chubby cheeks and itty bitty button nose.

Abby was having a fun time with her Daddy tonight.

Such sweet moments with a sweet little girl!

March Madness

Abigail had fun rooting for Ohio State during their 3rd round game against Iowa State today. OSU won 78-75 with an exciting 3 point shot made in the very last second. Aunt Marci gave Robert this adorable onesie for his birthday -- a brave and generous gift from a girl whose husband is from Michigan. :) Can you see how the babies are spelling out O-H-I-O? I think Abby makes a darling little cheerleader.

In other news, I recently made the most delicious Lemon Rosemary Scones. Somehow this is the first time I've ever made scones. Here's a link along with my usual picture taken from the website...I really need to be better about remembering to take pictures of my own creations.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/02/lemon-rosemary-scones/

Robert loves all things rosemary so the moment I saw the recipe I knew I had to give it a try. Next time I'm going to tweak it a little to make Cherry Almond ones, which are my most favorite scones ever from the BonBonerie in Cincinnati.

I was baking for my friend Mandy's Breakfast at Tiffany's party two nights ago. She's obsessed with the movie and apparently there's a new Breakfast at Tiffany's Broadway show in New York City that she's flying out to see next weekend. In order to mark the occasion, she decided to have a group of girlfriends over for our own breakfast night. We were greeted at the door with a mimosa and then ushered into the kitchen where there was a delicious spread of breakfast goodies: biscuits and gravy (Mandy is a Texas girl!), cheesy grits, baked French toast, cheesy potato and sausage casserole, and an assortment of tasty baked treats. Yum. The movie was playing in the background while we ate and chatted. I thought it was a really fun idea and plan on copying it in the future. Here's a picture from the night. We're showing off our "bling" -- cheap plastic glow rings. :)

Back to today...we're now gearing up for our 2nd basketball game: Kansas v. North Carolina in about an hour. We just changed Abigail into her KU cheerleader dress from Aunt Karen. She's been a good luck charm for Wichita State and Ohio State so hopefully she can do the same for the Jayhawks!

Matt's Visit

Spring Break in Florida = A LOT of guests!! My friend Matt flew in on Tuesday and left early this morning. He and I met in the horn studio at Ohio State where he was an undergrad and I was working on my doctorate. It always makes me feel old when I think about the fact that he's a decade younger than me. :) Matt is now at CCM for his master's degree -- the same school where I went for my master's -- so it's been fun hearing stories about the school, my previous teachers, and the horn studio again. Robert and I have such fond memories of our time in Cincinnati. 

Abby enjoyed making yet another new friend, as evidenced by the following photos. Thanks so much for coming to visit, Matt!

Great-Grandpa & Great-Grandma

My grandparents are traveling through Florida and they made a quick detour down to Tampa this evening to meet Abigail. How sweet is this photo? Hopefully Robert, Abby and I can make the trip home to Kansas City sometime soon so that they can spend more time with our pretty little girl.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

tubby time

Lyle's Visit

For the sake of our waistlines, we simply cannot have any more guests! :) Our friend Lyle flew in from Texas on Wednesday afternoon. My parents had just left for their drive to Bethany's earlier that morning. Lyle was the very first friend I made in Cincinnati. He, too, was a new member of the CCM horn studio and I was so desperate to make friends that I agreed to swing by his apartment one afternoon to watch Star Trek. 

Flash forward almost 11 years later. (Yikes!) On Thursday for Pi Day, we picked up 3 slices of Mike's Pies: 2 Key Lime and 1 Pecan. Mike's Pies is a locally owned business here in Tampa, but they ship all over the country. Definitely check it out if you ever have the opportunity.

Later that evening, my friend Mandy came over to watch Abby while Robert, Lyle and I went to Tampa's famous Bern's Steakhouse. Lyle ordered a 13 oz. (!!) chateaubriand that had been aged for 8 weeks! It was interesting to try his steak, my filet mignon and Robert's Delmonico to see just how versatile -- and delicious -- steak can be. 

In Cincinnati, Lyle used to have people over for the best barbecues so it was only fitting that we had another one while we were back together. Robert and Lyle went to Whole Foods and came home with a ridiculous amount of food. Just MEAT, really. Robert fired up the grill -- er, charcoaled and mesquite woodchipped up the grill -- and we had a feast.

What's that they're grilling, you ask? Why, it's 1 chorizo sausage, 1 lamb sausage, 3 steaks, 4 bacon wrapped jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and brisket, 3 skewers of bacon wrapped barbecued shrimp, and 3 twice baked potatoes. Oy.

I think Lyle enjoyed meeting Abby, too. I'm loving her new spring clothes. Look at that cute little pink skirt!

Here's to old friends! Come visit again soon, Lyle!