Even more...

We're still playing catch up. Most of the pictures are from around the house. Enjoy!



Look at that smile.

Megan hangs with Bradley (Julie and Sean's son).

Dear friends: Julie, Courtney (who has relocated to Seattle), Megan, and I.

Clara gets a head start on the Harry Potter series. Yeah, she's reading book 6. From her concerned look, I think she's heard about the scary scene in the cave.

Can you tell they are related?

Tia Lauren at The Cottage in La Jolla.

Clara loves her Tia and Tio!

Bubbles!

Clara sporting her toga (aka Daddy's tank top).

Our little Grecian.

Clara and Sebastian on their dueling "Beep Beeps".

Spaghetti Night!

Yummy.

Stop! (collaborate and listen...)


Stay tuned for pictures from Drew's cousin Tyler's wedding to his beautiful new wife, Lauren.

More Catching Up

Here are some more pictures from May and the beginning of June. As always, comments are below.




No, we didn't have another baby. Clara and Drew are kickin' it with Stella, Aimee and Steve's beautiful new daughter. (Though I must say, Drew looks like he's handling two pretty well.)

Clara hangs on the Aimee's back porch while she eyes the puppy, Scupper.


At the end of May we headed up to the bay area to check out Santa Cruz (woot!)
We got to go to my Aunt Melanie's new parish while we were there. She's pretty popular as evidenced by the photo below.

This nice lady didn't understand why we were taking the picture. But Dad, we thought you'd enjoy how much the parish is caring for your sister.

Clara climbs the stairs at Melanie and Henry's house. Something tells me she'll be doing that lots in the next couple of years.


Back at home...

Clara hangs in her makeshift choo-choo train.

This is our little lady post-bath. She's so modest; that's my girl!

"Daddy, you're tickling me!"

The rest of the photos are from The New Children's Museum in San Diego. This place is great!

Camping in the toddler room.

Fun tubes!

Hey, what's on the other side?

Do you see, Mama?

Clara looks a bit Alice in Wonderland here, don't you think?

The rain room - we can't wait for real rain in Santa Cruz!

Reid, Steph, Cyrus, and Abbie - this one's for you. Clara's a rock climber.

Amazing.

We are laying down in the pillow room, taking the photo in the mirror above. Trippy, huh?

Clara and Mama ride the giant "beep-beep."

Mama, this is awesome.

Catching Up and Hooray for Dads

Although we have been busy trying to wrap things up here (Drew with his Ph.D., me with finals and teaching summer school), we've had some fun over the last couple months. We'll be playing catch-up with the blog for the next little while. So enjoy these shots with explanation below.



May found us in Cincinnati for my cousin's wedding. (Congratulations Stacy and Shawn!) Clara got to swim in the hotel pool.

Aunteenie is a baby swimming pro! She teaches at H2Oh Baby in Atlanta and Clara had so much fun learning to jump into the pool when I counted to 3.

Clara was the flower girl in the wedding. Here she is in her pretty dress, made by her Nona.

The wedding party.

Clara, Stacy, Shawn, and Evan.

Dad hangs with Clara while she eats a snack pre-wedding. (We didn't want to dirty her dress.)

Mama and Clara share a little chat while Aunteenie looks on.

Daddy and Clara rock out at the reception.
By the way, Happy Father's Day, Drew!
or, as I taught Clara to say, Happy Daddy's Day!
Side note: Drew is an incredible father (is anyone really surprised?). I am so lucky to have him as a partner on this amazing journey and Clara is blessed to have him as her daddy.

My dad, Clara's Paddy, gave Clara a toy chainsaw for Christmas. Yes, you read that correctly.
Although the chainsaw is great fun, currently the safety goggles are a favorite.

Clara says "Safety first!"
Happy Father's Day Daddy, Paddy, and Papa.

Santa Cruz!!

After six years of being Mermen, we are going to become...

BANANA SLUGS!



I (Drew) just accepted a postdoc position with a lab at UC Santa Cruz, and we will all move there in August. (Now I just need to graduate!) The job first came to my attention two weeks ago, I interviewed last Monday, and accepted an offer today. Very fast, but very exciting, and it just feels like the right choice. Heather and Clara are excited about the new adventure, and Clara is even celebrating by wearing her finest jewelry.

Thank you all for your prayers and support during this crazy process. We will fill in some more details as they fall into place.