Mike and Shannon Ritchie Open House

In April we had an open house for Shaun's brother Mike and his wife.  They got married in January in Washington DC but there was lots of friends and family that couldn't make it so they had an open house here.  Shaun and I coordinated the event which we hosted at our house.  The weather cooperated so we were able to have it outside.  I think everyone had a nice time, I know we did!


The happy couple!


Centerpieces we made for the open house.  A friend gave me the idea for hot air balloon centerpieces and I just had to do them.  Don't you think they look good?


Big hot air balloon decorations lining the driveway to guide people to the open house.

Mike just before he released one of the giant balloons.  It was quite fun to watch the balloon disappear into the sky and see who could watch it the longest.  I think Shannon's sister won.  Surprisingly we never saw it pop, it just kept rising and rising and rising until you couldn't see it anymore.


The Italian soda bar was quite a hit.  Next party you plan you should have one of these.

The dessert table.  We gave out the "R" sugar cookies as a favor.  They were pretty tasty!  We also had several hors d'oeuvres that were really yummy but I didn't get a picture of them.  Happy wedding Mike and Shannon!

Seattle

A few weeks ago Shaun and I left Cecilia home and flew to Seattle for the weekend.  Things were crazy for Shaun at work so it was a quick trip, better suited for sans toddler.  It was action packed.  We met Mike and Shannon there, visited with some good friends, went to the Tulip festival in Mt. Vernon, saw my sister and her family for a bit and flew back.  Here we are touring around the Roozengaarde gardens.  Ahh, I love tulips.  It was a great baby-moon vacation.  

Cecilia's 3rd Birthday

Cecilia turned 3 on April 8th. We celebrated her birthday for almost a whole week. We had her birthday party on Thursday, Easter egg hunt on Saturday, Grandparents over for dinner and presents on Sunday, and birthday treat at preschool on the following Tuesday. I like to spread out the celebrations for my birthday too. I think she had a fun week. Her birthday party was low key.  I am after all pregnant and she is only 3.  We had 5 friends and their moms over for a playdate in the yard.  It turned out to be kinda cold, it was warmer in the morning when we set up.  But we just passed out jackets and sweatshirts and let the kids play on the swings and slide.  We had play dough and goldfish and juice and cake and ice cream.  I think that is all that is required for a 3 year old party.  I figured she really just wanted to play with her friends.  I think she did a great job of that.  It seemed to me she played with each of her friends and no one went home crying.  That is a successful toddler party in my book.  As a party favor they got to plant a flower in a pot and take it home.  Here are a few pics of her party.

Cracking out

Cecilia climbed into this box and when she popped out she said I'm
going to crack out. I cracked up. Why is it break out and not crack
out anyway? You crack an egg...

Our cute little three year old

Warning: This just melts your heart!

Cecilia update

Now that I've done a general update it is time for one specific to Cecilia. A few weeks ago we put the toddler conversion piece on her crib so she can get in and out of it by herself. I was a little worried about her staying in bed during nap time (quiet time most days) but over all thought she would do well. And she has. She stays in her bed for nap time until I come get her and no problems at night. The only problem has been in the morning. She really needs to fully wake up before she gets out of bed or she is really grouchy, and sometimes she doesn't stay in there long enough. But I think that is getting a lot better now too.

The second way Cecilia is becoming a big girl is potty training. We started the day after we converted her crib. I was thinking about potty training her right before I got sick and obviously decided to put it off. So I think she has been ready for awhile. Right before we started Shaun and I were talking and he mentioned how we had to get our carpets cleaned after the water pipe incident anyway and how I wasn't going to feel any better than I do now so it really is the best time to potty train her. He was right of course, I just needed the push to make me take the leap. Monday morning we put her in panties, talked about them, and said no looking back. It was so much easier than I thought and probably should have done it long ago. But a month or two really doesn't make that much of a difference in the long run. She had two accidents the first day, one the second, and none for the rest of the week. She has only had a few accidents here and there since then. We have been so amazed and proud of her. We've even taken a vacation with plane rides and busy days and she had two small accidents the whole week. I can only hope all of our children will be this easy to potty train, hope is the operative word.

Mexico pics

Two weeks ago we went on a family vacation. Now that I'm feeling better I've been dying to get out and go somewhere, somewhere warm. I was first thinking about Costa Rica because there was this incredible place we stayed at for one night on our honeymoon that we've dreamed about going back to. But once I looked into the flights (10-12 hours) and then driving a car to the beach from the airport (a few more hours) I decided that was too much for an almost 3 year old and pregnant woman to do. So then I looked at where we could go on a direct flight on Delta (Shaun has miles). That narrowed it down to a couple of places in Mexico and finally settled on Cancun. In just over 4 hours we could be in a tropical place with warm ocean water and tons of things to do. It was perfect. We asked my parents to come, they have done so much for us, especially with this pregnancy and we thought they would enjoy the vacation too (which they say they did). We swam in the ocean, played on the beach in the super soft white sand, snorkeled in caves and caverns and in the ocean with fish and turtles, saw some Mayan ruins, watched a Mayan fire dance, saw tons of butterflies and different kinds of birds, and were woken up by a flock of flamingos. All of which Cecilia was able to do. Not to mention the yummy Mexican food we ate. Only when we vacation to Mexico do we come home and want to make/eat more Mexican food. Shaun and I want to go back to Playa del Carmen just so we can go back to Yaxche and try more dishes. He wants to convince the owner to open a restaurant in the states :) It was that good.

Playa del Carmen was the perfect vacation and the only reason I got on the plane to come home was I wanted a good night sleep without being woken up by a ton of birds at 6 am (Cecilia needed it too, she slept almost 15 hours the first night we were home). I was also hoping my swollen ankles would go down (which thankfully they have, but probably only temporarily). In fact I felt really good the whole time we were there. I hardly had any nausea despite waking up at 6 am every morning. I don't know if it was vacation, the elevation, the warmth, the humidity or what, but I felt great. The few days after we got home I felt really crappy and wanted to hop on a plane to stay in Cancun 'til this baby is born. But my doctor told me I really didn't want my baby born in Mexico and that I should stay here. We'll just have to keep Cancun on our list to revisit someday, there was so much we didn't get to do, the zoo, Chitzen Itza, swimming with dolphins, and of course more food :)

Here are a few pics at Tulum.