Meanwhile in DC...

Between all of the holiday celebrations we did manage to enjoy some fun around our neck of the woods as well (no pun intended, read on).

At the beginning of December we hit another one of the PATC cabins with Chris and Rosie for a much needed weekend in the woods. We got a nice dusting of snow when we were up there and had a great relaxing time. Only real noise was the not so far off ring of shotguns in the distance...ahh country life. I made out okay for a pregnant lady in the woods, but I must say the constant pee-ing when an outhouse is involved is less than ideal. Mike and Chris may have come close to perfecting the Hot Toddy. Well even if they didn't after sampling so many, they wouldn't have known the difference.

We also made it over to Brian's place for some holiday revelry that included fireman's carries and barefoot races in the parking lot. The video can only truly be appreciated by those in attendance. In the end I can't even remember who won and the video doesn't actually show the finish...I'm sure Brandon and Owen remember.

A few days before Christmas we finally decided it was time to make our own home a bit more festive for the holidays. We pulled out all 10 or so ornaments we had, bought some extra lights and candy canes and decorated what is actually our first Manella Christmas tree. As we've always been traveling for the holidays, we never really saw the point. Thankfully this year, Aunt Barbara gave us a few cool ornaments for Christmas so I think we're up to 15 for next year. Also for those of you with a keen eye for detail, yes that is one of Clay's prints next to the tree and yes those are the starfish caketoppers from our wedding. So as they would remain a family heirloom, Aud turned them into ornaments, clever devil that woman.

Our other holiday project was our little gingerbread house kit. We're not ready to take on my mom's level of gingerbread house/lighthouse/birdhouse production, so we'll stick to these types of things for now....

Yes we are in our pajamas and yes we are quite proud of ourselves.

We picked up a few more decorations after the holidays so that next year for Baby Girl Manella's first Christmas our place will look more like a legitimate place to celebrate a family Christmas.

The Holiday Chronicles starring I-95

As is standard for plenty of married couples with families all over the eastern seaboard, Mike and I spent a good amount of time over the holidays with Tootsie on I-95. All told, Thanksgiving travel was a bit more painful than the Jersey jaunt for Christmas, but despite the traffic and tolls, we had a great time with the family!!

Our first trip was down to Surfside Beach, South Carolina for a wonderful Manella/Black/Mackenzie/Magidson Thanksgiving celebration. Unfortunately, we didn't snap many photos... We did get a few good ones of brotherly love/flexing, the chow line, Tami and Ian sharing some QT, and the famous family game of Risk (Ian took home the trophy).

As if the great Thanksgiving celebration wasn't enough, the ladies threw me what would be the first of many baby showers.

For Christmas it was up to NJ to celebrate with the Stelling/Lettieri clan.

Day after Christmas we hit the city with a bazillion other people to take in the sites. As is common with a pregnant woman, we ended up spending most of our time eating. First we hit Lombardi's in Little Italy for some awesome pizza. Tip - Don't order the breadsticks they're so-so and will totally fill you up. SAVE ROOM FOR THE PIZZA! Then we met up with Laura and Jess in Gramercy Park at Novita. I can't believe we didn't take any pictures there.

Before heading home, we had time for a Buddy Breakfast at the Donovan's. Of course breakfast sandwiches from the Sea Breeze Deli were on the menu. Unfortunately, only Maeve was allowed in the stim tank...

After all this traveling and family time with Gravy, Amber, and Indy - Tootsie was exhausted and so were we.

Paintball, Newborns, and Dog Walks

Last weekend Meri headed home to Jersey and Mike headed out to PA for some paintball action.

The annual paintball trip seems to be gaining popularity every year and is finally getting closer to achieving some gender balance.

This year there was also more of a family touch as Matthew made the trip out with Janel's brothers. Nothing like familial bonding over paintball welts.

While Mike and friends were paintballing each other, Meri was up in Jersey making sure her gimp of a sister was taking it easy after knee surgery and visiting w/ Hud and her new baby Maeve. Meri's attempt to keep Mandy on the couch was an abysmal failure, that woman doesn't know how to sit still.

