Weekend in the Country

At the beginning of May, Ben and I took a trip to the "country house," a beautiful house we rented in the Shenadoah Valley. Lauren, Mary Elizabeth, Janelle, Tatman, Chelsea, and I try to get together for a girls' weekend at least once a year. This year, we decided to all bring one child with us. I loved spending time with Ben by himself (and it allowed Maya and Larkin to fly out to CA to spend an early Mother's Day with Wendy), and it was great getting to spend time with some of my dearest friends' kiddos. That said, it was not the relaxing girls' weekends that we are normally used to!

Ryder Savio

Lauren and Molly Keras

Hanging out on the porch with Jack Andrews

Grayson Collins

Candler Lott and G discussing something important. We spent a lot of time on this porch!

Candler

Jack

Best friends

Getting 6 kids 2 and under to look at the camera is impossible.

A successful picture of all 12 of us!

Christmas

I just realized that we never posted any pictures from Christmas... better late than never, right? And I'm getting it done before next Christmas, so I think this actually counts as a success. 

We had a great Christmas in DC (our first Christmas not traveling for Larkin and me ever.) My mom came and stayed with us for the week, which was wonderful and different. We look forward to hosting my mom for many Christmas to come in the future. This trip was also where Ben christened my mom "Wadka." We aren't sure where the name came from (especially since we all know she prefers Chardonnay to vodka), but it has stuck. He can say grandma, but my mom is now Wadka to both kids.

It's hard to believe that these pictures represent our last Christmas as a family of four! I think Larkin and I are still in shock that our family will be growing in less than 7 weeks. The kids are ready, though. Ben kisses my tummy every morning and says "hi, baby." Maya went with me to the OB this morning and got to hear her sister's heartbeat. Between the gymnastics finals in the Olympics, hearing the baby's heartbeat, and swimming lessons tonight, Maya is having a great 24 hours!