An Overdose of Cute

Rachel always loved lemons, but she used to make "the face" with every bite. She still eats them, with salt, today.

I Spoke Too Soon

So ever since I wrote that Erin doesn't laugh all that much she has decided to begin laughing at all sorts of things. Maybe I should post that we are frustrated that she doesn't do calculus or paint masterpieces yet...

4th of July

We had quite the 4th here. My Mom, my sisters Sarah and Lauren, and Aunt Lu came down to spend the holiday with us. The day began with a lot of BBQing and eating. Later we pulled it together to watch the fireworks on the National Mall. The crowd was large, but generally everyone was pleasant and we had a great time.



When we first arrived it was pouring and apparently there was a tornado warning in effect. We sat near the Capitol with the hope that we would hear the National Symphony Orchestra. Unfortunately we were unable to hear a sound. Regardless the fireworks were amazing as they exploded behind the Washington Monument.

As you can see, Erin had her usual good time. And yes those are earplugs in her little ears...



Leaving the District was insane as hundreds of thousands of people pushed their way on to the Metro. It took nearly 2 hours to get home because of the number of people travelling. I think next year we will watch from the Virginia side of the river and just avoid the insanity. That being said, I am happy we went this year.

Catching Up Part 1

It has been way too long since I last updated this, so here it goes. I should have a little time to myself today and tomorrow so I hope to catch up on the blog.

Erin is nearly crawling, now she is doing the whole "rocking" thing. It is all downhill from here as she will begin to get into everything and won't want to be held as much. She still doesn't laugh all that much, it takes quite an effort to get her going enough to laugh out loud. I think she is just much more reserved than Rachel ever was at this age and it takes a lot more work to get her going.

Rachel spent her 1st night away from home last night. She is in New Jersey with my family and is having a blast. Somehow I knew she wouldn't miss us one bit! I guess if I was getting spoiled like she is right now I wouldn't miss us either!

Also, Rachel has begun swim lessons and I hope that she can swim on her own by the end of summer. I think that would be great.

We Hired a Nanny

We finally broke down and have someone watching our children on a part-time basis. She is nice, a college student and a swim teacher. She was Rachel's favorite out of all the candidates interviewed and since Rachel has to spend time with her we figured she could make the final decision.

I have a tons of photos to upload and someday soon I will get around to it.

Nanny Wanted

We are interviewing for a part-time nanny for the mornings after Mindy gets home from work. Interviews begin tomorrow!

We are in VA

We arrived in Alexandria on Sunday and are beginning to settle in at our new residence. We immediately took the opportunity to visit Old Town and loved it. A number of friends familiar with the area had said that was the place to go and that we would love it. It is nothing more than a waterfront with many beautiful row-houses and many shops and restaurants. Overall we have a good first impression of the city, it is pretty clean and the district around the PTO and Old Town is simply amazing. Definitely a livable city.

This weekend is Rachel's birthday and hopefully we will have our first opportunity to venture into DC proper and visit the National Zoo. It looks as though we will be getting a lot of rain on Saturday but Sunday, her birthday, should be pleasant. Who knows, maybe we will get the camera out and take a few photos.