Foxfield and Evan's birthday

Every year on the last Saturday in April are the Foxfield Races. We've been going on and off with a group of friends since 1999, and were able to go again this year (April 26). It's always such a fun time! Last year and this year a small group (8-10) of us rented a house for the weekend, and this year another group of 8 friends rented the house across the street, so we were able to hang out with friends all weekend!

The Foxfield Races are a whole day spent at the Foxfield race track in Charlottesville, Va. Gates open at 10:30am, and horse races go from approx 1-4:30pm. We have a spot along the rail, right near a jump, so have a great view of the horses. We eat, drink, and hang out all day with friends. It's a wonderful time!

This year was no exception. It's always great to get back together with friends at this event, as that way we can be sure to stay in touch at least once a year. The day started off great, the races were going well, we were all hanging out...and then the dark clouds started rolling in. We got a little rain, a nice breeze cooled things off, but then the sun came back out and it got really warm again (over 80, bright sun). Just before the last race (around 4:15), clouds REALLY rolled in, so we started cleaning the spot up a little early. However, we didn't make it - the thunderstorm rolled in and it started pouring. We made the best of it though: those left (about 25 of us) huddled under one tent (the other had been taken down), singing songs and braving the storm. Everyone was nice, and let my friend Kelly and I stay in the middle with our daughters, so they didn't get too wet (although the adults did, but that's ok). It certainly made for an interesting day!

Natalie did great, even in the storm! Lots of people got to hold her, and she looked absolutely adorable. She even got to see some horses, as you'll see below!

Also, Happy Birthday to Evan! Today is his birthday. We celebrated by having a wonderful breakfast this morning at the house with our friends (french toast, eggs, bacon, strawberries, coffee cake), then heading back home and hanging out with our daughter. Send him late birthday wishes if you want; he'll love it!

Weekend Activities

I hope everyone had a great weekend, and was able to enjoy the nice weather that was in the area...at least on Saturday! We had a VERY full weekend. On Friday night, Evan and I went to the Loudoun County Democrat Jefferson Jackson Dinner. We got to get all dressed up, schmooze with a bunch of people (I finally got to meet many of the people that Evan has been working with over the past few months!), and meet some Virginia Democrat bigwigs. The night was, of course, heavy on the "yay Democrats" side of things, but once I got past that, I found myself enjoying the night quite a bit. There were some very good/interesting speeches by both Governor Tim Caine and former Governor Mark Warner, who we got to meet:

And again, thanks to our friends Jess & Cody for babysitting!

On Saturday Evan's parents came to visit, and we took full advantage of the nice weather. We went to Tarara, a local winery and enjoyed a little wine tasting and the beautiful scenery, followed by a trip to the Leesburg Outlets so Evan's mom could get him a birthday present (a great new work outfit from the Banana Republic outlet!). And, of course, lots of fun playtime with Natalie:

Sunday the weather was really bad, so we mostly stayed in. I took some pictures of Natalie while playing with her, as she's too cute not to:

Then tonight we were playing with Natalie before dinner, and got these three pictures:

4 month update

I forgot to update everyone this weekend on how Natalie's 4 month checkup went! I know not all of you care, but I have been asked by some. So, you all get to read about it...or not, you have free will. :)

Anyway, we had Natalie's 4 month checkup on Friday afternoon. I learned from the last one, and made the appointment after work, so I could take care of Natalie. She did VERY well. She's 13 pounds now (50 percentile), and 24 3/4 inches (75 percentile). Long and lean! She's hit all of her milestones, which is good, and the vaccinations went even better than last time. She cried, but not for as long and a little Tylenol helped. The pediatrician recommended we not start her on rice cereal until she's 5 months, as my history of asthma and Evan's eczema as a kid has her worried about Natalie developing food allergies. So, she'll be on just breastmilk for another month.

We then had a great weekend. I met up with a new friend in Leesburg (Christine; I met her through our friends Natasha & Adam from NYC), and we took our daughters for about 1.5 hour walk through downtown Leesburg and back home. It was a beautiful day, and we loved getting out for a while! Then, on Sunday we went to Fredericksburg to see my sister Carrie and her boyfriend to give them much belated birthday presents and hang out for a while. A pretty good weekend!

This week has been lovely - the weather is getting warmer and warmer, and Natalie seems to be starting to sleep a bit better. We've been having some sleep issues the past couple of weeks (waking up every 1.5-2 hours), but I think we've figured out a sleep plan we want to try and use, so we'll see how it goes! Last night she gave us almost 6 hours straight, which was great. I think we need to just wear her out a bit more, get her to sleep a little earlier, and get her used to self-soothing. Any and all advice is welcome!

Now for the cute pictures from this weekend. Enjoy, and I hope everyone is doing well!

Happy 4 months old!

Natalie turns 4 months old today! We got very lucky and it was absolutely gorgeous here today (as apparently it finally was on most of the East Coast!), so after I got home from work we took Natalie and Calla on a 45 minute walk around our neighborhood. I think Natalie's had a pretty decent day, with lots of love, play time, and fun. Here's a picture of her having fun on the couch earlier today!

Two new videos

We took these two videos of Natalie yesterday (the first one) and today (the second one). I think they show just how engaged she's become in her toys, and in the second one you can hear her giggle! She's recently (as in the last couple of days) discovered how to laugh, and as a friend of mine said, once she starts laughing you do everything you can to make her laugh even more!

Happy Birthday Aunt Carrie!

Kind of a quiet weekend...yesterday we spent time running errands and getting some yard work done, as it was beautiful outside. Today we stayed in, due to the rain. Overall, we got to spend lots of quality family time, which of course includes pictures.

Natalie wanted me to post a few pictures as a Happy Birthday message to her Aunt Carrie, who turns the big 26 today! Unfortunately, we weren't able to get together with her this weekend, as she had other plans, but we'll be seeing her next weekend to further celebrate.

Adorable Natalie

Ah, the first post of April. There isn't much to report on really - we haven't done too much since Sunday, just work and being with each other! - so I thought I'd throw together a post with a few SUPER cute pictures of Natalie, and a great little video of her that we just took tonight. Enjoy!