New York, New York

On Wednesday of this past week, Ben and I headed up to NYC to spend two days and one night with my mom and dad to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. Miriam stayed with the boys and they had a great time and it was nice for Ben and I to get away together. We flew up early on Wednesday, and once we got into the city (we stayed in Times Square), we headed down to the Twin Towers Memorial and took a tour of the site. It was so touching and moving and the tour was lead by two men who were in the Towers on the morning of 9/11, amazing stories and we were humbled they wanted to share their story. On Wednesday night we went to a great dinner at an Italian restaurant near 30 Rock and then to see Wicked on Broadway. On Thursday we got up, had a nice breakfast, walked around Times Square and all through Central Park, while my parents, who are big WVU fans, went to the game at Madison Square Garden-- we on the other hand did not want to pay $200/ticket, so we opted to sightsee instead- which was a good choice for us. We flew back Thursay night in time to put the boys to bed, overall a great break and fun to spend some time with Ben and my parents! And of course it did not hurt that WVU went on to win the Big East division, March Madness here we come!

Old Friends, New Lives

This past weekend I was able to get away for a few nights to Phoenix, Arizona to visit my best friends from law school. Ben stayed with the boys all by himself and did a great job (I never had any doubt!). It was so nice to see all my friends and all the new babies. There is a group of five of us that have been very close since law school ended 9 (gasp!) years ago and we have all been supportive of each other as we started our law careers in different fields, get married and now have babies. Over the years we have tried to take one or two girls trips each year-- San Diego, San Franciso, D.C., Miami and Vegas to name a few trips. Two of the girls just had their second child, and two just had their first and I of course just had my second. It was so wonderful to visit and meet all the babies and see the older kids. Admittedly, times have changed, now our trips are not spent clubbing each night, but rather having dinner and oohing and ahhing over the babies- it is a nice change and so fun to see all these amazing ladies as mommies. I am so lucky to have such strong female friends and cannot wait to see the next batch of ASU law grads grow :)

Rollin-- Happy 9 Month Birthday!!

Wishing my little man a very happy 9 month birthday tonmorrow! Rollin has been such a blessing in our family and such a joy to mother. He has the best disposition and is always smiling and happy-go-lucky. And to top it all off, this week he started saying "da da"-- although we are not entirely sure he says it directly at dada himself, it was music to our ears. Here are Rollin's stats: he weighs 23.1 lbs (85%) is 30 inches long (95%) and his head is 18 1/2 (90%). A big boy overall!! Here are some photos I took of Rollin the other day after the boys woke up from their naps. Love you Rols!

My Little Marine!

Ben took Everett to get his haircut this Saturday and he came back with a complete buzz cut. Although it took a little getting used to by me, I sort of like it. He looks so grown up and hopefully he will want to follow in his daddy's footsteps and serve our country in the military one day!

Trip to Boulder

This past weekend, we were fortunate enough to head out to visit the LeMaire family in Boulder, Colorado. Traveling with two little ones does present its fair share of challenges, but the boys were such troopers on the plane and with the time change- all despite having just gotten over a wicked stomach bug that took out our entire family and all those visiting for the birthday party festivities the weekend before! We had a great time in Boulder. We went to the beautiful Denver acquarium, had Everett's first horseback riding lesson (which was adorable!), and ate lots of great foods and the boys got to spend lots of quality time with their cousins, Lucette and Violet. Uncle Ben also got to take little Violet to a Father Daughter Valentine's Day dance while we were there. Here are some photos of our fun trip!

Twins!!

Rollin and Pap Pap are mirror images of each other, don't ya think?

Big E's Birthday Party!

We had a little get together with some neighbors and friends for Everett's 2nd birthday on his actual birthday, January 30th, which was pretty special. It was a construction theme and Grammy and Pap Pap came up from Williamsburg and Aunt Emily and Uncle Matt came all the way from Pittsburgh for the celebration. We had a great time, ate lots of yummy pizza and enjoyed the laughter and craziness of a few handfuls of 2 year olds running around. Everett seemed to enjoy his special day, but kept saying all day he was turning "3"- here are some photos of the fun day!! We cannot believe our little baby is turning into a little boy. We had his two year appointment and his stats were: 35.1 lbs (off the charts), 35 3/4 (85% for height) and head 20 inches (95%)--he continues to be a BIG BOY!