Memorial Day & Madden

We have a new nephew! Madden Henry Dix was born on April 29, so over Memorial Day weekend we headed home to St. Louis to meet him AND to celebrate his big brother Logan's third birthday. While we were in town we also got to see my family, Daniel's best friend and his family, and a bunch of my high school crew and their kiddos. It was an awesome, jam-packed weekend! Nephew-focused highlights are below; full coverage of the weekend is in our Kodak gallery (photo milestones: 90 = Norah and Harper; 108 = lunch with my high school crew; 203 = Logan's birthday party).

The current extent of the Francis Family, including all three spouses and all three kiddos


The birthday boy, looking way too grown up for 3


Aunt O'Becca and Madden


Uncle Daniel and Madden


Rebecca, Harper and Aunt Jen

Mother's Day

It's not very often that you get to pick up a new holiday that's all about you, so my first "real" (as in, post-pregnancy) Mother's Day was so special! For starters, I got to wake up next to a wild-haired, smiling, babbling, adorable baby girl. At a hotel, no less, so I didn't have to make the bed or make breakfast or anything. Had brunch with Harper, Daniel and his parents, and then we headed to the Kentucky Horse Park to pet the horsies. Well, for Harper to pet the horsies. Before long we were back at the Louisville airport - where Harper was reunited with her friend JP she met on our in-bound flight - for our trip back to Washington. Not to get all sappy on you, but being a mom is pretty much the best gig anyone could ever have. Check out the Mother's Day adventures album here.

Easter Bunny Fun

The Easter Bunny was good to us. After several years of not seeing the big fuzzy hopper at our house, he made an appearance this year! First of all, he brought amazing weather. It was gorgeous all weekend, so we got to play outside, visit the Easter festival at our park, watch the puppies - all of Harper's favorite things. He also brought us a family Easter basket! For the parents it was 'his' and 'hers' bunny Pez dispensers - which Harper has since commandeered for her amusement. For Harper it was some colorful eggs and a bubble gun. What a great bunny! Here are some selected photos from the weekend.


Click here to see the entire Easter weekend album on Kodak. {Note: As part of my photo back-up plan, now that losing photos would kill me, I'm starting to load all photos to my Kodak galleries. For the family members who are interested, this will be helpful because you can download or order photos from the galleries in high-res. You'll have to wade through photos, because I take a lot of pictures and these are basically unedited albums. But this way everyone has access, and I have my plan B in the event of a computer meltdown.}

White House Holiday

Some of my favorite D.C. experiences involve the White House. Our first year here, we were lucky enough to get a West Wing tour with a Secret Service agent. We were his first tour group after having been trained, so all the stories and history he learned were fresh in his mind. Add to that the first-hand stories he had of guarding two presidents, and it was certainly a night to remember.

Since then, we've also been lucky enough to have been invited guests of friends who work in the Executive Office of the President to go see holiday decorations in the East Wing of the White House. This year was extra special, since we got to take our little girl with us. (She actually went in 2008 as well, but only Daniel and I knew she existed at the time.)

Sweet November

An album with 25 of my favorite November photos that were not included in another blog post this month.

Thanksgiving

Harper's first Thanksgiving weekend was a fabulous and relaxing one here in D.C. The holiday weekend photo journal begins on Thanksgiving Day, where we stayed at home, and I made a scaled down Thanksgiving dinner for Daniel and me.




In the evening, our friends Matt and Lindsay came over for dessert, and brought a fabulous champagne cocktail with them. As you can see, Harper was clearly a big fan of Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Matt!



Thanksgiving Friday, Harper got to meet Uncle Lee, in from Boston where he's in medical school. Harper tried to talk him into specializing in pediatrics and coming here to be her doctor. Mommy and daddy LOVE that idea.


On Saturday morning, my "Aunt 'Nette" and her husband Jim stopped by to meet Harper as they were passing through on the way to the airport.



On Sunday we got outside for some fresh air along the Potomac near Mount Vernon. As an ode to some of the hilarious outfits Daniel dressed Harper in while they were home together, I bundled Harper up for the outdoors using the most ridiculous combination of patterns and colors I had at my disposal. A fun photo to end the weekend.

Francis Thanksgiving

Getting together for holidays takes a bit of choreography now that the kids and our significant others' families are scattered throughout the country. So this year the Francis family gathered a week and a half before Thanksgiving, at Doug and Kim's house in Columbus, to celebrate Turkey day. We got all the fun of the holiday gathering, without the crowded and expensive travel arrangements. This trip marked Harper's second round trip flight in as many months. It also marked her first stay at a hotel (patting myself on the back for the brilliant room redecoration I did to turn the well-lit, cheery-wood business desk into a well-lit, cherry-wood changing station). Since the weather was so great, we even got to spend a day outside at the Columbus Zoo. And cousin Logan had a big audience - and a pool to himself - to display his jumping abilities. Here is an album from the weekend's adventures.

Homeward Bound

In early October, the three DC Ballards trekked back to the Midwest/South on our first big family trip. For a full week we visited relatives and introduced Harper to Daniel's and my hometowns. And it was a fun and busy week! Below is a slideshow/album photo-documenting the entire trip (about 100 shots per city; be forewarned); and below that is a recap of the week's events.



