The Circus

After a fun outing to Sesame Street Live, Tim looked for the next show we could go see.  Barnum and Bailey Circus was it!  Tim took the Thursday off and we headed to the Verizon Center for a 10:30am show on March 15th.  We didn't get out till 1pm, but Whitney didn't mind.  She was totally intrigued the whole time.  She danced along to the music throughout and excitedly applauded the many acts.  It was so fun to watch her enjoying the show!

                                      This photo sums it up!

Sibling Class

If I had read about this in the hospital booklet, I would have easily passed it by.  But with suggestions and  lots of positive feedback from friends who had recently done it, I decided to sign Whitney up for Siblings Class.

The most valuable thing about this class was that we got to visit a room like the one I will be staying in and the nursery with all the babies.  Whitney thought it was so exciting and seemed to understand that I will be spending the night there but that she can come to visit.  Also, how cool it is that the bed moves up and down!  They got to help diaper a baby doll.  How convenient (and surprising) ours was a boy! They watched a video about becoming a big sister/brother.  While other kids ran around Whitney soaked it all in and is already taking her role very seriously :) A successful Saturday morning!

A Sprinkle

A few months ago a family friend asked if she could host a baby shower for me.  I was totally surprised by her thoughtful gesture but was a little unsure.  One, because a lot of anxiety comes along with a pregnancy after a loss.  Fearing the worst might happen again and bringing baby things into the house was a scary thought. Secondly, I felt a little hesitant since I had many baby showers before and wasn't sure if it was the "right" thing to do.  After a lot of thought and some encouraging words from a close friend who said to me, "You deserve to be celebrating right now", I decided to say yes!

My first request was that it be called a 'Sprinkle', suggesting that it was a celebration and only a small gift was needed.  Also, I wanted to keep it small, so I decided to stick with a few close families I grew up with and aunts and cousins.

I looked forward to March 3rd for months and woke up so thrilled that the day was finally here.  I had gotten to a point in my pregnancy that I was able to relax.  He is looking strong and healthy and I have had to push any other worrisome thoughts out of my head.  (Though I won't feel totally happy until I am holding him in my arms.)  It was time to celebrate and I joyfully got ready for the Sprinkle.

Claire Amodio and soon to be daughter-in-law, Lindsay, threw me a fantastic party.  They put so much thought and time into the delicious food.  What is a party for a little boy without "wieners in a blanket" and "dirty diaper" appetizers!  And we finished the meal off with amazing cake pops!  Of course, we played a few games and Kristin guessed my belly size exactly!

Everyone totally spoiled us and we were showered with many amazing gifts.  A huge thank you to everyone, especially Claire and Lindsay!

 "Our Mom's are the best for bringing us home cake pops"... thought Whitney and cousin Theron.

Trip to Charlotte

Whitney and I recently took a girls trip to Charlotte. We flew down on Tuesday morning and came home Saturday morning, so we had a nice long visit. We had to leave Tim behind for Valentine's Day but we got to spend it with Brady, Niki, Cole and Haley. Sue cooked a special meal and she and John served us like we were in a restaurant. The kids all thought it was pretty cool!

We got to enjoy some warm Charlotte weather on the back patio and a fun trip to the park. Grandma had a few fun toys of her own and borrowed some toys from a friend, so Whitney kept busy playing with all the new things. She especially liked the play food and Mister Potato Head. Haley came over a few afternoons to play with Whitney. They had so much fun and she really wore Whitney out! Whitney also watched Princess and the Frog and Snow White for the first time.

I got very spoiled and got to sleep in everyday! I also took advantage of the amazing kids consignment shops and found tons of great stuff for Whitney and the baby! I also got treated to a manicure and pedicure!

We had a fantastic time and are thankful for the quality time with the family!

Movie time!

Fun big girl time!



Whitney wearing Uncle Brady out!

Valentine Activities

I knew I wanted to do a few fun activities with Whitney for Valentine's Day but wasn't exactly sure how to get her to grasp the concept. I came across a book that perfectly explains several Valentine activities you could do. And how perfect, it was Curious George! We read this book for a few days so Whitney was so excited when I said we were going to do something for Valentine's Day today.

First, we decorated a box so that as she received Valentines, she could put them in her box. This kept her occupied for a good hour. It was great!

