Phamily Phun

Memorial Day weekend was a welcome break after a long two weeks of work for Suz (insert eye roll here from those working full-time). Saturday, Suz got to choose our activities, so, of course, it involved dessert and family walks. We took our first trip in the car with Allie and Abby packed in the backseat and drove in to Middleburg with a plan to spend a nice afternoon with Allie in her 'big girl' stroller and Abby leisurely walking the cobblestone streets after indulging in ice cream at Scruffy's Ice Cream Parlor, a pet-friendly ice cream shop that always has a scoop of complementary vanilla ready for your pup. The reality of the situation was that we made a bee-line for the ice-cream shop, scarfed our ice-cream and headed back to the car with our crazy dog and allergies in-tow. Abby isn't a fan of large crowds and it was a busy day in Middleburg and a 70 lb boxer pulling and stepping on your flip-flop feet makes for a short afternoon. We salvaged the evening by picking up ribs from a road-side smoker for dinner on our way home...mmmm.

Backseat buddies.

Sitting pretty.

The longer the tongue, the crazier the dog.

Sunday, we spent the afternoon at our good friends', the Unger's, home and enjoyed great food, great company, and the all-out cuteness that is their 2 year-old, Olivia. Allie got to give her swimsuit a test-run in Olivia's wading pool. Next on her list, scuba-diving.

Olivia showing off her cuteness.

My daddy rocks.

On Memorial Day, Allie took her first trip in to DC to meet more of her 'Phamily' (Aunt Linda, Raff, Jen, CJ, and Jillian) before the rest of the gang headed out to the Phillies game against the Nats in the sweltering heat. Risking heat stroke wasn't exciting enough for Allie and I, so instead we decided to take a joy-ride home on a flat tire, causing us to need a rescue from Gayle at the Babies R Us parking lot. Fortunately, Allie didn't mind biding her time in the exersaucer aisle while we waited. Thanks, Gayle!

Grandpop showing off his girl to Aunt Linda and Raff.

Our little Phlirt.

 And a few more pics for good measure...

Noel: Ummm...she's cute, but what was that noise?

Bath time, the best time of the day!

What...is...going...on?!

'Did you hear the one about the toucan?' (And yes, she's flexing again.)

Someone needs some attention.

I must make sure my fingers still taste as delicious as they did a second ago...yep.

Oh-Bla-Di, Oh-Bla-Da...

Life does go on, as it turns out. The Eicholtz Family all survived Suz' first week back at work and the weekend never seemed so sweet! Suz' mom took the first week of Allie-duty, so we knew she was in good hands and Allie enjoyed having her Grandmom close by the whole week as she stayed with us. We've decided our girl has a sense of humor as she gave us a bit of a scare by throwing us a growth-spurt-curve-ball right before Suz went back, which means she started eating like it was her job and waking up multiple times at night, making us wonder if her spidey senses had kicked in that things were about to change. Fortunately, she's been back on track since, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that this remains the case. Back at school, the students and my co-workers have been very sweet. Allie is, as you can imagine, well-represented in my office and it's been right back to business, so the time goes quickly, but I miss her. We did bravely weather the first missed milestone when Grandmom got to see our girl rollover for the first time, but we're pretty sure it won't be a solo performance and are anxiously waiting until we get our own viewing. I was getting a bit sad that I may not have enough pictures from this week for the blog since I was at work, so you'll have to forgive my overcompensation toward the end of the week, the results of which are below...

I prefer to stand, thank you.

Who put these bugs on my feet?

And, it's ponytails for Mama from now own. (Yes,that's my hair she has in a joyful death-grip.)

C-squared (clean & cute).

'Pink Ranger Power!'

Dad, have I told you lately that I love you? Come give us a kiss.

It's Gayle the Snail! (And yes, our hope is that she will one day refer to her Aunt Gayle as Gayle the Snail. We're not shy about our intentions.)

Let's get a closer look...closer...

