Easter

Happy (belated) Easter! What a beautiful day this year. We spent ours with good friends/neighbors. We had a delicious ham dinner and the kids had an Easter egg hunt at the park. Us four Moms even snuck away and caught a movie at the base theater. Caden didn't hunt eggs but he did have fun banging the plastic eggs together and throwing everything out of his basket.

As for recent developments, Caden cut his last tooth and is fighting off a head-cold. He learned two new words: "truck" and "dog." He likes to call pretty much everything dog. These boyish words describe him to a tee...all boy. He walks/runs everywhere and would live outside if he could. He never just wants to stay at the park...he insists on exploring the entire neighborhood, playing in other people's yards, walking in the street, etc. He is obsessed with his Kawasaki four-wheeler and wants rides 24/7. Luckily Brian has endless energy.

Due to his cold, he doesn't eat much lately but would drink Brian's fruit protein shakes for every meal if possible. WEIRD. Also strange, he still hates the daycare at MOMS Group, but he loves it when we leave him with the neighbors.

On that note, we utilized our neighbors Angel and Rob for babysitting last Thursday, and Brian and I went on a date to celebrate our fourth anniversary. It was probably the best one yet. Brian left Post-it notes all over the house that morning with cute little messages. (Now is your cue to say, "Ahhhhh.") Brian picked out a unique Itailian restaurant called A la Lucia in Old Town Alexandria. After dinner, we stopped at the romatic destination of Best Buy on the way home. Since our anniversary fell on spring this year, we were hoping for nice weather but it was dreadfully windy, just like the day we got married. We hope the nice weather arrives soon. Gray dreary weather, BE GONE.

Brian's Mom returns from Rome today so we will be excited to hear about her retreat. Also, Brian's sister Shannon takes her board exams tomorrow for becoming certified as a dental hygienist. Good luck Shannon...we're thinking of you.

St. Patty's Day...little hooligan on a mission

So stinkin' cute

New discovery...the wonderful world of stickers

Virginia Beach

Caden had another new experience this past week...a trip to the beach!

For Valentine's Day and my birthday, Brian planned a weekend in a beautiful king spa suite overlooking Virginia Beach. It's only 3 hours to get there so it was a nice drive. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate as it was rainy and cold. But really, what else could we expect for a beach in Virginia in February! On the upside, the area was very quiet being it was off season.



We found a few fun things to do despite the rain. We took Caden to the Virginia Aquarium the first day. He touched a crab and got a kick out of the seals. We shopped Saturday morning (another part of my birthday present) and I bought a swimsuit at a cute boutique. We went to breakfast twice and had some excellent seafood. Brian braved the cold and got in a scenic bike ride. He also drove us around Fort Story, which is where he went to Recon school in '99. He reminisced about the good times he had there (and the pain).



And last, but not least, we walked with Caden down on the beach. He didn't initially understand the point of our cold windy adventure but he soon discovered the sand and enjoyed digging in it. (I'm sure he didn't enjoy the wet butt he had afterwards.) We hope that the next time we go to the beach, the temperature will exceed 40 degrees. It think it's humorous that all of his first beach pictures are of him in a hat and mittens.

By the way, thanks for all the birthday well wishes! My Dad's 50th birthday is in 2 days...Happy Birthday Dad! My Mom and him are celebrating it on a beach in Puerta Vallarta. Unfortunately, they have been sick since they arrived. What dreadful timing. We will pray that they feel better soon so they can enjoy this last week.

One more thing...Caden doesn't say many words, but he does say, Da Da, Ma Ma, that, and bye bye. To my dismay, he has always associated Ma Ma with needing something, so he generally furrows his brow and says it in a commanding voice. Finally today, he said Ma Ma a couple times NICELY, just when he saw me, indicating he knows it's my name and that he doesn't necessarily demand something as a result. That made me feel smile. Have a great day!