Rigby's 1st Birthday Party!

Alexa and Henry had a great time at Rigby's 1st Birhday Party! We loved this place from Nate's party and were excited to go again. Alexa had a blast jumping on the trampoline and swinging from the bars with her friend Kaitlyn. She also had fun on the wooden boat with Rigby and playing bubbles with Cella Marie! Henry took a little train ride, but mostly hung out with Daddy.

To see how much these girls have grown, here's a flash from the past... Alexa, Cella Marie, Kaitlyn and Rigby less than a year ago!

Pool Play Date with Kaitlyn!

After Alexa's nap on Sunday, we headed for Virginia to have an afternoon pool play date with Alexa's friend Kaitlyn. There is a community pool right down the street from my friend's house that has a shallow kiddie pool perfect for toddlers! Alexa had a blast riding in the wagon with Kaitlyn. After initially clinging onto me, she eventually warmed up to the pool and played with cups. As we were leaving, she and Kaitlyn held hands and walked to the wagon together. It was so cute!

Play date with Kaitlyn on a rainy day!

What a perfect day for a play date! It rained and stormed all day. Luckily, Alexa's friend Kaitlyn came over to play! At this age, it's normal for kids to do what's called "parallel playing," where they do their own thing and only interact occasionally or when they want the toy the other is playing with. Alexa was better than expected at sharing, I was very proud of her!

The girls also interacted a bit, which was hilarious! My favorite was when Kaitlyn tickled Alexa's feet. At first, Alexa was like, "What are you doing?" Then she started giggling! It was so cute. The two were also adorable trying to sit in the same chair together. Then they would look at each other and crack up. What a fun day. Alexa and I can't wait for our next play date!

And now, some rainy day photos for you to enjoy... Alexa loved looking out the front door at the rain falling. She also had fun playing peek-a-boo with the front door! Finally, what better to do on a rainy day than color with crayons! Thank goodness they are washable. :-)

Alexa goes shopping with her girlfriends!

My friend Marcie invited Alexa and I to join her and her daughter Cella Marie for an in-home shopping trip! We got to check out tons of Kelly's Kid's dresses, swimsuits and outfits. So cute! Reba and tiny baby Rigby (the youngest) also came shopping, as did Kristin and Kaitlyn! Yay! Here are the girls on their 1st (of what will be many) shopping trips! (And in case you are wondering... This is what I bought Alexa! Yes, of course I got it with a hot pink "A" on the front!)

Parties! More parties!

We had a busy day of parties today. First, holiday brunch at Aunt Elizabeth's house! We brought cookies. And enjoyed all the yummy food! Alexa enjoyed eating a muffin, one of her favorite foods. She also had fun seeing the other children there, including her daycare buddy Zico!

Next stop was Jen's house for Nate's 1st Birthday Party! Nate was born a preemie, so when Alexa first went to visit him, he was tiny! He's grown up a lot since then. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of Alexa with the birthday boy. He's in one of the shots below. Alexa had fun playing with her friend Kaitlyn. She also loved the slide and a nylon crawler tube. And she loved Nate's ride-along train that has BALLS you can put under the seat and they shoot out! The only thing she did not like was meeting Elmo. Oh well!

Alexa is already hitting the books

Gotta study hard for daycare! Not really. Here is Alexa before school, reading one of her favorite books. This book was a gift from her friend Catherine. Meanwhile, Alexa is sporting a cute T-shirt that was a gift from her friend Kaitlyn. Alexa is so lucky... Just 1 year old and she already has several lifelong friends!

Shutterfly Photo Book Party!

This is pretty cool: I was selected to host a Shutterfly Photo Book Party! They sent me red Shutterfly balloons, an assortment of Shutterfly holiday card samples, a wooden easel to display one of my photo books, two packages of Worthers candies, Shutterfly tote bags and promo codes so that each of my guests could get a FREE 8x8 photo book and 10 holiday cards! Here's how it all turned out:

I invited a few mom friends over for a play date with wine and snacks. We had a great time while Alexa played with Avery and Kaitlyn! They played with Alexa's kitchen, her new doll and stroller and on her new piano! (Oooops, the piano is a Hanukkah gift from Grandma E and Pop, but we opened it early! Busted!)

Alexa surveyed the damage at the end of the party... My friends who came sans sons said it would have been a lot worse with their 14-month-old boys running around and that our girls were quite tame. Tame? Really? They all drank out of each others sippies, wanted to play the piano at the same time, regularly ran from room to room... It was all I could do to keep up with them and STILL stip my Prosecco! Sigh. Good times.

UPDATE: Here is the holiday card I made and ordered from Shutterfly!

Seasonal Chic 2010 Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Kaitlyn's 1st Birthday Party!

With the election coming up, I had to stay in town in case something came up. Luckily, that meant we were able to hit Kaitlyn's 1st Birthday party! Alexa had fun playing in Kaitlyn's Pumpkin Patch. She even picked out her own pumpkin to bring home!

Here are Alexa and Kaitlyn sitting on the haystack... We couldn't get both girls to look at the camera at the same time! They were cracking up though, and trying to EAT the hay! Doh!

After cake and a short video about Kaitlyn's first year, the girls had fun playing on Kaitlyn's new activity center! Alexa loved the ball pit and she loved sliding down the slide too! Additionally, she played with Kaitlyn's mega blocks and ride-on lion. Upstairs, she pushed Kaitlyn's alligator walker all around the house. Isn't it fun to play with new toys? Alexa thinks so!

Kaitlyn is my good friend Kristin's little girl. She is only 7 weeks younger than Alexa! You might recall when she was born, and when they first met. Click HERE to see the girls over the past year!

