We finally got to meet sweet Baby Noah on Monday!
Joey is fascinated by his (barely) younger cousins.
Ruby missed her Auntie Rachel.
Thanksgiving Weekend in New Jersey
1 DecThese were my children on Tuesday afternoon, shortly before we left DC to head north for the long weekend:
I probably should not have let them sleep then but I had stuff to do. In any case, the trip ended up being extremely long (we went 16 miles in the first two hours ) and Ruby and Joe didn’t sleep much, even though we got in close to midnight. Thank God we have the new van–at least we were comfortable.
On Wednesday Joe ate food for the first time–homemade applesauce. He LOVED it, so much so that he cried when I took away the spoon.
Ruby and her (second?) cousin Abby played the organ together at Gigi and Great’s on Thanksgiving:
Auntie Natalie brought Ruby a cookie decorating kit and Ruby had so much fun with it!
To use up the leftover icing Natalie used Ruby for her canvass, which the dogs enjoyed:
Joseph Five Months
25 NovRuby’s expression pretty perfectly captures how Monday mornings make me feel:
Our little guy is five months old today. I really try to enjoy every minute because I know they’re both growing up so fast, but there are days that really test me and today was one of those days. Ruby has started testing out new phrases like “I hate you” and “Joey’s stupid,” and Joe did not want to be put down at all today. I also loathe packing and still need to get that done for our trip to NJ tomorrow.
At least our kids are cute…
…and sweet.
What a blessing our boy has been for the past five months.
Two Parks &c
23 NovYesterday the kids and I went to a park in Shirlington and Joe and I watched Ruby scale this huge rock:
Today the whole family went to a different park after a trip to Costco and we all had fun playing. Poor Joe was stuck wearing Ruby’s pink sweatshirt because we forgot his sweater.
Here are a few cute ones of Joe from the past few days:
Joey Andretti
18 NovThe kids and I went to the commissary today and Ruby taught Joe how to drive the shopping cart.
Glen Echo Park
17 NovToday we spent some time driving around in our sweet new ride and stumbled upon Glen Echo Park, which is an old amusement park. It was a really grey (albeit mild) day and the park is kind of sad and abandoned but there is a great playground area that Ruby (and Joe) just loved.
Swagger Wagon?
16 NovSo today we did it.
We took the plunge.
We bought a minivan.
After months of deliberation and test drives and research we finally decided that a minivan would be much more practical for our family than an SUV with a third row. The real deal breaker was our need to fit our stroller in the trunk behind the third row, which is only possible with HUGE SUVs that get terrible gas mileage. So we had pretty much decided on a minivan but figured we would wait until a third child was on the way to actually purchase one.
Then the other day I was contemplating our next few months of near-constant travel, with extended family and winter coats and Christmas gifts driving up and down the eastern seaboard, and all of a sudden my beloved Subaru Impreza wagon seemed to shrink considerably.
Today we looked at the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey and decided on the Honda Odyssey Touring edition. It is so much nicer than any other car I have ever owned and we are all pretty excited about it. Ruby especially loves pushing the button to automatically open and close the doors.
Saying goodbye to my Subaru:
Joe loves the leather seats:
We are officially *that* family:
Happy 35!
14 NovIt is Matty’s 35th birthday. I haven’t been doing the November daily thanks like all of my Facebook friends but oh my goodness am I thankful for this man. I could not ask for a better husband for me and father for my children. He is kind and thoughtful and works hard to provide for us. We really are so very blessed.
Friday in Richmond
12 NovLast Friday the kids and I drove down to Richmond to meet up with my mom, my sister Rebecca, and Rebecca’s kids. Our first stop was Richmond Granite to pick out granite for my parents’ house. The children were very helpful.
Later we had lunch and then went to the mall, where a little carousel provided much amusement.
Loudmouth Mommy 