Fall into Fairfax

No baby yet in this delivery room, running of out of blog entries here...

On Saturday, the final family of three outing took us to a fall festival sponsored by our county government. The weather was great, the food was fried and Emilia enjoyed the rides and her first horseback ride (that was no pony).

Due date distraction

No baby yet, so here's another entry.

On Friday night, Erin's due date came and went and Erin was ready for a distraction. We went out and had a very nice evening with our next door neighbors at the playground and dinner. Emilia and Zane, who are only a couple of months apart, are becoming buddies and shared a big bowl of pasta after chasing each other around the playground until the sun went down. Erin, still hoping for a late night delivery, enjoyed her favorite Indian food dish (not coincidentally, her last meal before Emilia was born).

Take me out to the ballgame

So, while Erin's in labor next to me in her hospital bed, she has me updating the blog so that I can be productive, too. No wasting time in this household.


Last week, Dan and I took Emilia and Nathan to see the Nationals final home game of the season. The kids had a great time with the fried food, loud music, screaming fans, and exploding fireworks. The guys had a great time, too; not only spending quality time with the kids but with the added drama that goes with a game-ending walk-off grand slam by the Nationals. Go Nats!

Happy Anniversary to us - It's baby time!

Update from Reston Hospital Center: we're in labor, althought the nurse says Erin's doing most of the work.

Eric: "How does this sound [reads above]"

Nurse Mary: "That should be shocking to your friends if they know you...haha"

Nurse Mary: "Did you feel that contraction?"

Erin: "What contraction?"

Stay tuned...

Update:

Nurse Mary used to go to McLean Bible Church where she was involved in the women's ministry and now attends Reston Bible with her new husband. However, she is a big Jim Supp fan "I love Jim Supp" and recalls his great sermons and laughs through the one that Jim told about how men "don't hold hands" (hand motions and all).

Nurse Mary is off duty at 7 p.m. and can't stay late tonight despite Erin's request.

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.