Ahh, Fall

We've actually had some fall around here this year.  Usually we get about two days of fall, then dive straight into winter blah, but not this time!

(I'm going to pretend that I didn't just have a 4 month hiatus from this blog, because nobody likes to read the "sorry I'm a bad blogger" posts)

Today we got to hang with some great friends, get some fresh air, eat fantastic food, and have LM reaching for his crib at bed time.  WIN, WIN, WIN, and WIN.

We started the day with a trip to a farm to pick pumpkins.  LM and JR go to run around a lot, which was great!  There were various farm animals around that the kids could pet, including a cow!

After wandering around for a while, we loaded up for the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch.  The ride was nice and the kiddos seemed to really get a kick out of it.

Once in the pumpkin patch the kiddos got to do some more exploring.  I think they really enjoyed the freedom!  They were like little adventurers tromping through the jungle.

After nap time we all reconvened at another friend's house for more play time and dinner.  The dinner was ah-mazing (green beans & pancetta?  why, yes, thank you!) and it was fun to have the kids all in one place.  We spent a lot of time laughing at ourselves, too - only 33 months ago, our dinners together were beginning at 8pm and lasting into the following day, and now everyone has to be headed home by 8pm to make bed time!

Anyway, we got to eat outside and the company was wonderful.  I hope you're all (whoever is left of you) having a great fall, too!

Rollin' With My Homie

Little Man's friend, JR, came over a few Sundays ago. They are both pulling up and standing now, which made play time more fun for everyone!

After a while, they asked to head down to the neighborhood park, so we busted out the double stroller. I think it took us 20 minutes to walk 4 blocks because we were taking so many pictures!

The dads had fun, too - it was a fabulous spring day! Hooray for friends, parks, and sunshine!

Buddies

Little Man has a friend, we'll call him JR. They are only a couple of months apart in age, so as they grow the gap will shrink and I can't wait!


They are going to be so much fun together.


Lucky for us, we adore his parents and are looking forward to many years of play dates, sporting events, and general little boy mischief!

Gobbler IV

We joined some friends for Thanksgiving, the fourth (I think) that they've hosted at their house, hence "Gobbler IV."


They have an 11 month old daughter who is crawling around, pulling up, and just standing up all over the place! It was a little disconcerting to see how mobile she is, and that she is only a few months ahead of Little Man.


We were a little late, but they had built in some wine and cheese time so dinner went off on schedule. Of course, LM decided he needed to eat right around the time that we sat down to eat, but that is life with a little one!


I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I know we did!

Weekend Wrap Up

This is the "we need a babysitter" edition.

We have awesome friends and neighbors who are willing to watch Little Man for us when we need to be out at night, but it is getting to be time for us to get a real babysitter. By 'real' I mean someone that we pay to come hang out with LM, like a high schooler.

Friday night, Frank and I attended the Young Life South Arlington Banquet. It was really fun and it has reignited my desire to be involved with YL. Frank and I are hoping to contribute some of our time and resources to YL-SA in the near future, we'll have to wait and see what exactly God has planned for us in that area. They are a small but feisty group, and we can't wait to get to know everyone better.

Saturday, Frank spent the morning volunteering his lawyerin' talents out in Fairfax so LM and I hung out around the house doing stuff like laundry and making baby food. That afternoon, I got to spend some time with Tina and do a little shopping - we both needed new outfits for a friend's birthday dinner that night. It was way overdue, it has been ages since the two of us got to spend that kind of time together. Saturday night we went to our friend's birthday dinner and had a blast. It was a group of people that we don't see that often anymore, so it was great to catch up and just hang out.

This week I'm hoping to getting around to finding a babysitter so we can stop begging our friends to spend their weekend evenings on our couch. We'll see how it goes!

Wordless Wednesday: DC Livin'

Unintended Compliments

I try not to brag here, at least not about myself, but I can't contain just how flattered I was the other day when a friend unintentionally paid me an enormous compliment. I happen to think that the unintended compliments are the best, so natural and just wonderful in their nature.

I was at a the baby shower I was co-hosting and a friend who had her second baby in July just looked at me and asked "how did you lose the weight"?

Might not seem like a compliment to you, but to me it was a HUGE compliment! I worked really hard to drop as much baby weight as I could before my brother's wedding and before I had to go back to work. And even though I'm still carrying an extra 10lbs (which I've decided to not try to lose until we're finished nursing), I feel pretty good about the shape I'm in. (sometimes I get down on my pudge, I can't help it)

I was so flattered to be asked the question because the question assumes that I have lost most of the weight.

