Spring in CW

Evelyn's first plane trip and Katie's graduation pictures will be coming, but I haven't downloaded them on the computer yet from our various cameras. So, in the meantime, here are some pictures of Williamsburg in the spring (taken at the end of April). The lighting was a little harsh since we were there late morning, but you can still get an idea of how gorgeous everything was.

Evelyn was quite enamored with all the brightly colored flowers. Thanks, Lizzy, for joining us on our walk in CW!

    

And of course, all the hats blowing in the wind, the classic Williamsburg look. :)

Track Meets & Art Museums

This month Evie experienced another two "firsts" - her first track meet and her first art museum visit! In her typical Evie fashion, she was thrilled about both. :)
The track meet was Jamie's - one of my high school youth group girls. It was a gorgeous day so Annette, Erica (who even got out of school early! shh...), Evelyn and I headed to Norfolk to cheer on Jamie. She ran the 400 and 800. This is her first year and she's doing awesome!
Jamie getting some Evie bonding time in while she waits for her race:

Cheering on Jamie's teammates (who were all very nice):
Evie hanging out with Jeri. They snuggled a good portion of the meet. :)
Run Jamie, Run!

After the track meet we all headed over to the Hutchisons for THE Royal Wedding party. :) Evelyn thought Kate looked beautiful and loved sitting on Tim's lap during the ceremony. ;)

Our good friends,the Strickenburgs, are in Colorado for the summer for Andrew's internship. We wanted to get some hang out time in with them before they left, so last week on a particularly rainy day Beth and I took David and Evie to the Richmond art museum. We *loved* it! I wasn't sure what people would think about us bring two babies into the art museum, but everyone was so friendly and encouraging about having Evie and David there. It was a very family friendly environment and the collections and displays were great as well. I wasn't sure what to expect and was very pleasantly surprised. I definitely want to go back!!

Evie sleeping through her first Monet:

More Impressionists, Mommy's favs:

Beth and David (this will be David before we know it! He's already a very bright little guy!):
Evelyn and David outside by the fountains and gardens (after the rain stopped :)):
It's so much fun doing new things with Evelyn! She is so wide-eyed, curious and excited about life, it's so wonderful! :)

Coming soon.... Evelyn's first flight! Someone thought getting up at 3am and going to a brightly lit airport with lots of people to smile at was the greatest thing EVER!

6 Months!

Today I am 6 months old! Mommy and Daddy can't believe it! What *I* can't believe is that they took me to get shots this morning, on my half birthday!, when I was in such a happy and cheerful mood. I hear they are good for me though. :( The doctor says I'm growing nicely. I am now 15 1/2 lbs (40%) and 25.25 in tall (30%). My head is in the 50%.
Mom has already posted a lot of pictures of me today, so this is just a quick update on what I'm doing at 6 months with just a few pictures. More pictures another day.
I LOVE sitting up. I'm getting better at doing it on my own now and rarely hit my head on the floor. I like standing too, but I have to have help to do that. I'm dying to crawl. I can get up on my hands and knees and rock back and forth, but no matter how hard I work, I still only go backwards. I can scoot all the way across a room though. The only problem is that it is usually *away* from my toys. I also like to go up on my toes into a plank position. Mommy says that this is good for my core, so I do it a lot. I also like to jump. I jump when people are holding me, when I'm in my exersaucer, when I'm in my johnny jump up and any other time I can.
I don't like solid foods. Every day Mommy and Daddy try to get me to eat rice cereal or sweet potatoes or something. I choke, gag, shudder and try to make it very clear that I do not like solid food. They don't seem to get it because they still try to give them to me.
I like grabbing things with my hands. I think I can reach farther than mommy realizes sometimes. I especially like to knock over glasses of water and other things that make loud noises. I definitely have my favorite toys too.
I just learned how to do high fives! Daddy would like it if I held my hand up a little higher, but at least I hold it out now every time they say "high-five!" They can't wait to show Grandpa Walker when we visit this weekend.
I love smiling, giggling, going for walks, being with people, reading and snuggling.
Here are some pictures of me trying to crawl last night.

Rachel's Visit and Birthday Cake

Rachel, my good law-school-wife friend and co-home group, co-dgroup and co-Sunday School teacher, moved to Texas with her husband last May after law school graduation. BUT, last month she came back to visit all of us Virginians! It was a great week of girl time, MOPS Spa Day, games, good food and catching up. It was like she had never left - we all just picked up where we left off. :) I loved being able to finally introduce Evie to Rachel as well! She and Evie bonding quickly - I think over the fact that they were both wearing orange (every true Texans fav color, right? ;))
Lunch at the Cheese Shop...

Girls night at the Melting Pot...
And then over to Target to play Catan (of course!). Target was the only place in Newport News still open after dinner so we just camped out in their Starbucks and played Catan!
Miss Rachel brought this amazing fruit basket full of stuffed fruit for Evie. She LOVES it. It is definitely one of her top favorite toys. We frequently take it outside with us and have picnics. Thanks, Rache!
After Rachel left it was my bday - Evelyn really wanted to help make my birthday cake, so daddy let her. :) She was *quite* pleased!
 

Norfolk Botanical Gardens

Last month we headed to Norfolk with our good friends, the McHenrys, to go to the botanical gardens during their azalea festival. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon! Evelyn and Margaret enjoyed riding next to each other in the back of the car. :)
The gardens were pretty huge, so we first took a tram ride around the park to get a feel for the lay out.
Then we set off on foot to see everything up close.   
The azaleas, camillas, dogwoods, cherry trees and hydrangeas were especially beautiful! The walk through the "Enchanted Forest" (aka, azalea forest) was great!
Thanks for the great idea and inviting us to join you, McHenrys!!