Washington DC and Graduation!

There is so much to update you all on since my last post! I am DONE with school. Woo Hoo!!! It is such a wonderful feeling to be done. Now I can do things and not feel guilty that I'm not reading, studying, or doing homework :)

The Saturday before graduation (graduation was Friday, 5/16) George and I went to Washington, DC. We decided to leave Madeline at home with Grandma and Grandpa Lucas and then Grandma and Grandpa Warren. I think it was a good decision to leave her at home because we were going nonstop the entire trip. Also, we ended up having flight issues on the way home which would have been very difficult with a baby!

Washington, DC was one of our favorite trips. There was so much to do and see and it was fun exploring it all together. We decided that we will definitely need to go back when Madeline gets older because there was just not enough time for everything!

Saturday was pretty much a travel day for us. We flew into Reagan and took the metro to our hotel, which was close to Dupont Circle and George Washington University. It was also just about 3/4 mile walk to the White House.

On Sunday, went started off by walking to the White House. It was nice to see it from the outside, but we wanted to go in and say HELLO to the Obamas! We tried to get tickets to tour about 2 months ago, but they were no longer available for our dates. Back in 2000 my family got to take a private tour given by a secret service agent. If you haven't heard the story, ask me about it some time...it was awesome. Anyway, no tour for us this trip, but we check it out from all angles. I think that the view from the south lawn is much more impressive than the north lawn. On Sunday, we also went to Georgetown. I'm so glad that we did. There are so many interesting buildings to look at. In the evening, we took a run along the mall. Along the way, we stopped at the WWII Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the reflecting pool.

Sunday was also Mother's Day so I had to throw this picture in. George and Madeline gave me this gift before we left on Saturday. He was pretty brave to dip our squirmy girl's feet in paint! :)

 We spent the afternoon walking around Georgetown -- this red door caught our eye. 

I read about a bakery/coffee shop in Georgetown called Baked and Wired. We shared an iced tea and cupcake. It was probably the tastiest cupcake I've ever had!!

After our run on Sunday, we went to to Shophouse, which is the Asian concept by the owners of Chipotle. We recently watched a program on Chipotle that mentioned their two pilot stores in DC. The verdict is very good, but not as good as Chipotle. It was actually extremely spicy...even George thought that and he has a high tolerance for spice. 

On Monday, we took a tour of the Capital Building. We both agreed that the Capital is easily the most impressive building in DC. We had a really great tour guide who was very informative. Next time we go, we would love to sit in on a Senate or House Session. 

On Monday, we also went to the Newseum. It was a great museum with lots of interactive exhibits. Here is George in front of part of the Berlin Wall!!

They had almost an entire floor dedicated to the news reporting surrounding 9/11. Here is a picture of all of the front pages from around the country on September 12. 

This is some sort of antenna that was on top of one of the Twin Towers. 

One of the interactive exhibits included getting to read from a teleprompter. A news reporter is a secret dream job of mine so I had some fun with this exhibit :)

Monday also happen to be the re-opening of the Washington Monument. We didn't have tickets, but we decided to check it out on our way to dinner. Well, we got super lucky and the park rangers gave us tickets to the last ride up the monument for the day. It was an incredible view!!

Meanwhile, back in Arizona, Madeline was enjoying herself with Grandma and Grandpa... :)

On Tuesday, we tried one last time to get a White House tour...no luck. So instead, we walked over to Ford's Theater. 

We also went to Arlington National Cemetery. We didn't realize how expansive it is and we opted to not "waste money" on the shuttle that takes you around the grounds...that was a regret on a 90 degree, 90% humidity day! Even though we were pretty toasty, it was well worth the walk. The tomb of the unknown soldier and the changing of the guard ceremony was emotional, especially since we were surrounded by several WWII and Korean War veterans. And I stopped complaining about the heat when I saw the soldiers marching in their wool uniforms. 

