John and Layne Get Married!

In early June we made our yearly trip back to the US to see family, shop, eat, and see John and Layne get married.  John is the baby of the family and the last one to get married.  John and Layne are both the life of the party so we knew this would be one unforgettable wedding and they did not disappoint!

John and Layne started dating after they met in Tiger Band at Clemson.  They dated a few years in school and after graduation, John made sure that Layne would come back after getting her masters at Ohio State by asking her to marry him.  For two years we all had to wait for this epic party but it was worth it.

The wedding was held in Rock Hill, SC where Layne's grew up.  Friday we spent getting the club house ready for the rehearsal dinner and enjoying some much awaited family time.

Caroline with her cousin Lauren.  Lauren loved helping out and taking care of Caroline.

Lauren and Matt playing at the rehearsal

Groom's cakes at the rehearsal dinner.  Patti Cakes does it again! So proud of my mom and her excellent work!

Tiger Band cake since that is where John and Layne met.  This snickerdoodle cake is accompanied with salted caramel cupcakes.

And a snickerdoodle beach cake since they love the beach and got engaged there.  Yes, those shells are edible.

Caroline ready to celebrate John and Layne!

The happy couple at the rehearsal dinner

Layne and all her college friends

Caroline didn't want to cooperate for a family picture 

It isn't a wedding without John and Layne singing "Don't Stop Believing'" at the top of their lungs

William is a party animal and his Uncle Chris is happy to party along

Rehearsal dinner party favors by Patti Cakes.  Delicious cookies hand decorated to look like mason jars to go with the country bbq theme. 

We partied Friday night away and continued the festivities on Saturday morning at the bridesmaids luncheon.

Layne's gift to the bridesmaids: Tom's shoes to wear at the reception.  Layne would be wearing blue ones under her wedding dress.

All the Cutshall women, minus Caroline who was sleeping, at the brunch

Layne with her Mom and Aunt Sylvia

Caroline finally woke up and joined the party

After the brunch we all had to go get our hair done and get ready for the wedding.

Layne and her signature pose

My mom with Caroline before the wedding

Thankfully this is how Caroline spent the whole wedding, snuggled up sleeping with her daddy

Happily married! 

My adorable nephew, William

Chris and Brett, married almost 1 year!

So glad that Katie and Adam could come!

The guys and their girls.  How the times have changed.

Perfectly normal for the bride to play the drums at her wedding.

William is the life of the party 

My Dad's favorite way to spend a reception, two years in a row

Adam likes to wobble... 

Second set on the drums!

Leaving the reception in the old bug, restored for the second time.

Some of the highlights from the wedding:

We had an absolute blast and are so happy Layne is officially part of the family!

2 Months! Back to Work I Go!

On the 16th Caroline turned two months!  It has been quite a month since I had to go back to work.  Once the grandparents left I had just one and a half weeks of maternity leave left and tried to make the most of it.  I finally got to live the life of an expat spouse like meeting Derek for lunch, coffee and lunch dates with friends, and grocery shopping when everything isn't so ridiculously crowded.  Caroline and I had a great time!

My first week back at work was a short one because Tuesday was a public holiday.  This made that first Monday bearable because I could spend the following day with my little girl.  Now that we are through my second week back we are finally settling into a routine.  Caroline is now sleeping 7-8 hours straight at night which means I'm not a complete zombie in the office.  It is hard to leave her every morning but it is made much easier knowing she is at home being well taken care of by her nanny, Fedelynn.

Caroline started rolling over from front to back starting at 5 weeks.  She has done it a handful of times since then although we haven't managed to catch it on camera.  At her 2 month appointment I told the doctor this and she seemed quite surprised and skeptical (it's a 3-4 month milestone) until she put Caroline down on her stomach to check her and she rolled right over.  Perfect timing!  This month Caroline has also started smiling at us and has started to talk a bit.  She loves when we talk to her and tries to join in on the conversation with her sweet coos.  She makes every single day brighter!  We are so fortunate to have such a healthy and happy little lady!

Just two weeks until she gets to make her first trip to the US!  After hanging around Singapore for two months, it is time to put that passport to good use.

Smiling at daddy

Just to show how much she has grown in 1 month!

2 Months 

1 Month

Grandparents Invade Singapore

The last few weeks have been pretty busy.   Derek's parents made the long journey to meet their first grandchild and we had quite a lot planned for their visit.  The first five days they were here they overlapped with my mom's visit so we got to do lots of fun things together.  With an adult to Caroline ratio of 6:1, I will just say she wasn't starved of attention.

Love at first sight!

Our first outing was to the Singapore Flyer.  We have intended to do this for quite sometime but whenever we would try to go our plans were foiled by the weather.  We finally had a good day and were able to go take in the sights of the city.

For Easter Sunday we all went to the Episcopal Church that we started attending here in Singapore.  I will have to take some pictures the next time we go.  It is rather different because it is open air, kind of like a pavilion.  It can make for a hot service but there are tons of expats and kids so that helps make us feel right at home.  After the service we headed to the high tea at the Swissotel.  This gives a whole new meaning to high tea as we were on the 69th floor overlooking Marina Bay.

View from our table

The ladies at high tea

Another activity we have been wanting to do was the Night Safari and we finally made it out there with our parents.  Unfortunately the pictures didn't come out too well but it was definitely a worthwhile experience.  You ride a tram through the various habitats and some of them are completely open so the animals can come right up to you if they wanted.  No animal encounters for us but it did feel eerily similar to Jurassic Park.

I finally got to cash in my foot massage gift certificate (thanks Bronia and Kathy!) and took Derek's parent along with me.  That is one thing I definitely love about Singapore.  Forty minutes of foot massage bliss.  I love them so much that I buy them in bulk!

The Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay has seasonal displays and since this is springtime for the northern hemisphere, they had a fantastic tulip display.  We thought it would be a great opportunity to go take a few family photos and enjoy the most beautiful tulips I have ever seen.

We also visited the other dome, Cloud Forest

We were sad to see our parents leave but we have really enjoyed settling into our own routine as a family.  It's hard to believe I only have one more day of maternity leave left.  Next week is undoubtedly going to be a tough one for me but at least I have the reassurance that Caroline will be well taken care of by our helper.  I am so lucky to have gotten to spend the last eight weeks with her.  I got to see her roll over for the first time (at 5 weeks!) and enjoy her first precious smiles.  I know it is just the beginning!