Tim Turns 32!

Happy Birthday, Tim! His birthday was on September 26th and what a great day it was! His office coordinated a dual surprise baby shower/birthday party for him in which Erika was invited to attend. His work team was so generous with baby gifts (our registry is just about complete, now!) and really provided a warm and wonderful atmosphere to celebrate Tim's birthday and the baby's upcoming arrival. Tim swears he "knew something was going on" but his surprise was pretty genuine when he walked into the conference room for a "meeting."

That evening, we celebrated Tim's birthday at Carpool. Our friends Andrea, Greg, Shaun, and Molly joined in the fun and even though it was a Wednesday, the crew drank a Car Bomb in Tim's birthday honor...certainly Erika was absent for that toast! We all had a great time and enjoyed sitting outside. Continuing Tim's birthday, Erika took him out for dinner on Friday (see pictures below) to Beck's, a Belgium restaurant in DC which was just delicious. The restaurant has amazing decor, a huge assortment of beers, and a wonderful menu of great food. It was fun to get out to DC and we kept thinking throughout the night that Beck's might just have been the LAST DC restaurant we visit cons baby! Yikes!

Erika enjoyinng her Duck Congolese (and yes, a glass of red wine!)





Mmmm, mussels...

A little piece of heaven for Tim....

Smile!

Congratulations, Shea and Jim!

Welcome to the world, Brady! It is with great excitement to announce the birth of Shea and Jim's first baby - Brady Taft Reemsnyder, born September 19th! We are so happy for the new family of three! Brady is quite the adorable little one, too and we wish the new mommy and daddy all our best!

Getting Close...

We're about 2-3 weeks away from the big arrival! This past weekend, Tim and Erika attended an all day childbirth class at Virginia Hospital Center (where Baby C will be born) and learned what to expect on the big day. We're both feeling ready for the arrival and think that we're as ready as we can be! Erika is of course getting bigger (see pictures below) but still feeling comfortable with the pregnancy. She has also been enjoying sleeping in a bit since she finally transitioned over her exercise classes to other instructors. Although missing teaching, Erika sure enjoys the extra R&R!

Tim is getting ready for Baby C, too - he's enjoying these last few weeks of uninterrupted football games (Go Skins!) but somehow is convinced that the baby will become an automatic partner in crime for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday games...yeah right!

In addition, we want to wish Shea and Jim a HUGE congratulations on the birth of their little boy - Brady Taft Reemsnyder, born September 19th and weighing a healthy 10 lbs 3 oz! We are so excited for the new family of three and will be sure to post some pictures on our blog once we get a few to post. We did see a few from the hospital and he is an absolute cutie - button nose and a head full of dark hair :)

Whoa, baby!

Can She Get Any Bigger?

We're at 36 weeks and with only 4 weeks to go, Erika continues to get bigGER each week! Just when we thought there was no room to grow, Baby C continues to take up more belly space. And even thought space is getting tighter, the baby's movements are just as strong and we can confidently detect the body parts that poke through and roll around. It's always amazing when an elbow, knee, or butt decides to press towards the surface! Erika is still comfortable though, even though the Baby's head has been down for weeks now - ready for the birthday! Updated belly shots are below!
In addition, we've done our best to make best of the pseudo nursery until we move on November 3rd. The room is serving multiple purposes right now - nursery/guest bedroom/storage...definitely not ideal but we're promising the Baby a nice nursery in Reston! So all you mommy-to-bes out there with beautiful nurseries awaiting your babies, try not to get too jealous when you see the below pictures of our nursery. :) It'll be sure to turn you green with envy...or not!

Baby C is growing! (Cooper snuck in for the snapshot)

All Belly! Wow.

The most ideal nursery, ever. But we love our new changing table/dresser unit!

Basket full of lovable stuff animals all ready for Baby C!

Erika Gets Another Baby Shower!

Three close friends of Erika's mom, Joanne Abbott, Evelyn Mercantini, and Ellen Fay, hosted a beautiful shower on Saturday. It was a blessing to have some out of town family come for the weekend, too - Camille (a mommy pro) and her family arrived on Friday and Tim's parents arrived Saturday morning. Plus, Molly, a new resident of Arlington, and Meg, from Richmond, were able to make the shower. It was such a treat to have so many wonderful people there. The shower was held at Mrs. Abbott's home and everyone enjoyed the celebration! Erika and Baby C received some wonderful gifts - we think we are now finally ready for the baby's arrival (well, as ready as we can be!)! Below are a couple of pictures from the shower!

Erika lucks out with some great gifts...

...and books!

The grandmothers-to-be!

Camille and Christi strike a pose!

Meg, Camille, Erika, Christi, and Molly

Erika fanning off after a "hot flash!" Opening presents is a lot of work!

Camille and Erika

Mrs. McMahon, Mrs. Allen, and Mrs. Larson enjoying the cheese platter!

Carol, Debbie, and Karen take a break for the camera!

And the wine is served...what's better than sipping "Mommy's Time Out!" Compliments of Camille.

Dinner with the Girls

Nothing beats a dinner at Rio Grande, especially with a great group of girlfriends! Erika joined Meredith, Bonnie, Sandra, Sara, and Christi in Reston for dinner - we all had a great time catching up with each other. Although half of the group had to decline the Swirls and opt for water, Erika is definitely looking forward to her first post-baby Swirl! :)
Here are a couple of pics!

Small, Medium, Large

Belly Up!

Sandra and Meredith

Erika and Christi

Bonnie and Sara

Sara and Sandra

Happy Labor Day (and more babies!)!

It's been a nice and relaxing Labor Day weekend so far! On Sunday, Tim woke up early for a day of fishing (and came home with some great tasting Spot) and after taking Cooper to the dog park, Erika took a walk with Meredith, Sandra, and Sara with a brunch at Whitlows afterwards. After walking a bit longer than expected (due to a few wrong turns, oops), the food couldn't have tasted better! Sara is also a mommy-to-be and expecting her baby girl on January 28th, 2007. We captured a picture of the two belly's....Sara's got some catching up to do! :)

Congratulations, Sara!