Yes...that's it.

My Uncle Jonathan came to visit so I could teach him all about little girls. He might just be ready for my cousin...a bit more pink and he'll have it!

Thanks for my hat, Grandmom! Grandmom says cherries are delicious. Mama says they're gross, but wearing them is OK. I'm confused...fashionable, but confused

I've got a lot to say these days. I may look goofy, but my voice...will...be...heard!

Mesmerized by the Preakness! (or possibly just by the jockey's polka dots)

Ciao Grandpa. Gotta drool, I mean run.

3 Months

We're not sure who hit the fast-forward button, but we've had a daughter for three months now. Allie will be the first to tell you that she's full of new party tricks and achievements. Since her pediatrician can only handle that much cute in one appointment every other month, there's no three-month doctor's visit, but in our expert opinions, Allie's 13 pounds and 25 inches...ish. One thing is for sure, she's just great. Under the category of 'not as great' is that tomorrow brings the return to work for Suz. But she fully expects to come home to a well-cared-for, smiley Allie since she'll be hanging out with the experts...her grandmoms. We're very blessed to have our girl in such good hands while Suz finishes out the school year. (It will be OK...it will be OK...it will be OK...)

Here's a few of those party-tricks I mentioned and just more gratuitous pictures.

I can recognize cuteness when I see it.

Looking good, lady.

Getting the hang of getting a hold.

 

(Quarter) rollin' with the homies.

I love my Allie-phant and think it's best if it goes in my mouth...along with my fists...my bibs...Mama's hair...

I'm so big I'm in my Bumpo and QUITE pleased with myself.

Abs, be a pal and bring me a drink, will ya?

One of the perks of having a little girl...fun flower apparel.

Happy Mother's Day Indeed!

You may have heard this already (because I've worked it into every other conversation since I found out), but Ernst & Young decided that Chris should celebrate Mother's Day and my last week of maternity leave by catching a plane to Las Vegas and spending the week in Sin City. Have no fear though, my crew ensured that I knew I was well-loved before we headed to the airport this afternoon. We (and by 'we,' I mean, Suz) dubbed Saturday 'Mother's Day Part 1' just to be sure nothing was cut short. We took a family walk, got take-out from one of our favorite restaurants, and there are sunny daisies in our kitchen. Allie and I made our first mother-daughter batch of chocolate-chip cookies (and if you've never done this one-handed, you're missing out). This morning when I went to go check on our little alarm-clock, there was possibly the best Mother's Day Card ever waiting for me stuck in the door of the nursery. We kept the good times going with a BBQ with other CrossFit families, dogs included, in celebration of the hard work of the CrossFit competitors, and then we topped it off with a Mother's Day brunch at Grammy and Grandpop Shaiko's with special cameo appearances by Allie's Aunt Erin and her boyfriend, Robin (Erin's boyfriend, not Allie's...although Allie was pretty smiley when he was holding her).

We're missing Christopher already (and I'll certainly be missing him when it's time to figure out how to take the dog out with Allie in-tow), and sad that our family daytime is coming to an end as I return to work in a week, but we're blessed to have had such a long time to enjoy each other during these first three months and this Mother's Day has been a great way to cap it off. Of course we couldn't truly cap it off without a word of thanks to our mothers. We are grateful for all you've taught us and the love you've always shown us and that you now show our daughter. Happy Mother's Day indeed.

Two happy girls.

I'm so excited about Mother's Day, I'm drooling!

In my happy place, getting ready to suds up so I can look my best for Mama.

Abs, tired out from being crazy at the gym BBQ...Who are we kidding? She's tired out from being crazy, period, but we love her.

Daddy, don't leave me!

2 visits from my Aunt Erin in 2 months, this is great! (And I can't even count to 2, but I know it's good!)

A Christopher original and possibly the best Mother's Day card ever :o). Allie: So you're telling me she's only been a person mom for a couple of months. How'd she get so good? Abs: She's a natural...and she read a lot of books. You want me to lick your face?