Then it was the first step of making Valentine's Day cards for Papa and the Grandparents. One day we started with making red hand prints. Then I let her go crazy with the finger paints. The next day we put the Valentines together. Below is the finished product. I give credit to my friend Kelly for the hearts cut out of the finger painting art!

Cookies! You may remember at Christmas the post about the annual Christmas cookies. Well, we do it for Valentine's Day too. I hosted it at my house and along with Ann and Gigi, my mom and sister joined in. Of course, Whitney's meals consisted of mainly cookies that day. I made her a separate batch of slice n' bake so she could decorate with us but without using up our fancy cookies.

This year we got very ambitious and took on some new recipes. Red velvet cake pops. They were so delicious and looked pretty too. But I can't take any credit for them, I was mainly on cookie duty. My friend Sam sent me her amazing sugar cookie recipe and stopped by to show us how to do the fancy Royal Icing. First you do a thicker border, then flood the cookie with thinner icing and then decorate away. Ann found some cool techniques online that created what I would describe as a sort of tie dye heart effect. We were pretty proud of how they all turned out! I believe our total was 90 cookies and 45 cake pops!

The weekend leading up to Valentine's Day, Tim and I had a little DC Getaway. We wanted to do something like this before the little boy arrives! We took Whitney out to stay at my parents on Saturday morning and we had about 30 hours of just the two of us. We started off the weekend with some shopping at the outlet mall. We came home napped and relaxed on the couch. (I can't help but think what in the world did we do to keep ourselves occupied before Whitney!) Then we went to a great dinner at Sonoma Restaurant and enjoyed a long leisurely dinner. We stayed at a fantastic hotel called The Liaison Hotel in Capitol Hill. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the Art and Soul restaurant and made a quick stop by Eastern Market on the way home. Definitely, more of a summer activity! Sunday we relaxed around the house and got ready for the week. It was a wonderful weekend. Thanks Mom and Dad!

On Valentine's Day morning we got up early and Whitney and I flew to Charlotte to visit Grandma and Grandpa for the week. We got to have a special dinner with Brady, Niki, Cole, and Haley. We sat at the festive dining room table while Sue and John played restaurant. We were served a delicious 3 course meal. We had fun conversation and Whitney had fun running around and playing hide n' seek. We of course wished Tim could have joined us but someone has to work around here! He sent a special delivery of chocolate covered strawberries and cake pops! Can't wait to devour them up! Thanks, Babe! We miss you!

Just the Three of Us

This past weekend we took our last trip to Kiawah before the baby boy arrives. It was incredibly relaxing. The weather was perfect. I got treated to a little spa day! It was just what I needed. As we lounged on the deck the last day while Whitney was napping, I realized it was our last trip as a family of three. It brought a mixture of emotion as we approach a new phase of our life. I am so eager for him to arrive but I thought, ok, I really need to enjoy all of this! I will not feel this well rested and relaxed for a LONG time!

We also had a wonderful time celebrating my Mom's 60th birthday! We enjoyed a fantastic dinner out and are so lucky to continue to create so many family memories together!

I guess I wasn't on top of my picture taking this trip. We somehow missed a picture of the birthday girl! But here are a few highlights.

I really didn't mean for us to match so much!

She looks so old in this picture:(

She kicked this ball all day long.
Helping assemble some new deck furniture.

Enjoying the fruits of her labor!

My Little Yogi

Though Tim calls me a drill sergeant at times when it comes to eating and working out, Whitney has taken a liking to exercise all on her own. I swear I am not running drills on my two year old! Whenever Tim or I have worked out in the basement Whitney has always loved to join in. Lifting 2 lbs dumbbells, doing lunges, push ups or upward facing dog. She even takes ques from my prenatal workout video on when to bring me my water bottle! When we go for walks outside, all Whitney wants to do is run. And I have to say she has a mean left soccer kick!

Two weeks ago I got stricken with some type of food poisoning. It was awful and being pregnant it seemed to take me twice as long to recover. Poor Whitney just looked confused as I spent a good part of two days in bed or on the couch. I searched for things to do and found a show On Demand for kids called Fun and Fit. How perfect, Whitney is in a Fun and Fit class at the community center. It wasn't exactly for toddlers. More like 8 year olds doing yoga. But Whitney loved it, rolled out her yoga mat and followed along. Well, a little bit. I was very impressed with her tree pose in the picture below.