A Day Out With Thomas 2012

For the 4th year in a row we spent a day out with Thomas at the B&O Train museum. Owen looks forward to going every spring and remembers many of the fun things to do from the year before. This year he was most looking forward to bouncing in the bounce houses, riding on the "real" miniature trains and the pony ride. We did all of those things and more and enjoyed another great time with Thomas!

Space Shuttle Discovery

April 17th we got a real treat in Washington DC getting to see a fly over of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Discovery is the last NASA space shuttle that went into space, and it was being transported on the top of an airplane to the National Air and Space Museum here in DC.

The city had been abuzz about the fly over for about a week leading up to it. When the approximate times of the fly over were finally released I was disappointed because I was supposed to be at work and Owen was supposed to be at school. Robert and I talked about keeping him out of school to see it, but knowing how the crowds would be and not knowing about Peyton's schedule for the day we decided not to. We were so excited though to find out that Owen's class was going to walk down to the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria to get great views of the shuttle. Robert and Peyton met his class by the water and they got a chance to experience seeing the shuttle, and I happened to walk out of work just in time to take the photo above with my phone, and catch my own glimpse of history. Its times like this when we feel so blessed and lucky to live in such a cool part of the country!

Thanks for your service Discovery, we look forward to a visit at Udvar Hazy Air & Space Museum soon!

Growing Peyton-6 months

On April 6th Peyton turned 6 months old! Wow, how did that happen? Here are her stats from her six month doctor visit-

4/12/12 (6 months old)

Weight- 16lbs 9oz

Height- 25in

Head- 16 3/4in

As the doctor put it at her appointment, Peyton read the book on being a 6 month old. She is right on track and doing all the things a healthy, happy 6 month old should be doing. Over the past few weeks she has really mastered rolling over and now knows that she can roll in order to get closer to her toys, her brother, or whatever else she is trying to grab. She can go from tummy and back to tummy and back again and when she is laying on her tummy she now can kick her feet and move her arms to turn herself around. Her back and core are getting stronger and stronger, but she is not quite sitting on her own yet. 

Peyton is still very friendly and smiley and willingly lets others hold her and care for her. Rarely do we have a problem when dropping her off at nursery or when family and friends babysit. She does know her mama and daddy though and when she is upset she wants us or her brother. She always has smiles for Owen and sometimes even when I can't get her stop crying if Owen comes over and talks to her everything is right in her world again. She just loves him so much and he is such a sweet big brother to her. 

The day after her 6 month birthday Peyton had her first food of oatmeal cereal. A few weeks before that we had given her a tiny taste of butternut squash puree and she made the greatest disgusted face so I thought for sure we were in for a treat when giving her cereal. But instead she really seemed to enjoy it and her body is adjusting well to the new addition in her diet. She is still nursing every 3-4hrs throughout the day and takes a bottle like a champ any time we need to give her one. She can hold the bottle by herself now but still needs help here and there throughout the feeding. 

About 2 weeks before Peyton turned 6 months old we decided to ditch the paci. She loved it so much when she was tiny, but we really had planned all along to be done with it before she turned 6 months old. She was hardly using it during the day except for car rides and occasional outings so that part was easy. The hardest part was putting her to bed without it. It took a few rough nights and a very committed daddy, but now she is sleeping through the night from about 8pm-6am and hardly ever makes a peep in the middle of the night. Just a few days ago though she was fussy in nursery and they found a paci in her bag and gave it to her. It helped her to fall asleep there and when she woke up with it she just took it out of her mouth and played with it. We are really pleased with how well she is doing now post-paci :)

She has a few favorite toys right now that she is becoming slightly attached to. She loves her Sophie the giraffe and that has been a very helpful substitute in her car seat for the pacifier. She chews on and plays with Sophie in the car and its easy for her grab onto and bring to her mouth. At bed time and nap time she has a pink hippo blanket (Thank you Lung family for Holly Hippo!) that she puts on her face and that has become her comfort item in her crib along with a purple blanket teddy as back up. She still likes to play on her activity mat though these days she's more interested in rolling off of it then playing on it. She will also still sit in the bouncy seat for a time and play with toys but she has recently started to sit herself up while she is in it.

This has been such an exciting month full of many milestones and many firsts- first St Patrick's Day and her first Easter, first Easter EGGstravaganza Egg Hunt and her first food. Peyton is so much fun, such a sweet baby and an amazing blessing in our lives.

Peyton & Ellie at 6 months-

Cereal!

Peyton tried her first cereal on Saturday, the day after her 6 month birthday! She has been getting more and more interested in what we are eating, so we knew she was ready. Once she got over the initial shock of "what-is-this?" she was eagerly opening her mouth for the spoon and trying to grab at it. So fun! This is one of my favorite baby stages, so I'm sure there will be many more icky-faced, food covered photo shoots to come. 

First bite of cereal

 Big bite!

 "Wait...what...is...this?"

 Nom nom!

Family Love

We loooooooooove having visitors and were so happy that Grandpa & Grandma and Aunty Laurie could come spend Easter weekend with us! Owen loved playing legos with Grandpa, playing moon dough with Grandma, wrestle-housing with Aunty Laurie and having them here for all of the Easter festivities. Robert and I loved showing off some of our favorite places (I'm pretty sure we ate our way through DC!) and Peyton just loved all of the attention and her new teething Sophie. 

Playing around the house-

 Fun at the EGGstravaganza-

Coloring Easter Eggs

Quality Time-

Come back soon! We're counting down the days until July...

Easter 2012

 ⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. -Matthew 28:5-6

Sunday morning we headed to church at Potomac Yard to celebrate and enjoy the Easter service. It was a great morning service and it was so nice to have family along with us. We chatted and spent some time with our friends after church and then headed home to check out if the Easter Bunny had come by yet...

The Easter Bunny loved putting together these baskets for 2 of the sweetest kids around

When we came home we found a trail of eggs going through the house...

And out the back door...

And to the patio table where the Easter Baskets were waiting!

 After opening their bunny baskets Owen and Peyton got baskets from Grandma and Grandpa too

 Later we headed outside for some pretty Easter photos

 Some serious sweetness right here!