Thursday, March 31, 2011

Babylegs

At the huge kid's consignment sale this past weekend, I scored an adorable pair of Babylegs for only $2! I couldn't wait to try them on Vivi and see how cute she looked in them.

Vivi didn't seem as excited about them as I was. Oh well. They're still adorable. :)

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Spring is in bloom

We took this picture over a week ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting it. (I blame my first week back at work for my lack of real-time posts this week.)

The daffodils in our backyard are in full bloom again, so we did a repeat picture (plus our latest addition.)

Monday, March 28, 2011

Vivian's first day of school; Mom goes back to work

Today was my first day back at work. I accepted an offer to return to Patch as a sales recruiter, and the contract will last three to six months, possibly longer. I'm sad about having to be away from the kids for the majority of the day, but at the same time, I'm glad for the opportunity to return to the corporate world for the moment, and I know the kids are in good hands. The same ladies who cared for Owen when he was in the infant room at Kindercare are still there, so they will be excited to get to take care of Vivi and I know she will get lots of love and attention.

Owen loves his teachers and his classmates, so I knew the transition to full-time would be an easy one for him. I had him wear his "Big Brother" tee shirt today and when I dropped him off Miss Megan said that she would take him over to the baby room to visit Vivi during the afternoon. It was a whole lot easier dropping Vivian off for her first day at daycare than it was the first time I dropped Owen off. But I think that is just a result of being a more experienced mom. At least that is what I kept telling myself on the drive to work. :)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Exersaucer fun

At the huge kid's consignment sale I went to yesterday, I bought an extra exersaucer to have upstairs for when Ben or I need to shower and want to put Vivi in it for entertainment. I think she is the same age as the first time that we put Owen in it, we decided to give it a try since she's so "solid". :) She did great and had fun with all the toys that played music. Owen helped too. :^)

Vivi Photobook ~ her first 3 months

Click here to view this photo book larger

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Baby brunch

My old co-worker Sandra invited us over for a Baby Brunch today. She's originally from El Salvador, so they served an authentic Salvadorian meal. Everything was delicious and it was so fun to catch up with Sandra and her husband Adam, meet their new baby Hugo, and meet their friends and their kiddos. We had a great time and look forward to seeing them again in May at the Reston Arts Festival.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Go Dukes!

Vivi inherited this pink JMU onesie from Kayla and today was the perfect day to wear it with our cute flower print pants that Grandma Marshall got her.

Reminded me of Owen's JMU photo shoot. Such cute little Dukes. :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Swimming - lesson 13

Owen has been in ISR swimming lessons now for a few weeks. Today was his 13th lesson (the lessons are each only 8-10 minutes long, 5 days a week). He's doing really well and loves going to his lessons. His teacher Miss Nancy says he's doing an excellent job, he's very comfortable in the water, and that he has great breath control. Such great breath control that he doesn't want to float and rest for more than a second or two before swimming again. We're working on getting him to take longer rests in his float.

Hershey babies lunch #2

We had so much fun last time, we thought we'd do one more lunch together before we all go back to work in the next few weeks. We met up again in Fredericksburg and had lunch at the Olive Garden. Owen was in daycare, so it was just me and Vivi. The babies have all grown so much in just a few short weeks.

We had a really nice time catching up and sharing our favorite stories of adjusting to life with our new babies. :)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Welcome baby Ryan!!!

Happy Birthday
Ryan Michael Taeschner
March 23, 2011 @ 2:01am
8 pounds, 11 oz & 21+ inches

Welcomed with love by Kelly, Matt and proud Big Sister Kayla
Congratulations!!!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Pink pearl necklace

Kayla forgot her pink pearl necklace at our house yesterday. Ben put it in a drawer in our kitchen last night because Owen wanted to take it in the bath. This morning when he woke up and we came downstairs for breakfast, the first thing Owen did was open the drawer and pull out the pink pearl necklace. Of course he asked me to help him put it on. You know, because it matched his outfit so perfectly.

I let him wear it all day and forgot he still had it on when we went to swimming. I noticed it as we walked in while another mom held the door for us. She said she liked it. :)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Winery Saturday


The weather was still really nice today (although definitely not as warm as yesterday's 76 degrees), so we headed out to Lost Creek winery in Leesburg for their 'Irish beef stew and a glass of wine' lunch. Vivi was a little sleepy because it was during her nap time, but we all had a nice afternoon.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Steaks on the grill

Kel and Matt were out looking at houses in Ashburn tonight, so we invited them over for steaks on the grill. My mom and dad had sent Ben a shipment from Omaha Steaks for his birthday and it was the perfect warm evening to hang out on the deck with a glass of wine while Ben cooked them up along with twice baked potatoes and grilled asparagus.