 

 

Thanks, hon :o).

Our daughter, the socialite.

It should come as no surprise, considering the stories I've heard from my mother about how I would come home from morning kindergarten and ask who I was playing with in the afternoon, that our daughter likes to be out and about and among friends. This week was packed full of friends, fun, and firsts including first introductions, first parties, and first birthdays. On Friday, Allie woke me up and requested mother-daughter bonding time while watching the Royal Wedding. She napped while I watched, but we can say 'we were there'...sort of :o). Later that morning, we took another girls' road trip to Apple Blossom country, otherwise known as Winchester, VA to make some long-overdue introductions. Our good friends Jess and Brian were in town with their beautiful new baby boy, Brendan (you may know him as the Jersey Shore Bachelor from our previous post). It was so good to see them and the kids hit it off smashingly, as Will and Kate would say. Jess and I got to talk shop  while the kids did, well, what babies do. They ate, slept, and 'coo'ed. We realized only when both started to lose it that we should document this meeting in case the photo evidence is needed at a future rehearsal dinner slideshow.

You'll have to take our word that it's Allie and Brendan in the photo considering Allie's preoccupied with the ceiling fan and Brendan's in a milk coma, but the moms look good, right?

This week was a very special first for another one of our favorite little guys, Brady. He turned the big 0-1 and Allie was thrilled to make it to her first birthday throw-down to help celebrate.

Happy Birthday, Handsome!

Kim-marie, Allie & I, Gayle (the Birthday Boy's proud Mama), and Brady's Aunt Casey who traveled in from West Virginia to help make his day complete.

Me and my girl.

A closer look at our little party animal...catching flies.

 Another first that we weren't looking forward to, but we knew was coming, was putting our girl in the nursery at church. The more 'with it' she gets, the more she decides she doesn't want to sleep through the service these days (which is probably a good thing). She's had her two-month shots. Easter and all of its new nursery visitors have left. The ladies covering the nursery at our church certainly have more experience with this than I do and are full of love for these babies. There were no more excuses...it was time. We took our pager, our phones full of pictures, held hands, and walked away. We made it through the service without a page and as soon as the postlude, began, we bolted only to find Allie sleeping soundly in the arms of one of the wonderful nursery volunteers. Chris said on the ride home about our trial separation, 'I wouldn't wish that on anyone.' Apparently, he was so exhausted from the effort that he needed an extended Sunday nap when we got home even though it was not on the 'Suz-approved' list of afternoon activities...

Hey Dad...

Dad, wake up...Mama said it's time to do yardwork.

Dad...Dad, she looks like she means it.

One more wake-up call and we did finally get our checkerboard-sized yard in shape. I even helped thanks to our girl's latest talent...napping in her crib during the day. Keeping those treats coming, Al, much obliged!

Easter Blessings

'Death in vain forbids Him rise, Allelulia! Christ has opened Paradise, Allelulia!'

Easter hymns are some of my favorites and we made it back into the sanctuary (after a break so Allie could collect herself) just in time for this classic. We remember today the hope we have in Jesus Christ, the love we share with family and friends, and the many ways in which we are blessed. 

Happy Easter from the Eicholtz family!

Blessed indeed.

Now THAT's an Easter Basket.

Yep, that's our daughter. Flexing in her Sunday best.

Check out Grammy's handiwork! Not sure what it says yet, but I know I like it.

Abs is a little too interested in Allie's Skippyjon Jones from
Grandmom and Grandpa. Fortunately it was a drive-by sniffing.

Thanks Grandpop and Grammy for a great day!

These tulips will tell you that there's somebunny pretty cute in this picture (sorry...it's genetic).

One of our favorite little guys! Daddy's thrilled that Allie's showing zero interest in flirting...yet.

Happy Easter to all! (Now take this hat off me, Mama, it's 85 degrees outside!)