What a Great Weekend!

We had so much fun this weekend! So much so, that even Ryan and I needed a nap each day.


Saturday was a particularly great day because it was the first day since Gracie has been born that we nearly effortlessly got out and about and had everything we needed throughout the day. We headed out at 8:30am to pick up some coffee and visit 5 countries...yep, I said countries. Well kind of, anyway. The embassies of the European Union were all having an open house. We had 27 embassies from which to choose.

We decided to start with Germany and France and planned to make it an early day. But after visiting the German and French embassies, we were having so much fun that we decided to keep going. We then visited the embassies of Austria, Slovakia, and Finland. The latter three didn't even compare to Germany in particular, but it was still fun to walk (miles and miles) around the most beautiful parts of DC. We all had a great day. We ended our outing at the Irish Inn in Glen Echo and were home before 5 or so.

Gracie enjoys her first pretzel in Germany

...can't say she never had an accordian lesson!

Gracie testing her crawling skills on some hills.

She enjoyed her independence in this open field!

CLOSE UP!!!

On Sunday, we took it easy in the morning. Gracie was extremely cranky, likely from such a long day on Saturday. But she seemed to be happier after her morning nap and a promise of going "bye-byes." Ryan made me a nice breakfast of egg-white omelets, waffles, and fruit. Then we headed to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna. It was an absolutely beautiful place to spend the afternoon. It is much larger than we expected. It took about three hours to explore the grounds. Of course we stopped several times to enjoy the well-manicured gardens, learn a little about the plants and trees, and visit the cutest area for kids. It was my inspiration for the new patio I suddenly decided we need ;-) (more on that after the plan is complete).

We ended the afternoon with a picnic lunch at the garden's picnic area, where we were attacked by caterpillars as they were blown from their perch in the tree above our blanket. There were a few embarrassing moments for me, jumping up and down, flailing about trying to get their sticky little legs off of me. Gracie thought it was quite amusing, as did the other 50 or so people there I'm sure. I'm still convinced this is a real fear I have of bugs. I think my heart is going to stop when one lands on me...I can't quite scream, and I can't get over it for several minutes. Needless to say, I don't enjoy this fear. It is quite the opposite. I'm pretty well humiliated by my own reaction to "bugs." But I still can't help but absolutely freak out. I really don't want Gracie to be afraid of creepy crawlies, so I am really considering some professional help with the issue ;-) But anyway, we moved our blanket out from under the tree and Ryan traded me places so we could enjoy the rest of our lunch with only a few more interruptions...but at least they landed on him and not on me.

Gracie and the totem pole...

Cheese!

Gracie loving the sand box at the Gardens.

..just lookin'

I'm so anxious for this summer to finally arrive. While I'm not too excited about the humidity and mosquitoes, if this past weekend was anything like life in the summer...I can't wait! We already got our swimming passes and have scheduled our vacations...so we're all set for a great summer.

Reflections on Motherhood

In keeping with the theme of Mother's Day, I thought it would be nice to put in writing some of my thoughts and feelings about motherhood...

It's been such a whirlwind the past 18 months (the first 9 of which I was pretty well miserable, but totally worth it). There are so many wonderful things about the latter 9 months that I will never be able to put it all into words. But I look forward to every night when Gracie still wakes up, to just snuggle and kiss her sweet face. I look forward to coming home every evening to watch her explore and learn. I look forward to the rest of my life, loving every minute of motherhood. But before I go too deep into my own motherhood experiences, I'd first like to go back....

I was a kid from a "broken" home, but I sure didn't feel like it. It was great! I got to know my parents equally well, see them both much of the time, and have two of everything (birthdays, vacations, Christmases, etc.). My parents did a wonderful job making sure I was not affected by their divorce very much. Either that, or I used to be more resilient than I am now, but I doubt that.

I'll devote more time to dad in June, but I'd like to focus on my mom and I for a bit. She was the most fun mom any kid could hope for. She loved doing things with us: Ohiopyle, hiking, camping (she could make spaghetti and meatballs over a campfire), festivals, Outer Banks, and fall foliage were a few of her favorites. She was always dancing, singing, and embarrassing me all the while. She loved being Irish even more than I do. She never did teach me to jig, or pass on her green thumb, but her genuine love of life was hard not to catch.

She also made sure my brother and I behaved in most situations. We were two of the only kids who's mom signed that "we'll spank your kid of their bad at school" form. Of course, we didn't need it, because we knew mom's reaction would be worse if we did. So we were angels at school, and in most other public places as well.

But from what I've heard (and remember) I think I was more challenging than even she anticipated. I love the story of me in church, some time prior to my long term memory maturing...I was apparently acting up (as I've heard was pretty typical), and my mom supposedly picked me up to take me out of church, and I screamed "mommy! don't beat me!" Oh, how mortified she must have been!

Another of my favorite stories took place when I was about 6 years old. Uncle Todd (her brother) was tickling my mom and I called him a b#sterd because I thought he was hurting her. She grabbed me so quick I didn't know what happened, and she washed my mouth out with soap. I tried to tell her I didn't know it was a bad word...and that really was the truth. But I still don't use that word to this day.

