what would henry say?

the other day i saw a list on one of the blogs i read obsessively of questions to ask your kids about their parents. although most of the questions were probably better suited for older kids, i thought it would be fun to see what henry could articulate at two-and-a-half. here's what he had to say:

how old is mom? one

is mom big or small? big

is mom a boy or a girl? girl

what color does mom like? pink*

where does mom work? i don't know either

what makes mom happy? me!

what makes mom sad? daddy time-out me

he did surprising well, so i thought i'd get crazy and ask him a few questions about henry -

how old is henry? one

is henry a boy or a girl? boy

what is henry's favorite color? blue... no, red

which park is the best park? the rock one**

what do you want to eat for supper? mac'n cheese

bath or shower? shower

is henry big or small? small

what do you like to watch on tv? um, i don't know either. dinosaur train.

who does henry love? mommy and daddy. and grandma too.

who loves henry? daddy. grandma and mommy.

*not even a little bit
**you didn't see any rocks? look closer, there are "mountains" that lead up to the parking lot in the background of the picture. joey is convinced mountain climbing on those rocks will be henry's demise.

on tuesday, henry had his 2-1/2 year check with his pediatrician. he weighs almost 30 pounds, and slid in right around the 50% mark in height, weight, and bmi. at 2-1/2 he's talking constantly. he's obsessed with dinosaurs and snakes. he's got a pet caterpillar, with which he's surprisingly gentle, but he doesn't understand why the caterpillar can't hang out on the couch with him to watch "tee-b". he still needs mom or dad to read at least 5 books before bed, and nothing on this earth will separate him from a blanket or 5 at night.

this weekend my sweet friend and her husband are coming to dc. she and i lived together in college and spent the better part of our senior year in high school attached at the hip, so she's my girl. i'm excited to spend more than an hour or two with her, which has been the max since we both had kids and i moved away.

have a great one!

pssst... quick update

henry lives for a select number of not.too.guilty (but he should be) pleasures in his life: youtube videos of "halloween", eating lollipops until his face and hands are smeared with 4 shades of sticky sugar, and retrieving boxes from our concierge. his requests for all three fly from his mouth on incessant repeat all the blessed way home from daycare. and lest you get the sinful impression that we tele-parents let him drown in sugar baths and television marathons whenever the prince pleases, i assure you that is not the case. but lately, h has discovered the joys of snapchat - where he is straight mystified by the collection of face and costume modifications he can make within seconds (see video above). and that! that is the kind of real.guilty.pleasure i can get behind any time of day he asks.

h - 'see pictures?'
j - 'certainly, my son. for as long as your paper thin patience/attention span will allow.'

last week, the snow came to dc in a big bad way, and so we were locked snuggled  at home with the rest of the dc crazies for the entire weekend.

not my photo credit, and also this is what e.v.e.r.y street looked like for days!

as i'm sure you heard, dc/northern virginia do not do snow well, and the folks hiking down this main vein in arlington are a testimant to just that. to be fair, the sidewalks are buried in 2 feet of snow here, so the street is where the walking is going to get done.

but then, as it does, the snow melted and we took off our jackets to play at the park amidst the snow piles and dripping puddles.

in less than nine days, my mom and her husband are shipping us all away on a disney cruise of a lifetime, and we're all just wiggling with excitement. how lovely does this sound right now?

stay warm!

we're just fine

let's start out nice and slow, because i've got a toddler boy asleep in a crib 15 steps to my left and there's very little in the world that will pull me to my feet right now. this is it for me, nice. and. slow.

life is streaming through my fingers - tiny, microscopic crystals, sparkling and smooth. life is rushing on huge gusts of wind that come out of nowhere and drag me yards away before i have a chance to brush the unkempt hair from my face. life is sweet, glorious kisses from my two most beloved gentlemen, one hobbles over on unsteady knees, the other is holding his hand. life is this dream of mine that looks enormous, minuscule, terrifying, and extraordinary all at the same time. life is wonder, evolution, love. life - life is fast.

we get home in the evenings, henry and me, holding tightly to one another with our arms full of things. henry's neon green bag and blanket. mommy's purse, keys, and phone. sometimes we hardly make it through the door. most of the time our entrance is henry's body, folded in half so that his dangling feet hang just below his outstretched finger-tips, mother holding on for dear life. all the things fall, henry's head brushes the hard-wood floor. it was a close one, but we made it. we're just fine.

henry is upright, dashing towards the opened closet where we store coats, shoes, winter hats, toilet paper (too high for henry to reach). the shoes are great fun at 16 months old - henry can reach the shoes.

