Pawleys Island

We just returned from 10 days at the beach in Pawleys Island, South Carolina and had the most wonderful time! I have been going to Pawleys every summer for the past 32 years and it was very special to bring Everett for the first time and share with him all the positive memories I have of the island. Every year we go with my sisters, brothers in law, aunts, uncles and mom and dad. It is a fun filled week of family dinners, hours at the beach, long walks and playing poker and card games. Everett was such an amazing baby the whole week, he slept like a champ and had so much fun being held by all his family members. I loved spending time with my family, especially my adorable nieces, Lucette and Violet. They are such sweet caring little girls and I had such fun with them. Here are some pictures of our trip!

Water Babies!

Since I spent so much of my childhood at the pool and on swim teams, I want to get Everett introduced to the water early....well, maybe I have started a little too early :) Arlington County offers Water Babies classes for children from 6 months forward. Well, since I seem to think Everett is advanced at all things he does (don't all mothers?), I signed him up for a class that began when he was 4 1/2 months. Well, it turns out there is a reason they want the kids to be six months-- any younger and they simply are not into it and do not get much out of the class. Nevertheless, Everett seems to like the water (although he just stares at the rest of the kids splashing and kicking and picking up rubber duckies) and generally is very pleasant in the water. Here are some pictures of his first two classes, you can see that mom and dad take turns being in the water with him. We continue to have so much fun with the little guy and love him more each day! Here is our little Olympian in training :)

Rolling the Day Away

Everett will not stay on his back for more than a second these days. He even sleeps on his side now. Here is our little roller!

Everett Laughing

Everett is such a happy little guy. We hope this brightens your day just a little :)

First Father's Day!

We celebrated Ben's first father's day this past weekend by heading down to Williamsburg. Everett had his first boat ride on my parent's boat on the river by their house, we ate some good food and on Sunday after church we headed to the horse track, Colonial Downs, for some racing fun. I was the big winner, winning a total of $8.40! Everett was super cute the whole weekend and was adorable in his short pants outfit. I have NEVER seen Grammy so proud as when she was showing him off to all her church friends. Here are some pictures of our weekend! Every single day I am thankful for what a wonderful father Ben is to Everett- it is so fun to watch them together, they are best friends.

Puerto Rico

There are advantages to being back at work.... like traveling to Puerto Rico! I was able to schedule a meeting with our outside counsel on a case I am assigned to handle in San Juan and squeeze in a visit to see our dear friends, Marcela and Barton Jenkins. Of course I could not bear to leave Everett for the trip, so Ben and Everett traveled with me! Even though it was a short trip, we had a great time. Everett loved his first trip to the Carribbean.

Back to Work :(

I officially started back to work on Monday and honestly Monday was not all that bad, Tuesday, however was not so good. On Monday morning it was exciting to get up, get ready for work and be back with my work colleagues and feeling like there is something else to my life besides being Everett's mom. But by Tuesday, the novelty had worn off and all I could think about was not being with Everett! We are nanny sharing with a great family who has a little guy four days older than Everett and luckily, we hired a great nanny, Gloria, who has been a nanny for 20 years and was the nanny for my co-worker's twins when they were little, so she knows what she is doing and we trust her. Also, I have gone back on a reduced schedule (no work on Friday and "working" from home on Wednesday), so I cannot complain too much. It just breaks my heart knowing that Everett is being cared for by someone else, what if he is sad, hungry, or just needs to be held? When I envisioned my life as a mom, I always thought I would be a stay at home mom, however, I did not envision living in DC with a gigantic mortgage :) I know it will just be a transition, and hopefully someday our circumstances change so I can be home full time with my kids, but now, I am going to make the best of the situation and be thankful that I have such a wonderful job with great flexibility and good friends. Also, it will be nice to get out of mommy mode once in a while and practice law again. Now if Gloria can just work her magic and get my little guy on a napping schedule :) Good luck to her!!