Celebrate!

Here are some pictures of Lucy's birthday celebration over the weekend. She loved her gifts (although probably not as much as Sabrina has loved her gifts). I made two small cakes. One for Maya (we celebrated her birthday too) and one for Lucy, and since this domestic endeavor may never happen again, I thought I'd better document. Her cake moment was picture perfect as she began digging in before the singing was over or the candle blown out. And dig in she did! A mess was made; so in sum, she had a pretty perfect 1st birthday!

Happy Birthday Lucy Mae!

Well that was the fastest year ever, now wasn't it? Our baby is one. These kids keep ignoring their mother's pleas to stop getting bigger and just keep growing and growing. Some things we love about Lucy on this, her special day:

1. The way she says "hi" every time you look at her matching your exact intonation.

2. Her little wagging bum as she crawls.

3. Her beauty.

4. The curls that surround the back of her head and neck.

5. When you ask her how big she is and she throws up her hands for "so big!" Then randomly her hands go up in the air for the next hour.

6. This one sounds strange, but I get a kick out of the fact that she doesn't smile for everyone...she has very discerning taste.

7. Her cheeks which I'm pretty sure have been kissed all 365 days of her life.

Lucy, we are so happy you're in our family. Happy 1st Birthday!

This news is GREAT!

It turns out, Paul is as impressive as I've always thought. He got a job offer from Sidley Austin in D.C. on Friday. So yes, we will be going east coast at some point. We aren't sure when he will start working there, but it is good to have some idea of the future.

Dreaming of somewhere...

I have been thinking that Paul and I need a vacation after he graduates. This is, of course, in the dreaming phase. It all depends on our tax return, sadly enough. I was thinking Hawaii would be nice, but right now, we are watching Dog the Bounty Hunter and this show does nothing for Hawaii. Any suggestions?

Product Placement

A few things I love lately:

1. The Swiffer Wet Jet. Yes, this is a bit of a scam, and I still believe nothing beats a good "hands and knees" cleaning. But, I will never use a mop again.


2. The Magic Bullet. It is magic! I believe everyone needs one of these.


3.Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (I'm becoming a huge fan of books on CD!). I have done all my housework the last few days while listening to this gory story. And although I am disgusted by it, I love it at the same time.


4. My new treadmill. I don't technically love this yet, but I will be getting my new treadmill in one week, and I am so excited to not have to go to the gym anymore (since the treadmill is really the only thing I use)! And I am excited that I don't have to wait on Paul's schedule which is proving to be more intense than expected.

The Blonde in the Crowd

Today, President Obama visited Wakefield High School in our old neck of the woods, Arlington. It also happened to be Chloe Sampson's first day of high school there. Here is the video. It's rather long, but if you go to the 9:42 mark you'll see a stunning blonde just above the podium. If you go on to the 17:21 mark, there's an even better shot. Chloe, we hope your day was memorable!

Good Idea/ Bad Idea

In an effort to try to teach Sabrina some responsibility, I decided to start a small job chart. Most jobs on it are tasks that we do everyday anyway (I wanted some sure-fire sticker-getters)like "get dressed", "eat breakfast", "take a bath". With these, I threw in a few "help mom out here" jobs like "pick up toys" and "make your bed". Good idea, right? Well, the last few days have been a little nuts with Sunday (Sundays are always a little off schedule here) and Monday being our apartment complex barbeque. Last night before we put the girls to bed, Sabrina was looking at the job chart and said, "Hmmmm. We didn't make the bed; we didn't pick up toys; we didn't read stories." Great!! I'm beginning to think that this is really a test of "What exactly did we accomplish today, Mom?!" My how the tables have turned. Here are the jobs on her next job chart: Are you fed? Are you healthy? Are you happy?

In other news, I'd say Paul is about 85% convinced that his wife needs a treadmill for her birthday. I'm pretty sure some encouraging comments from our friends and family would put him right over the edge. (Subtlety is a gift of mine)