"oosch?"
"oosch?!"
"mama?"

he wants me to put on his shoes. the shoes he has in his hand are 10 sizes too large for his thick, baby feet. he loves shoes. he has 15 shoes outside of the closet now (dirty shoes. shoes i would have never let him touch in my other life.), piled on top of his legs. none of them have a match. it doesn't matter. "oosch!"

the shoes are cleaned up, neatly piled high on top of each other again in the closet. none of them have a match. it doesn't matter.

i have one minute to unpack henry's neon green bag, full of dirty clothes from daycare and a white, copied report that tells us what henry did all day. it's identical almost every day. i glance at it to be sure we're not out of any supplies - diapers? wipes? sunscreen? we're not. i have thirty seconds left to throw the dirty clothes into the washing machine before henry's hands skim the toilet seat, before he's found the cupboard he's not allowed to open, before he's got a hand/nose full of potting soil. damn, the potting soil. it's all over him. his clothes, his hair, the floor. damn the pretty plants - the bright, splashes of color i have in my home that remind me i am a woman, a person, i can keep a plant alive. henry's eating its soil.

his clothes are off, he's in the sink. his hands are spreading black dirt onto the formerly cream colored wall above the sink. the sink is now full of all the dishes left to dry on the counter beside the sink. they're dirty again. i throw them into the dishwasher. it's okay, we're doing it. we're just fine.

he's out of the sink, spread out on the kitchen floor, sobbing. he didn't want to get out of the sink. clear, thick snot is flowing from his nose, his tears are wetting the tips of his freshly cut hair. his cheeks are red, further highlighting their round fullness. he's got the most doughy cheeks. he's mine. he's a miracle. he's loud.

three things sit snug in my arsenal, ready for launch: 1.) tomatoes, 2.) cheese, 3.) bath-time. options 1 and 2 are most often used interchangeably and/or paired to steady a mad, red henry. in this moment, i choose to pair 1 and 2. to lure him into his high chair is an art i want you to know has taken months to craft. it's still not perfect. henry will remain on the tear-stained kitchen floor while i sing-talk calmly about how nice it would be to have a snack with mommy. tomatoes. cheese. all lovely things to ease the pain of evacuating the sink before henry was ready. i will cut up the tomatoes and cheese. i will have a bite. oooh, delicious! the first offer to henry is calculated, precise. not too pushy. nice and easy. denied. he wants nothing of it. that's okay, it's not over yet. i keep eating. i have an affinity to cheese and tomatoes myself, i think that's where he gets it. i place two slices of bursting, baby red tomatoes on his high chair tray and hand him a bite of cheese. he takes it. internally, streamers are falling from the rafters. he's 40 seconds from sitting calmly in his chair like a gentleman. he's in my arms, his face is glistening with every trace of transparent liquid his body has just expelled. it doesn't matter. we're just fine.

we spend the next 13.5 minutes in the kitchen together, chatting over the goings on with old mcdonald and his farm, the various noises mr. mcdonald's farm animals tend to make, the wheels on the bus - we have lots of hand motions for this one. i'm beaming with pride. this kid, he's a blessed genius. he's mine. we're just fine.

the door slams hard, rattling the door knocker. joey always lets the door slam. it's okay. we're just fine.

henry's face shoots to the location of the sound. the door?! dad!

"hi!"
silence.
"da!"
silence.
"dada!"
silence. excruciatingly l.o.u.d silence.

joey and henry have this game together, it involves a lot of creeping, sneaking, tickling, and high, screechy giggles. henry is reaching far from his perch in his high chair, neck craned, fingers taut. silent. beaming. he's like a enormously overflowing water balloon, every piece of him is stretched. the anticipation is starting to seep out of his finger-tips.

"da!"
"hi henry!"

such glee. such perfection. henry's face is dripping with tomato juice. his hands are speckled with cheese, the floor around his high chair is littered with clumps of tomatoey cheese. he is happy, eating, and talking loudly about daycare? shoes? the monkeys that are always falling off the bed? who can be sure? joey and i watch in wonder, busily making a supper we will both stand to eat. this is life. this is us. they are mine. we're just fine.

look who came to town!

these guys!

my brothers and their wives (holli started blogging again, you guys!) were here for the weekend. henry was so overwhelmed with their presence that he rattled the car with deep, angry, hysterical sobs all the way home from the airport to welcome them into town.

