Giant squids, butterflies and fishies, oh my!

Evie and Andrew took their first field trip to the National Museum of Natural History today where they checked out the newly-renovated Ocean Hall and Hall of Butterflies. The butterfly exhibit had over 30 species of butterflies fluttering around us... but it was also too steamy and humid to take pictures in the 92-degree habitat. In the ocean exhibit, the two watched colorful fish dart around the coral reef.


Evie checks out an arctic penguin.

Andrew and Evie in front of a giant squid (this was the smaller of the squids in the exhibit). As Jen would say, that's a lot of calamari!

Evie's first Stroller Stride

Mommy and Aunty Jen went on their first "stroller stride" in an attempt to get in shape, but unfortunately Aunty Jen had forgotten Andrew's stroller. But it made for a great photo opp as the two babies shared the Cadillac of strollers (and slept through most of the class) as their mommies got some exercise. The group later took a trip to Del Ray where they enjoyed a delicious lunch at Cheesetique and oatmeal raisin cookie frozen custard at the Dairy Godmother.

Move over Tyra... Evie is America's Next Top Model!

Evie's too young to walk the catwalk, but man does the camera love her! The family had a photo shoot last Sunday morning and Evie was so well-behaved! She was awake and smiling nearly the whole time. Here are some of our favorites:





To view a slideshow of more pictures from the shoot, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/23316488@N07/sets/72157608192009217/. And if you're interested in hiring the photographer, Allison Wist, she was absolutely wonderful to work with. More pictures in her portfolio can be found at the flickr site.

Sleeping through a chilly Oktoberfest...

Evie accompanied the family to her first Oktoberfest at Rustico, but stayed bundled up in her stroller for most of the time while everyone enjoyed beer & brats (but no polka band, to Opa's dismay). It was also an exciting day as she took her first ride in Mommy and Daddy's new car, a Volvo station wagon! Alas, we will all miss the beemer but the Volvo has a lot more room in the backseat, can fit Evie's cadillac stroller, and is a super-smooth ride. Hopefully no more tears in this ride!

A Celebration of Ba's Birthday

Friday was an exciting day for Evie! She and mommy visited daddy for lunch at Potbelly's by dad's office, traveling into the city on the Metro's yellow line. Her first trip on public transportation, Evie seemed to love every minute of the ride! Then, it was off to the Foelsche house to celebrate Ba's Birthday (also Uncle Karl's birthday), although Evie did NOT like driving in the back seat by herself and cried the whole way over. Soon enough she was in mom's arms but did have a couple of trembling sighs of indignation for being ignored for so long. The day got better as she played with Ba and napped in the crook of Opa's arm. She also tested out her new Pack n Play (below).



Evie was a very generous gift-giver: Ba received a book called "Grandma and Me" and a onesie from her favorite granddaughter. The onesie was hilarious and said: "Mommy a little cranky? Dad coming home from work late? Call 1-800-GRANDMA (satisfaction guaranteed)."



Phew! What a day! Evie's going to take a nap on top of daddy to recover.

The Evolution of an Evie Smile...

"I'm sleeping and shan't be disturbed..."



It must be a good dream...



"I guess I should get up now...big yawn"



"Ah, what is this, another camera?"


"Ok, I'll give you a little smile and giggle."

Search for the Great Pumpkin

Today Evie visited a nursery of a different kind to help Mom and Dad pick out a pumpkin for the family's jack-o-lantern this year. Here is a picture of her getting up and personal with the pumpkins to determine which one will work best. Or, the picture could be Evie being tired of her parents trying to set up photo opps for her and wants to go home.

Evie celebrates Daddy's Birthday and Grandma Gen's life

This weekend, Evie helped celebrate Daddy's birthday with gifts and ice cream cake. Daddy got many great gifts; Evie gave him a Dartmouth Dr. Seuss onesie and "Hop on Pop", and Mommy got him some wireless headphones so that Daddy can watch TV shows like "The Shield" without having to worry about Evie hearing any bad words. But, it looks as if Evie is not a big fan of the headphones herself, from the picture below...



But, it was a sad couple of days as well as the McDonald family mourned the passing but celebrated the life of Great-Grandma Gen, Grandma Beanie's mother. Grandma Gen lived a wonderful 95 years and touched the lives of everyone who knew her. Evie was Grandma Gen's 13th great-grandchild. She will be missed by all of us. Here is a picture of her with daughters Adele (Aunt Dellie) and Arlene (Grandma Beanie).

Evie takes on New Jersey!

Evie made her first trip up to New Jersey this weekend and experienced many adventures: quality time with Grandma and Pops, meeting Tootsie for the first time, and having a blast at Great Aunt Dellie's Birthday Bash. On Saturday, the family traveled to Morristown to cousin Matt and Kristen's house to celebrate great-aunt Dellie's 70th Birthday, and what a celebration it was! It was a great family reunion with Matt, Kristen and their three boys: Thomas, Jimmy, and Jack; Peter and Maureen and their children Peter and Kathleen, and Bethie with Quintin and Geneveive. Evie also met Uncle Wally, Aunt Karen, Uncle Dave and Aunt Casey for the first time!

Although little Evie slept through much of the ruckus, the rest of the family enjoyed wiffleball, karaoke, and delicious food. Here is a picture of Daddy and Grandma Beanie singing Bruce Springsteen's "Badlands" in true New Jersey fashion. Aunt Dellie was later awarded the Beanie Cup in honor of her birthday.

Finally, Evie got to have fun with her cousin Julianna McDonald (Dave and Casey's) daughter for the first time: the two babies seemed to hit it off as Julianna promised to teach Evie her doublefisting thumbsucking technique. Julianna, at 4.5 months old, is already rolling over and showing great potential as a future wiffleball player by lobbing toys out of her crib.