Quality Time

Aunt Lindsay was here for her baby shower this weekend. It took her all of about 5 minutes to get reaquainted with her favorite nephew. I think motherhood is going to suit her.

Seeing the Sites

On Saturday Daddy and Elliot took a little field trip so that Mommy could get to work on planning/preparing for Aunt Lindsay's baby shower (next weekend). Elliot saw some of the sites with his Gammy and Papa over Christmas, but hasn't done much exploring of the city with Mommy and Daddy. Daddy and Elliot decided to go to the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaurs. They had a great time! According to Daddy, Elliot basically raced from exhibit to exhibit asking "Daddy's what's that's name."

The only thing at the museum that Elliot didn't love was the butterfly exhibit. He liked it at first, and was having fun pointing out butterflies until a couple of "aggressive" butterflies started flying a bit to close to his head. Daddy said he was pretty scared so they cut that part of the visit short.

Elliot's still taking about the museum and asked me today if we could go to the dinosaur store. Instead, I underwhelmed him with a trip to an art supply store. At least he got some new stickers out of the deal.

Snow Days

The east coast was hit with two record breaking storms in a row over the last 8 days, one on February 5th, then another on the 9th. We got about 30 total inches of snow at our house - which trapped us indoors over the weekend and for most of the work week. Elliot loved spending 24/7 with with Mommy and Daddy, and we worked hard to keep him entertained. We made forts, felt snow men, real snow men, homemade play dough, valentines for Mimsey and Grammy (in the mail late due to the snow), cookies with daddy, a puppy hat, many Lego towers, a book about snow, and played Super Man (with a dish towel for a cape). We also watched a couple of movies including Up, The Muppets in Oz, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Hopefully we have seen the last of the snow storms. It may be a while though before this all melts. On the way to daycare yesterday Elliot said to me, "I no like yucky brown snow." Unfortunately with all the cars here I think we'll be seeing yucky snow for a while. At least the stuff in the back yard is pretty.

Catching Up

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated the blog! Our lives have been very busy. We moved out of our home in Richmond in October and Elliot and I moved to Mimsey and Gramps' house until we found a new home. Daddy continued to make the trip home on weekends and Mommy made numerous trips up to DC to help Daddy find a new house for all of us. Right before Thanksgiving we found the perfect house in Silver Spring, MD. We moved on December 21st (right after a major snow storm). We are still settling in and have been busy getting the house ready for the arrival of Elliot's baby sister in April.

I have been taking pictures over the last few months and I have created a few collages to bring you up to speed. Enjoy!

Leaving Richmond
We were so sad to leave our home in Richmond. During the five years that we lived there, we fell in love with the city and made some wonderful friends. We spent our last few weeks in Richmond enjoying time with friends, hanging out in our favorite places, and preparing for our temporary move to Williamsburg.

Living in Williamsburg
Living with Mimsey and Gramps in Williamsburg was great. Elliot loved exploring Mimsey and Gramps' house, yard, and the nearby hiking trails and beaches. One weekend, while Daddy was visiting, we went to a model train show at the local library. That may have been one of the highlights of Elliot's time in the Burg.

House Hunting

Elliot accompanied us on several of our house hunting trips. He was a little trooper every step of the way. He loved staying in hotels (especially if they had elevators), and he seemed to really enjoy visiting different houses. Every time we would pull up to a house he'd say, "we're home". He was a bit more optimistic than Daddy and I.

During one trip up we stayed at a friend's house in McLean, VA (Mommy's home town) where after a long day of house hunting we visited what is easily the biggest and coolest playground I have ever seen, Clemyjontri Park. Needless to say, I think this was Elliot's favorite house hunting trip.

Thanksgiving
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we took a little road trip to visit the Neilson's (Cliff's son Clark and fam) in Charlotte, NC. Elliot LOVED the Neilson Kids, especially Ford (age 8). Every time we see a basketball hoop now he says "Mommy, basketball like Ford house."

Moving In
On December 21, 2009, we closed on our new home. Grammy and Papa met us in Maryland on the 20th to help us get the house ready before Elliot and Zsi-Zsi arrived with Mimsey and Gramps on the 23rd. We were a little nervous that the move and closing wouldn't happen because a major snow storm hit the DC area on the 20th. Thankfully everything came together.

Mommy and Daddy worked very hard to get Elliot's room ready for him before he arrived. After two almost all-nighters, we got it done. Amazingly we even got a Christmas tree up in time for Santa. We would never have gotten it done if it weren't for the help of Grammy, Papa, Mimsey, and Gramps.

Christmas
Unfortunately I didn't take many photos over the holiday. Thankfully Grammy and Papa took some great photos of their visit. I wasn't able to download them from Kodak Gallery, but you can view them here. Christmas (although a bit chaotic) was a blast. Elliot loved opening presents and playing with his new toys. We had to take down the tree and his new Christmas train (a gift from Mimsey) during nap time to avoid what surely would have been a traumatic event.

Mimsey and Gramps Visit

Because their visit in December was so short, Mimsey and Gramps came up for a weekend visit the first weekend of February. Mommy and Daddy took advantage of the visit and snuck off for a relaxing weekend in the city. While we were gone, Elliot had a great time playing with Mimsey and Gramps.

Wow! We have been busy. Now that we are unpacked (for the most part) and settled in, I will post on a more regular basis!