playdates!

The girls have been having fun and staying busy with their friends even on cold rainy days.

Our new house

We still have a lot of unpacking to do, pictures to hang, and furniture to fill the space, but we're starting to settle in. Here's a sneak peak...
Dining room looking into the den:
Mudroom off the kitchen:
Kitchen. We love the cool light w/ the pulley above the built-in breakfast table:


Above, Rachel enjoys morning cartoons in the den. Below our living room, Rachel's room, and the basement playroom:

Finally, all four of us in the picture together!

Long overdue pics from Halloween

Rachel Turns 3!

Rachel celebrated her 3rd Birthday at a kids' gym with 21 of her closest friends. She insisted on a princess cake, so we comprised and had princesses playing in a ball pit.
Two of her favorite presents were a princess dress (surprise!) from her Nana and an Ariel mermaid doll from her friend Eva. Here she is modeling them both in front of the "picture wall" she created in her room.

Here are some other recent snapshots.
Chloe is now sitting on her own, and as of yesterday, can get into sitting from laying down. Her current favorite toy is this piano:
Rachel took this one:

Lots of Firsts...

We've been celebrating lots of firsts in our house over the past month...

Chloe ate her first bite of food. Rice cereal and we're not sure she liked it.

Chloe celebrated her first HALF birthday. The day she turned 6 months we took her out to dinner at Clyde's of Chevy Chase, the same restaurant we took Rachel to when she turned 6 months. She sat in a high chair for the first time and also tried peas for the first time. Unfortunately, she didn't get to try her ice cream for the first time, Rachel enjoyed it for her:


Some of the new firsts...Chloe learns how to sit on her own!
Beautiful smiling baby girl!
First day of the New Year, we had a party with friends!
Rachel got her FIRST haircut finally! Well, it was only the bangs that got cut, but it was very exciting! And she modeled her new style with pride afterward.

Chloe on the swings for the first time! She loves it just as much as her big sister.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

RACHEL'S FIRST ICE SKATING

Rachel loved her first experience on ice skates (despite a couple of falls). She was a natural!

Chloe enjoyed staying warm in her stroller and slept through the whole thing!

If you've been wondering where the pictures of Chloe are...finally getting some on the blog. She's just about four and a half months old now. Rachel is figuring out how to get lots of smiles and giggles out of her, and making sure she gets lots of tummy time.

Rhode Island

Here are a few pics from our trip to Rhode Island that other people have sent us...we'll post more after we download them.