Happy Mardi Gras!

Easy Like Sunday Morning

I think Maggie enjoys the paper almost as much as we do!

Frosting and Wheely Bugs

I am planning on making Maggie a really great cake for her birthday so I decided to practice my frosting skills today. We went to Michael's and got some eqipment and I spent nap time playing with pink icing. I wish I were better at making beautiful cakes but I think I can pull it off for a 1 year old who won't know the difference. I have to give credit to my inspiration Angie for the awesome cake she made for Noah! After playing for awhile with pink frosting I decided that I could not waste it and made some cupcakes from scratch. First time ever making yellow cake without a mix!

Oh-we also decided what to get the muggins for her birthday-a wheely bug! It looks like a ton of fun and I hope she likes it as much as I do!

Sigh...

Ahh, our old house. I never thought I would say it but...I miss Fort Leonard Wood. Not everything about it mind you but a lot of stuff that I took for granted while I was there. Mostly I miss all my friends and living in a place where there were so many of Rob's peers and their wives and babies. I think Rob might be the only Captain at Fort Belvoir. Ok, not entirely true but it sure feels that way. I have tried a few activities on post but feel I am connecting more with the ladies at our church Moms group and the local Moms club. I am going to try a few more on post once I get Maggie registered with CYS-cross your fingers for me!

Things I miss about Missouri:

1. Kappa Kappa Delafield/ Lunch Group
2. A Commissary that is not insanely busy all of the time

3. Maggie's playgroup (the one they are starting here is for 85 kids-WAY too many!!)

4. Awesome neighbors

5. The hospital (the clinic here is way small and crowded!). Can I come back to FLW to have another baby?? Although Maggie is seeing a Pediatrician and the Dr I saw today was super nice.

6. Inclusive social organizations

7. Our driveway, backyard and outdoor storage

Things I love about Virginia:

1. Proximity to civilization and DC

2. Shopping!!

3. 4 toilets in our house

4. Friends from High School, College and Germany

5. Frequent visits from family on the East Coast

6. Our new church

7. WAMU and the Washington Post

I felt the same way about Germany when we moved to FLW (I still love Germany more though) and am sure I will feel the same way about Belvoir when we PCS again. C'est la vie!

Kendra (for KD)

Here is Maggie with her new favorite toy - the Kendra bobble head doll. She has already broken her off the stand 3 times (possibly more if Rob fixed her without telling me). Whenever she is in the basement Maggie crawls over to the office desk and reaches for Kendra. Thanks GND for giving my baby endless hours of fun!

Presidents Day Weekend

I think Presidents Day is one of the best 4 days of the year. Because the weather is generally poor there is no pressure to do something amazing with your long days of freedom and we usually end up having a great time! Fun things always happen like in 2001 when Rob surprised me at MSU for the weekend or in 2003 when we were caught in a HUGE blizzard on the East Coast.

On Saturday we met up with Mom and Bridget and our friends from Michigan downtown. We had lunch at the Reagan Building and played at the Building Museum. Rob grilled his signature surf and turf for Valentines dinner and we topped it off with strawberry shortcake with heart shaped strawberries while watching the movie Chocolate. Rob and I had our date night the following evening while Mom watched Maggie.

It was fun to spend time with them and Mom helped me take care of some of the small house stuff I had not finished. Thanks Mom-the curtains in the kitchen are all done and look so much better!!

Maggie is growing like a weed and is way more verbal every week. She says Ma Ma all the time and Da Da whenever Rob is around. She is the best little eater and is still surprising us with everything she will try. Her current favorite is blueberries! She is standing up without holding on to anything but is still a little too timid to try walking by herself. She will walk holding on to me with one hand though. Sally will be interested to know that she is obsessed with the Girls Next Door Kendra bobble head doll and has broken her off the stand at least 3 times while dragging her around the office.

Here are the weekly photos-enjoy


Family

Maggie and her new friend Fiona

Rob and Chris made an arch at the Building Museum

Puzzles with Fiona

I love sunglasses!

LUCY!!!

That's what we yelled when we got home from Costco this morning. Lucy ate another thing of formula! It is not cheap and it was almost full! And-she yet again found a way to ruin another area rug. What is that now...5? Though I am not getting rid of it like I did when she ate the bar of soap and barfed bubbles all over the place I am still trying to figure out how to get the powdered formula out of the carpet. Thanks Lucy. That one is going on your tab!

Monday

First of all my apologies for not updating more regularly. I don't feel much busier than I was in Missouri but my baby is way more active and I only get time to update when she is sleeping!

I feel pretty settled at this point and now am just trying to get involved without over-committing myself. We found a nice church and have attended the past 2 weeks. They also have a weekly Moms group that I am participating in. I am planning to check out the local Moms Club as well at their monthly meeting. Both groups host playgroups and I need to decide which one to participate in. It is strange to be participating to so many civilian organizations but I guess that is normal here!

We have had some great weather and spent some time over the weekend walking around the neighborhood and the George Washington Parkway. I am so excited to be a short drive from beautiful parks and trails.

Maggie is doing really well and seems to have made the adjustment to the new house. She had some trouble sleeping at first but we seem to have settled (somewhat) into a new routine. We hosted friends for dinner on Thursday (a military friend from Germany) and Saturday (a couple we know from High School/College) and it was great to have company at the new house. We are so looking forward to a visit from my mom and sister this weekend. YEAH!!

Here are a few recent pictures of our tiny troublemaker.


I love SNACKTIME!
One of my favorite expressions

I match my baby when I wear my tracksuit!

Stealing kisses from Lucy

Walking with some help!

Check It Out

My friend Katie has an excellent blog that gives me daily reading material and smiles. She is also giving away free stuff and I want to win. Check out her blog and you can enter yourself!!

More Maggie Moments

She loved looking at pictures of herself as a baby and had to give the baby in the picture a hug.

Virginia So Far

We have been here for over two weeks and I finally feel like we are settling in. We drove to Williamsburg on Saturday to spend the day with our next door neighbors from Germany. It was great to see Amanda, TJ and Jack again and meet little Henry. Maggie had so much fun playing with the boys and they were so sweet with her. We also invested in some baby safety devices over the weekend in an attempt to baby proof our new house. Maggie learned how to climb stairs after about 2 days here and now that is all she wants to do. She is totally off baby food and only wants to eat what we are having. She is also all about feeding herself and thus mealtimes are especially messy...but hilarious. She amazes me everyday with something new she has figured out. She likes to "brush" her hair with the baby brush and likes to help me sort the laundry. Just the other day she rummaged through the basket of clean clothes to find two red socks, put them together and handed them to me. I know all parents think their kids are smart but...she is really smart!! We went to checked out a new church yesterday and I think it will be a good fit for us. As soon as Maggie is walking she can go to the nursery which is also great!

Jack wanted to help give Maggie her bottle!
Playing with Jack and Hank
Climbing the stairs

I like to feed myself!

Helping unpack some boxes