^^ welcome committee ^^

while they were here we trucked our little tushes all over dc, hit up the regular hot spots: washington, lincoln, jefferson, roosevelt, and mlk. the war memorials. the white house. we walked up and down, in and out of the crowds of tourists. we saw the holocaust museum, mount vernon. we dodged the dc traffic and avoided a nasty game of chicken on the freeway ramp, because sometimes a nice hot sandwich just isn't worth the walk (i'll tell you that story some day if you really want to know). 

it was the most fun we've had in such a long time! cody and holli left yesterday and i dropped travis and jessie off at union station before work this morning so they could end the final leg of their vacation in new york city!

here are a few pictures from our weekend, if you want to see.

^^ the last part of our first day in dc was spent trying to navigate the dc metro ^^

^^ on sunday night, our amazing visitors threw henry an early bday party, signs and everything!! ^^

^^ nothing in the world is better than family ^^

we're so lucky to have the family that we do, and so grateful when they decide to drop everything and hop on a plane to spend the weekend with us. thanks for visiting guys! see you christmas 2014!!!! :)

a weekend in the sun

 

don't get too excited, we're strength building here, and joey is sitting in the wings about .5mm out of camera shot because those little monster legs are about as steady as a twig - despite their girth. but he's making serious improvements, and even since this picture was taken on saturday he's gained confidence on his gams and his back no longer bows against the weight of his not.small.at.all head.

national building museum

we had such a good weekend, and for no really good reason at all except we forced our introverted, money pinching selves out of the blessed house for a few hours each day. on saturday we ventured into dc for a tour around the national building museum, and we grabbed lunch at a great local sandwich shop in del ray. we love to wander along the sidewalks in del ray, busy with strollers and toddlers on scooters, and fantasize about owning a house some day. the neighborhood reminds us a little bit of our neighborhood in saint paul, and sometimes it feels good to pretend we're home, if even for an hour.

on sunday we hung out in the sun while henry napped, and then we walked to the pool so he could float in his bright pink chair while mom and dad caught the end stages of their sunday afternoon tans. we watched the u.s. try to take the win against portugal in the world cup. and although neither joey nor i understand or really care about soccer, we hung our heads low when we tied in the last minute of the game. did you watch?!

oh what a beautiful weekend! we also made plans for the forth of july that we're both really excited about! have a great week!

weekend highlights

last weekend, my dad was in town. he flew in on thursday night, and we spent the rest of the weekend walking his legs off because there's soooo much to see! since i just started my new job, i wasn't able to get any time away while he was here. but joey took friday off from work so the two of them could walk around the mall and see the white house up close. once they'd hit the high points, they wandered over to gw and visited me at work. it was so much fun showing both of them my new office and introducing them to a few people that i work with.

on saturday, we drove the 30ish minutes to chantilly, va to visit the air and space museum. it's this hidden gem, far removed from the hustle and bustle and the hordes of dc museums that line the mall. the museum looks like a gigantic white quonset shed, with sharp glossy metal anchoring the entrance, providing just the right amount of futuristic architecture to draw in the crowds. inside is bursting with testosterone and enormous aluminum shelled aircrafts, dark, ancient looking war planes, and spacey satellites and shuttles. the boys had a wonderful time, and so i did too. this is definitely one of the places we'll add to our itinerary the next time we have visitors.

henry loved having grandpa around, because in the rare moments that both mom and dad were starving him from their attention, h had a grandpa right there to pick up the slack. henry showed grandpa his secret walking path through the trees near our house, and told him all about the deer we always see right up on the walking path. it was a such a great, relaxing weekend, with just the right amount of site seeing to keep us all in high spirits. thanks for visiting dad!

this weekend we're laying low and catching up on all the necessary tasks that never seem to get done when we're scrambling around getting one another fed and henry bathed during the very short time we have as a family on the week nights. this stage in life is certainly not boring, but we're (but more accurately, i'm) gradually learning to slow down and enjoy these very fleeting moments with our little family, despite the messes and tasks unfinished. 

have a happy and safe memorial weekend! we might make our way into dc for a parade on monday, and the wreaths are out on all the tombs in arlington cemetery, which we've heard is a site to see.

