We are pleased to introduce...

...Pink Pineapple Studio!

Oh, you didn't think we had the baby, did you? Well, just about as exciting, I am thrilled to share with you another labor of love. Wendy, Sandra and I are officially entrepreneurs! Today was the debut of our new company, Pink Pineapple Studio, which sells handcrafted picture frames. We exhibited at the Claude Moore Autumn Craft Faire. We had no idea what to expect, especially since it was a pretty dreary day and ultimately rained. Despite the rain, we sold nearly 50% of our inventory of frames!




Here's a glimpse at our first show - Our new venture has been a great way to spend some time crafting with friends. We owe lots of thanks to our husbands for helping with everything from our Web site and branding to establishing ourselves as an official LLC, and from sanding and painting to watching the kids so we could work. Speaking of the kids, Emilia enjoyed her time at the fair today, too. Here she is with Nathan and Andrew:

Our next event is Nov. 14 at the Centreville United Methodist Church Bazaar. No need to catch us in person, though... we take custom orders anytime!

Dinner with a purpose

On Wednesday night, I enjoyed a fantastic meal with 18 ladies at my friend Mandy's house. This was more than just an ordinary girls night, however. Mandy organized this party to raise awareness and funds for a very worthy organization, Love 146, which works to eradicate child exploitation and sex slavery around the world. This group plans to take on a new cause with every dinner. Learn more on Mandy's blog.

Falling into fall

You know fall is officially here with Cox Farms' opening weekend. While Eric is not looking forward to fall's relentless leaves in our yard, we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of our newest addition any day. For now, here was our family of three at Cox this year... and in 2008... and way back in 2007...

This year's festival definitely did not disappoint, and we were glad to enjoy it with the Hills and Vaughans.

Visit the Hills' Web site for a new video of this now annual excursion.

The computer generation

It's official -- Emilia is now more tech savvy than me.

Brunch with Steph and Champ

A few weekends ago, we crossed state lines into Maryland to visit Steph and her Golden Retriever Champ (Gabe was out of town). We had been preparing Emilia to see a big doggie and she was super excited. They hit it off great and had lots of fun moments hugging. However, it turns out that Champ is a little camera shy and goes bananas whenever he sees a camera. So, no pictures of Steph's house, the delicious brunch spread, or the golden retreiver. But, we had a great time catching up with Steph.

Daddy the hair stylist

I have not been sleeping well at all lately, so a few mornings ago, Eric, who is usually out the door for work before 6:00 a.m., stayed home to take care of Emilia's morning routine so I could sleep a little longer. This is what I received in my inbox when I logged onto my computer at work:
I think I'll be hiding the hair accessories from now on.

Burke Lake

Labor Day was a little overcast and cool, so it was very pleasant to walk around Burke Lake Park for the afternoon. We originally went to rent a boat, but they were out of electric motors and we weren't up for rowing against the wind. So, we stuck to a picnic lunch, the playground, the carousel and the train. Emilia had a great time, especially on the choo choo train. I got a little sad that our days of outings as a family of three are coming to an end, but I know that we have lots to look forward to as our family grows!

Personal chefs

On Sunday evening, Corey and Gillian came over and -- get this -- cooked us dinner! They prepared a feast on the grill and a yummy summer dessert. Emilia helped out by washing her favorite fruit: strawberries.

College reunion

Our official college reunion (American University, class of 1999!) is next month. Eric and I expect to be pretty busy with the new baby around that time, so we had a few college friends over this weekend to kick off the festivities. Sarah and Jeremy, Beth and Matt, and Dominique and Phil joined us for brunch on Saturday morning. It was great to catch up, especially with the newest additions.

Check out these big kids -- Annaliese, Emilia and Jacob

Here are the kids testing out the play area in the basement -- Aaron, Jacob, Emilia and Annaliese (baby Evangeline was snoozing!):

Annaliese's birthday party

On Sunday afternoon, Emilia was a guest at Annaliese's (Dom and Phil's first daughter's) second birthday party at Gymboree. Eric took her, and the report was that she absolutely loved it. Of course, while the other kids were enjoying yummy cupcakes, Emilia was eating tomatoes.

Here she is with the birthday girl...

And having a blast...

Family fest

On Saturday afternoon, we stopped by the Family Fest at Dulles Town Center to take in another performance of Emilia's favorite music band, Rocknoceros. We had missed most of the show because of Emilia's nap, but she did manage to see another act and get close to a few unusual animals.

Texas visitors

On Friday night, our friends Greg and Becky were in town from Fort Worth. After meeting up for dinner and staying up late to catch up, they stayed over our house. Emilia took to them right away, and even donned Eric's cowboy hat in honor of our Texas guests. Greg and Becky are amazing parents, so we were doing our best to squeeze as much knowledge out of them as possible. Becky is far better at keeping up with their blog than I am, so check it out for more on their visit.

Tooth doctor

Last week, Emilia had her first visit to the "tooth doctor." I can't say enough great things about the practice, Pediatric Dentristy of Reston. Seriously, I think Emilia enjoyed it more than a trip to Chuck E Cheese. They took us right away, so she didn't have that much time in the fun playroom/waiting room. But, when she got in the chair, she had her choice of video to watch and sunglasses to wear. She was perfectly still and not scared at all. She got a great report (thanks to Eric -- he does most of the teeth brushing). She got a goodie bag, a sticker and a token for the treasure chest. If they took adults, Eric and I would totally switch doctors. She's already looking forward to her next visit!

Worms!

Last weekend, I braved a flock of bargain-hunting moms at the Reston Library children's book sale (17 books for $22!). Since swimming lessons had ended the week before, Eric took Emilia to a little nature program about worms sponsored by Reston Association. Here she is observing the big dig for worms. She even got to eat some worms (gummy worms in chocolate pudding)!

Earning her keep

Emilia has been very helpful around the house lately. She likes to dust and sweep the floor. Here she is "helping" daddy mow the lawn.And, boy, was that exhausting!

Visit with "gamma"

My mom was down a few weeks ago for the entire week. Emilia had a great time with gamma, although I'm not sure what to think of this new fashion trend she picked up...