June Weddings

It has been quite a few years since Thomas and I have had many weddings to attend, but wedding season was back for us in a big way this June.  

We kicked off the month with the hometown wedding of dear family friend, Lizzy Cocks.  Lizzy was Virginia's very first babysitter, and was so sweet to invite Virginia to be one of her flower girls.  Virginia totally rose to the occasion, making sure that everyone up and down the aisle was handed a bottle of bubbles to blow at the bride when the ceremony was complete.  She also tore up the dance floor with Uncle Biggie and Uncle Doug.

Harvey Boys & Charlie Cocks rehearsing for their wedding performance.

Happy flower girl and dad.

The beautiful flower girls.

Beautiful bride & her flower girls.

Resting up with Lizzy before the ceremony.

The next week, we had the honor of attending the wedding of Whit Griffinger, a dear childhood friend of Thomas's.  Whit also happens to be the uncle of Virginia's best bud Griffin, so we had a fun weekend with all the families up at the wedding in Boonville in Mendocino County.

Yosts, Harveys & Griffingers.

Griffin and Virginia ham it up.

Griffin and Miss V on the porch at the rehearsal dinner.

Ice cream was the perfect way to end the evening.

This pregnant lady was tough -- nearly 100 degrees at 6 pm!!!!

The happy couple, Whit & Morgan, dance their first dance.

Celebrating in Boonville

Thomas's toast was crashed by two preschoolers who couldn't NOT be in the spotlight too.

Best buddies chilling in the hammock after a fun-filled weekend.

May Days

After our travels to NYC, we laid low for the rest of the month of May.  I kept myself busy on a committee for planning our preschool's end of year spring festival.  We hired a locally-famous singing cowboy, Cowboy Jared.  Virginia clearly didn't like him at all (she called herself "Cowgirl Jared" for the rest of the month after this performance.)

Getting down with Cowboy Jared.

Playing with friends at the Cowboy Jared show.

Thomas and I had so much fun seeing a Broadway show in New York that we kept the streak going by attending another show in San Francisco.  Mary Poppins didn't live up to Matilda, but it was a nice evening at the theater nevertheless.

It's a jolly holiday....

Virginia has pretty much given up on naps entirely, but she did surprise me one day this month with a super-cute passing out on her bedroom floor.

Tired little Worm.

A Whirlwind Weekend in the Big Apple

With a new baby on the way, Thomas and I decided we only had so many months left to travel.  So, when an invitation from a dear college friend came for his wedding on Long Island, we decided it was a perfect excuse for a New York trip.  Virginia stayed behind for a fun-filled long weekend in California while Thomas and I headed east.

The first stop was New York City, where Marriott hotel points scored us a nice room in the Renaissance Hotel right in the heart of Times Square.  Since it had been years since we'd been to NYC, we decided we had earned as much.  It turned out to be a good thing that we saved on the room because theater tickets were sky-high!  It didn't help that I wanted to see one of the hottest shows in town -- Matilda -- which had recently opened on Broadway.  Matilda was based on my absolute favorite childhood novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, so it was a can't miss for me.  It was truly a magical theater experience and an amazing show (made all the better by second row seats).  We even had a chance to meet up with a college friend, Justin Zaremby, before the show for drinks.  And after the show, we had a chance to see another Yalie, Rachel Pasternak, who happened to have Matilda tickets the same night!  Talk about lots of reunions.

Very happy Roald Dahl fan!

Speaking of reunions, as luck would have it, my Aunt Lynn happened to be in New York the same evening too.  She was taking a girls trip to shop and see shows, so we met up with her crew at Sardi's.  What fun!

Sardi's with the girls!

Thomas, Auntie Lynn, and me at Sardi's.

The next morning, we had the opportunity to see even more Yale friends, as we met up with Marc Suskin and his family for brunch.  Marc and Thomas were Spizzwinks and Whiffenpoofs together, and their oldest daughter is right at Virginia's age.  We were sad that Virginia couldn't be there for the reunion too, but I know we will have a chance to see them again soon.

With Marc & Alexa and their girls.