the quickest trip home

the day after henry turned six months old, we got up before the sun, hopped in a taxi, spent a few hours on a plane, and before 11 am we were at the sioux falls regional airport skidding down the runway and looking out at the familiar buildings and street signs that somehow send the same warm feeling through my body as a big hearty bowl of soup on the rainiest of days.

joey and i decided only a few weeks ago to make the trip home for a real quick weekend after i got an excited-to-the-point-of-hysterics call from my mom with all the reasons we just couldn't deny that we hadhadhad to be there. my cousin, my first baby, my little lys, my heart from way back, is graduating this year, and clearly i just couldn't miss her graduation reception. and bonus points for all, because my sweet cousin from my dad's side (who also happened to be one of my favorite people in all the land when we were little to play school/house/doctor with) was getting married on the same day! so there it was, decided on the spot, and when i was told my brand new job would start the week we were flying out, i had to say, "k, thanks a million. but i won't be there friday...," because priorities, you guys! but no trip back home would ever be completely fulfilled if we couldn't see the most amazing in-laws to ever walk this earth, so we begged (but didn't have to beg too hard, thankfully) them all to hang out with us on friday night, and alas, we got to see joey's family as well (but not nearly long enough, and why oh why does dc have to be so blasted far from south dakota?!). and for whatever reason, i will never remember to stop what i am doing for only a second and a half to snap a picture or twenty of our family together. i have a camera full of grainy pictures of the white house and every other high-profile spot in dc, but my family is what i really want in the end! i'm so sad that all i have of our time with joey's family are 7 different versions of this one, in which henry looks about at impressed as a slug to be hanging out in the sun.

and all i have of alyssa's graduation reception, although we were surrounded by more family than i could even name, are versions of this unruly hairdo atop one blindingly white exposed arm. but doesn't alyssa pull off hipster cool better than anyone else?

oh, wait. here's one at the graduation reception of henry on grandma's horsey. he didn't hate it.

the wedding overlapped alyssa's reception, so we missed the ceremony but showed up just in time to snag the last plate of potatoes, like the terrible party crashers we are. we surprised my dad and the rest of the family, so i passed my son around to make up for any hard feelings. i made him spend the most time with my dad because not only was he totally surprised when we showed up at the reception, but he's got plane tickets to fly out to see us this thursday so we're making him hang out with us two weekends in a row and i felt like we owed him as many big slobbery huckleberry kisses as possible. see you soon dad!

henry also got to smooch the pretty bride :)

my amazing mom drove all the way to the wedding reception to pick up henry and my brother's kids so we could have some quality sibling/adult time, minus our tired offspring. henry got to spend his first night away from mama and daddy at joey's mom's house, and mama got her first uninterupted/stressfree night sleep since henry's birth. winwin!

family is just my favorite thing there is. 

it gets harder and harder to keep henry so far away from the people and places that made us who we are. incredibly, the second i step off the plane in sioux falls i feel like i never left, and the people we get to see while we're there feel as close to me while i'm there as if we lived right next door to one another. but we don't, and for now at least we are here, in dc, to build a life for our little family. and so we will celebrate these quick trips back to the midwest and look forward to the time we get to spend with our families when they visit. and from afar, we love them deep down to the bottoms of our toes. 

deep, breathy sigh

do you hear that? it's the sound of not one but three sets of relieving shoulder rolls from all corners of the larson house this week (yes, henry had mandatory involvement as well), because we're rich with offer letters over here. on sunday, while enjoying his new hobby of zillow-stalking, joey happened upon a new area in arlington (just north-east of our house in alexandria) that is situated pretty conveniently between henry's current daycare and joey's job in rosslyn. plus, dc (and my new job) are quite a bit closer as well. so we found a reasonably priced apartment complex that boasts a great 2-bedroom floor plan with comparable square footage to our current town-home, and we pounced. luckily, we were able to lock down a balcony unit so joey can continue to grill all the live long day with our new little travel grill, which we've used everysingleday since purchase a month ago. it's summa time over here and we will shout it from the rooftops while preparing our feasts outdoors for good measure.

what?! did someone say "feasts!?!" right here on this tray, if you please.
(henry's wonderful grandparents hooked him up with this stylish new high chair before they left. thanks g+g!)

our move-in date is mid-july, so we've got some time to purchase lots more henry accessories before then and outgrow the new place before we even get there. you know, like the little smarties we are.

