Katherine and her Lady Bug

Katherine received a ride-on Lady Bug for her birthday from her Aunt Christina and Uncle Rob.
She tries to get on by herself which she has not quite perfected. With our supervision she has enjoyed riding on her Lady Bug!

Weeeeeee.....

32 Inches of Snow, No Power, and a Bad Back

Yesterday we received an historic amount of snow (32.4 inches reported at Dulles Airport). As the snow was beginning to fall on Friday at noon, I tried to head home, but as I was leaving my office, my back went out. I was literally on the floor, unable to even get into my chair. I called Donna from the floor and told her that I wouldn't be home as soon as I thought. After about 15 minutes, the pain subsided enough for me to get into my desk chair. Since I took the car to work, Donna was unable to pick me up. Therefore, I called Dave Krantz. However, I still couldn't walk. So, I wheeled myself down to the lobby on my desk chair, backwards, like a crab. Then I wheeled myself to the curb (in the snow) as Dave pulled up to my building. A co-worker took my desk chair back to my office. And...no....we don't have pictures of this.

That same day, Donna braved the crowds at Safeway and got us lots of food. We enjoyed the rest of the day watching the snow. At around 10:00PM our power went out, but came back only a few minutes later. However, at 2:00AM, we were not so fortunate. The power went off, and stayed off. We waited until about 2:00PM for the power to come back on and then Donna, with Christina's assistance, booked us a room at a Hilton a couple miles away.

Sooo... I had the pleasure of trying to clear our car and driveway of snow so that we could make it to the hotel. At first, my back felt ok. Then, after about 30 minutes, the back pain hit me again. At this point, our car and driveway were clear, but I couldn't even sit up. A couple hours later, I was able to walk. Meanwhile, my wonderful, 20-week pregnant wife packed all of us for the hotel...and then we were off. Also, thanks again to Dave for stopping by our house (on his cross country skis) to check on us. He finished clearing off the sidewalk and the area around our car.

By now, it was dark and the streets were abandoned; we saw only a few cars along the way. We checked into the hotel, ordered room service, and enjoyed the warmth of the room and each other's company.

This morning, we found out that our power was back on, and we made our way home. Here are few pictures that I took just after we arrived home.

Front of our house


Kenwood Ave...just behind our house



Crestwood Drive...our street


Back of our house



Walk way to our front door

A baby brother to love

We had our ultrasound on Monday to check on Baby M #2. Baby #2 is absolutely perfect and we could not be happier. He was very wiggly and we were worried we would not be able to find out if this baby was a boy or girl. Low and behold, the baby co-operated and we have a healthy baby boy!
Katherine doesn't know it yet, but we have given her a life long best friend!
We are now incorporating blue into our household. With Katherine there has been nothing but ALL pink and that is how it should be, so now this little man will get ALL blue. Having the 2nd baby be an opposite sex from the first definitely makes it feel like a new experience all over.
We are so happy and could not feel more blessed with how our family is growing!
We will post his ultrasound picture in a future post!

Bib made with love

I recently bought a new sewing machine, my old one was acting up. I was so excited to break it in and make Katherine a new bib. This is the first of many!

Katherine's First Haircut

Katherine had her first haircut a few days before her first birthday!
This was not something that she enjoyed since she was under the weather, but the end result was fantastic, a cute curly bob!

Getting a smock!

Holding on to Mommy for dear life, the smock is now gone.

Katherine's First Birthday!

Today we celebrated Katherine's first birthday! After being under the weather for the past week, she remarkably recovered in time to celebrate her special day! Donna and I have never enjoyed any time in our lives more than the past twelve months. It's truely a blessing to have such a wonderful daughter.



Yum! Katherine's cake won't look like this for long (see below)!



The Birthday Girl!




Katherine's gift from Mommy and Daddy!


Let the fun begin!


See ya later pacifier...hello sugar!


Maybe we should have invested in some pink safety googles!


The poor cake never had a chance!

Firsts on New Years Day!

On New Years Day we enjoyed brunch at Klondie Kate's in Newark. Katherine is a regular at restaurants, but we bring her special "baby" food with us.
This time we decided to order off the the Kiddie Menu for her. Not only did she enjoy her first restaurant order, but also her first grilled cheese. Needless to say, she was not picky and enjoyed her brunch!

Hmmm... For me?

Yummmmmy!