A Decade of Dog

Today is Bullet's 10th birthday! I picked him out when he was only two weeks old, brought him home around three months old, and he's been my constant companion ever since -- heck, he even pre-dates Matt. He's had cancer twice and a knee replacement, but he keeps on waggin'!


Here's Bullet on the day I picked him out -- that was so long ago my hair was still curly.










Here's what he looks like this morning -- king for the day. He's spending the day on the living room sofa (like he always does - which is why we have sheets on it).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BULLET!

Easter

We celebrated Bea's SECOND Easter in fine style, with lots of bunny ears for everyone. (Yes, Bea was born before Easter last year! She was born on Good Friday.) We spent the Saturday before Easter with the Matt's family in Princeton and Easter Sunday brunch with Melissa's parents. It was very cold and snowy -- so no frilly, springtime Easter dresses for us.

Beatrice and Sadie in all their Easter glory.

"If you take my Easter bucket, I'm taking your stuffed chick..."

Dad and Bea.

Even I got into the Easter Ear action.

Hope you had a "hoppy" one. -M

Trip to Maryland/Washington DC

Bea is now an experienced traveler. We just returned from a trip out to Maryland to see my high school friend Deanna and her family. Many of you may remember Deanna as maid of honor at our wedding. We all had a great time exploring Washington DC and Maryland with Deanna, Chris, Sophia (5), and Gianna (nearly 3)... not to mention the various Barbies who came along with us wherever we went.

Bea did fairly well on the plane rides. On the ride out to Maryland she never cried -but did suddenly puke all over me - then went back to smiling and laughing. On the way home, she was more tired and fussed a bit, but the plane was full of fussy babies and I think she just joined in with the rest of them. Luckily, no puking, though.

Here are some highlights from the trip:

When we got to Deanna's house, Sophie and Ginny had made us "welcome" signs and hung them on the front door. This is Sophie's sign. As you can see, Baby Bea was greatly anticipated and she was well loved by the girls while we were there. Here is Bea on her first swing in Deanna's yard with Deanna and Ginny. Bea playing outside in her sun hat - it wasn't hot in Maryland, but it was certainly warmer then it is here (where we are currently having a snowstorm). It was in the 60s the day we got there. On Sunday, it was a bit colder and very windy, but we took a trip into Washington DC. Here we are with the White House in the background. We happened to be on National Mall at the same time as the St. Patrick's Day parade. This friendly redcoat was in line for the parade and let Bea hold his "spear". She would have preferred to touch his hat. Here is Matt, Bea, and I in front of the capitol building. Bea also went on her first carousel ride. She wasn't too sure about it at first (and definitely did not want to sit on the horses), but she enjoyed watching the horses go up and down after awhile. We were a couple weeks early for the cherry trees, but here is Matt with the one tree we saw blooming. Take what you can get, I guess. :) Here is Matt and Bea in front of the Wisconsin and Minnesota areas of the World War II monument. Deanna's husband, Chris, is in the Navy Band and played the dedication for this monument. He was a great tour guide for us through the city. We were all tired after the big trip to DC. Here are Sophie and Ginny on the ride home. And, here's Bea... On Monday, we went to Annapolis - here is a picture of Deanna, Ginny, Matt, and Bea in front of the Maryland State House.

And, lastly, here is Bea at the naval academy -- following in her great-grandfathers' footsteps by trying on a sailor hat. (Two of her great-grandpas were in the navy.)

As you can tell we had a fun time. It's only too bad we can't see Deanna, Chris, and the girls more often!

Hope you all have a great Easter and get lots of Cadbury Eggs. (They're my favorite.) Melissa

Fun with Cousin Sadie

Sorry it's been so long without a blog. This time it's because... there's really nothin' much to talk about. During the last few weeks we've been busy with lots of boring stuff. We've all had more daycare colds, Matt's been studying for exams, I've been working hard , and Bea's been hangin' out being her smiley self.



We have had a couple of great days playing with Bea's cousin, Sadie (see pictures - Bea has the striped shirt on in the top two and the red shirt in the pic below - Matt is, of course, wearing gopher gear. Surprise.). Sadie is only six month older then Bea and Bea is catching up in size... but wow, six months makes a difference cognitively. Sadie is running around, pretending to vaccuum, and saying works like "outside" and "eyebrow." Bea is still not crawling, primarily likes to bang stuff together, and has not said, "Mama" yet. (Says "Dada" all the time, little stinker.)


In other news, Bea is going to take her first airplane trip this weekend - we are going to visit our friends Deanna, Chris, Sophie, and Ginny in Maryland. Since Bea actually startles when planes fly over the house, it will be interesting to see what she does when she is actually in one.

That's all for now - hope you are well!
M