As I grew, I challenged my mom more every year. Each situation, most of which I'm certainly not proud, she handled with stern patience and unconditional love.

She didn't have it easy, trying to balance motherhood and work. But we never really knew it. We never wanted for much, never felt neglected, and always knew we were loved more than anything..."bunches" as she used to say.

She died of cancer four years ago next month, and I miss her more every day. But it is the goofiness, the vacations, the discipline that she instilled in me that I remember now. I think of her every day, and hope I am able to be, to Gracie and any kids we have in the future, the kind of mom she was to me. In nearly every interaction with Gracie, I think about her love, her patience, and how much I hope that I can instill in Gracie, all the gifts my mom gave to me.

Just like every new mom, I've cried in the past 8 1/2 months. I've been frustrated, humbled, and confused. But more than anything, I've been loved by my little girl. And I know now, even though I never had the guts to ask her when she was sick, that my mom knew I loved her. She knew it even before I could say it or when I thought I was too cool to say so. That's what being a mother really is...it is love like I've never been able to understand before. I'm so thankful to have been so loved by my mom, and now by my daughter.

Happy Mother's Day - to all the women who make a difference in even one life!

Gracie's New Sand Box

Here are a few pictures of Gracie enjoying the sand box her daddy built for her...and also thanking her daddy for his very hard work!

More Gracie Pictures

We've been so busy lately. Gracie is all over the place since she learned to crawl. She is perfecting her ability to get around as she pleases, including pulling up on anything she can find. She loves her bar and mirror, and spends more than a few minutes each day practicing pulling up, dancing, and sitting down.

Here are a few pictures from the past two weeks or so...

Just a Little Snakey Lick...

We had a great day today, out and about in Loudoun County. We packed a picnic lunch, drove around the country roads, and visited a winery or two. We visited two new wineries (new last year, but we were out of touch with the wineries last year)...Hiddencoft and Notaviva. Hiddencroft's wines were absolutely the best I've had in Northern VA. And Notaviva has an amazing concept and gorgeous facilities. I can't wait to go back to both!


When we stopped for lunch, I decided to spread out a blanket on the ground beside the picnic table so that Gracie could crawl around if she wanted to. I checked the ground carefully for bees, and it was all clear, so I sat her down in the grass while I spread out the blanket. I grabbed the blanket off the picnic bench and turned around to open it up, and there and not a foot behind Gracie was a snake! I almost sat her on a snake! Talk about mother-of-the-year award! Thankfully I'm more afraid of bees than snakes, so I didn't really freak out. But I did pick her up off the ground and sat her on top of the table for lunch. The snake watched over us the whole time we ate. It was kind of cute, and pretty interesting, but whew! It sure made my heart jump. I guess I'm not so used to nature anymore.

8 Months Old

Our baby girl is growing and learning so fast that we can hardly believe it. She is 8 months old today. Over the last month, specifically the past two weeks, Gracie has really hit some major milestones!

Probably the biggest milestone that she hit last Tuesday (April 14th) was crawling. It all happened so fast that I can't even really remember it, which is sad. The week before, she suddenly was able to go from laying to sitting and within a week she was mobile. This week she is working on crawling further distances (she can go about 15 feet or so with ease and proper motivation...for example the computer or other electronic device within sight). Tonight she was constantly pulling herself to a standing position on everything she could...just in time to start using her bar to pull up on, which Ryan installed tonight!

Gracie is also advancing in her language skills recently. The Thursday before Easter (April 9th), she said "dada" (with meaning), and in church on Easter Sunday (April 12th) she said mama and reached for me.

Another huge milestone that Gracie hit on Friday, April 10th, was her first tooth. Her second tooth popped through on Saturday, April 18th. She now has a beautiful, while still tiny pair of pearly whites on the bottom in the front. And boy does she enjoy figuring out all the uses for those chompers!

Things we're working on or she can already do:

Sings...la, ya, mmm, nuh, buh, hhmmm...
Loves to play any game, even ones with no name
Enjoys being tickled
Shakes her head no
Has said "no" twice
Working on Eskimo Kisses
Loves music and is starting to dance a little
Bangs on everything or bangs everything together
Pulls up on things to stand
Working on her pincer grasp...she's just getting started, but has begun to figure it out
Signs "milk" consistently...we're still working on "more" and a few other signs
Has pretty well perfected whining....we're working on breaking that. She gets the concept of using signs or words instead, but just has so much to say that she can't quite get out yet.
Started crying when we leave the room...not a desirable skill, but pretty developmentally appropriate
Loves to study movement and people in general. She'll listen to anyone talking for a long time
Handed me a book today and wanted me to read it (Global Babies)
Had her first temper tantrum last week, because she only wanted to eat cottege cheese for dinner. Mommy quickly adopted new eating tactics from Aunt Connie ;-) Gross foods first, good foods last.

