…since I posted.  We’ve had a busy couple of months, made more so by some changes in my job that have necessitated more travel.  So you’ll find photos here from April and the first half of May.

Miscellaneous April

Cherry Blossom Parade

We ventured into DC for the Cherry Blossom Parade (believe it or not, my first time in 17 years of living in DC).  After an aborted attempt to get the double stroller onto a packed Metro train, we decided to drive to Georgetown and park on campus, and then walk down to the Mall.   It was an unseasonably cool day and very windy, and by the end of the 6 mile round-trip walk we were wiped out!

April 4 | Cherry Blossom Parade

Babies’ First Easter

For the babies’ first Easter we took them for formal photos at Sears Portrait Studio.  It was a long day (we waited over two hours past our appointment time before we were seated) but the photographer was wonderful and took some great shots of the kids.  We colored Easter eggs and on Easter morning gave the children their Easter baskets.  After a number of busy weekends, it was nice to spend the holiday at home.

April 10 | Happy Easter

Adoption Finalization

The long wait is finally over, and we finalized the adoption of Riley and Veronica on April 17th in Baltimore County Family Court, with (of course) Judge Judy Ensor presiding.  We of course forgot our camera, but fortunately our wonderful attorney, Jaime Cheret from Webb & Blitz remembered hers and took some great photos for us.  Mom and Dad came down from NY to meet us for the special day, and afterward we came back to our house.  The Harringtons happened to be visiting the East coast and joined us for a cookout that night.

April 17 | Adoption Finalization Day

Thomas’ Christening and Taylor’s First Communion.

My nephew Thomas was baptized on April 18th at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Newark, DE, and I was blessed to be his Godfather.  The weather was perfect and we had a great time.  We were back up two weeks later for Taylor’s First Communion.  This time the whole family was together for the first time since the kids’ baptism in February.  It was great fun to see all the cousins playing together, and Veronica crawled for the first time.

April 19 | Thomas’ Christening

May 3 | Taylor’s First Communion

Candy’s First Mother’s Day

After selling a bunch of baby clothes at the Brambleton Community Yard Sale, Candy celebrated her first Mother’s Day weekend with a Saturday matinee to herself.  The children and I gave her a book of coupons and gift cards to treat herself nicely.  Sunday we spent the day playing outside in the grass with the kids for the first time. 

May 9-10 | Mothers’ Day Weekend

Grandma and Grandpa’s Visit

My birthday present to Candy back in March was tickets for her parents to come up and visit for the weekend.  The weather was great and we had a nice visit, including a delicious dinner at Blue Ridge Grill using the gift card that Candy got for winning the Brambleton trivia contest.

May 15-17 | Grandma and Grandpa Visit

True to form, March came in like a lion and went out like a lamb.  We had our first and only reall snow storm of the year, and ended the month with beautiful spring weather.  We took a trip to NY for an outing to see Sleepwalk With Me with Kaitlin and Dan.  The babies celebrated their first Saint Patrick’s Day with music and dancing (but no Guinness, yet).  And Candy finally caught up with me and turned 36.

Riley started crawling and is already pulling himself up to stand against things.  We had to invest in some gates and got started on baby-proofing.  We’re hoping Veronica gets to crawling soon, so she can at least escape when he starts poking and climbing on her.

March | Luck o’ the Irish

I took the week off from work, partly to use up my last week of paternity leave and partly to prepare for Riley and Veronica’s Christening, which was held yesterday at St. Theresa’s in Ashburn.  During the week, I really enjoyed spending time with the kids who have really developed very distinct personalities.  Riley is all boy — he’s going non-stop and has an infectious monkey laugh.  He will bounce around and then look to see that he has entertained his audience with his broad grin.  Veronica is a very dainty young lady, sweet and affectionate, and a little flirt with her big beautiful brown eyes.

On Tuesday we took the kids for their first visit to Georgetown, complete with lunch at the Tombs.  We also walked around campus, showing them where Candy and I met, got engaged, and got married, and doing a little shopping at the bookstore. 

The whole family was in town for the Baptism, and it was a beautiful day, catered by our friends from Pie-Tanza (which drew rave reviews from everyone!).  The only blemish on the day was the attitude of the priest performing the Baptism, who was a little rude.  I realize he probably does these every week, but for us and the other families celebrating the Baptisms of their children, it was a special day.  He clearly had other more interesting places to be.

February 9-16 | Daddy’s Vacation