Saturday, February 26, 2011

Basketball Saturday


It was a chilly afternoon, but we still managed to get in some basketball time in the backyard.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Sleepy lamb

Since Ben has been in California all week, I've had to learn how to juggle both kids during bath and bedtime. I came up with a system where I would take Vivi up with us in her bouncy seat, and then get Owen into the tub first before putting her in (in her baby tub inside the big tub).

Tonight when we were getting ready to head up to the bathroom, I grabbed Owen's sleepy lamb and put it on Vivi's lap as we marched up the stairs. We got upstairs and I started to fill up the tub. As I looked over at Vivian, she was cuddling with sleepy lamb. It was the sweetest thing to see.

I showed Owen saying, "Look bud, she loves your sleepy lamb." Owen quickly replied, "Yeah!" Then two seconds later, "She better give that back to me." :)
Ah, brotherly love.

Luckily she has her very own pink sleepy giraffe which was a gift from my cousin Brett and his wife Tara and daughter Kayden. Now that I know how much she liked her brother's so much, I'm going to make sure she gets lots of snuggle time with hers. :)

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Hershey babies lunch

Sarah and Erica are on maternity leave so we all decided to get together yesterday for lunch. It was our first time meeting baby Timothy - he is so adorable with an amazing head of hair and Blake was beautiful as always. The kids were all very well behaved and none of the babies cried the whole two hours we were there - amazing! :)

We're hoping to do it again sometime soon before we all go back to work.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Happy Birthday Honey!

Today Ben turned thirty-two in another time zone. He's in sunny, warm San Diego for a business trip so the kids and I woke him up at 4:30am singing "Happy Birthday" - hey, he's still on East coast time, so it was okay. :)

This picture is from my maternity session, but I love it so much so I wanted to share it. Happy Birthday to my incredible husband. You have always been there for me, have always supported me, and you continue to make my dreams come true. I love you so much and can't wait until you get home.

(so I can put you on diaper duty for four straight days with no break.) :) xoxoxoxoxoxo

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Countdown to Florida


Vivi decided to model one of her swimsuits to get in the mood for our trip to Florida next week. This is the first of several which will help us to get ready for the warm weather we are looking forward to enjoying while down there visiting Grandma, Poppy, Uncle Mike, Aunt Lindsey and our new cousin Max!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Loudoun Valley Vineyards for lunch

This afternoon we wanted to get some fresh air, so we headed out to one of our favorite vineyards, Loudoun Valley, for their chili and wine afternoon. When we got there, Owen had a playmate! The winemaker's son was there and he and Owen were almost the same age so they had fun running around together. Owen was even treated to a juice box and cupcake too! Ben and I enjoyed the chili and each had a glass of Traminette to go with. Then Vivi and I hung out inside watching Ben and Owen run around outside with the soccer ball Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Mike sent him for Christmas.

Luckily Owen stayed awake on the drive home and took a long nap. Vivi and I got out to do a little shopping and then called it a day. What a great start to our weekend.

Vivi has been sleeping like a champ lately. Two 8-hour nights and one 9-hour night this week!!! Here's hoping this trend continues! :)

Friday, February 18, 2011

Basketball on the deck

The weather was beautiful today - 70 degrees is unreal for us in February. So we took advantage of it by taking a long walk to the playground where we played for forty-five minutes before trekking home. Mommy got a serious workout pushing two kiddos in the double stroller. My estimate is that I'm pushing at least 100 pounds - 30 pounds is Owen, 30 is Vivi in her carrier, and the last forty is the stroller itself. I definitely felt it after Monday's walk, so I'm glad it's doing something for me. I'm so lucky that Owen will sit still in the stroller for long walks like that, but I think it's just because he and I used to do that walk several times a week when he was younger so he's used to it. Plus, it doesn't hurt that there is a reward at the end - getting to play on the playground (and fruit snacks for the ride home!).

We had lunch on the deck when we got back, and Owen played a ton of basketball before finally giving in to his nap. It was a really nice afternoon and the only thing missing was Daddy, but luckily he got home early and we went to Wegman's for family movie night and dinner which was really fun.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Hanging out - day 3

Owen woke up with a fever yesterday, so he was home with Vivi and I on a day when he would have normally been at school. I'm not used to having both of them home three days in a row and I'm a little bit stressed. Not to mention, I think I caught what Owen had (Ben had it before he passed it to Owen. I'm just waiting for Vivi to catch it.)
So yeah, it has been a long couple of days, but luckily today he's been pretty much back to normal. We were hanging out this afternoon when I snapped some pics. Vivi loved watching Owen run around and he had fun pretending the laundry basket was a train. :)

*** Vivian sleep update *** Monday night she slept for 8 hours straight! Who-hooo!!! 10pm until 6:15am and it was lovely. I'm hoping it continues, but am at least happy that her night sleep stretches have been growing. Yay for our good sleeper! :)

Sunday, February 13, 2011

First bath together

I thought it would be fun to document this. Pretty sure they won't appreciate it when they are older, but hey, that's life.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Vivian's 2-month check-up

Today is my 32nd birthday and Vivi's 2-month birthday! Ben wasn't feeling well today, so he took the day off from work. I knew he was really sick when he did this because he never calls in sick. So he spent the day in bed resting while Vivian and I went to see the pediatrician for her well-baby check-up.

Weight: 12 pounds, 6 ounces (75-90%)
Height: 22 & 1/4 inches (50%)
Head: 15 & 1/2 inches (50-75%)

I knew she had grown, but wow! She is over a pound heavier than Owen was at his 2-month check-up. She's our big girl! :)

We took some pictures on the pink blanket that Kelly, Matt & Kayla gave her with her name embroidered on it. Can't wait to see how much she grows between now and her 4-month appointment!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Dinner at Kayla's

Kelly invited us over for playtime and dinner tonight and Molly and Nate came too. The kids had a ball playing together and the mommies enjoyed catching up and eating Kel's latest culinary creation - Moroccan chicken. :)

Before we headed out we gathered the kiddos together on the couch for a picture. Molly kept them enthralled with "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and it was pretty funny sight when Kel and I joined in and the kids were staring at us like we were nuts. Fun times. :)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Waiting for our boys to come home

Vivi was hanging out in her bouncy seat while we waited for Ben and Owen to get home, so I snapped a few pictures. It was a fun way for us to pass the time....

Another thumb-sucker in the family?

We might have a future thumb-sucker on our hands! I caught Vivi sucking her thumb this morning after tummy time. This is definitely something that I hope does not continue. I was a thumb-sucker until about the time I entered first grade! My mom and dad tried everything to get me to stop - splints taped to my thumb, that nail polish with the bad taste, and many other techniques to get me to quit. But eventually I just gave it up on my own - not sure when. I would not like to go through that with Vivi. Taking the paci away is so much easier.

But still, it is pretty cute, dontcha think?

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Vivi enjoying her activity mat

Vivian has started to like hanging out on her activity mat after feedings. We usually do a little tummy time, then move over to the activity mat for a little bit, and the combination of the two tends to wear her out so she's ready for a nap. I took a little video clip (it's really boring, but I thought the grandparents would enjoy it). And yes, she has the hiccups again, they are still happening once or twice a day. Hopefully she'll outgrow them soon. :)

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

He asks again


Owen wanted to take more pictures holding his baby sister. This time she wasn't exactly happy the entire time, and ended up crying a bit which Owen found to be hilarious. Made for some cute pictures which I'm sure they'll get a kick out of when they're grown up.