on monday, the skies opened up and my offer letter from work finally arrived. we're not wasting any time jumping back on the saddle (except if you count the six month maternity leave we'll be wrapping up, because if you do that saddles's been vacant for faaaaar too long), i start on monday. but don't you worry for a second that i won't drone on and on about every stitch of my first day for you once i've recovered from the shock of getting dressed in the morning (and staying that way all day). we're all shaking a little in our sweat pants because routine is what this family thrives on, and when you pepper in a job for the mama (with a 40 minute commute both ways), life will most certainly not glide on as before. you might send beer and bath salts for the patriarch of the family, because his wife life is about to get a whole lot crazier.

hope your week dries out a little. we're soaked in april showers this week and hoping they don't drown out the may flowers, which are hanging heavy in full bloom already. henry thinks the rain is a terrible annoyance when it splatters on his face. but you won't catch the one trying to wrangle the 20 pound prince, while gripping the umbrella under her chin next to the diaper bag noose, complaining. nope, not complaining one speck.

tourist season

completely random double-the-fun for your viewing pleasure, because there is little we won't do around here for huckleberry's amusement.

henry is in high heaven this week, because grandma and grandpa are in town and he is getting capital s-spoiled! while they're here we're doing our best to contribute to the hoards of tourist clogging the freeway and every solitary spec of sidewalk in dc.

on easter sunday, we visited mount vernon in the afternoon and enjoyed a delicious easter feast that sent all of us (except henry) into the most glorious wave of sleepy for the night. 

on monday we drove into dc and spent the afternoon visiting the national mall: lincoln, jefferson, fdr, mlk, vietnam, and korean memorials; then we snuck down by the pier for fresh seafood on a floating barge. and the weather! we all spent the day smiling wide and basking in the most lovely mix of soft sunshine and the lightest breeze. the trees were just slightly past their full-bloom prime, but we've gotten our fill of cherry blossoms and bright, bursting flowers everywhere we've gone.

i hope your week has been full of sunshine and warm weather. we're off to walk our legs off and take in alexandria.

see ya!

to thirty

last monday, i turned 30. surprisingly to many - including me - the day came and went with zero hyped-up emotional episodes of panic or self-pity. the transition from 29 to 30 was supposed to mean something tragic. it was supposed to represent the death of some significant being inside of me and the birth of some ripened version my former fresh-faced self. and when it didn't feel like any of that i spent half of a second trying to figure out why, and then promptly went back to living my life. because it didn't matter. and maybe that relatively logical perspective is the peek into what 30 will be like. if so, this decade will be the most stress-free, genuinely enjoyable one yet. so 30, pull up a chair! it's great to have you.

the saturday before my birthday, joey presented me with a bound portfolio entitled "jamie's valentine's day/birthday agenda". the first page instructed me not to turn the page until the first adventure was over. i had an hour to shower and prepare for a day of mystery. only a few clues were provided, along with a list of rules that asked for "no questions" and "limited cell phone use". i hate surprises. i am a prude. but i'm also a rule follower, and the idea of having an agenda, however limited and secretive, was empowering and helped my reallyeasygoing nature (wink) relax.

joey and huck dropped me off on some obscure, snow covered curb in the middle of old town alexandria, and at that point i was allowed to turn the first page. stop number one was a manicure/pedicure a block away. i must have walked ten miles throughout the day. all over gorgeous old town (the next stop was a message!) then through the bustling streets of george washington university's campus (my new employer - have i mentioned?!!). every page brought a new location, a new map, and an envelop stuffed with money or a metro pass or whatever supplies i would need for the next piece of my adventure. on the last page i was instructed to meet henry and joey at the lincoln memorial. i stood on the top step looking out at the reflection pool and the pointy top of the washington monument before my family arrived, bundled up in my warmest layers as the wind whipped my hair around and tingled my cheeks, and i smiled. i was freezing and impatient for the boys to find me, but at that moment i felt like i'd won the lottery. the plan once joey and huck arrived was to have our pictures taken around the memorial, but we decided to get henry back to the car and out of the bitter weather instead. we spend the rest of the afternoon together in our warm house, and after henry went to bed our neighbors came over and joey took me to one of my favorite sea food places we've tried yet.

some day he's going to give me lots of grief for all the pictures we have of him wrapped up in his amice. and i will describe in chunky detail how fun it is to clean up the seemingly infinite amounts of spit up and drool that drain continuously from his sometimes smiley little face.

