My Laptop's New Wallpaper

I don't think I'll ever grow tired of this picture of my two most favorite people in the whole wide universe.(Taken by my sister, Megan, at Maymont Park.)

A Bit Belated: Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's Day the way we celebrate most holidays: fairly low-key, relaxed, and filled with good foods. I woke up to Arlo's sweet gummy smiles and chubby baby cuddles. I made coffee and savory cottage cheese pancakes with macerated strawberries. We piddled with our slowly  hardening seedlings. Nick made lunch (grilled sandwiches with homemade pimento cheese--one of my fave former pregnancy cravings--served with his homemade Mex-Italian salsa),  and he baked  a deeelish banana and gooey marshmallow cake for dessert. We took a long walk along the river with the dog while Arlo napped away in the Moby wrap.

As I snuggled Arlo to sleep that night, I nestled my nose into his warm cheek and I quietly thanked him for making me his mother. I'm so very new to this motherhood gig, and I have so much still to learn. I have a feeling that Arlo is going to be an amazing teacher.

Nice Weekend for a White Wedding

We attended another wedding this past weekend, that of one of my grad school friends. It was a gorgeous day for an outdoor lakeside wedding in the country. 

Most of you know that Nick and I are the seldom sedentary types, so it should come as no surprise that this new little person swimming in our gene pool seems to share this same go-go-go-do-do-do characteristic. It's endearing save for one small issue: the resulting very loooow tolerance for his car seat. And by low tolerance I mean repeated nuclear freakin' meltdowns that end in us pulling over on the side of the highway, pacing alongside zooming traffic with babe in arms, attempting to soothe the car seat rage. A trip home from my grandparents' home took us nearly FOUR hours one evening when it typically takes about half that. And it's not just the longer car trips, but also the 5 minute jaunts to the grocery store or the library. We've tried everything, and I could bore you with a list of every trick we've expended in hopes of defeating the car seat monster, but I'll simply ask that you trust me on it. It does make for stressful traveling, but I know that this is just a phase, and that he'll eventually outgrow these protests. In the meantime, we strategize.

This past weekend's wedding, for instance, required a little bit of flexibility and strategy. The wedding was at 2:00pm on Saturday, but we packed and readied ourselves first thing that morning. Arlo usually takes a second nap mid-morning, and we had hoped to stretch that nap time until closer to noon, hoping that he'd nap the entire hour and a half drive to the wedding venue. When he fell asleep at 11:00am we looked at each other and thought, "Welp, let's not squander this! Let's go!" The good: Arlo slept nearly the entire journey. The bad: We arrived at our destination about an hour and a half early. When Arlo fell asleep again in Nick's arms just after the ceremony, we debated hanging out at the reception but ultimately decided that this we didn't want to squander this nap either, and we promptly bid adieu to our friends and sped off on our way. Hopefully one of these days our sweet little babe will enjoy road trips as much as we do.

Arriving early to the wedding gave us some time to explore the venue, which was surrounded by shady fern-studded trails and neat gardens.

Arlo's newest trick: sitting up all by himself!

Killing time!

Just my size.

Where, oh where, did our baby's hair go? (New locks are a-growing and they look...blonde!)

Gettin' Our Fro-Yo On

We had high hopes of going to Music in the Park last Tuesday. The park that hosts this free weekly gig is across the street from Nick's office, so our plan was for Arlo and I to walk into downtown and meet Nick there for some nosh and live kids' tunes. Except a certain 16 pounder decided on this day, of all days, that he'd prefer to nap his bum off. By the time he stirred from his nap and was bundled into his carriage of torture stroller, we were very late. And by the time we arrived at the park, the parks and rec peeps were breaking down the soundstage and canopies. So, we soothed our disappointment with some tasty frozen yogurt at a new self-serve place next door to the park:

Arlo was interested in our fancy green spoons so we got him his own. Yogurt-free, of course. He is becoming more and more interested in our cutlery and food, which hopefully bodes well for our upcoming introduction to solids!

We've actually kept these spoons and he still plays with them from time to time because, you know, they're obviously cooler and more fun than any of the toys we've actually paid for.

Arlo's favorite perch

Holy Matrimony, Batman!

This past weekend Arlo attended his very first wedding, that of our dear, dear friends, Katie and Jessica. My friendship with Katie spans more than a decade and was cemented in our senior year at Longwood College. She is one of my closest friends and such a genuine and hilarious and smart gal.  There really is nothing quite like seeing your good friend find true love, and I was totally delighted and honored to be one of Katie's bridesmaids.

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous--the brides, the weather, the venue, the ceremony, the toasts, all of it. Hands down, this wedding is easily my most favorite wedding I've ever attended. It honestly couldn't have been more perfect, more meaningful, or more reflective of our friends.

Katie and I have shared many milestones over the years, and it was fitting that the milestones surrounding her engagement and marriage to Jess was somewhat intertwined with my pregnancy with Arlo. Katie was one of the very first people I shared my pregnancy with. On the day that she proposed to Jess, she organized a large group of her friends to meet up with them at DC's Union Station for a celebratory dinner. During that dinner, Katie pulled me aside to excitedly talk about my pregnancy...on one of the biggest days of her life. Later, once she and Jess had set a date she told me, One of the things I'm looking most forward to about the wedding is that your baby will be there. I was about 25 weeks pregnant at the time. And then at the end of last year I missed Katie and Jess' engagement party because a certain baby boy decided he was ready to meet the world that very same day.

Enormously heartfelt congrats to Mrs. and Mrs. Porras!

Nick, Arlo, Jessica, Katie & Me

Hanging out during bridal party photos

The bridal party and their significant others

Handsomeness squared

How Presidential

When we mailed out our birth announcements a couple of months ago I cheekily sent one to President Obama. I figured it was a longshot that we'd get any response back, but I figured I'd send one anyway on the off chance we'd get a little note for his baby book. Arlo has spit up on my Obama '08 tshirt so many times I often wondered in fear if I might have gestated a young Republican. Any little thing I might be able do to jump start my baby's liberal tendencies was worth trying.

Most of you have already seen our announcement:

Mod Lines Gray Baby Announcements

Shutterfly has cute baby announcements and Valentine's Day cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

I almost peed my pants when I opened the mailbox this evening to find a hand-addressed envelope to Arlo with the regal return address of the White House. And then I completely nerded out when I opened it to find this tucked inside: 

He is cause for a great celebration indeed.