The kiddos enjoyed hot dogs and Vivi had a nice warm bottle before she headed off for an early bedtime. Owen and Kayla had such a fun time playing together ~ the train table was the main attraction of the night. The dads got to watch the basketball games while Kelly and I talked about how crazy it is that they may be having a baby and buying a house all in the same week!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Raking leaves

is sometimes a challenge with a 2 and 1/2 year old who just wants to mess up your piles.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Bumbo solo


Vivi has started to enjoy her Bumbo seat without needing us for neck support. She loves to look all around ~ she especially loves watching Owen run around and play.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Happy 3 months Vivian!

I can't believe three months have actually gone by! Our baby girl gets bigger every day and she's starting to do lots of new things. I can never pick just one picture from her monthly photoshoot, so here's her 3-mo collage.

Here's what she's been up to this month:

* Eating 5 oz bottles every three to four hours during the day
* Still getting up once a night (sometimes two) for a bottle, usually around 1:30am
* Wakes up around 7am (give or take an hour)
* Takes three to four naps a day, but not really on a regular schedule, they just fall where they do each day
* Wearing 3-6 month clothes, some 6-month outfits that run on the small side
* Wearing size 3 diapers, but Mommy is still trying to use up the leftover size 1's meaning more frequent diaper changes for another week :)
* Prefers being held sitting up holding hands or standing and usually coos when we do this
* Cooing and smiling a lot more than before ~ we LOVE this!
* Enjoys the sling (it was awesome for airport travel) and the Baby Bjorn
* Still using her Soothie paci for naps and bedtime (and periodically throughout the day when she needs it)
* Has used the Bumbo a few times, but still needs to strengthen her neck more before she can use it solo
* Always smiles when Owen comes over to her and loves when he gives her kisses

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Our last night in FL

Mike, Lindsey and Max came over for dinner tonight since we're flying home tomorrow morning really early (boo!). Mom made a yummy pasta dish and we all enjoyed each other's company for one more night. We're hoping Mike, Lindsey and Max make a trip up north this summer to escape the FL heat.

Church picnic


My parent's church has an annual feast day mass outside and there is an awesome family festival afterwards. We had a great time ~ Owen and Wyatt loved the bouncy house and the weather was beautiful although a little overcast.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Pizza night

Our good friends Tony and Dotty invited us over for pizza tonight. Their daughter Andrea and her husband and two kids were there too and it was our first time meeting their son Grant since he was born ten months ago! It gave us a good preview of what is to come. Grant is already standing on his own - it won't be long until he's walking!

Owen and Wyatt had a ball playing cars together and it was so neat to see them interact and have little "conversations".

We attempted to take a kid group picture, but Owen was not having any part of it. The center image says it all. It did make for a humorous set of photos though! :)

Swimming!

We were finally able to enroll Owen in an ISR class. We had been interested ever since seeing it on the Today Show and then seeing how successful our friend's daughter Olivia has been since completing a similar program in Houston. She continues to amaze us and we are so excited that Owen will soon be swimming like this! The lessons are 10 minutes long, five days a week for five weeks. He'll be starting when we get back on Monday so to get some practice in first, we headed to the pool. The water was nice and warm since it is a heated pool and Owen had so much fun it was difficult to pull him out of the water to eat lunch!

Grandma treated us to lunch poolside and held Vivian while the three of us ate. Vivi got to wear one of her adorable swimsuits, but never actually made it into the water since she was having more fun snoozing. :)

We noticed that Owen has started to get the concept of holding his breath when he goes under the water since he was not coming up choking on the pool water anymore. He kept wanting us to throw him up in the air so Ben and I had a nice game of "catch" and it was definitely a good workout since he's thirty pounds now.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Discovery Children's Museum

We took Owen here when he was about 15 months old and he LOVED it. We couldn't wait to take him back now that he was older and even more inquisitive.

I wore Vivi in the Baby Bjorn and she had a nice ride while we walked around the museum. Owen had a blast checking out all the exhibits although the air pressure ball arch seemed to scare him due to the loud sound.

After walking around for a bit, we had lunch outside at Subway and then went back in for a quick diaper change before the 3D IMAX movie. Owen got a kick out of the camels in the movie, but was a little freaked out at the way things were coming out at him. :) Ben did a great job of keeping him calm. Both kiddos slept on the way home from all the excitement. It was a very fun day.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Cousin love

It was so fun to meet our nephew Maxwell and to see Mike and Lindsey in their new role as parents! They came over for dinner tonight and we had a chance before we ate to put the babies together for pictures.



You would think they were twins they look so alike! And it was so funny how they were both wearing their stripes. Made for a great first picture together. :)

Grandparent love

Plane travel with two kids...


is manageable when you follow awesome advice from friends who have been there done that. :)

On our way to FL to see Grandma, Poppy, Uncle Mikey, Aunt Lindsey and to meet cousin Maxwell for the first time!