Cronkhite Baby Shower!

Joanna is one of my bestest friends from back in the day when I spent a lot of time at youth group. Although she was not the first to introduce us, she was the first to suggest that Fix and I would make a great pair. Her husband Isaac is one of Fix's best friends so we try our best to stay in touch even though they are now living in Boston.

I was so glad that her niece Meg (and many other people not pictured here) threw her a kickin' shower here in Maryland so I could attend.

There was a fun game where we guessed and then learned all about Baby Cronkhite's genetic make-up. I lost (this and all the other games) miserably.

Then, while Joanna opened her awesome gifts...
I sat on the couch and caught up with Alisha and Anna (two more of my bestest friends from Wallace).

The shirt Alisha got for Baby Cronkhite reads "Beetles never go rollerskating without earmuffs." Love it.

Joanna and Isaac made these adorable and YUMMY cakes for the shower. First, we shower mommy...

Then Baby Cronkhite will enjoy the goodies.

Almost all of Joanna's sisters were in attendance, including Martha...
And Debbie. See the diaper cake in the background? I made that! See the rest of my gifts for Baby Cronkhite here.

Four out of the five of us (we missed you Annie!)... Although we look sweet, we caused a lot of mischief in our day.

An Apple a Day

If the old saying is true, Rock will be keeping the doctor away. He loves to eat apples these days and clearly pronounces the word "AP-PULL!" whenever he's hungry.

Saladas!

We were so happy to watch Violet and Linus the other day.

Not happy enough to smile, but happy nonetheless.

Valentine

Last Monday, for a belated Valentine's Day celebration, Fix and I dropped Rock off with his parents and went out to lunch. In case you can't read the sign, the name of the restaurant is The Old Brogue and it is the scene of one of our first dates. We highly recommend the Guinness-battered Fish-n-Chips.

Fix is pretending to be an Old Brogue. Seeing as he's already 30, it's not that hard.
Then we headed down to the National Gallery and thoroughly enjoyed the light show in the tunnel connecting the East and West wings.

It's only going to be around for a limited time so get down there soon!
After exploring the museums, we went out to dinner at a restaurant fancy enough that I didn't feel comfortable taking a bunch of pictures. It was a nice break from the norm -- thank you Fix for planning a great day. I love you.

Twins?

We recently took Rock into the doctors office to get a shot. I'm not naming any names 'cause I don't want to get his father in trouble, but someone said that Rock looked like the troll in the doctor's office.

For the record he didn't cry when he got the shot. In fact he hardly flinched. Whatta stud.

Outside

Someone at our house is DESPERATELY anticipating Spring.

Okay, we are all desperately anticipating Spring, but Rock is especially anxious for more time outside. Every day he points out the double doors in our dining room and says "'Side! 'Side! 'Side!"
Although it is still very cold, I occasionally indulge the boy and he is thrilled to have some time riding around the neighborhood on his tricycle or in his car.

He brings the lint roller outside to make sure no stray fuzzies have landed on his car.

Burrito

Being swaddled is fun...

Unless there is a sternum crushing boy in the area.

Sophia's Birthday

Sophia is 2!!!

As always, the Colemans celebrated in style. Here the birthday girl poses with her daddy.

Rock was very excited to see Ollie -- Sophia's dog.

We were excited that Ollie was on the other side of the glass door for most of the party.
This meant that Rock could focus on his first love, books....
And his second love, pushing things. He spent most of the party being anti-social and methodically pushing Sophia's shopping cart and carriage back and forth between the two rooms.

Here Molly and Sophia pose for a cousin shot. At least, this is what they thought I meant by "smile for a picture." Close enough.

Baby Annabelle was too cute!

Same goes for Sophia's cousin Oliver. Thanks again Dave and Natalie!
p.s. If you wanna see what I made Sophia for her birthday, check out my latest Design Fix post.

