Annual Vong Halloween Party

The Sunday before last was the annual Halloween party hosted by our good friends Phil & Tara, who gave up their house and moved to Towson so we'd have a place to live when we moved here. There are always pumpkin crafts and/or carvings--this year Aiden (read: Mommy) fashioned a little pumpkin into a mummy--a costume photo-op, and dinner exclusively featuring menu items that include pumpkin squash as an ingredient, from beer right down to dessert. Amazingly, Tara manages to devise an entirely novel menu each year. Last year was a Mexican theme which blew us all away; this year she again outdid herself with Italian-inspired dishes.

Aiden dressed up as a monkey this year (I call him "my little monkey"....sometimes this morphs into "my little monster", depending on what he's up to at the moment) and, although it ended up that some other poor parents drew the metaphorical short straw for the toddler displaying the worst meltdown, Aiden simply could not be bothered to stay in one spot for the pictures. Each time one of us set him down, he began to chase us. Finally Phil suggested that Brent exit in the direction of his camera, in the hopes that he might be able to get at least one shot where Aiden was looking at the lens. I don't think it ever worked out quite right, but we had fun trying, as you can see in this post's album. When we get a link to Phil's photos, we'll post those too.

Also included in this post's album are a few pics we snapped during the short visit we were lucky enough to have from my cousin Megan and her boyfriend Anthony, on their way from a wedding in the Blue Ridge back home to Brooklyn. We loved seeing them (thanks for coming, guys!), especially since they won't be able to make it to the Turner family reunion next month. It was Megan's first time meeting Aiden; unfortunately he was uncharacteristically moody since he's cutting his first year molars (holy crap those suckers are huge!).

Click on any of the photos below to view the entire album. As a special treat, we've embedded a couple videos in the album which should run right out of PICASA with no extra effort on your part. And look out for the next blog post of trick-or-treat photos; we're going to unleash the little guy on the neighborhood Friday night!

Roadtrip to Norfolk

Last week AnnMarie (our babysitter) was vacationing in Florida with her family so I also got a much needed break from work. My dad came up and hung out with Aiden for a couple days so I could clock in at least some time at work. His visit conveniently overlapped with our anniversary (4 years!) and so Brent & I were lucky enough to get an evening out alone. We enjoyed dinner, music, and some fancy coctails at Pazo Restaurant. Amazingly, we discovered we still had things to say to each other that didn't involve work or our baby. After averaging a mere 15-30 minutes of quality time a day, the night out together was a real treat. Thanks, Dad!

On Saturday Aiden & I said goodbye to Brent & Baltimore and Dad took us on a roadtrip down to Norfolk. Click on any of the pictures below to see the full album from our trip. You'll find pictures of the Saturday night soccer game at Dad's alma mater, ODU (just by coincidence, they played Baltimore's Towson University); both Uncle Andrew & Uncle Patrick joined us for that. On Sunday I went horsebackriding at a farm belonging to a friend of a friend of my mom's--it felt so good to be back on a horse again, even if "Skeeter" was an almost 17 hands high, off-the-track giant. Let me tell you that after nearly two years out of the saddle, muscles from my neck to my feet were complaining for a few days afterwards....but it was totally worth it! Anyway, Aiden loved watching his mommy ride and meeting some horses for the first time; he wasn't scared a bit when we got him up on Skeeter! Those pics are on my mom's camera and she promises to send them soon (right Mom?). On Monday with Mom at work Dad & I took Aiden to the Virginia Zoo in downtown Norfolk where his experience with the lions prompted him to start "roaring" (which he now does in response to the question "What does a lion say?" as well as plenty of other random, unprompted times). Monday evening I caught up with some old friends from high school, Tim and Andrea Fox, who now have two beautiful children, Sebastian (4) and Cecilia (6 mos.). Tuesday, after giving an invited presentation to a group of clinical psychologists at my mom's work, she & I took Aiden to the beach. He worked through some initial timidity and eventually was laughing as we each held a little hand and helped him jump the waves (such as they were--this is the Bay we're talking about here). Wednesday Aiden & I took the train back to Baltimore where Brent was waiting for us. Although he claims to have missed us, a report of the weekend included a night out to watch college football with the guys as well as a pool & beer night with some friends. Enjoy the entire album of photos from Aiden's & my trip to Norfolk by clicking any of the below.

One more in!

Josephine Alexandra Holler was born on September 26th--congrats Phil & Alyssa, you make very cute parents! (the pictures are adorable; I especially like the ones with all the bracelets).

The Stork's Been Putting in Overtime!

I don't write many posts but there are some belated and upcoming congrats in order for many of our friends and family. Here they are, in the order that they pop into my head!

Aras & Kristina Mattis welcomed their first baby to the world, Vidas Nikodemas. He was born on June 5, 2008 and I got to hold him when he was just 7 days old! (Happy coincidence had me out in San Francisco for a conference :)

The Melicks have a new grandbaby! Kaitlynn got a baby sister, Sierra Marie Whitecotton, on September 11. We hear she and her sister share that wild white-blond hair!

Brent's cousin Matthew and his wife Nancy had their second boy, Traxton Mattingly, just a few weeks ago. The announcement's on my fridge at home so I can't recall the exact date...but from the picture it's obvious he's a real cutie!

My friend from grad school Sonya Lehto and her husband welcomed Beckett Wolfe Garner Lehto to the world on August 8, which was also his sister Nora's 2nd birthday. The stork had good timing there!

Okay so this is REALLY overdue, but our friends Bob & Erin had their first back on May 2. You can check out pictures of Reed James Mihelich on their blog (linked in our list of blogs here at the top of this page). I personally recommend the video of Reed "finding his voice".

There are a bunch of babies on the way as well....My dear friend Sarah and her husband Ro are expecting their first in January, I think. We can't wait for baby Nelapaty to arrive! My cousin Rachael is also expecting that month--yay! now Aiden will finally have a cousin. Amber Curran (for those of you who know Heidi, it's her younger sister) and her husband Jerry are expecting a boy in...hmm...I want to say early November? Finally, we have just learned that Dave & Bridget LaRochelle are expecting their 4th little bambino as well! Undoubtedly, there are more babies on the way that we haven't heard about yet! And while still more are a mere twinkle in someone's eye at the moment, we'll be sure to keep you all posted as time goes on.

Anyhow, a great big congratulations goes out to everyone!!!!!! We love you all and are so happy for each and every one of you!