Likes:

Her thumb
Her toes (trying to eat them!)
Other kids
Attention
Music
Books (especially animal books and rhyming books)
Swings
Drinking from a cup
Water
Cheerios or other crunchy snack
Avocado (50% of the time)
Cheese, any kind

Dislikes:

Being left alone in a room
Not getting exactly what she wants, when she wants it
Socks and shoes

New things Gracie has done over the past month:

Cherry Blossom Festival
Celebrated Easter

New foods Gracie has tried:

cheese (cottage cheese and hard cheeses)
wheat
carrots
green beans
zucchini
potatoes
peaches
cantaloupe
juice
frozen yogurt

Visiting Easter Bunny

Big Milestones and Pictures from Easter

This weekend was a big weekend for Gracie, not only because she was surrounded by so many people who love and adore her, but also because she hit several milestones in the past 5 days.

On Thursday, she started saying da-da with meaning (she had said da-da in the past, but didn't seem to connect it with anything). On Friday morning, her first tooth poked through in the lower gum on the front left. The right one is almost there, you can see even the little ridges, so I'm willing to bet by the weekend it'll be through. On Sunday in church she said ma-ma and reached for me (she has never even said ma-ma before).

Today Gracie started to crawl, forward (last week she started to scoot backward and learned to sit up from laying on her belly). We got her first few motions on video, but it is a process to upload, so I'll post that tomorrow.

Our little girl is growing up too fast! What will month 8 bring? It's so exciting, but also so sad that she doesn't even really seem like a baby any more.

Below are some pictures from Easter...

Gracie's first taste of pure sugar!

Gracie LOVES animals...
above is her loving a gigantic dog (Great Pyrenees)
and a baby goat at my uncle's farm.

Whoa Baby!!!

On Friday, I heard a little whistling sound when I was holding Gracie. I immediately thought she may be wheezing and I asked Ryan if he'd heard it. He said he had, and he thought she was whistling. I thought he was crazy until I watched her mouth. I figured it was a fluke and she didn't mean to actually whistle.

But on Saturday, I started whistling, and she did it back. So I started to experiment and got it all on tape...Gracie can whistle, on purpose. Poor girl, she has no hope of avoiding Band Geekdom! I love it!

Check out our little musical prodigy in action...

Cherry Blossom Festival Pictures

Yesterday we went to the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. We were supposed to meet up with some friends and hang out for what they forecasted to be a beautiful day. I put an outfit on Gracie that I got about a week ago (not new, but super-cute) and I was just waiting for the perfect occasion to wear it on her. We drove to the city and found it surprisingly easy to navigate the streets, despite the numerous warnings to take Metro (we later heard Metro was a mess).

Upon arrival in the city, we found a lovely surprise in Gracie's diaper and all over her legs, back, and car seat as well. So we cleaned it up as best we could and ventured out of the parking garage about 30 minutes later. While waiting for some friends to text us that they were there too, the wind gusts picked up to the point that it was actually kind of frightening. Food tents were blowing over, their food scattered all over the ground. Garbage blew everywhere. And as you can imagine Gracie was not too thrilled. In fact, she was pretty upset by the whole thing. So we found some shelter in a nearby CVS for over an hour, with several other parents of little ones. I was really ready to go by that time.

We did find Jenny and Jun eventually. We had some lunch to stay out of the weather, and decided to try to brave it to see the blossoms near the Tidal Basin. By the time we fought the then overwhelming crowds, Jenny and Jun had to turn around and leave. We ran into Sandi and Shawn for only a few minutes, and never did get to hook up with Jenna and Justin.

Overall, it was probably the most frustrating day I've had on an outing with Gracie. But we did get a few pictures of her in the trees with the flowers. We ended the day by stopping at Whole Foods for some precooked dinner and all went to bed way too early for a Saturday.

Fun with Friends

This weekend we were supposed to go to the Kite Festival with the Gremminger's, Coleman's, and Johnson's, but it rained. So we hosted a lunch and playdate at our house. It was great. The girls and Nuri enjoyed playing and the mommies and daddies enjoyed fondue and steaks. Thanks to all for hanging out and making it such a great feast!

I didn't get any pictures of Nuri, but he's getting so big... 3 and a half now!



Here are some pictures of the girls...Gracie is of course 7 months, Lua and Aliana will be one in about a week and a half, and Emmeline is 10 weeks already! Oh what fun the little ladies are going to have together in the coming months and years.

Lua and Aliana

Gracie, Lua and Aliana

Not too sure about this playing together thing ;-)

Lua has had enough of Gracie!

Emmeline
She's not quite able to enjoy the fun just yet...
three more months pretty girl, and you'll be getting your hair pulled too!

Gracie
Loving her friends, but missing her toys ;-)

Aliana
Enjoying some new toys.

Lua
Yes, she really is always this happy.

Mommy's Days Out

Ryan took Gracie and I to the Natural History Museum for the butterfly exhibit (which ended up closing that day), and out to lunch at Old Ebbitt Grill for my birthday.

The girls took me out the following friday for lunch and some more fun time in the city. We all left the babies behind and had some much needed grown up time. It was great!