Birthday

The night before my birthday, I intentionally put Rock in funny looking pajamas so I could laugh first thing in the morning.It worked.Fix made me a lovely bouquet of flowers and a yummy breakfast. Complete with coffee (a rarity now that Susi isn't fulfilling our Starbucks needs), pancakes, and the "You are special today" plate (a Brockman family tradition).

Then Rock helped me unwrap a few gifts. I am wearing my new necklace in the background of the shot above.

Oh and Brandon helped us while we got Rock dressed for the day. He went to hang out with Grandma Cokie while Fix and I went out for a little kid-free time downtown.

We were delighted to run into Abraham Lincoln on the way to the Portrait Gallery! He and I share a birthday. He was 200, I was 29. It was a big year for us.

Actually, the reason we went to the Portrait Gallery was to see an exhibit on Abe. He was kind enough to take a picture with me. Appreciate how we both have kinda messy, unstyled hair.
I ate some lunch in the courtyard...

while Fix took shots of the awesome glass ceiling.

Cool, no?

After hanging out for a little, I went to John, my hairstylist, to deal with my nasty, unstylish hair.

Once again, he worked a miracle!

Goodbye ducktail! Hello style!

Then Fix took some cool shots of our old haunts...

And fun DC architecture.

The sky was really that blue! Beautiful!

And the wind was really blowing that much! Freezing!

For dinner, we went to one of my favorite local restaurants.

There were a lot of weird people there that night...

And we were lucky enough to have them at our table. Thanks family for coming out to dinner!

Once again, Carb Boy enjoyed the bread.

While I enjoyed being with my two favorite Rocks.

What better way to end your birthday than with your favorite dessert? In my case, this is tiramisu. Delicious.

Birthday Dinner at the Hathaways

Okay so if you are having a birthday in the near future, you should let the Hathaways know. They treated me (and Rock and Fix) to an amazing birthday dinner/celebration on the 9th.

Aiden made me a Birthday card with a picture of his mom bringing me a cupcake. This was clearly the focus of the evening for Aiden but more on that later...Sophie's picture showed me with one other girl. I forget if it's Annie or Sophie in the picture. They look so much alike.

Annie cooked a delicious turkey, heavenly mashed potatoes, homemade bread and the best asparagus I've ever tasted.

Although he's zoned out in his pre-dinner state here, Clip is one loveable little guy. He gave me (and Rock) some birthday hugs and kisses.

I was also privileged to have Brandon Bernard (the dog puppet) attend my birthday dinner.

Fix read to the boys to keep them entertained during the after-dinner-pre-cake portion of the evening.

Now in these next four shots, pay attention to Aiden. It should be noted that he asked his mother when we would be eating the cupcakes at least 17 times during dinner. Here he is thrilled that we are finally getting to the singing part.

As I beckoned Rock to help me blow out the candles, Aiden peeled the paper wrapper off his cupcake. Gotta be prepared...

And before the birthday candle was extinguished, Aiden's cupcake was in his mouth.

Looks like Rock is going to be a tattle tale. He's already calling Aiden out!

After one bite, I could understand why Aiden couldn't wait. I was halfway done with my heart-shaped confection when I remembered to take a picture. YUM!

Thank you again to the Hathaways for making me feel like a birthday princess!

This is why we don't have better shots of the two of us...

Me: Fix, let's take a cute picture of just the two of us.
Fix: Okay boss.

Me: Fix! Your eyes are like slits! Open them up so you don't look so weird and tired.
Me: Fix! That's too wide!
Fix: Laughter
Fix: Is that better? (More laughter)
Me: UGH!
Fix: Rachel!
Me: I did it on purpose to show you how annoying it is when you mess up our good shots!

Fix: Laughter.
Me: See? Annoying, huh?

Fix: Finally!
Me (muttering under my breath): Yeah, finally. It's kinda blurry, your eyes are still a little too open and you are half-cropped out of the picture, but I give up. And we both need a tan.