Then it was off to Connecticut for the rest of the day.  We crashed for one night with Uncle John and Aunt Joyce at 1918 and had a nice time visiting with most of the CT Mack family as always.

Finally, the big event -- Roric Tobin's wedding on Long Island.  We drove Sunday morning from Connecticut down to Long Island, where we reunited with even more Yalies for the shindig.  We also had the chance to see our UVa law friend, Brett, who also happens to be Roric's brother (small world!).  We had recently seen Brett and his family in Hawaii in March, so it was nice to catch up with him and his daughters again.  The wedding was a blast and I danced my pregnant belly off.  Best wishes to the happy couple!

Leslie & her favorite boys -- Brian & Peter

The boys doing Blue Steel.  Very little has changed in the 12 years since we graduated at Yale.

With the illustrious Mr. Eric Paul Harding.

Thomas & Brett

More Yale pals.

Thomas and the blushing groom.

Daddy-daughter dancing.  Cuteness.

Baby Harvey 2.0!

Expecting.

It's hard to believe we launched this blog more than four years ago to announce that we were expecting our first little Harvey.  I'm happy to announce that we have finally decided to become a family of four -- the baby who has come to be known as "Baby Harvey 2.0" and "Little Noodle" is due September 23, 2013.  And it's a BOY!

We are so excited awaiting the arrival of our second child, but no one could be more thrilled than the original Baby Harvey, Virginia.  She has been desperately wanting to be a big sister for more than a year now.  We would hear her over the monitor at night saying her prayers: "Dear God, please can I have a baby sister or a baby brother?  Amen."  Those prayers have definitely been answered, although not before she asked me if I was certain that God heard her because she had been asking for a long time and still did not have her baby sister or baby brother. ;-)

Virginia is preparing the house for the new arrival... passing down blankets, burp cloths, and baby toys that were stored in her closet up until now.  And she's let me know that she will feed the baby bottles and hand me clean diapers, but she will not be changing the dirty diapers herself.  Smart girl.

Stay tuned for more news on Baby Harvey 2.0 in the coming months.

Virginia Turns 4!

The Candy Man Can.

This year, Miss V turned 4!  How time has flown!  We hosted a Candyland-themed birthday party at our house in Alameda for a lot of her friends, complete with a bouncy house and a candy-themed soundtrack.  Virginia helped me prepare for the party by making lollipop bushes using hundreds of Dum Dums.  It was a surprisingly fun project.  We were thrilled that Mimi and Papa were able to make the trip this year to celebrate too.

Showing off an almost Pinterest worth table.

Princesses like candy, right?

Isabel, Johnstone & the birthday girl.

Virginia chose a Safeway cake again this year, with her favorite colors - orange, pink, & purple.

Friends ready for cake.

Blowing out the candles with friends.

Waiting for cake!

Having a blast in the bouncy house.

New bike from GayGay?  Amazing!

Post-party fun with Mimi.

Easter 2013

We spent Easter this year close to home and I'm happy to report that the Easter Bunny was very good to our little one this year.  Virginia had a blast searching for the eggs in the front room of our house, and we followed up our morning egg hunt with another egg hunt at St. Clement's Church after Easter morning services.  We also made a cameo appearance at Claremont Country Club for their Easter activities, where Virginia enjoyed a visit with the Easter Bunny and a few kid-friendly activities.  We were then treated to a wonderful brunch at the Harvey household, where Uncle Biggie and Miss V got into some typical trouble.  Happy Easter to all!

Easter loot.  The giant orange egg was a big hit.

Easter Bunny got a little tricky and hid some eggs in someone's dollhouse.

In her Easter best with Daddy at church.

Egg hunt glee!

Happy Easter family.

Looking spiffy with GayGay and PopPop.

Another family shot (and a close-up of the purple hand-smocked dress that I used to wear as a child!)

Snuggles for the Easter Bunny at Claremont Country Club.

Fairy princess making balloon animals?  Score!

Balloon animal pink & orange butterfly.  Double score!

Silliness with Uncle Biggs.

Biggie & Thomas raided the coat closet at the Harvey household in an effort to come up with the wackiest and most outdated outfits.  Time for a trip to Goodwill, we think!