So instead of vegging on the couch Many hobbled along to go visit the newest addition to the buddy clan, Maeve Colleen Donovan. Maeve was born on Election Day so we caught her in all of her cheeky glory on Day #4. Mom, Dad, Maeve, Moe and Lili are all doing great.

In a shocking departure from her type-A addiction to work, Meri decided to take a day off and spent Monday relaxing at Mom and Dad's house with Bodhi, Indy, and Tootsie. The Stelling/Lettieri/Manella crew made quite a stir in the WB by taking a 3 person, 1 toddler, 2 dog walk around the neighborhood. Good times.

The Past 4 Months or So...

Yeah, yeah, we know we haven't updated the blog since July. Now in a bold attempt we'll try and get everyone caught up on everything that has happened since our last post.

Teddy Olsen was born.

Meri turned 31.

Bodhi turned two.

We finally started telling people that we're pregnant.

Mike turned 33.

We went to San Diego for vacay.

Hud and Maeve had a shower.

Stelltoid went to see NKOTB in AC w/ Hud, Abbey, and F'n Newbs.

Norm turned 40.

We celebrated Janel's 30th.

We got all dressed up for the Lone Sailor Awards with Brandon and Elizabeth. (Note baby bump making a black tie appearance.)

We found out it's a girl!!!

Meri headed to the OBX for a mini-vacay with the Stelling/Lettieri clan.

Chris and Rosie got married.

We celebrated our first anniversary.

We ate Nepali food to send Annie, Ben, and Maxine off to Ethiopia.

See, really not that much has happened since we last reported. We'll try to do better.

Reunited and it feels so good!

In early July we were lucky enough to have some great friends come into town.

Over 4th of July weekend, Paul and Sergio stopped in for some rainy BBQ and Rock Band action before they headed off to New York. Unfortunately, our camera hadn't arrived yet so there are no pictures from that weekend, boo.

The week after, Amanda and Tyler were back on the East Coast just for a few days from Seattle for a friend's wedding. We caught up with them for happy hour at The Big Hunt.

As luck would have it our old neighbors from Oaxaca (Ben, Nohemi, and their daughter Emilia, who are now back in Michigan) were also in town. Ben also met us out for a few drinks. Mom and baby stayed home, not sure why...the Big Hunt is a family place, isn't it?

By the end of the night our table was a great mix of grad school, Peace Corps, old roomies, and Oaxaca friends. Good times.

Before the Smith's headed back to Michigan, we were able to steal the whole family for a few more hours for a lovely brunch at Nathan's in G'town. BTW, great brunch for a reasonable price there. Gotta love the little basket of mixed muffins.

We were amazed at how much Emilia had grown since we had last seen her in April. Newest trick in her repertoire is the old stick the tongue out and blow to make farting noises trick. I'm pretty sure Ben taught her that and not Nohemi!

Even though we didn't get to spend nearly as much time with everybody as we would have liked it was still great.

Here's to more visitors!!!!

Cruisin for a bruisin

I know, I know it's been forever since we've updated the blog. Life has been crazy since I returned from Mexico on May 8th and we're only now settling back into life in DC.

May 11th we set sail on a cruise to Bermuda with Mom, Dad, Mandy, Brian, and Bodhi. This had been planned for a while and the timing worked out perfectly.

We got off to a bit of a rough start as a woman fell off our boat and drowned the first night of the cruise. I know such DRAMA! There's a bunch of articles online if you google it, but here's one just to give you the basic story...

Despite the woman overboard, the rough seas, and pretty iffy weather we had a great time...nothing that can't be fixed by a few dramamine and lots of Dark and Stormies!

Unfortunately I didn't any super photos from this trip but here's a few to give you the gist! Apologies in advance to Mom and Brian as I didn't have any pictures of them, boo.
This was taken about 5 minutes before they gave the man overboard announcement, threw on the brakes and turned our ship around.
Das Boot.

When in Bermuda, do as the Onions do...

Lettieri family encampment at the beach.