Runner Girl

For the first time, Claire and I got to run together in a race! This morning was the Central VA Autism Society 5K and we were really excited to participate on my cousin Sam's team. Sam did awesome - ran the whole thing in 30 minutes! (And I think it was the first time he's ever run that far!) I wish I could show you a picture, but he was just too fast for me!

Here's a couple action shots of Claire and me running....


...truth be told she only ran for about 5 minutes and got back in her stroller! Then about half way through, she asked "Mommy did I win yet?"

When we got closer to the finish line, she got back out and ran through the finish with me - I have to admit I was a very proud momma and I hope one day she'll want to run the whole thing with me!! She was really excited to get her medal and said "I did it! I did it! I won!"

Here we are with Sam, Uncle Chuck, and Mimi!

Weekend away

Even when we have a weekend at home with no real plans, we always end up scurrying around to do errands, go to the gym, cut the grass........etc. This weekend we decided to pack it up and go to the river for a quiet relaxing family weekend.

What a difference a little space makes! It was great to put whatever we wanted to take into the van and still have tons of room!!


We got there Friday evening and had a quick pizza dinner and Claire was ready for bed. She was so excited to sleep in a new bed she literally kicked me out of the room so she could go to sleep. The next morning we enjoyed pancakes and a few lazy hours of reading, relaxing, and movie watching!

Daddy got the boat all ready and we went for a little cruise. Claire was excited to drive the boat and she loved riding around. (Don't worry Mom, the water was calm and we didn't do anything crazy, per Dr.'s orders! No water skiing for me this summer....boo)

The rest of the afternoon we played in the yard and Claire "fished" on the dock. Then Daddy cooked our dinner on the grill - burgers, corn on the cob, and grilled ceaser salad - the perfect summer dinner!

Sunday morning I was a bit tired after a 3 am wake-up call from Claire needing to go potty - so we were super lazy and lounged around until high tide when we could take the boat out again. We packed a picnic lunch and spent a little time on the water before driving home.

It was such a nice weekend! Thanks Popa and Abu for letting us use the house & boat. We're hoping to have lots more weekends this summer at the river!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! (Especially to my mom!!)

I got to sleep in this morning and we went to a cookout in the afternoon with the family. It was a beautiful day and so nice to sit outside for lunch.

The best gifts of all - Claire made these at preschool and was so excited to give them to me! She couldn't even wait for me to open it before she told me what it was (a candle jar and card)

And here's baby #2 at the end of my first trimester! Can't wait for Mother's Day next year when I get to celebrate with both of my babies!!

Claire & Daddy

Our annual photo shoot in the backyard:

Pigs flew, hell froze, and...

we bought a minivan! I never thought I'd see the day!

Both of our cars are getting old and pretty high in mileage so we'd been talking about getting a new vehicle for a while now. I finally convinced Rob that if you wanted any extra space with 2 car seats, the minivan was the way to go. (FYI....Rob was sold when he saw on a TV show that Dave Grohl, lead singer of the Foo Fighters, drives a Honda Odyssey. Although I'm sure his is much more tricked out than what we got!)

So we found this one, it fit exactly what we needed and we decided to go for it! Even though we could have waited several more months, we thought it would be great to have for all of our summer traveling. (No more cramming us, the kid, the dog and dog crate, a box fan, and all our stuff into my Accord for a weekend trip - woo hoo!!)

Claire came along to make the big purchase and she was so excited to play in it when we got home. She's been asking to play in the new "bini-ban" everyday since!

Yep, she wore her ruby slippers to Carmax - why not?!

We even managed to sell Rob's car in a day and a half - he came home with cash in pocket! (It's been deposited and I can rest easy knowing it wasn't counterfeit or something!) Now we have to make the big switch and Rob will be driving the Accord. He can't wait to get in there and CLEAN it up and remove all traces of it being a "kid car" for the last 3 1/2 years.

Tea & Crumpets

Last Friday was the Royal wedding. I wasn't too into all the hoopla and most certainly did not get up at 4 am to start watching it on TV - but that morning I decided we should at least try to celebrate a little. So we had tea and crumpets for breakfast (really, it was just biscuits from a can) and I tried to convince Claire that we should all wear silly hats. Then it was time for their first kiss and Claire actually got kind of excited to see the Prince and Princess! She ran and grabbed her puppets and watched. Even though I'll admit to being a little bit of a "Royal wedding scrooge" - I have to say it was beautiful and I loved watching them parade into Buckingham Palace.



Here she is, plunked down in front of the TV watching - everytime there was a picture of William, she'd say "look Mommy, there's the Prince again!"

Easter at Mimi and Papa's

After the parade, we went to Mimi and Papa's house for one final Easter basket and egg hunt, and then we had a nice Easter dinner with the family.

Claire was so excited to find two more of the plastic chicks like she got that morning! (Coral, we're going to need 2 more names to go with Norm and Carla!) She also got a cool Easter book, 2 bunnies, some candy, and a bird whistle! Then Uncle Andy and Aunt Tara gave her this cute little basket with some decorated eggs and a bunny game!

Even Baby Barnes #2 got a present - a "New Life" frame for his/her first ultrasound picture! It's really sweet. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Mimi hid eggs in the backyard (including the ones Claire had helped dye)

Uncle Andy found an inchworm for Claire to hold. She's been "collecting" them at home....why are there SO many this year?? ew.

Samara was so adorable outside in the grass. She was smiling, clapping, and goofing around with her Daddy.



Mom had prepared a really nice dinner and we all enjoyed spending some time together. Happy Easter everyone!