Junior Aviators

Elliot, Beatrice and Mariana met up with Gus, Elsa and Ricky (au pair) at the Air and Space Muesum last Friday. Gus's mom sent me this picture today. Can you tell they had fun?

Lost my camera and track of time...

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few weeks. Our lives have been actioned packed and I swear I have been documenting every moment, and I would post pictures from all of those moments if I had not left my camera at my cousin's house over a week ago. Thankfully my sister and mother-in-law have sent enough photos to give you a taste of our adventures. More to come.

The most exciting news to share is that our Au Pair, Marianna, has arrived from Brazil. She has been with us for three weeks now and things are going very well. Elliot is in love and Beatrice is quite content in her arms. Marianna has been quite the trooper, as the basement remodel is not exactly complete (hopefully it will be on Friday). As part of the remodel the kids will have a big playroom to spend their days in. Since I am working from home, this will make all of our lives easier.

Shortly after Mariana's arrival Beatrice and I left for Colorado to attend Stacey Farnum's (sister in law) baby shower. Stacey is having twins in July and we are all very excited about having two more cousins. Beatrice was a great traveler and we had great time hanging out with Grammy, Papa, Uncle Joe, and Aunt Stacey.

About a day after we returned home from Colorado, we all took a little trip to Williamsburg (everyone but Daddy). I was able to spend two days in the office in Richmond (my first week back after maternity leave), Elliot and Mariana spent their days riding the golf cart and playing at the beach, and Beatrice had lots of time with her Mimsey.

We went directly from Williamsburg to my grandmother's, Mom-Mom, 90th birthday celebration. Most of my cousins and aunts and uncles on my dad's side (the Heller family) were there. It was great seeing everyone and Elliot had a blast playing with his third cousins (my cousins' kids). His first cousin, Natalie, was also in attendance. She and Beatrice are 2 weeks a part. Of course we dressed them up in matching outfits and took lots of pictures.

Last weekend we went to a cookout to celebrate the engagement of two friends and say good bye to two others who are moving to Nebraska. The party was hosted by the McGinty family. They also have a newborn and a 2 1/2+ year old, Connor. Needless to say Elliot had a great time playing with Connor and Beatrice enjoyed being passed around and snuggled.

Phew... that's a lot of stuff. Enjoy the pictures, I promise to post more as soon as I get my camera back.

Social Butterfly

This week marked two milestones for Beatrice; her first smile and first playgroup. She has been flashing little smiles during her alert times since Tuesday and I am pretty certain that they are not caused by gas bubbles. One of her favorite things is the little bear mobile on her pack and play. Elliot loved it too. She stares very intently at it and makes little cooing and squawking noises at it. Sorry the picture of her playing with it is blurry, but it was the only shot I managed to get of her flashing a little smile.

Today I hosted the first gathering of a playgroup that I helped organize through DCMoms.com. Three other babies and their mommy's came. We has a lovely time and are planning to get together again next week. The babies pictured with Beatrice are Sara (on the left) and Ella (on the right).

Breakfast with the Haugens

Our friends the Haugens, who live a couple of Metro stops away, met up with us this past Sunday in our hood for breakfast then a trip to the playground. Nick and Caitlin's son, Gus, is a little bit younger than Elliot and they are also expecting a baby girl in April.

The boys had a great time munching on blueberry muffins, pointing out and naming vehicles driving by, and playing on the playground. I expect that with kids so close in age, that we'll be spending a lot of time with our friends the Haugens.

Showing Off

Last Thursday, Elliot helped Daddy prep the deck for staining by helping hammer in all of the popped up nails. He really enjoyed this task and got a kick out of showing off his hammering skills for me and the camera.

This weekend I let Elliot drink from a "big boy" cup. It worked out surprisingly well until he wiped his mouth with his wrist, cup still in hand. I think we'll give it a try once a week or so. It certainly kept him happy at the table.

Over the weekend Elliot and I also went to Clare's house to spend time with her and her mom, and to play in their kiddie pool. Elliot was a little ham for the camera and had a blast splashing in the pool and showing off for any one who would watch. Clare on the other hand had no interest in the pool - this may have had something to do with wild man Elliot.

There you have it! A weekend of showing off Elliot style.

Synchronized Sliding

Elliot and I met up with our friends Ada and Clare at the Forest Hill Park playground on Saturday for a little play date. While Elliot and Clare showed off their climbing and sliding skills Ada and I got to "play catch up". We attempted several times to get the kids to slide down the side-by-side slides at the same time. Alas any sort of synchronized sport is not in their future.

On Sunday Brian and I took Elliot out for a little walk around the neighborhood. Nothing to exciting about that, except the fact that Elliot insisted on wearing his sun glasses. It was not bright at ALL. Doesn't he look too cool for school? The blue tape on his shirt is his "sticker". Apparently he is really into stickers these days, Mommy didn't have any but painters tape worksin a pinch.

Saturday in the Park

This past weekend was a low key weekend for the Farnums. Unfortunately we were confined to the house for most of it due some very rainy weather. We did enjoy the short lived sunshine on Saturday morning when we met our friends Audrey and Allie Greens at the Farmer's market. Allie is such a big girl and soon (November) she is going to be a big sister. It was fun to see the Greens and we hope to get together again soon!

Double Booked

Elliot was double booked for social events this morning! We had play group from 10-12 and a birthday party that started at 11:30. Thankfully both were within walking distance of our house so Elliot was able to attend both. I was so busy chatting with the other mommies at playgroup that I forgot to take photos. To make up for it I took lots of pictures at our friend Ned's 4th birthday. Both outings were lots of fun and as a result someone may be a little over stimulated. As I type Brian is trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to get him to take a nap.

Fun and Games

Hooray for play group! Play group resumed this weekend - thanks to Elizabeth (mommy) and Henry (baby) for hosting! Elliot and I had a lot of fun with all of the babies and mommies (6 babies were in attendance). It was cool to see how much every one's grown and changed. Elliot loved playing with all of Henry's toys and exploring his play room.

The fun and games continued at home where Elliot and Daddy played with Elliot's new (gently used) Sit n' Spin. A friend of mine from work gave us the Sit n' Spin and it has been a big hit. Elliot thinks spinning is okay, but he'd rather sit next to the Sit n' Spin and spin it around with his hands or site on it and use it as a drum.

Today Elliot and I got to spend lots of quality time together while Daddy golfed. It has been a very relaxing weekend and it has been nice to spend it at home.