Once I gave my answer (Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred), my friend said "now, I gained 50 lbs with this baby" and I laughed and said "I gained 46 - it works, I promise"!

The best part was that this conversation was had over the most delicious apple cup-pies I've ever had. And that is how I'm going to hang onto those last 10lbs.

Truckeroo 4

Truckeroo 4 was not as awesome as the first 2 we attended. This was mostly due to three things:

1. It was cold. Even before the sun set, it was chilly and windy. When the sun went down, it was down right cold. I was not dressed for cold weather, and while LM was wearing extra layers he wasn't wearing enough warm layers to hang out for too long.

2. It was crowded. Truckeroo has been getting lots of press, positive press, and rightly so! It is a fun evening that does something I've never seen another DC event do - it crosses all social boundaries! Everyone loves food trucks, and so everyone comes to Truckeroo. I think we'll have to start attending during the day to make this a worthwhile event for us. That would require me to take time off of work, so maybe it will be a once a summer thing for us going forward.

3. My so-far-favorite truck didn't have my favorite dish available. I have been waiting for this dish (goat cheese mac n cheese with swiss chard and garlic chicken) for WEEEEEKS. Needless to say, I was bummed when they didn't have it listed on their menu for the day. I'll be writing a letter to management to voice my displeasure (actually, I'll just tweet at them, they'll get it faster).

All in all, the Truckeroo experience has been a fun one and I hope they will do it again next year! Maybe they'll start earlier in the spring, too. And maybe they'll do a Saturday offering for those of us working parents....something else to tweet, I'm full of tweets today.

Swimmin'

We went swimming a couple of weekends ago at a friend's house. It was Little Man's first time in a pool, and it went really well!

I was expecting some tears since the water was pretty cold and it really wasn't that hot outside, but he was a total champ and seemed to enjoy himself!

It helped that they had an awesome floaty boat for him to cruise around in. Frank even got him kicking at the end!

Little Man's Dedication

Last Sunday, Frank and I made some big promises to Little Man. We made promises about how we will parent, how we will teach him, how we will love him, and how we will do better than our best with the help of the Lord.

The Pastor who lead the service is the Pastor for children & families at our church. He is a very nice man and I'm excited about the prospect of Little Man getting to grow up attending the fantastic programs that Pastor Owen has implemented.

Little Man was very attentive through our part of the service. He has gotten really good at looking at whomever is speaking, so he did a great job of following the action. The congregation had a few opportunities to laugh, and while LM looked shocked he never cried!

The Pastor threw us an unexpected question (LM's birthday) and Frank wasn't prepared to answer. This was the source of congregational laughter, but in his defense we didn't know the question was coming and I would have hesitated, too.

My favorite thing (and the one thing we didn't take pictures of) was that we had more than 15 people come to support us and Little Man! Frank and I felt so blessed to have so much love poured out on our little guy. We have some awesome friends, and they made that day one that will be remembered for a long time.

Truckeroo

We went to Truckeroo last night! Turns out that during the summer, there is a monthly food truck gathering down by Nationals Park. A friend of ours posted something about it and we decided to check it out.

We originally planned to go for lunch, but the husbands decided that they wanted to come, too, so lunch became dinner. It worked out so well to do dinner! We managed to get there by about 6pm, thereby beating the crowds and getting seats at a table.

Frank and our two friends all got in line at the lobster truck and had lobster rolls. They all raved about them, so I suppose that is good. I, personally, am not a fan of lobster rolls - between the lobster being cold and the addition of mayonnaise, it just isn't my favorite. I had a buffalo chicken wrap (shocking, I know) that was tasty and not at all messy!

Then there was pie. Apple Caramel Crumb and Strawberry/Rhubarb - both tasty, but not entirely earth shattering. This lead my friend and I to decide to open our own pie business in Arlington. I think there is some major opportunity there, but I won't say more because I don't want to give away our awesome business plan. :)

Henry made the trip in the Ergo, sleeping about half of the time and just looking around the other half.

All in all, a very successful outing and one we hope to attempt again next month! Truckeroo!

Mother's Day Weekend

This was my first Mother's Day and it was great! I heard from lots of friends and family, got a sweet card from my husband and son, and did lots of fun stuff on Saturday and Sunday!

