Welcome, Daniel Isaac!

On August 18 at 9:37 am, little Daniel Issac joined the party at 21 inches long and 8 lbs., 14 oz. He's sweet as pie and is so loved by many already, but it should be noted that I spent >20 hours in a car to meet him, so I feel like "Best Auntie" was an earned title. Note: I still loathe toll roads, all of Canada and public restrooms. But this boy? Love him.

In related news, I recently started having a love affair
with hot rollers. Best life idea, ever.

Who cancels Halloween?

The entire state of Connecticut, that's who. I guess an unexpected hammering of snow will do that to you.

Kelli said it was like a movie - trees down everywhere, no power, and utter chaos. They are safe and sound, but what an experience!

And so, October 2011 marked the first time my sweet 'lil Samuel saw snow. And it was DELIGHTFUL. He loves the white fluffly stuff almost as much as his Aunt Kristi. Behold:


 

Yes, as crazy as it looks, that's a totally legit video taken in Kelli's front yard on October 29, 2011. Mother Nature is NOT fooling around, people. Also? Hi, Ruth!

If you're having a case of the Mondays...

I implore you to look at this and not smile:

You're welcome.

Niephew is a NEPHEW!

It's a BOY!

Samuel Jeffrey Turner was born at 4:15 am on Feb. 13 @ 8 oz. 10 lbs & 20 in. via c-section after THIRTY HOURS and FORTY FIVE minutes of labor. My sister is a saint.

He's perfect and precious and I simply could not love him more.

And also? Alex totally got it right:


Sorry it's sideways. FB won't let me rotate it for some reason.

Showered With Love.

Mom, Jill and I hosted Kelli and David's baby shower the weekend of Thanksgiving. And for a girl that loves themed events, this might have been one of my best yet.

K & D had a bird theme at their wedding, so I took the graphic from their invitations (created by the incredibly talented Jackie at blue soleil design) and added a little nest to it. INSTANT THEME.

"The Turners are expanding their nest!"

Mom took the rest and ran with it to create the perfect "shabby chic" look we were going for. We lined the tables with brown paper and cute green and white polka dot wrapping paper and placed crayons around so our guests could doodle on the paper.

We also placed "tweet" bags at each place setting filled with birdseed for guests to take home for the birdies in their neck of the woods. The menu was soup in bread bowls, so the spoons were placed in a glass canning jar at each table.

Some of the tables had canning jars filled with birdseed with twig branches coming out of them. On the branches we hung small glass bird ornaments, also for the guests to take home.

On the appetizer and dessert table we had some yummy snacks and cuppycakes with toasted coconut and M&Ms on top to look like little bird nests. Oh, and look closely at the plates - can you BELIEVE we found those to match everything? Hobby Lobby rules.

We also placed white onesies at each table in varying sizes with fabric markers. Each table got artistic and created special and unique onesies for lil' niephew. It turned out to be a lovely day and niephew got LOADS of new stuff. (S)he is very loved!

And if you ever needed a reason to not hire Joe and me to bake the desserts for your next function...

Como Say Whaaa?

Yesterday, I heard the following words/phrases uttered from some of the most brilliant minds in the industry:

• Reduplicate.
• Over redundant.

For real. And no, I don't work in the Department of Redundancy Department. But I do think it's fun to reduplicate some over redundancies on le blog. It makes me feel smart, if nothing else.

In unrelated news, today is the day Kelli and David COULD find out le sex of my niephew. But they are electing not to, which is absolutely going to be the death of me. I do not understand how anyone could possibly NOT find out. I'm a planner. A know-er. A do-er. A re-duplicater.

Oh, and their baby shower? I'm attempting to top the greatest wedding shower/bachelorette party of all time, but I'm not sure if it will be possible. Mostly because I can't obsess over all things blue or pink for an over-the-top theme. This gender neutral stuff is really for the birds. A hint, perhaps?

Listen Up!

I have an announcement to make: I'm expecting!











...a niece or nephew!

Bwaaahahaha. That was a mean trick, no?

Anyway, on or around February 14, Kelli will birth little "Baby Valentine" and make my Mom the happiest woman in the galaxy with grandbaby #2. Seriously. I think the woman was born to be a Grandma. For the record, I am what one could call over le moon about this news...except for one peeny, weeny detail that is may-jah-ly getting in my way: the entire state of Connecticut.

CT is not MI. And thusly, I cannot see my sister every day. I cannot rub her belly whenever I want. I cannot pick her up randomly one night to go on an adventure to Meijer to curb her latest cheesy poof craving. I cannot leave work and show up at the hospital 10 minutes after her water breaks in a state of panic/elation. I cannot visit her every single day after the baby is born and laugh as she hooks herself up to the "milking machine." Basically, I can't do all the amazing things she did for me while I was pregnant. And it sucks. A great, great deal.

But, the upside of this is that I'M GETTING A NIEPHEW! That's what I've nicknamed le babe. They will not find out the sex, so I can't specifically say 'neice' or 'nephew'. And so, I combined the two words and made up my own. Niece + Nephew = Niephew! In related news, I always get the i-e arrangement in niece wrong. Thank you, schpellchek.

Now, it's time to plan a shower with Mom and Jill!!

And What A Weekend It Was!

My big sister is MARRIED! It all feels like a dream...but it was an awesome weekend. And despite the fact that it was late November in mid-northernish Michigan, the weather was incredible. I'll be sure to post some of the profesh pics when she gets them, but here are some to tide you over:


The new Mr. & Mrs. Turner! She was a stunning bride.


The whole fam-damily.

With my fab SIL, Jill. Also a good shot of the flowers. They were SO cool!

My boys. Alex's tux was ridiculously adorable. Bowtie and EVERYTHING!

Rockin' out to the Gator (aka "Takin' Care of Business"). It should be noted that there has never been one event (prom, homecoming, weddings...even my OWN) that I did not do the Gator proudly from start to finish. Six-and-a-half minutes of pure, sweaty dancin' goodness.

For now, I must go clean my house tornado-style in preparation for Thanskgiving festivities. Yes, we're hosting. I don't know what I was thinking, either.

Turner & Co.

Since invitations have been mailed (and received), I can finally reveal some of the exciting details for Kelli and David's shower. For those not in the know, Kelli's trading in 'Talicska' for 'Turner' on November 22. Which is rather exciting because her monogram won't change!

Since all things wedding must have themes, the theme for the Michigan shower Mom and I are hosting will be "Turner & Co." <--I know, right?!?

Here's how the fab invitations turned out (designed, of course, by Jackie of bleu soleil design):

(click image to enlarge)

They were tied with a white satin ribbon and adorned with a sparkly "gift tag" that read: You're Invited. Basically the single greatest invitation to ever be mailed.

I can't reveal much more right now since most of the details must remain a surprise for Kelli and David until that day, but I promise you it will be fab. And I will provide and in-depth review on Oct. 12.

I Do. Me Too.

So, the childrens got themselves good and married on Friday and are currently off somewhere warm and fabulous eating and drinking themselves into oblivion. I am jealous beyond words.

However, there day was super fabulous and fun. I laughed, I cried...and made damn sure mom and dad got a decent ROI on the bar bill.

Meet the new Mr. & Mrs. Talicska, courtesy of le cell phone. (Profesh pics to come soon...their photographer was super!)




Today I was also going to write about the FUNNIEST story of all, but it's already been drafted and published by mi hermana. Click here for a good laugh about how and why my future brother in law drank an ENTIRE glass of fish water at the reception. Yes. Fish water.