Alexa's 1st Birthday Party!!

After the morning photo shoot, Alexa went down for a nap and we broke out the balloons and started decorating and setting up for her party! Luckily, she slept for two hours, because we needed that time to transform our house into party central! Thanks to everyone's help, it was a cinch. How on earth can we throw a party without our party crew help next time? Here is the house, ready for a party!

And what a party it was! It went by so quickly, but it was so amazing to see all of our friends. Some old friends that we've known for a long time. Some new friends who we met recently when we moved to Bethesda. Alexa certainly enjoyed herself! She was a diva and loved being the center of attention!

Finally... The cake! Yum! Alexa was all smiles but not very interested in digging in. You'll see why soon. Stay tuned for photos from this morning's cake smash! In the meantime, check out how cute she is... She was loving the attention! What a great party!

Click on photos to enlarge!

Alexa gets dolled up to party!

We had a busy day! First, we headed to swim class. Next, we drove to a Stella & Dot jewelry show at our friend's house. Here is Alexa and I with friends Kristin and Katilyn!

Outside, the girls played on blankets. And after Alexa saw Kaitlyn's cute hair clip, she wanted one too!

Our final stop was a co-worker's bbq back in Bethesda. Alexa charmed everyone. Seriously, my co-workers couldn't stop gushing about how cute she is! I couldn't agree more.

Alexa's swings and rides the see-saw!

I was home from work yesterday and today as part of my phased-in return to full-time work. It was sooooo nice to spend the days with Alexa! I missed my baby!

This morning, we went to Stroller Strides at the mall where we met up with Coleen & baby Drew, Blythe & baby Avery, and Amy & baby Landeric. We enjoyed a great workout, followed by some coffee and mommy chit-chat.

Then Alexa and I drove out to Virginia to meet up with Kristin & baby Kaitlyn for lunch and a walk to the park! Check out Alexa's first ride on the see-saw with Kaitlyn!

And... Alexa's first swing set ride! She loved it!

After our fun at the park, Alexa and Kaitlyn relaxed at Kaitlyn's grandma's house. The girls are finally starting to "notice" each other. It's so cute! Look at them looking at each other!

What a great couple of days. And the good news is: We now have the weekend to enjoy as well!

Another visit with Miss Kaitlyn!

Alexa made her third trip to Virginia today to visit her friend Kaitlyn! We walked to Old Town and visited Appleseed, a totally adorable baby and maternity store. I got her some adorable little hair clips! I can't wait to try them on her!

Unfortunately, it started raining and so we had to head back. But we had a nice lunch and visit. And I got to give Kaitlyn a bottle! She was a little darling and drank it right down, after a little coaxing. Here are the adorable little babies asleep in their matching car seats...

Kaitlyn is 5 weeks today and Alexa is 12 weeks today. Hard to believe that Alexa used to be that small!

In other news, as of today, Alexa now has a college savings plan! Her daddy set up a 529 account. Let us know if anyone wants to contribute!

Alexa meets her new BFF - Kaitlyn!

Today was a big day for us! I took a shower. I ate breakfast. I made cookies. I picked up dinner from Chicken Out. And then I drove Alexa to Alexandria to visit my friend Kristin and meet her new baby girl, Kaitlyn Marie!

Luckily, Alexa slept for most of the drive. It was her FIRST trip to Virginia! We had a great visit with Kristin and Kaitlyn. Can't wait to go back and see them again!

Also, check out the size difference between our babies... They are exactly 7 weeks apart. Kaitlyn is 7lbs/14oz right now, so she's roughly the size Alexa was at birth. Alexa is now 11 1/2 lbs. It's hard to imagine she was once that small! Time sure does fly...

Welcome Kaitlyn Marie!

Alexa is excited to welcome her newest baby friend to the world! How adorable is she?!

Kaitlyn Marie

Born Wednesday, Oct. 28

at 10:29 p.m.

7 pounds, 7 ounces

18.5 inches

Congratulations to my friend, her momma! Can't wait for play dates! Or... Another "girls trip" to Vegas! But we might have to leave our daughters home this time... :-)

Alexa's many hospital visitors!

Alexa is one popular baby! While in the hospital, she received many, many visitors!

My parents were there for her birth, along with Papa Bean's mother. Plus my sister, Auntie Jen. And my friends Chimmy and Elizabeth! We also were visited by friends Kristin (and Kaitlyn Marie) and Marcie!

Thank you to everyone for coming to see us and being there for us!

Alexa with Auntie Jen (above)

Alexa with Auntie Chimmy (above)

Alexa with Auntie Elizabeth (above)

Alexa with Grandma E (above)

Alexa with Grandma Lillian (above)

Alexa with Grandpa Tom (Above)

Auntie Kristin (with Kaitlyn Marie in her belly!) and Auntie Marcie came visit Alexa in the hospital! (above)

Papa Bean with Alexa and Auntie Marcie (above)

Kristin's baby shower!

This was a hard party to RSVP to. We didn't know until that day whether I'd be still around, mobile or in the hospital in labor! Turns out, I was still pregnant and still waiting on Lima Bean to make her big debut, so off to Kristin's baby shower we went! So glad we were able to go!

It was a co-ed baby shower and Papa Bean loved it because he got lots of food! And the guys all smoked cigars outside while the girls opened presents and ate cupcakes. So it was perfect! And that cupcake was goooooood. So were the cookies. And the cake.

Anyway, here are me and Kristin showing off our bumps!

She is due on Oct. 22, one day before my birthday. Loved her dress. And what a cute bump! She is also having a girl - Kaitlyn Marie. Can't wait for our baby girl to play with her baby girl!