We wanted to make it to the Smithsonian and Holocaust Museum, among many other things, but we ran out of time! It was a jammed packed trip :) 

The only crappy part of the trip came at the end when our flight got cancelled due to that air traffic control tower fire in Chicago. Long story short, we got home on Wednesday morning instead of Tuesday night and we spent a night in the Reagan airport. 

Before I go, here are some pictures from graduation on Friday afternoon for the non-Facebookers...

Long post!! Goodnight. 

The Finish Line

The "finish line" is in close range! I am done with classes now. I just have a paper and a short seminar on Saturday morning :)

To celebrate, George and I are off to Washington, DC!! We leave on Saturday morning (immediately after my seminar) and come home on Tuesday night. Miss Madeline gets to hang out with Granna (Grandma Anna) and Grandpa Lucas and Grandma and Grandpa Warren while we are gone. We went back and forth about bringing her, but decided that it would be best if she sits this one out because we will be doing a lot of sight-seeing, walking, etc which isn't conducive to naps and lots of baby gear. I'm so afraid for how much we're going to miss her!! Thank goodness for FaceTime :) It's only 3 nights, 4 days, but it's the longest time we will have been away from her. It helps to know that she'll be in great hands...I mean, look how we both turned out!

Last week, I started running again consistently for the first time in quite some time. My goal is to run 4x per week and I'm proud to say that I'm off to a good start. I feel so great after a nice run around the neighborhood. I go after Madeline goes to bed around 8:30PM and just run up and down the main parkway in our neighborhood, which had plenty of street lights. George has joined me a couple of times too...we went over to his parents and his sister watched Madeline while we ran.

I've leave you all with a few pictures of our little babe...

Madeline is also getting in her exercise! Here she is doing a plank. She can't quite figure out to crawl so this is what she ends up doing instead :) 

One of our family friends got this little outfit made for Madeline. We tried it on her the other day and she modeled it for us. It's a little big still, but it will be perfect for summer!

Post Overdue!

This post is so overdue! We had my Grandma Warren in town this week so I have been out and about, not too much time by the computer...which I enjoyed.  

In case you're wondering, I survived through that paper that I spoke about in my last post (and I got an A on it! Woot, woot!) I have my last official class this Wednesday and then about a week of final projects and some other loose ends. Even though I have been looking forward to this moment for a long time, it is bittersweet. I will definitely miss the challenge of engaging my brain for 4 hours a night after a long day of work. I will also miss my classmates. There are about 50 of us in my cohort and I've had the opportunity to hear their perspectives on many different topics. In an MBA program, you end up learning as much from others students as you do the professors. Also, during breaks, group work, and before/after class I've gotten to know a lot of classmates personally and I enjoy hearing about their families, jobs, etc. Graduation is May 16. 

Madeline had her big 6 month check-up last week. I remember making the appointment at her 4 month check-up and it seemed so far away. I couldn't imagine what she would be like at 6 months, BUT poof! all of a sudden she is 6 months old. She is quite the character these days. First of all, the baby does not stay still. Ask anyone who has spent time around her...she is constantly on the move and only relaxes when she is sleeping. I think she just may have inherited that trait from me :) We can't let her sit in her swing anymore without a buckle because she tries to escape. At the appointment, she was 16.5 lbs and 27 inches which is pretty average in weight and above average in height. The doctor said that she looks nice and healthy and is progressing well. We love our squirmy girl, she brings us more joy than we could have imagined (and keeps us on our toes)!

Here she is trying to escape from the swing! 

Madeline (ahem, Mommy and Daddy) loved her Easter basket from Grandma and Grandpa Warren. They were the cutest little cookies...and very delicious to boot! 

Madeline wishes that she could crawl already...

Madeline and her big cousin, Paisley. We had Paisley over for a "sleepover" on Friday night and she had George and I cracking up multiple times. She is quite the character these days. I can definitely see Madeline following Paisley around all over the place once she gets a bit older. Paisley is so good with  her little brother and little cousin.

