To Lynchburg and Beyond, My Pumpkin

My little V, Grandmary and I took a trip to Lynchburg this afternoon. As usual, the little pumpkin was a complete trooper. He took good naps both directions!

We got there only to find out that Sentara has now banned everyone under the age of 18 because of H1N1. So we waited outside and talked to the social worker who let us know what window we could bring little V to so that Louise could see him.

So what's funny is that the window sill was probably 6-7 feet off the ground, so Mom and I took a bench out of the lobby, dragged it under the windowsill, and then I scrambled up onto the windowsill all Mission Impossible/McGyver style, then Mom handed little V up to me and we stood in the windowsill. It was fantastic. Eric would have been horrified.


I have to say, I don't have an accurate perspective on this, but could this little pumpkin be any cuter?

Anne's Birthday and Vake's Baptism- the two part post!

So we all "got down" for Anne Monroe's birthday, which was the night before Vake's baptism. Here's Eric partying like it is 1979. Please note that my very patient husband totally rocked the purple ruffled tuxedo shirt with his tux.
Here's the birthday girl with Dennis, who was wearing the peach version of Eric's purple shirt.

What good sports! And please note E's gold chain- the sad part is this is one of my fave necklaces that I wear to court ALL. THE. TIME.

I was channeling old school Halston, but my baby just wants to be a hippie!!!

Here we are- the happy 70s family!

Anne's Birthday and Vake's Baptism- the two part post!

Here's to my amazing sister, Anne Monroe, M.D.

Anne, I am so proud of you. You are so accomplished- how many people are able to achieve what you have achieved, both professionally and personally. And, as if that's not enough, you are just an amazing person- I am so lucky to have you as a sister- you remind me so often of what we are all actually striving for and reaching for in this world. Thanks. I think you are the bomb.com.

What a happy day we had on Sunday- we celebrated Anne's birthday on Saturday night and little Vake was baptized at Grace and Holy Trinity on Sunday. In these pictures, you might be wondering why he's not wearing the baptismal gown. Suffice it to say that it needs a little repair after Grandmary and Mommy attempted to stuff a very large baby into a very small dress.

V was a star. If he could walk, he would have sashayed his way down the center aisle. He didn't cry, didn't fuss and was generally cheerful about the whole process. It's not very good of me but I was SO proud when so many people told me what a gorgeous baby he is...

Here he is with Uncle Neil.

And livin' it up with Aunt Martha...

We were very fortunate to have Uncle Brook and Left Bank Granny Sue come in from Seattle- and how nice that they got a good dose of Richmond sunshine!

Here he is with Aunt Andrea- I didn't manage to get organized and get a pic with Wills, which is a total bummer- oh well...

And unfortunately, my pumpkin who was such a trooper started to get totally tuckered out- so he and I did not get a good picture together- this is about it....

But a certain someone still managed to pull it together for Grandmary...

Anne, thanks again for sharing your special day with us! We love you!

Duck Duck Baby

I think my little V could be the biggest ham I've EVER seen.

Duck, duck, BABY!!!!

Not Very Crabby!

So while we were at the beach, we spent a good part of a day at the Aquarium (the site of the mosquito attacks...) and as you came in, they (like a lot of other touristy places) take your picture for a souvenir pic that you can select as you leave.

We went through the aquarium and were leaving and I remembered that they had taken a family snap of us- it was ok of Eric and me but SO great of Vake. And as we were flipping through the options, the photo booth guy made this one for us. Who's not immediately sold?

Souvenir 8x10: $15.00
Watching your son smile his way through the first year of life: priceless

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig!

We had a most excellent adventure at the beach. It took us awhile to get on the road on Wednesday, but eventually we got the car packed up and headed out of town about 1:00pm. We took the "scenic" route through North Carolina. The "scenic" route includes a trip to Target to get the items forgotten at the house in the hurry to get out of town and then factors in heading through the slums of Goldsboro, which put the slums of Richmond to shame...

We arrived at our hotel- we were lucky- we didn't get rain- Thursday and Friday were a bit overcast but we used that time to go to the aquarium- I have an awesome picture of little V as a hermit crab that I just need to scan so I can post.

V was pretty fascinated by the fish swimming around.

Here we are posing with the frog. So E and I were trying to be all "super good parents" and there was a nature trail that started right next to where this frog was. We were on it for about 9 minutes before we were attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes. Angry mad rebel mosquitoes who smelled the blood of a Yankee (Eric) and attacked the entire family.

Here we are pre-mosquito swarm.

What, you think you are going to eat me for lunch?

My little Octopus with the Octopi. You know what they say, "Forewarned is forearmed. And forearmed is half an octopus."

By Saturday, the sun was shining and V and I spent some time in the pool- the water was c-o-l-d...
And someone got so tired that he took a little snoozerooni, despite the fact that he was exercising his right to be a nap refusnik.


After swimming and napping on Saturday, we took a trip to Fort Macon, which was briefly held by Confederate forces during the Civil War, although you'd never guess that from the displays. Vake was in an AWESOME mood and flirting indiscriminately with all the confederate reenactors.


This was Eric's favorite part of Fort Macon, I think.

By the time we headed home, everyone was very tired- but we had an awesome vacay!

And we're off!

The Martins are taking a long-awaited vacation starting tomorrow- so today's really Friday. We are headed out to the beach.

If E tries to use his blackberry, it will likely be thrown into the Atlantic.