Saturday began with a Mother's Day weekend treat for me, breakfast at Bob & Edith's Diner! We strapped LM to Frank with the Moby and walked down to Columbia Pike. The breakfast was tasty and it was fun to be out with my two men! The rest of the morning was spent doing something I love...cleaning, reorganizing, and moving furniture! My wonderful husband, who knows that accomplishing tasks makes me happy, happily assisted me with the various projects.

After getting good and gross, we decided to clean up and attend a Derby party at our friend Anna's apartment. I'm SO glad we went! It was nice go get out and socialize, and with Little Man being as easy going as he is he was a dream the entire time (he mostly slept, per his self-ascribed nap schedule). I don't have a hat, and keep meaning to get one...maybe by next year!

Saturday night was the first time that he almost made it through the night, but that meant lots of waking up to squirm and fuss, which means lots of awake time for me as I gage the situation and decide if he really needed me or not (usually it was not).

Sunday included a little more moving/organizing, then we took another long walk to meet an old friend for lunch. We plopped LM into the Bob (our first Bob outing!), leashed up the hounds, and took off on the 1.3 mile walk to Baja Fresh. It is a nice distance and it was a perfect day for a walk, warm enough without being hot and slightly overcast.

Waiting for us at Baja was my friend, Elizabeth! We grew up next door to each other in SC, and lived together one summer in Chapel Hill after college. We don't get to see each other often as she is in Atlanta, so it was a great treat to get to have lunch with her while she was in town! We also got to meet her boyfriend (finally!) that I've been hearing about for years now! I will say, he lived up to the hype - AND no one ever mentioned that he works for chick-fil-a...that is what Frank calls "burying the lead"!

It was so fun to visit with them, and I'm glad that they got to meet LM when he is still so little. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll get to see them again this summer when we go to SC!

We walked back home and ended the day with a few episodes of Cheers (we're watching the entire series on Netflix - I LOVE Coach!). All in all, a great weekend thanks to LM, Frank, and my awesome friends!

I hope all of you other moms had a great weekend, too!

Thankful Thursday

New tradition! Thankful Thursday. Here we go:

I am thankful for my friends. I've been blessed with some amazing friends throughout my life, beginning in preschool and continuing through today. Some of those friends I've known for 27 years (almost 28), while others that I've known for less than a year make me wonder what life was like before they came along.

I'm one of those people that didn't hate high school, and I think it was because I had so many awesome friends that I got to see every day. I'm still friends with a lot of people from high school, from all different groups, and I love it!

College brought a whole new kind of friend - almost exclusively female, for starters - and I can't tell you how much of an impact those girls have had on my life. I can call one of my college friends and pick up a conversation that started months or years ago, and it seems that no time has passed!

I don't live close to many of my high school or college friends these days, so I treasure the times when we are together! Going home to either of the Carolinas is such a treat for me, and it makes me miss my friends every time I leave.

The friends that Frank and I have made in Northern Virginia have had an enormous impact on our lives. We have friends from work, church, and 'other' and I can't imagine what it would be like to live here without them!

I am so blessed to have so many friends that really truly love me. I truly can never thank them enough for all of the ways that they make my life better, though I try when I have the chance.

Thank you to everyone that I call a friend - I hope that I am as good at loving you as you are at loving me!

I'm Excited About: Carmen!

My little Carmacita is coming to visit today! She arrives this afternoon around 4:30 via Mega Bus, which conveniently drops off passengers about a block from my office.

I have no idea what we'll do this weekend, especially since I'm not supposed to over-exert myself physically (makes being touristy tough when you're not supposed to walk at speed for more than a few feet at a time...) but I'm sure we'll have fun no matter what we decide!

I think the most interesting little factoid about my Carmacita is that I love her so much that when I moved to DC I kind of acquired a DC version of her. I swear it wasn't on purpose, and I didn't even realize it until the two of them met, but Tina and Carmen...kind of the same person...


Carmen is also one of my 'little sisters' from Salem. I think she officially has another Big, but I claim her as mine anyway! She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and is a constant source of entertainment in my life.

I'm so excited that she is coming to visit, I'm sure I'll be completely exhausted by the time the weekend is over but it will all be worth it!

And also, Happy (30th) Birthday to my big brother, Rob!

I'm Excited About: Baby Stuff

This weekend I'm attending a baby shower for some friends of ours, then on Monday I'm going in for my 2nd trimester screenings appointment and hopefully another sonogram (or at least a doppler).