Going crazy!

I'm updating because I need a quick distraction. Why, you ask? Well, here's me at the moment...

Frustrated and tired!!
(It took me a few takes to nail a frustrated and tired picture -- did I get it right?)

I have been putting every single spare moment into a paper for school. I seriously feel like I've been working on it forever and I just want it to go away. The only problem is that it won't go away until I finish it. So, with that...back to work! It's due tomorrow so I must push on..................................

Baby Pants!

I have to share real quick because I am so excited! I have been wanting to make some clothes for Madeline and today I finally did it. I made these little pants and they actually turned out really cute. I can't wait to try them on her in the morning :)

This link was really helpful and even had free patterns for different sizes: http://toddah.net/little-leggings-tutorial-with-free-pattern/

Also, I got the fabric on http://www.girlcharlee.com (they sell quite a bit of jersey cotton, which is great for little pants/leggings)

Vegas and Baby Food

Over the weekend, George and I met up with our California friends, Sergio and Andi, in Las Vegas. It was a really quick trip. We left early on Saturday morning and came home on Sunday evening. We had a great time catching up with them, even though it went by super fast! It's kind of crazy to think that it's been over 2 years now since we left California. A lot has happened since then -- we bought a house, they got married, they had another baby, we had a baby! Anyway, here we are with them after dinner in the Paris hotel (where we stayed)...

George and I drive up. Vegas is obviously not an ideal place for kids so Madeline stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Lucas. We actually have a trip booked to Washington, DC in mid May to celebrate my graduation and we are planning to take Madeline -- any advice for traveling with a 6 month old? 

 Speaking of Madeline, here she is! She would love to be crawling, but still can't seem to get those knees underneath her. Notice that she has lost a lot of that hair! :) 

I finished the quilt last week in time for Terrisa to bring it to Atlanta! I loved the work that the quilter did. And actually, it isn't quite done...Lindsey and Terrisa need to hand stitch the backside of the binding still (I wasn't able to do that before they left on Friday).

Madeline is officially eating "real food" now! I bought some vegetables at the Gilbert Farmer's market last weekend and made her some baby food. It was actually very, very easy to do and much cheaper than buying baby food. I froze it in little ice trays and now we just pop one out and heat it up at dinner time. But WOW, she is such a messy eater!! The food gets all over her...and us :)

Our Little Fish

My posts have been pretty infrequent lately. I have been busy and I guess blogging has taken a back seat. Don't worry, though, I will still continue to blog. I really enjoy blogging and I like looking back on the previous posts. In fact, I believe I have been blogging for three years now. I started about a month after George and I got married. Hopefully I will be able to increase the frequency in a month or so when I get my evenings/weekends back. My last day of class is April 30,  my finals are May 3, AND graduation is May 16! I think I have "senioritis" at this point :)

Madeline is becoming very, very chatty. As I am writing this she is "talking" and squealing. It's really quite amazing how loud a little baby can squeal. George and I recently went out to dinner and Madeline was squealing so loud -- people were starring at us (not in a good way) :) I guess it's just her parents that think it is cute. 

I have been spending quite a bit of time lately sewing. I have been working on a quilt for Terrisa's friend, Lindsey, who is due with her baby girl in a few weeks. It was my first time doing a quilt with angled cuts, so it was a learning experience too. Fortunately, it all worked out and the quilt looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself! I loved the fabric that Lindsey picked out for it. I really should leave my sewing machine out, because I tend to do more projects when it is sitting on the kitchen table. It's harder to muster up the energy to sew when I have to pull out all of the supplies. 

We got Madeline this jumper last week. She seems to really like it...and we loved watching her jump :) After awhile she started chewing on it...but she is doing that with everything these days!

We visited our friends from Rochester last week, who are staying on the westside of Phoenix for the month. They have a heated pool so Madeline had her first swim. She is a little fish! I can't wait for the summer. Maybe Grandma and Grandpa Warren will have a pool by then!