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!

A Dino-mite Halloween!

Sorry the Farnum family hasn't been keeping up with the blog. We've had a busy last month and half of packing, moving, and house hunting. On October 16th, we moved out of our home in Richmond and into our temporary residence, Mimsey's house in Willamsburg.

We've settled into our temporary home nicely. I am working from home two days a week and Elliot is enjoying his new daycare. Its a longer drive for Daddy, but at least he gets to golf here. This weekend was the first weekend we all spent together in Williamsburg and we had a great time celebrating Halloween. Elliot dressed up to a dinosaur and trick or treated at five houses. Even though we trick or treated again for UNICEF this year, we still ended up with a bag FULL of candy.

I made Elliot's dinosaur costume and for weeks he has been telling me "no dinosaur Mommy!" Thankfully the promise of candy made him change his mind and by the end of the night he didn't want to take the costume off.

Choo! Choo! Elliot's 2!

Its hard to believe that Elliot is already 2. Where has the time gone? Elliot is a sweet and loving little boy with many interests. He loves trucks, his new bike, stickers, puzzles, animals, trains, coloring, and spending time with Mommy and Daddy.

For Elliot's second birthday we had a trained themed party in Forest Hill Park. We had prefect weather (temps in the 70's) and lots of fun with our friends David, Clare, and Miles. Elliot got lots of neat gifts including a balance bike from Mommy and Daddy, a bike Helmet and CD from Aunt Lindsay and Uncle John, an adorable outfit and book from Mimsey and Gramps, a handmade quilt for his big boy bed from Grammy, a little race car from Papa, a block set from Aunt Stacey and Uncle Joe, a train set from Clare, a personalize lunch bag and race car from Miles, a book from David, and a book from Mrs. Gooch. What a lucky kid!

We had such a fun day! Elliot was still talking about "happy cake" when he woke up this morning.

House Hunting

This past weekend Elliot and I made the trip up I-95 to do a little house hunting with Daddy. We saw lots of houses and Elliot was such a good boy! He listened to Mommy and Daddy, he didn't touch anything that didn't belong to him, and he only had one little melt down (it was over having to say good-bye to a cat).

Between house hunting we took breaks to drink milk shakes, color on kids menus, and ride the elevator in the hotel.

I think riding the elevator was his favorite part of the trip. It didn't hurt that we stayed on the 8th floor (8 is his favorite number or at least one of the numbers he knows by sight).

Catching Up With Daddy

This weekend, it had been two whole weeks since Elliot last saw Daddy. He's been stuck like glue to his favorite guy since he woke up on Saturday morning. To make the most of our time together we had an action packed weekend that included lots of coloring, (Elliot LOVES to color), a couple of trips to the playground, and a trip to the science museum.

He got his "colors" out all by himself and found some paper on my sketch board to work on. Maybe he does take after his Mommy after all.

Elliot loves the new little play house at the playground. He insisted that Daddy sit on it's front porch. Daddy was a good sport. Later Daddy showed Elliot his basket ball skills. Elliot was very impressed.

All of that playing made for two sleepy guys. Nothing like napping and watching golf.

The science museum has its own train. Elliot was pretty excited about it. He also liked the shark exhibit, the sand sculptures, the "construction zone", and the fountain. But his favorite thing was the pendulum.

What a fun weekend! We are already counting down the days to next weekend.

We're back!

Sorry for the small number of posts during the month of July. Our home internet has been down, and between Brian being gone during the week and the annoying Comcast repair schedules it took forever to get fixed. About the time that it went down I had planned to post about a little family outing we went on before Brian headed up to MD to start his new job. On Sunday the 18th, we spent an action packed afternoon together that consisted of a visit to Maymont, sushi for dinner, and ice cream in Cary Town.

We spent most of our time at Maymont exploring the "zoo" section where we saw eagles, owls, foxes, and the hit of the day - BEARS! Elliot was nuts about the bears. He wasn't as nuts about a life size bear statue. It took a little coaxing to get him over to it, but he warmed up to it. Before leaving Maymont we strolled around the Japanese garden, which is what i think inspired us to go out for sushi for dinner.

Elliot enjoyed his dinner which consisted primarily of edamame and rice. I ordered him some tempura sweet potatoes but he wouldn't even try them. Toddlers can be SO picky. Towards the end of our meal we had a bit of an accident. I left a sippy cup full of water, topless, and in reach of Elliot. Within minutes Elliot had grabbed the cup poured it all over himself. That is why he is shirtless in the ice cream photo.

What a fun day! We have continued to make the most of our weekends with Daddy, unfortunately Mommy has been really bad about taking photos. I promise that August will be a busy month on the blog.

Fireworks!

The Farnum's had a great 4th of July! On Friday morning we packed up the car and headed to Williamsburg. Upon arriving, Elliot was greeted by his cousin Katherine (my step-brother Doug's daughter), who is attending camp in Williamsburg next week. Elliot was a little shy around Katherine at first, but was following her around and playing with her by late afternoon. On Friday night, Mommy and Daddy went out to celebrate Daddy's new job in Rockville, MD. Apparently Elliot was having so much fun with his cousin, that he was VERY reluctant to go to bed.

On Saturday, we got up bright and early to decorate Mimsey's golf cart and Katherine's bike for the Governor's Land parade. Once the cart and bike were decorated it was time to get in formation for the parade. Elliot loved seeing and "telling us about" all of the classic cars, golf carts, bikes, horses and fire truck! After the parade we had a picnic lunch at the club, then headed home for naps.

Later that afternoon we hit the pool. There Elliot discovered something he likes even more than the pool, snow cones (pictures coming soon). After swimming and relaxing we headed home where we dined on burgers, corn on the cob, and watermelon - Yum! Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the club for the fire works show. Since we figured that Elliot would be pretty tired, we dressed him in his PJs and brought the stroller in case he fell asleep. Boy were we wrong. Elliot was so excited about the music and all of the kids running around that all he wanted to do was jump around and dance. I was little worried that he would be scared of the fireworks, but he proved us wrong once again! As you can tell from the pictures, Elliot really liked the fireworks show.

On Sunday morning we woke up to a dreary day. We spent it, running errands and doing chores. By the end of the day we were all tuckered out. I am pretty sure that Elliot dreamt about fireworks last night.