Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great three day weekend. By some sort of magic, Matt got all three days off and we got to spend three lazy days enjoying some quality family time. We spend most of our weekend by the pool which Lucas of course absolutely loved. He told us he wanted to live at the pool. We'll have to check into that.

Haley with Baby Peter enjoying some poolside lounging. Emma and Lucas were too busy for pictures. 

I did catch one far away video of Lucas. Can you find him? (Hint: See the slide)

The time we spent away from the pool we spent in our backyard. We had sprinkler time, sandbox time, picnic time. In short we lived outside all weekend and loved it!

Hanging out on our deck. Lucas reading while Matt and I try to work on the long overdue birth announcements for HK.

Chetna's Bachlorette

 I traveled to DC last weekend to celebrate my good friend Chetna's last days of singlehood with an amazing Bachlorette party. I missed my sweet new baby (and of course my big boy) but it was so great to get to spend time with some of my absolute favorite people.

First a brunch and lingerie shower on the roof:

Our beautiful bride-to-be with the Whitley

A beautiful day for a roof brunch

 Then a tour to the Virgina vineyards in 75 degrees and sunny weather. What a perfect day!

Whitley's Happy Muppet face...I took this one for Matt

My friend India made us all personalized decorated wine glasses which she painted by hand! I'm still impressed. My favorites were Whitley's muppet glass (above... don't have a bigger picture sadly... but I've now requested drinking glasses for the kids) and of course my own (see below). Mine was ninja themed. I got to be the mommy/doctor ninja. Yay! It's kind of hard to tell but I'm holding Lucas in one picture (on the right below) and Haley in the one where I'm jumping up doing the splits (yes I wish I could do that). You're amazing India!

Outside at the Piedmont Vineyard after our first tasting:

Amazingly we found some energy after a day of wine tasting and sun to take on the DC night life. An amazing dinner at Buca di Beppo followed by a night out with our bachlorette. 

Congratulations Chetna and thanks so everyone that welcomed us in DC! I miss you girls already! Glad we get to see each other in 6 short weeks at the wedding!

It was wonderful to come back home to my sweet family. These are the pictures I got while I was away. I soaked up all my cuddles when I got back!

Dragon Park

We went to the park this afternoon. Reminded me of the last time we were there and this great photo op.

Lucas - Almost Three-and-a-Half

Writing about Haley, I realized that it's been a while since I've written about what Lucas is up to these days. He is so smart, funny, and unpredictable these days that I really want to be able to remember what this little boy was like at this age. One minute he drives his parents absolutely crazy and the next minute he is the sweetest boy one could imagine. He is stubborn, headstrong, energetic, but also cuddly, caring, and loving.

Some little things I want to remember about our little boy at this age:

Naps are now optional

He loves to read

He loves to help me cook. He's going to be the Chef in the family.

Bandaids are a popular fashion accessory

Morris is still his #1 sidekick

He loves to kiss on baby sister 

He loves helping Daddy in the yard. 

He loves Bubble Baths

He loves family cuddles and special treats out of his tiny yellow bowl

He adores his baby sister and is so sweet with her

He can't wait to learn how to ski

He just learned how to ride his big boy bike 

He is starting to replace Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with his new favorite TV show Dora.

And some other things:

-He adores popsicles (especially the homemade ones Oma makes)

-He loves going to "his" zoo. The monkeys are always calling for Lucas. Who knew "ee, ee, aa, aa" means "Lucas, where are you?"

-He has started calling me "sweet mommy" (only when he's not mad at me)

-He is addicted to the Beauty and the Beast music. Listens to it every evening until he goes to sleep. Thank you to friend Ellie who gave him the CD.
-He is not the best listener but usually reconsiders his options after being in timeout for a few minutes
-He calls our new SUV the "truck". Makes Daddy feel manly.

The list could go on. There is so much that's amazing about Lucas and I feel so lucky to get to be his mommy. He makes me laugh and I am so proud of him!

Haley - One Month

On May 5th my baby girl turned 1 month old. I am hoping that with a little more time on my hands with this baby I will be able to chronicle some of her growing up. She is an absolute sweetheart and our absolute joy!

She is still our little bit. By her 3rd weight check she was finally over birth weight and at her one month check-up she weighed 7#14.5 oz (25th %ile) and was 22 inches long (90th %ile). Long and skinny just like her brother. By now she is most likely over 8 pounds but I still have people in the grocery store stop and ask me how old she is because she's so little.

She is still a good sleeper occasionally sleeping 6-7 hours a night (amazing at her age). Lucas slept his first 7 hour stretch at 7 weeks ( I wrote it down because it was so memorable for this sleep deprived mommy). But she is for sure waking up more with long awake stretches during the day. I love seeing her bright eyes taking in the world and she is always so content.

And because I can't but help thinking back on Lucas being this little here are two pictures of my little boy at a month old. Especially the second one looks so much like Haley! Good thing most of our pictures are color coded.

Mother's Day

I love my sweet bunch! They made me breakfast and got me flowers and a card. Lucas even wrote an "L" on the card himself and made me the beautiful hat below at daycare. It doesn't quite fit but shhh don't tell.

Pre-Mother's Day

My mom spent the week with us to help me with the kids while Matt was off working way too much. Before leaving today we had a wonderful morning with a Mother's Day breakfast followed by a wonderful walk. Thank mom for everything you do and for a great week!

Surprises

An unexpected surprise from a group of second year medical students I taught. How sweet are they!

We Love Having a Real Yard!

Thanks to all the hard work to get rid of our jungle last year we finally have a real yard! It came to great use today when Lucas' friend Emma came over to play. Haley was oblivious to it all and enjoyed the warm afternoon air