I'm a prize and you're a catch, and we're a perfect match

On January 1, 2005 Josh and I were married. Five years ago! I can't believe it's been five years, and I can't believe it's only been five years...if that makes sense at all. I know this blog is usually all Ava all the time, but this post is about us. Enjoy a trip through our wedding day.

Here is the chapel.

Me and my bridesmaids

Josh and his groomsmen

I l-o-v-e this shot of our dads.
So patient and sweet.

My handome hubby-to-be

Josh and I chose to see each other before our wedding. I absolutely hate sitting at a reception for an hour waiting for the wedding party to finish pictures. We refused to put our friends and family through such torture. Plus, who wants to miss a minute of their reception?
Our photographer set up the chapel with no one inside but the two of us (and him, snapping away). Josh had his back turned until I walked about halfway down the aisle.

Spending a few minutes admiring one another before the day gets crazy.
This is one of my sweetest memories of our wedding day.

The whole wedding party
Note the beautiful light streaming in the windows. If we'd waited to do pictures after the ceremony the photos would have been cavernous.

A windy, overcast, 70 degree January 1 created a fun outdoor shot

Programs ready to go

Saying a group prayer before the ceremony

About to walk down the aisle

We do!

It's official!

Ready to slice my cake

Cutting a piece of Josh's grooms cake

Loving our first few moments as a married couple.

Josh serenading me at the reception. He sang 'I Love You Truly' from It's a Wonderful Life.

Picture perfect day

This is a little more realistic

Stealing a kiss on our way out

In the limo

Everyone waving goodbye

This shot always makes me want to sing the song 'So Long, Farewell' from The Sound of Music

What a magical day! If you were at our wedding or have become a part of our lives since then we'd love to hear from you. Please comment below.

These are a few of my favorite things

JOSH IS FINISHED WITH HIS FIRST SEMESTER OF LAW SCHOOL!!!

Those of you who know our marriage well are aware of the fact that I'm only allowed one exclamation point per blog post...at most. All caps is an absolute no-no. There was just no other way to kick of this happiest of posts. Josh survived (and I'm sure kicked some major booty on) his first round of law school finals.

These are some things I am loving about the end of those pesky tests:

1. I woke up next to my hubby this morning
2. Ava gives a hearty belly laugh every time he enters our room and comes back out without a hefty book
3. His hair doesn't have twisted spots from 'twiddling' (although there is one adorable silver-colored one that sprouted this semester)
4. Two parent parenting is just SO much easier

Our sweet friends, the Browns, invited Ava and I over to make gingerbread houses on one of Josh's last nights of studying. Here are the silly girls working hard on their houses.

Getting down to buisness

The finished product

Playing a vintage Raggedy Ann board game

The Browns also treated us to some fancy desserts to celebrate the end of the semester.

We'd discussed our favorite desserts in Sunday school a few weeks ago.
Tiramisu for me
Turtle Cheesecake for Josh
Adorable sugar cookies for Ava

Amazing friends, thank you so much.

Since we will be leaving on Sunday for a whirlwind driving tour of Texas we decided to have our little family Christmas early. Here are each of our favorites:

A pink whistling tea kettle, love it

Josh has listened to me talk about New York City forever. It's a place I've never been but am extremely homesick to go to. I call it homesick because I don't know how else to describe my feelings. Perhaps Jay Z and Alicia Keys say it best, "The streets will make you feel brand new, Big lights will inspire you".
My sweet hubby gave me a trio of NYC themed gifts along with a promise to take me someday. He even addressed one of the gifts
To: BK from Texas
From: your Jay Z.
Those of you who know the song will understand the romance in the gesture.
Precious, and one of my favorite gifts ever.

My gifts for Josh were all about relaxing for the month. Some new Malcolm Gladwell books, a new Zelda game for his Nintendo DS, and some fun lawyer-themed cards (because to buy the print of this favorite The New Yorker cartoon was crazy expensive). I matted and framed one of the cards at Hobby Lobby. It works for now. The card reads, "You have a pretty good case, Mr. Pitkin, How much justice can you afford?"

Some yummy gifts for all three of us.

One of Ava's favorites - a laundry room for her dollhouse. Josh and I are extremely jealous of the Loving family these days.

She also got her first 'big girl' Legos and a Mrs. Potato Head.

I close this post with one of the best parenting tips I've ever heard. Some of you may have seen this before, and if you have I'm very mad at you for not sharing it with me. On Sunday morning at church our precious childrens minister, JJ, saw Ava and I struggling to put on her coat. She took a few moments to show us 'the flip'. After a few lessons from Grace, Ava is a pro at putting on her own coat. No frustrating 'I want to do it alone, but my arm is stuck' or 'No, this arm in this hole, no that arm, no your left one, no the other left one'.

The Flip
1st - You just lay the coat on the floor in front of your kiddo.
2nd - Have the kid stand at the end with the hood (or top if there is no hood).
3rd - Stick arms through the sleeves from the inside.
4th - Flip the coat over and on, the hood will automatically cover the head.
5th - Hit the road Jack 'cause you're ready

Still confused? Observe:

Merry Christmas from The Three 'Law'ketts!
(Oops, I used another exclamation point. Deal with it.)

100!

Welcome to my 100th blog post!

I got a little nostalgic when I saw that this would be my 100th post so I peeked back at my first one.

Oh so much has happened since I was preparing this little angel's nursery.

My sweet boss invited Ava and I to see The Nutcracker with some fun girls on Saturday afternoon. Luckily Baba and Pops recently outfitted Ms. Well (the doll formerly known as Noel) and Ava James in perfect Christmas ballet clothes.

Thanks to Little Einsteins Ava has been humming Tchaikovsky for weeks.

Ready to go with our 'up to something' faces.

Still trying to get a good shot of both of us

We need smile-at-the-same-time classes.

Almost an okay picture, strange height difference angle

Our pretty girls at The Nutcracker

Where should we look?

The little girls discussing plot lines in the ballet.

A little dramatic flare

Have you noticed someone missing from this 100th post?
Poor HLS. No rest (or fun) for the weary.

Three finals down, one to go.
Think of us on Friday at 1:00 when we celebrate the end of Josh's first semester of law school!

Gingerbaby

Since Josh's finals started on Tuesday Ava and I headed out of town for the weekend. He had the cozy castle all to himself and we were pampered in Clifton.

I've found that when we are with either set of Ava's grandparents I come out with less pictures than I plan. I'm not sure if it's because we are so relaxed, or just having so much fun that I don't grab my camera to snap along the way. Or maybe it's because this blog is 80% to give the grandparents an Ava fix when we're gone and I figure they know what happened while we were home. Whatever the real reason is, know that we had many unphotographed fun times with Baba and Pops.

On Saturday morning I headed to brunch with teacher friends and then to meet sweet baby Jack Arnold. Ava stayed to help Baba make gingerbread cookies.

Other than one who turned out looking like a close-up version of a fruit fly the cookies were adorable. Not many people in our family enjoy gingerbread, but my mom loves them enough for all of us. She bakes batches and batches. She even decorates the house with them. Long before there was a grandchild she would tell us that someday her grandkids would love gingerbread too. Well, I guess God heard Mom's desperate pleas for gingerbread-lovin' grandbabies. Ava LOVES the spicy little cookies.

I'm still not sure what all the fuss is about. What's a cookie without chocolate?

After experiencing some of the Norwegian Christmas Festival in Clifton we went on a country drive. Here are Ava and Pops at the waterfall.

Ava and I were a welcome study break for HLS when we returned on Sunday evening.

One final down, three more to go...then we're on vacation for a month!