I'm glad I got to be with you here in our nation's capital

Our trip to Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland was back in April, but I wanted to share a few pics. We had an awesome time visiting Mena and Miguel, The Nevins and The Volkmanns and have already started a list of the things we didn't get to do for next time!

Swinging!

M&M

We'll always have Yuma 

Offspring 

Cupcakes!

Casa Blanca

Monumental Moment

Sisters

Dad, Lincoln is so boring

View of the capitol from the Newseum

Gettysburg

The Girls

10 and 11

It seems we've gotten a bit behind on our posts! Our little pumpkin has turned 10 and 11 months, and the weeks are flying by! Soon she will be 1 - can you believe it! Every day it seems she is doing something new. She loves to eat, and likes just about everything - so much so that she steals food from the other kiddos at daycare. She is crawling everywhere, pulling up to standing on everything, and has recently started "bear crawling," a sure sign she is getting ready to walk! She has said her first word, baby, and has also said "hi" and "bye" and she sure is trying hard to say "dog" but it usually comes out "dah." Speaking of dogs, she loves Scoop and just lights up when she sees her. When I take her to school, if she can see the dogs at the homes across the street, she giggles and waves at them. She dances now, and plays peekaboo with her blankie. She is just so much fun!

Easter

Pumpkin's first Easter was a lot of fun. Her great Aunt Louise and Uncle Bill left her an Easter basket the night before, and she had lots of fun with the wrapping on Easter morning.



In the afternoon, we met friends Julie and John at Aces Ballpark for an Easter Egg Hunt before the baseball game. Pumpkin had no interest in going after the eggs and instead started crying when we walked toward the eggs in hopes that she would follow us.

Once settled on our blanket on the grass, though, she enjoyed her first ballgame. 

Nine months!

Miss Pumpkin turned 9 months while we were in D.C.! (More on that soon.)

She is getting so big, crawling all over the place, pulling herself to standing and eating Cheerios! She is also definitely forming opinions about things, and doesn't like it when you take away, say, the dog's water bowl or Mama's tennis shoes. While she is mostly still babbling, it does seem like she has "Mama" figured out.

At her 9-month checkup she weighed 17 pounds, 3 ounces (25th percentile) and measured 28 inches (75th percentile) and her doctor suggested she may be a basketball player one day. 

We borrowed her buddy's age blocks while we were visiting. As you can see, it's getting hard to get her to sit still for a photo! We've had a lot of fun lately getting her to try new foods and activities. It's amazing how much she grows and learns so quickly!

Baby Shower

Our friends Erin and Sandor are baking up a little buddy for Pumpkin, so she and I were very excited to help with their baby shower.

We came straight from seeing the Easter Bunny, note that Pumpkin still has the egg in her hand ... she didn't let it go for four hours and even dunked it in the dogs' water bowl. (At four hours she discovered the balloons.)

I was excited to make the desserts - mini rice krispie "cupcakes" and yellow buttermilk cupcakes with vanilla frosting. I thought they turned out pretty cute (and yummy!) if I do say so myself ;-)

Erin and Sandor are always helping us out in one way or another and take good care of all their friends, so we know they are going to be terrific parents.

Sarah, Erin, me and Pumpkin

Me, Erin and Julie

We had a great time celebrating the soon-to-arrive baby girl and are looking forward to meeting her!

The Easter Bunny

Pumpkin and I hopped over to a local boutique the weekend before Easter to meet the Easter bunny. Pumpkin wasn't scared at all ... maybe because the bunny had a friendly face, or maybe because the bunny gave her a white, plastic Easter egg - it has been her favorite toy ever since.

Visitor

Our friends Chris and Carlie down the street left their dog Amara with us when they went on vacation a couple weeks ago. They will be taking Scoop for us during an upcoming trip as well. This time, Scoop and Amara warmed to each other much quicker than last year, but Scoop is still far more interested in playing with Amara than the other way around. They are opposite personalities - but I think they both enjoyed each other's company.