First order of business was Harper's first plane ride. And she was a trooper. Ate on the way up, slept most of the flight, was an angel when she was awake, ate on the way down, then fell asleep as we taxied to the gate. Couldn't ask for anything more. We flew my fave airline, Southwest, and Harper of course made friends with the flight attendants. She even got little Southwest wings.

We flew into St. Louis, picked up baby gear from my mom and sister (thanks, guys!) and headed to Owensboro. Harper was excited to finally meet her Granddad. (NOTE: all four grandparents now have unique names and spellings! Granddad is Dave Ballard. MaMaw (first syllable A sounds like MAP) is Kay Ballard. PawPaw is Terry Francis. MawMaw (first syllable A sounds like LAW) is Karen Francis. Got it?) Harper also met Aunt Rachel and Uncle Evan, though they weren't too thrilled to meet her, the little attention-grabber that she is! Harper got to meet her only living Great-Grandparents, her Great Aunt Elaine, tour the Ballard Estate and Gardens (as I like to call it), and in general get some fresh country air. It was a fun few days!

Next we packed up the car and headed back to St. Louis. Harper met all sorts of relatives, including Uncle Luke, Great Aunt Denise and GUS (Great Uncle Steve), Great Aunt Kathy and Great Uncle Kenny, my cousin Dani and little girl Lily, Great Aunt Vicky and great-Great Aunt Nellie. She also made her first trip to the Hill in St. Louis (the Italian neighborhood) to eat at Favazza's. It was more great family time!

After a full week, we headed back home to Washington with a few new fall outfits, a few hundred (seriously) photos and a whole bunch of memories of our first family trip.

Daddy's Home

Eight weeks without a necktie, starting with today. That is what Daniel has stretched out before him. Having smartly stockpiled leave at work over the past few years - and because he has a fantastic, family-friendly boss - Daniel is embarking on eight full weeks at home with his little girl. If he wasn't wrapped around her finger before now, I promise you he's going to be a goner after these two months. He gets some excellent quality daddy-daughter time; I get the tiny consolation when I go back to work that I'm giving Harper a chance to bond with her dad; and before I go back to work we have time for some family adventures!

We kicked off this family adventure time on Friday: Daniel's last day in the office. Our friend Smee and some of his co-workers were in town from Murray State, so we all met at Old Ebbitt Grill for lunch.

Then Daniel took Harper up to his office to show her off; one look at her and his colleagues completely understood why he needed to leave for eight weeks. (Here Harper helps her dad send some e-mails.)


Then Daniel showed Harper and me his roof deck. Gotta say, it has the most amazing view. You can see onto the White House lawn! Literally you can see the Obama girls' jungle gym in the backyard! Too, too cool.




So today for his first non-working workday, we let Daniel sleep in. Then we went out for breakfast, ran errands, cuddled with Harper, watched a movie, grilled a steak dinner ... just an amazing first day together. We're looking forward to a whole bunch of adventures during this short but precious time we have as a family. Stay tuned!

Mawmaw Francis (aka Mama Fran) visit

Harper had a blast spending the week after Labor Day with Mawmaw Francis! And we certainly packed in the activities.
Harper was a hit picking mawmaw up at BWI on arrival day! She loved all the lights and sounds and excitement at the airport. Mawmaw got Harper; Rebecca got the bags. That evening, we picked Daniel up from work and headed down to the Mall to see the World War II memorial and a gorgeous Washington sunset.











The next day's adventures took us to Logan Circle and Falls Church. We went to get my haircut -- my man Mark swooned over Harper -- and then off to Babies R Us to return/buy some baby gear. Mom and Harper waited patiently while I compared baby seats. Here's the one I picked for Harper, and even though she's not quite ready for it yet, she already likes it.


On day three our big adventure was an afternoon in Old Town Alexandria, where we went out for Harper's first girls' lunch -- at the Fish Market on King Street. Our next stop was a children's bookstore, since grandma Francis is a big-time supporter of independently owned bookstores. "Hooray for Books!" was the name of the store -- too cute. Mawmaw bought Harper and Logan some DC-themed board books, and a fun wind-up toy treat for big cousin Logan.

The last day of her trip, we just kicked it around the house (a few of my fave house pics are below). Harper is madly in love with her mawmaw. We had such a great time and can't wait for her next visit!

It's All Relative

Lucky for us, Harper has been a tourist attraction since she arrived. Particularly for relatives. The day after she came home from the hospital, the Francis Family Harper-palooza began: five days of snuggles, shopping and cooking provided by my mom, dad, sister, brother, sister-in-law and nephew. Harper had a blast and Daniel and I got lots of extra hands to ease our transition into parenthood!



The following weekend, Daniel's mom came to repeat the feat, postponing just a bit longer when we really had to be on our own. Just yesterday my cousin Mark came down from NYC to meet Harper, and Daniel's dad is due here this coming weekend.



Even though we're hundreds of miles from our closest relatives, Harper definitely has gotten to meet a lot of them so far.