the day was... just so... exactly what i needed. the word perfect doesn't even scratch the surface. joey could have handed me an itinerary as articulate and thought out as the one i got, and i would have been completely overjoyed with just that. just the thought. just the time that i knew he'd put in making every single piece smooth, stress-free, and meticulously tailored for me was enough. but then i got to make it happen! each time i turned the page, my heart skipped. every time i opened an envelop filled with just the perfect amount of cash for the next stop on my journey made me love my husband even more, which seems impossible. because the truth is, i really did win the lottery. this life, it's just so incredible.

these guys. my heart.

virginia has its storms...

did you hear, dc got clobbered with the biggest snow storm in years yesterday! and we heard about it coming days before. on sunday afternoon, joey and i left henry with our neighbor to run some errands for an hour or so and we regretted every second of it, because t.r.a.f.f.i.c! every dc and northern virginia resident was out stocking up for the big "storm". and storm of a life-time it was, too (sarcasm). almost 6 inches we got, and it fell in a beautiful sprinkle all day long. not the treacherous event the locals made it out to be, but we're used to winters like these growing up in the midwest, so when joey got to stay home with h and me yesterday because of weather we kind of went, "uh... okay. we'll take it!"

so we scratched off a few essentials from our to-do in honor of an extra day with daddy. we cleaned the mansion, re-organized henry's clothes (hello 6 months clothes!), and top on the list, transitioned henry to his big boy crib in his very own room. that last one, it was ugly. poor huck spent the day with his dukes up and in utter disgust of his parents for daring to lay him in such an unfit sleeping environment. and can you blame him?

it's positively ghastly in there! so the three of us fought it out all day, and when it came time for mommy to sleep for more than the 15 or so minutes henry was averaging through the day, i was less than excited to get started on our tournament of champions. my odds were r.e.a.l low. but in a crazy plot twist that i'm still not sure i completely believe, my darling child slept straight through the night in his new quarters. miracles do happen, and i would really owe ya one if you shot up a prayer or two for us regarding tonight because two nights in a row just wouldn't be real life.

and between the nap taking and floor scrubbing, we captured a few memories worth sharing...

but really this one isn't from yesterday... i just like it quite a lot :)

a wonderful weekend

my favorite thing about living in virginia is absolutely, without a doubt, the visitors we get to have here! there is something special about hosting the people we love in our new city, especially since we're lucky enough to have dc in our backyard. my brother and his wife drove through terrible weather, on terrible roads, for 24 hours to visit us over the weekend. we had the best time showing them a few things around dc and laughing hysterically over card games at night. we also celebrated henry's one month birthday on sunday! they left us this morning, and we're so excited that we only have to wait two weeks to see them again when we're back in south dakota for christmas. here are a few pictures from our weekend.

arlington national cemetery. absolutely incredible!

tuckered out after a day in dc

hey'a. i don't know if you know, but one month is a pretty big deal

and, some little things about little h at one month...

** loves snuggling tight against mama or daddy's neck (and sometimes sneaks juicy open mouth kisses while he's snuggling).

** smiling lots these days at anyone who will talk to him.

** sleeps best in his rocking sleeper beside mom and dad's bed. laughs (but really just cries hard 'n loud) at the poor fool who tries to lay him in his crib to sleep.

** refuses to give in to sleep without lots of snuggles and/or rocking before.

** has little patience for being awake in his car seat. but once he's sleeping, he'll snooze for hours. must!keep!driving! 

** tummy time is getting much better (thanks aunt holli!).

** fits (snuggly) into 0-3 month clothes, for now!

** loves staring at the christmas tree lights.

** still a big fan of bath time and will sleep under any circumstances in the moby wrap with mom.

we can't wait to see where the next month takes us little h. we love you buddy!

catch up

this weekend we are enjoying every last cent of freedom from work responsibilities and diving deep into the adventures that the dc area has to offer. we aren't sure what we'll do quite yet, but it's in the high 80's around here, the sun is shining, and we've got the adventure spirit in our sails. i'll keep you posted on where the weekend ends up.

this afternoon we're having lunch with my grandmother's cousin and her husband, the same amazing folks who brought us to dc over a month ago. we're excited to catch up and enjoy some time with family. enjoy your weekend! i'll leave you with a photo that somehow got overlooked from our visit with kenley and my mom last weekend. and a 35 (almost 36 week tummy shot). you're welcome ;)

no, to answer your question, i don't know how the baby could possibly grow any larger in there. it's a mystery i'm sure will reveal itself in the coming weeks!