It's hard to breathe...

The most awesome news we could ask for came yesterday: we have a completely healthy, active, growing baby. We had our big 20 week ultrasound (because of my age, we had the high-tech 4-D version) and were able to see extraordinary details of the little feet, fingers, spine, and yes...we now know the gender.

So just as we did with Millie, we had the doctor write the verdict on a note card that we then opened at a family dinner last night. Here's Millie telling you the big news:

Well, ok, she's just pointing to the picture on the front of the notecard. But if she could read it to you, you'd know that we are having a...

Can you believe it??? It was seriously hard for me to breathe last night when we opened the card. Of course I'm ecstatic, but I am equally panicked. All I can see are visions of broken arms and buckets of tadpoles in my garage. This is going to be fun!

Blueberry Soup

We all had a fun, new adventure Sunday morning. Every year the Swedish Embassy hosts a bike ride in honor of one of their national 'holidays'. I think the story goes something like...Hundreds of years ago one of their kings was being pursued by an angry mob and forced to cross-country ski for his life for approximately 57 miles (I'm sure it was measured in kilometers, but that wasn't any part of this sketchy story that I was told). Finally a group of villagers took him in, gave him refuge and served him warm blueberry soup to warm him up. So in honor of this legend (and since there's not a lot of cross-country skiing to be done in the DC metro area), the embassy hosts an annual bike ride, opens their stunningly beautiful House of Sweden to the public, and serves the cyclists warm blueberry soup at the end of the ride.

Christopher and a couple of neighbors got up early and did the bike ride (Christopher rode about 40 miles) and Stacey and Millie took the bus over the Embassy to check things out. It's situated right on the bank of the Potmac River just below Georgetown. Our neighbor described it as an upscale Ikea, but oh...it's so much more. Millie had a great time running around the open space and even enjoyed her few tastes of the soup from Dad's finger (imagine drinking warm blueberry syrup...an acquired taste, I imagine). As we were leaving I thought it was all such a quintessential Washington, DC thing to do. What a fun city.

Millie and Dad investingating both sides of a cool 'water wall' inside the Embassy

A Visit to Auntie Jules...

...who happens to live in warm, sunny San Diego! It was a glorious warm-up for mom and Mils. Well, it was glorious AFTER the sweaty debacle of the flight out there, which ended with both of us spread out and crying on the floor of the bulk-head...can you imagine??? Julie lives in La Jolla now, just a block over from the little apartment where Christopher and I spent the first five years of our marriage and just a block from my favorite beach in the world. I visited my coffee-guy on the corner (twice) and my bagel shop down the street. I saw old friends and did some preliminary house/neighborhood hunting for our upcoming move. Mils soaked up all the love and attention from her Aunt and thrived in the CA sunshine. But beyond the weather, this trip really gave me a lot of peace about our move. I know I'll be devastated to leave my parents and wonderful friends here, but I now know that I'm going to a place that feels very much like home. We are so blessed to have two 'home towns'.

OK...I have about a hundred photos from the trip, so I've tried to post a few highlights:

Millie's Gang

Here's her posse. We all gathered for our weekly playgroup which happened to fall on Violet's second birthday. It's such a fun snapshot in time as our little ones are becoming toddlers. Millie can now name a few of her friends, and ALWAYS lights up when I tell her we are going to do some playin' with Grace or Aliyah or Taylor or any one of these sweethearts. I really can't imagine what life will be like for me and Millie without these friends nearby. I know God has great plans for us, and if they are half as great as what we've had here, we are due some GOOD TIMES!

Ski Bunnies

We spent a wonderful week with the Greer clan up in Stratton, Vermont. It is a picturesque ski village and the location of brother-in-law Tim's adorable vacation townhouse. Christopher was the only true ski-bunny of the three of us. Mils and I did some good playing with cousin Kaitlin and Grandma Greer while the rest hit the slopes. I was able to sneak away a couple of afternoons to enjoy a piping hot cappuccino and a good book at the village cafe. Here are a few photos of the action.

Cousins Kaitlin and Millie

Dad and Millie on her great new sled. She LOVED it!

I went in to get Millie up from a nap and discovered she had pulled a box of Hot Tamales into her crib with her. We figured she ate about a quarter of this box! Check out the red candy mess all over her face and clothes! Hilarious.

Millie's Walking!

We call her "Frank" -- short for Frankenstein. She finally started walking last week and is picking up some speed. Most often she's got one or both arms straight out in front of her, and there's not a lot of give in the knees, but she gets it done. Here's some video from this afternoon.




We're off to Vermont to ski with Christopher's family next week. Mom and Mils will have lots of inside time together. Photos of the fun when we get home!

Play Time!

Millie and friends Violet and Aliyah at the National Building Museum

It's cold outside so we've been hitting the museums HARD these past two weeks. Today was a great outing with Wendy and Reagan to the National Gallery of Art to see the Edward Hopper exhibit. We survived the entire two-level exhibit without a single melt-down or cying fit and were rewarded with a great lunch in the cafe afterwards. Last week we met Wendy and Reagan at the Natural History Museum -- home of that famous giant elephant with huge tusks. Millie was terrified so we headed outside to the Mall to do some energy burn-off and an awesome carousel ride.

Reagan at the National Gallery of Art

Millie & Mom on the carousel on the Mall

My pack of mom friends met up at the National Building Museum last week for lunch and play. It has a great indoor space for lots of running (or fast crawling in Millie's case) along with oversized soft legos, soft building tools and this great giant playhouse. It's as if I'm on some kind of frantic "check-off before we move away" spree, because we also made it over to the National Geographic Society exhibit (not spectacular) and the Post Office Pavillion (which had a very cool tower that overlooked most all of the city).

Millie and Grace climbing the playhouse steps

Man to Man Defense

Millie had some big news to share with our families this Christmas:

She's going to be a big sister! Or as our brother-in-law Skip says, we'll soon be playing a man-to-man defense with the kids. We are expecting a new addition to the family this summer (July 15 to be exact) and of course, we are just stunned and so incredibly grateful. A move to San Diego is also in the plans for this summer, so Christopher is doing some intense negotiating to get it worked out so that we can stick around here through the birth and those first crazy weeks.

So to all who have been praying for us so faithfully, thank you. We can not imagine a sweeter, more tangible answer to your prayer. We are so blessed.

Christmas Magic

Christmas Eve

We are settling back into 'real life' after a magical Christmas season. We were able to spend a few days, including Christmas, with the entire Greer clan in Delaware. The little girls (cousins Millie and Kaitlin) loved playing together almost as much as they loved all the attention and love from their Grandparents, Aunt and Uncles.

Uncle Skip and the girls; Millie LOVES her Raggedy Ann!

We made it back down to DC to spend the end of the week with the Steinbeiss gang. Julie was in from San Diego, Mike was in from Boulder (via Costa Rica) and Matt stopped by from Denver on his way to ten days in Europe. I don't think Millie's feet hit the floor the entire visit...she was always wrapped up in someone's arms.




Uncle Mike and Millie form a band; Millie and her beloved rocking horse.

Millie and Aunt Julie

Baby It's Cold Outside

As the high temperature today is expected to be in the 20's, our upcoming move to San Diego is starting to sound like a tropical vacation. Millie and I are attempting the rarely experienced "all day in the house" scenario today. I'm not good at this. I like us to have one activity a day: a walk to the Capitol and back, an outing with our friends to a fun museum, even the hideous trip to the commissary counts as an outing. But it's so cold today that I think we should invent some inside games (perhaps work on our walking skills???) and keep cozy in here. We'll see if I can make it to the afternoon nap.