How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Today we ventured over to National Harbor for breakfast with the Grinch and the Gaylord's Ice World with our good friends, Lindsay and Craig and their adorable son Max. The boys had the best time meeting the grinch (even Rollin!) and loved Ice World, notice the picture of Rollin doing down the slide-- hysterical. We had a wonderful morning, now it is off to another holiday party- love this time of year!

My little spanish speaker

Rollin has started talking, albeit, just a few words, but they are precious! He has the best manners too. Every single time you hand him something his cute little voice says "Gracias!". Here is a video of our little bi-lingual baby.

Snuggling with Grammy and Pap Pap

Our boys are absolutely and 100% obsessed with my parents, Grammy and Pap Pap, and who wouldn't be? Their love for the boys is so fun to watch. They are the world's best grandparents and the boys are so lucky. We are just glad they realize how good they have it with them! It is very fun to see these relationships develop and Ben and I often talk about how much fun we will have with the boys kids.... many, many, years from now :)

Cousin Time!

We feel so fortunate that our boys are blessed by many cousins. Some that live far, some that live near. A few times each year, the lovely Amelia, and her mom and Aunt Maria and Uncle Guy come in to town via Florida and Thailand, respectively. It is always such a treat to get the kids together, especially because Amelia, Everett and Lanna are all so close in age, with Rollin not too far behind. This past weekend, we got together for some playtime, a nice lunch at Noodles and some time watching the ice skaters at Auntie Yoko and Uncle Chris' house. Here are some photos our our photogenic bunch! What fun it will be to show them these photos years from now :)

My Big Guy!

Rollin had his 18 month appointment this morning and he is a BIG guy! He was so brave with his shots. He has been battling a double ear infection all weekend, which means he has been co-sleeping with Ben and I a little too much :) We need to nip that in the bud fast, but I just hate to not let him sleep with us when he is sick. I seriously need some rest though, so hopefully he is on the mend soon!

Rollin weighs 29.08 lbs (90%), is 35 1/4 inches tall (97%) and his head is 19 (65%). Here is a picture of our adorable little man.

My Little Pastry Chef

With the cold weather finally here, I have been looking for more and more "inside" activities for my active boys. Everett has taken a liking to baking, which has been such fun, albeit tough on my waist line, as we love to eat what we make. Here is my little chef working hard on his ginger bread men! Love him to pieces. Last night he said to me as I was putting him to bed--"Mommy, don't leave, I want you to sleep with me so when I roll over and wake up we can kiss and cuddle"-- I love him so much! I will be DYING for him to say that to me in a few years... he is growin up way too fast.

B&O Railroad Museum-- Riding the Train with Santa and Frosty!

We are so fortunate to live in this area as there is no shortage of fun holiday activities for the boys. This weekend, we drove up with our friends, Jenn and Neal and their two little boys, Cooper and Booker, who are the same age as Everett and Rollin to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. We had a fabulous morning riding the the train, checking out the model trains, sitting on Santa's lap and in general enjoying the season. Here are some pictures of the boys-- this is Rollin's year to not like Santa :)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Any of you who know me, know that I LOVE the holidays. I have always loved everything about them, now I love them even more with the boys in our lives. We spent the weekend after Thanksgiving decorating the house for the holidays. Everett and Rollin were such big helpers trimming the tree and helping me place all the decorations throughout the house. We dug all of our Christmas books and have been reading them to the boys each night. I love filling the house with Christmas music and baking lots of cookies with the boys. They love to decorate each cookie to perfection--a much perfection that a 1 and 2 year old can muster :) Here are some pictures of us decorating!

Turkey Day- Gobble Gobble!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with the boys and Aunt Emily and Uncle Matt who visited from Pittsburgh! It was very low key and laid back, which was very welcome as our lives are so hectic these days. On Thanksgiving Day, Ben, Everett and I volunteered at a great organization, Food and Friends, which is a DC based food shelter that provides in-home meals to individuals with HIV/AIDs and other life threatening illnesses in the DC area. It was a wonderful experience and Everett was so happy to help! He proudly delivered the meals and said "Happy Thanksgiving, Gobble, Gobble" to each house. We visited three homes in total and had a nice orientation at the shelter and got to walk through the kitchen to pick up our food and the kitchen volunteers clapped for the driver volunteers and Everett thought that was a big deal. Very cute. The rest of the weekend, we spent hitting a few museums with Emily and Matt and then the four of us had a date night at Founding Farmers, a great organic restaurant in DC while our beloved Miriam watched the boys. Here are some pictures of our fun turkey day!

Faces of the Day!

Anniversary Weekend Photos

Ben and I had a relaxing time at the beautiful Hope and Glory Inn in Irvington, VA. It was our third anniversary we spent in this cute little town, but our first time at the Hope and Glory. We had such a nice relaxing time, went on a long bike ride, visited the local winery, had a great long meal at Trick Dog Cafe and a delicious breakfast in the morning. We were very very excited to be reunited with the boys. We could not run to the car fast enough to greet them after church in Richmond with my parents. We are not sure we were missed much though, they always have the BEST time visiting with Grammy and Pap Pap and of course had new clothes and toys to show us!

Happy Anniversary!

Ben and I celebrated our eight year anniversary on November 2. It was a typical day of me home with the boys and out and about, but atypical in that I got beautiful roses and calilys from my adorable husband! I love them, they look so pretty on our dining room table and it was fun telling the boys why mommy received such beautiful smelling flowers from daddy. I know it is corny, but I love my marriage. I really do. So often I hear people say "marriage is hard work", all about "compromise" and can sometimes be "disappointing" and "trying", and I often do not know what to say in return, because to me marriage is NOT hard work. In fact, my marriage is the easiest thing about my life. It is perfect. In every way. I feel blessed. Ben is a wonderful husband and if it is even possible, he is an even better dad to my boys. We just get along well and support and care for each other at all times. I am not saying we never get annoyed with one another, but in the whole scheme of things I know that Ben is my partner for life and I would not want it any other way. I am the luckiest girl out there and I know it! I am excited to spend the weekend away at the Hope and Glory Inn in Irvington, VA with my best friend! Love you!

Halloween Festivities!!

Halloween with two little boys is the absolute best- who knew it could be so much fun! Everett wore his firefighter costume for days leading up to the big day, and actually still wears it! Last night to dinner in fact :) Rollin ended up figuring out what all this trick or treating actually meant--which is CANDY! He was so so sweet walking up to each door so slowly and wobbly since he just started fully walking, it was precious to see. We had a HUGE halloween party at our house the Saturday night before, it was so fun to have all our friends and their kids for pizza and play time- 60 people in total- it was a full house to say the least. Everett had the best time with Gabriel and Pierson, they were running around, wreaking havoc and behaving like wild and crazy 2 year old boys- I loved every second of it. On the actual day of Halloween our neighbors, the Wilsons (mom and dad to Everett's best friend, Ellis), had all the neighbors over for wine/beer and playtime before we all set off trick or treating. The boys had a blast and the next morning, Everett woke up and said "I want to go trick or treating again tonight!" Here are some photos! These boys are the light of my life, cannot get enough of them.