Visiting family in Iowa

You won't believe it even if I told you, but it's true. I (Vivien) drove 1200 miles from Maryland to Iowa with both kids. I made one stop in Indianapolis and stayed with some good friends for a couple of days and then drove on to Iowa. How did the kids do? Great! It couldn't have gone any better. They slept for most of the way and when they were awake, Sydney kept Caleb entertained. John was in California for work and he flew to Iowa to meet up with us. Since being in Iowa, we have had a great time meeting with uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents. Here are a few pictures

Sydney with cousin Ellie and Ben Storr. Caleb and Anna(3 months) are in the stroller at the back.

Grandpa Jim with Caleb at the waterpark and Sydney with cousin, Lainey.

Biking on Mount Vernon Trail

Here's a few pictures from our biking experience on Mount Vernon Trail here in D.C. We probably biked around 13 miles and my (Vivien) legs were about to fall off by the end of it all. The kids enjoyed sitting in the trailer and towards the end of the biking, I wanted to sit in that trailer myself! I don't know how John went up and down those hills with that trailer. Whoosh! It was a fun time, but I'm not planning on doing it again anytime soon. :-)

New sleeping style

One night before I went to bed, I checked on the kids, like I normally do every night. I certainly have never seen my daughter sleep this way before so I had to take a shot of it. Who knows how long she's been sleeping this way, but she was breathing heavily, so I figured she was fast asleep. Toddlers have funny sleep positions but I'm wondering, does this sleep position say anything about a toddler's creativity? :-)

Trip to England

We were away in England visiting family from May 31st to June 17th. There are no words to describe how much fun we had as a family. The best part for me (Vivien) was not so much the sight-seeing as it was being with the family. It was also a restful time and nice to have extra help with the kids. The day before we returned to the States, Sydney said to us that she wanted to stay in England. I guess that tells you that she too had lots of fun. I believe that it won't be too long before we visit England again! :-) We have so many pictures to share that we have posted it on a seperate link. Click here to view them.

The Beach

We had our first family vacation with the Jackson family at the Chesapeake Bay. The kids had a blast and the two families had such a great time bonding. When the kids were asleep one night, the two couples played a Marrieds board game and we laughed so much and had such a memorable time together. We are so lucky to have friends like them to create memories with.

My Babies

My babies are growing up too fast! There's always laundry and cleaning to do, but I'm trying to make the time everyday to sit down and spend quality time with the kids. It's just too easy to get caught up with the house chores and errands. Sometimes, I wish I had a maid to do all of that so that I can just focus on being with the kids. Every minute is precious!

Boys will be boys

My friends at home asked why there were less pictures of Caleb on this site. Maybe they think that I'm not taking as many pictures...you know, the 2nd child syndrom.... Well, that's not really true. I think with my digital camera, it seems like I take more pictures than I know what to do with. I take lots of pictures but I don't always print them. For those of you who are curious about this boy, Caleb is now 5 months old; weighs 18 lbs; wears size 4 diapers; eats like a football player; started rolling over; and loves to suck on his fingers. You can click to zoom these pictures.

Ears pierced

Sydney had her 3 year old checkup at the pediatrician's office and Dr. Adam's said she's growing very nicely. She weighs 28lbs and is about 35" tall - both below the 5oth percentile. Besides getting her 2nd dose of Hep A, she also got her ears pierced! That was an "adventure". It took me and another nurse to hold her still so that the doctor could pierce them, and after the "drama", she was happy and started showing off her earings. After leaving the doctor's office, we had to drive to Starbucks where John was studying so that she could show him her "new" ears.

May 14th

Sydney turns 3 today. She requested PB&J for dinner and so I cut out various shapes for her. She had a huge helping of apple slices and carrot sticks to go along with it. After her meal, we sang "Happy Birthday" and she blew out her candles on her little cupcake. Mind you, this is the third time she's blown candles. First at the party in the park, then at nursery school today and the last was with us at home.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was fun, and yet busy just like every other day. Caleb woke me up bright and early around 6 a.m. After feeding him, I decided to make French Toast for breakfast. We headed out to church later in the day and after that, John decided to take me to a Thai Restaurant for lunch. A few friends thought that sounded good and decided to follow us there. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, napping and web surfing at home.

Cute card from Sydney....made me laugh all day thinking about how true this has been for me lately!