Work Shower

Mark and I had the last of our big, planned showers last week and here are some of the pictures. It was so nice of all of our friends to come and support us. Well, I'm not sure if it's support or pity at the thought of twins! Ha. Anyway, it sure was fun and our hostesses, Tami and Sydney, did such a great job! We have some truly wonderful friends.

This is the most amazing cake! Our friend Marcia made this. She's too talented for words. And - it also TASTED good.

Mom and Dad to be wearing our medals

Mark was a little late, so Andrew filled in as a surrogate father in the meantime.

Marcia and Herley - they snuck out for a night away from their 5 mo old son, Salvador.

Herley, Sean, and Alok - Clearly stirring up trouble by the Golden Tee Machine.

These are the pink mint feet Marcia made. Again, cute AND tasty.

Mom and Dad opening the gifts.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful presents for the girls.

Oh boy. Good thing he has a 9-mo Designated Driver.

The Girls' Nursery (Phase 1)

The paint is done and the crib has been assembled. Mark even carried the glider and ottoman up from the basement. That's right - by himself. Back off ladies, he's mine. Although there is still a lot of work to do (dresser, wall art, etc), it's nice to see the nursery finally making some progress. The wall color is absolutely stunning in person and goes really well with all the white and sage we have in the room. We will keep you posted, but for now, here are a few pictures to give you an idea of the progress.

Crib with Glider and Ottoman

Two Bird Pictures

Topeka Shower

Another great shower this weekend in Topeka! The girls are getting so many wonderful things for their nursery. And the clothes are so adorable, I just can't believe what a fan of pink I'm becoming! Here are some fun pictures from Saturday.
Here are my hostesses - Carley and Kelly Zimmerman and Pat Dickinson

Grandma Starr - up from Oklahoma for the day - what a trooper!

The girls' lake outfits

My Black Irish family - Casey and Mary Kennedy and Sara Wright

What kind of trouble are THESE two stirring up?

Comparing bellies with my friend, Zann. She's 3 days ahead of me.
So much fun. Thank you everyone!!!

KC Shower

This past weekend was the first baby shower for the girls. Lots of KC family and friends attended and it was a fantastic time. The food was scrumptious and we received tons of wonderful gifts that the girls are sure to enjoy when they get here. Thank you everyone - especially my gracious hostesses - Laurie Dack, Jen Ray, and Molly Moore!!

Tell me those petit fours don't look yummy! I can assure you, they WERE!


Nancy, Emily, and Laurie


Jennifer, Linda, and Koffee

This is a lot of pink, you guys...

My best good friends - Dana, Jen, Tami, and Sydney

Kiki


Sydney, Jen, and Me


Beautiful flowers from Molly


Molly's anniversary flowers from Colin - very sweet...

Thanks again!!!

Cabin Fever Sustenance

What do the Starrs do when we're stuck in the house during the freezing Kansas winter? We bake! Mark got me this boss new tart pan for Christmas, so I thought I would repay him with the delectable treasures below...

This is a pear almond tart. I had something like this at a French Bistro on the Plaza and have always wanted to try to duplicate it at home. The custard, or Frangipane, is made of ground almonds, almond extract, sugar, rum, and eggs.

My first quiche! It is filled with onions, bacon, and swiss cheese. Grandma Frances would have been so proud of me - I even weighted the crust with beans and baked it before I filled it and finished it off in the oven. She may have even overlooked the fact that I did not use IMPORTED Swiss cheese.

Yum. By the way - Cooks Illustrated magazine has the best pie crust recipes ever.

That's a wrap!

Whew! Finally, here are some of our Christmas pics from this year. It was a fantastic holiday having Janie and Jessie here from Oklahoma to celebrate with us. I hope your family had a warm and wonderful season as well! Ho Ho Ho

These are the napkins from Molly, Colin, and Bambino Yames in Texas. The ones from Kansas say "Merry Christmas, you guys."

Jessie, Janie, and Mark under the Starr Christmas Tree.

Opening presents Christmas morning. Grandma Janie finds out about her granddaughters.

Daddy Marko imagining what next Christmas will be like with 2 little bambinas.

Santa dog managed to bring something special for Blue - all the way from Canada, apparently.

Looks like Santa has had one too many spiked eggnogs this year.

Grrrrrr - MAD DOG! MAD DOG!!!! Blue donned a white beard for his role as Santa.

White Christmas in Olathe.

Happy New Year everybody!!!!

Blush and Bashful

Well, we had another "Level 2" sonogram on Wednesday and the doctor told us we are having two girls. This contradicts the earlier doctor - who told us at 13 weeks that one was definitely a boy. We have another appointment in four weeks where we fully expect to hear that we're actually having two boys....Stay tuned. It's a nailbiter. I think the sonogram pictures below are amazing. Both are of the head (profile) and shoulders looking up.
Sweet Baby A

Sweet Baby B (if that's not Mark's profile, then I don't know what.)

The Weather Outside is Frightful!

The snow has started to fall here in O-Town. Blue is so excited he is begging to go out every 15 minutes to roll in it (I'm guessing he's making snow angels). Here are some early pictures. More tomorrow! Stay warm everyone!!!

Thanks Family!

My family sent us a beautiful centerpiece of flowers from balmy Beaumont, TX today. Thank you so much! They are beautiful. They probably pitied us for the snowstorm we're getting hammered with right now....

The Candy Chronicles

This year, I decided to break my usual Holiday baking tradition of pecan balls and spritz cookies and venture into the candy realm. And, it worked out very well! Below are the pictures of the butter caramels and marshmallows I made on Monday. Unfortunately, only few remain of each. What will we leave for Santa on Monday night??? Better go get some Oreos.