Family Portrait

Sunday, September 13, 2009

So Long Monument Mondays

So long, but not so sad. Alex has moved his day off to Fridays, and we'll all agree that Fridays is much nicer than Mondays. That gives him 2 consecutive days off. We will now be celebrating Family Fun Fridays unless someone can come up with a better name...

Baby looks great!

Molly mentioned in her last comment something about pumpkin spiced creamer....Molly, please tell more. Who makes it and where can we get some?

And, much more importantly, Baby Number Two looks great! Just as we suspected, the little bean is just curled up nice and snug. She's measuring right on target and has a nice sized noggin that is conveniently pointed downwards. Just waiting it out now!

Preschool Orientation

Eloise had a semi-first day of school today. It was orientation, so she only stayed 2 hours with only a few kids from her class so that they could familiarize. She had an absolute blast!! I also had a blast--walked to Starbucks, enjoyed a pumpkin spice latte, and worked on my Bible study that I'm leading tomorrow. We overslept this morning due to a wild night (Eloise's sleep patterns are off) so I didn't get any photos. I'll take official photos next Tuesday.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and will get an ultrasound. I'm excited to see our little girl again. We're 2 months from the due date. Hooray!

Prego Pictures by Way of Annapolis

I know there are some of you out there wondering what I look like 31 weeks pregnant. Well, here I am. I made sure Alex snapped a few photos today while we toured Annapolis to satisfy my many fans.

Eloise loves to touch her baby sister,

and kiss her,

and give hugs. The baby and I are always very appreciative of Eloise's love.

While in Annapolis, we took a lovely boat tour of the Naval Academy and the Chesapeake Bay, checked out Main Street, the capitol, St. Ann's Episcopal church, and ate seafood. Sounds like a lot, but historic Annapolis is actually quite small and very walkable. We wanted to see the Naval Academy's Chapel, but it had been a long day already and decided it would give us reason to return.

To top the day off, we had ice cream! Isn't that a beauty? Rainbow ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. Eloise was in Heaven.

(Cute joke as told by a bus driver looking at heavy DC traffic: "I wouldn't be sitting in that traffic unless it was headed to Heaven.")

Measuring Small Again

I had an appointment yesterday and the baby's heart rate is sounding great. My tummy, though, is measuring small again. This happened with Eloise as well and I'm not overly concerned, but of course we are still taking precautions. I'll have another sonogram in a couple of weeks to get a better look at her development. If you feel inclined to pray for us, pray that this little girl is indeed growing big and strong. Thanks so much!

The Fair

Can you believe we went to the Montgomery County Fair today and my camera had no battery? I can! Because I'm pregnant and not enough blood is circulating north of my belly to tell me to get my battery off the plug and put it in my camera. Oh well. We would have had great pictures of Eloise petting all the sheep, goats, horses, and pigs. They really were good looking, prize winning animals. We also saw a baby calf that was born yesterday. We would also have cute photos of Eloise riding some rides, playing games, and hanging with her friends Maddie and Claire. Oh well. We still had a great time.

Bed Head!

The WORST bed head in history. OH MY! How do we fix that? Answer: We don't. We spray de-tangler on it, pat it down, and get to the park asap where Eloise sweats through all her clothes in this 90% humidity.

My bed head is not much better! This is what a night of sleeping with wet hair looks like. Oooh beautiful! :-)

Throwing in the towel

Yes people. I never thought we'd go to pull-ups but I think we are. Eloise is giving up on potty training and so am I. I tried not to, I really did, but I don't think engaging in a battle with a 2 yr old would be very productive. Oh well.

In other news--Here's Eloise at the cutest princess tea party ever.

Potty Training

We have taken the plunge. Eloise is almost exclusively in big girl panties. We still do diapers while sleeping, but only panties while awake. It's been about 5 very boring days (for me) and I think she gets it. There are still accidents happening but the concept and desire is definitely there. Yea for Eloise!

Eloise's Hair

Eloise got her first haircut this week. What a big step. We are really gearing up for this Fall--new haircut, big girl bed (photos to come), and next potty training. She's taking all these transitions in stride. I'm very impressed with her big girlness.

Hallet's Peak

Alex, Matt, and Graham summited Hallet's Peak together. Here are some photos Alex took with his IPhone.

Colorado Week 2

Watch out Estes Park, all the Averitts are about to arrive! We could have taken the bear in our cabin at 5:30am to be a bad omen for the week to come, but we decided to be optimistic and allow this incredible rainbow to predict our week. Glad we did because we did, in fact, have an incredible week.

Ladies at Bald Pate Inn

Eloise: "I love horsies"

Alex and hiked to Gem Lake.

Alluvial Fan with Auntie Molly

Double Trouble!

Tie-dyed hippy girl in Moraine Park.

Friday night we took a hayride for a marshmallow roast.

Vail Visit

We traveled to Vail for the weekend between our weeks to visit our dear old friends. I didn't get photos of all our friends or our busy weekend, so these will have to represent the whole. Here we are hanging out in Mike's backyard. We had our old small group together for a potluck. Everyone had a great time catching up, and Eloise loved chasing Will, Matt, Susannah, Cassidy, and Veronica (not pictured).

We love the Keiths! Eloise especially loves playing with Rachel and Katie. They played nicely for hours while Alex and I got to catch up with Brooks and Julie. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.

Colorado Week 1

On the road again! Eloise was a great road warrior as we headed to Colorado. We had a long and rejuvenating vacation.

Bear Lake with Gigi and Grandad. Eloise loved hiking it and finding "bears clues" with Daddy. She also had to stop every 10 feet or so to climb a rock. Although it took a while, we did accomplish the entire lake.

This is the view from Sprague Lake. The peak in the middle is Hallet's Peak. Alex, Matt, and Graham climbed this and the views from the top are spectacular. It's a 12,000 + ft.