More Caleb

Back at the house, Papa John reminded us who he is...

While we took some pictures of the little boys.

Now Rock is sitting closer to the camera so that's why his head looks so much bigger than his older cousin.

Oh. Nevermind. This picture proves that the boy's head is just big. Oh well. We miss you Caleb. Come visit again soon!

Parks are Fun for Everyone!

After the harmonica jam session, we headed out to the park.
Here Fix and Nana Kerry swing Rock as Papa John rushes in to grab him.
When we got to the park, Rock did a little swinging with some help from Papa John.

And Fix did a little swinging too. No help from Papa John necessary.

Caleb and Nana Kerry checked out the scene. And now for some portrait shots:

Caleb.

Uncle Jason

Uncle JoeNana Kerry.

Nana Kerry and her favorite daughter in law who lives in Maryland.Papa John and the boys. Now back to the action.

Rock and I made use of the double slide.

While Fix and Jason competed to see who could get the highest pumping on their own (that is they started still and had to pump -- not pushing off the ground -- hard to get going). Jason won.

Three generations on the swings.

Everyone.

And what day in the park would be complete without a belly tickle from Uncle Joe?

Harmonicas

Did you know that Papa John plays a mean harmonica?

While Caleb was here, Papa John surprised the boys with their very own harmonicas.

Caleb (who for the record has a harmonica at home in Seattle) was a natural. He and his Papa John played some fun tunes.

Rock on the other hand, spent the afternoon glaring at his harmonica. He couldn't quite figure it out and seemed a little annoyed that we all wanted him to put it up to his mouth and pretend it was hot food (blow on it).

Oh well. Caleb, you keep practicing and maybe next time you, Papa John and Rock can start your own harmonica band.

Bread...

It's SO GOOD!

Locked

So while I was getting ready the other day Rock was playing in his room and in the hallway. At one point, he closed the door and said "Uh oh" but he says this almost every time he closes the door unintentionally so I didn't think anything of it.
But, when I went to open the door to his room, it was locked. While mentally telling myself not to freak out, I called Rock over to the door and tried to get him to push the button on the handle. I jiggled the handle around for extra effect, but alas, he couldn't quite figure out what I wanted him to do. But he wasn't distressed so I didn't get distressed.

Instead, I got on the internet and looked up how to pick a lock. Turns out all you need is a paperclip and/or a dull knife. Please ignore our gross carpet in the picture above.

After a few tries with the paperclip, I tried the knife and the door opened smoothly.

Except for unrolling a few paper towels that I had mistakenly left in there, Rock did not destroy his room.

We ate some guacamole and chips to celebrate his freedom.
**FYI, all the pictures of the unlocking were taken AFTER Rock was rescued. I made sure he was safe before I documented the event for this blog!**

Cousin Caleb

We were SO happy that Cousin Caleb and his parents came to visit!

Okay, so when I say 'we' that doesn't necessarily include Rock. As you can tell from this half-smile, Rock wasn't feeling too great. He was/is teething and he wasn't sure what to make of another person his size running around vying for Nana and Papa's attention.

And then Caleb accidentally hit Rock with the remote. I snapped this picture the second after it happened (hence, Auntie H's hand reaching towards the 'weapon').
From then on, Rock kept his distance and refused to play with Caleb.

If he got too close, Rock came running to me...

Desperately crying "Up! Up! Up!"

We finally convinced them to hang out together and try on Uncle Jason's shoes.

Sorry Caleb. I think you caught Rock on a bad night. Those canine teeth can be a real pain. Literally.

Snow Day

I was so thrilled that we had a snow day last week. The only sad part was that Rock was over in Northern Virginia at Papa John and Nana Kerry's house so I couldn't play in the snow with him.

Like Father, Like Son

Whether zoned out...

or smiling and awake, these boys look the same!

A Post for Carrie

And you thought the other pictures we posted were scary....