The baby shower rush that hit me during the last 12-18 months slowed down a few months ago so it has been a while since I've attended one. I'm really looking forward to this shower as it is a different group of people than usual - not that I don't love the 'usual' crowd, I'm just excited to see and meet new friends, too!

Speaking of the 'usual' crowd, I just have to mention that they are some of the coolest and kindest ladies you could ever hope to call your friends. As the news of our pregnancy made the rounds, I got calls, emails, and even cards from many of the women whose babies we've celebrated in this past year and a half. And the advice is priceless! They are all too sweet to offer advice, and they are right there for me with my endless list of questions and concerns.

I'll let you know how the next appointment goes, but don't hold your breath hoping to find out if we're having a boy or a girl - we're waiting for the birth to find out ourselves!

I'm Excited About: 3rd Annual Clothes Swap

The clothes swap is tomorrow! The clothes swap is tomorrow!

There isn't one part of this event that doesn't excite me! I get to hang out with lots of great girls, shop for free clothes in my own home, eat yummy treats, and get rid of some of the 'stuff' in my life. Sounds like a heavenly day to me!

Here is a final plea (and invitation) to scrounge up your 'stuff' and head over to our house tomorrow at 12 noon. Just look at the list of great things about the event! How can anyone say no to that?

And a reminder that even if you can't come for the actual event, or if you can only come for 5 minutes - come anyway and dump your stuff! I'll happily take it to the donation center with everyone else's stuff. (And you can claim the charitable donation for yourself, I only claim the things that are mine, fyi)

I hope to see you tomorrow!

28-35

Frank and I took a little road trip to Philadelphia this past weekend with another couple who went to college with Frank. We went to the University of Pennsylvania to see Dartmouth take on Penn in football.


The drive up was mostly uneventful, save a little bit of heavy traffic here and there. The ladies took the back seat and we never ran out of things to talk about, which I partially credit to the fact that we're both pregnant! Although, she is all 'cute pregnant' with her bump and I'm still just 'bloated pregnant' with the only bump being the extra pounds I've started to collect.

The game was exciting, even leading to a riveting overtime, but in the end Penn came away with the win. Dartmouth played a great game, and the surprisingly large crowd cheered with energy throughout the entire afternoon. Their record is now 2-1, which is a pretty good start for the Big Green!


One weird thing...at the end of the third quarter, when the Penn side sang their alma mater, they threw toast down onto the track around the field. Frank said it is a tradition based on a pun of "give a toast to dear old Penn," but we all agreed it seemed silly, wasteful, and messy. They even had a zamboni-like vacuum machine that some poor groundskeeper had to drive around during the fourth quarter to pick up all of the bread!


The weather was perfect, if not a little on the warm side, the company was excellent, and the game was great (up until the very end). All in all, a great way to spend a fall Saturday!

Visitors

We have two friends staying with us for a little while - one is a person and one is the sweetest, most well-behaved golden retriever you've ever met! We're happy to have both of them here, and I think even the hounds are learning to enjoy sharing their space!

Here is Hamilton (the non-snuggly one) hanging on his bed with Ms Milly (also not much of a snuggler, at least with other dogs) - both being very careful to have no contact with each other. Its like a jr. high dance on that dog bed!


We're hoping the hounds will pick up some of Milly's good manners while she is here. No luck so far, but we've got time.


I didn't want to leave the little dude out, so here is a gratuitous (and weird) picture of Rutledge.

Home, for now

We're back in the weekly routine at home after a successful trip to Charleston, SC for my friend Adair's wedding. Not even the threat of hurricane force winds and rain could keep us away - though it did alter our travel plans a bit. Worked out, though, we got to spend the night with T & Lisa in NC and the hounds got to hang with Guinness, the largest lab they've ever seen.

Here are some pictures of the weekend. We hit the Charleston Riverdogs game on Saturday evening with Hillary, Abigail and Jason. Then the rest are from the wedding itself (which was at the SC Aquarium, sweet!)



Adair and her husband, Dave, dancing at their reception.


Yes, Abigail and Shannon are wearing life preservers. Yes, all three of them look uncomfortable. Blame it on the "Shark Attack."


Frank and me at the reception.

Puppy Visit

We have a third dog this week! Can you count all three in this picture?


This is Canela, the Finnish Spitz. Her owners are in Hungary for the week so she is hanging with us. She and Hamilton are good friends, Rutledge is a little too friendly with her, which she doesn't really care for...