Visiting Teresa and Family 2018

We got a chance to visit with Teresa, John, JJ, Finn, and Penelope in Maryland! It's been longer than I thought since we last saw them because time has really been flying. We've gone from 3 kids on our last visit to 5! The kids got along well and it was great to see them settled in their new home.

Too much cuteness!

I could just eat up Penelope.

Miranda and Penelope playing


Finn and James join them for Shopkins fun

It was great to see them!

Baby Penelope 2017!

Teresa and John had a third baby, and this time it's a girl! She's so adorable looking! I'm excited to meet her this summer! Congratulations, Teresa, John, JJ, Finn, and Penelope. What a great family!

In the hospital

At home!

Baby Phineas 2014!

Our friends Teresa and John welcomed their second son Phineas Sutton, Finn for short, this past weekend! He came a little early but why wait when you're already perfect? We can't wait to visit with him and his big brother JJ next time we go down to DC.

Chillin' Finn

Teresa and JJ- March 2013

Last time I visited Teresa and JJ, Teresa was disappointed she didn't get to spend time with James and Kevin. So this time we made sure we had time for all of us to spend some serious quality time. We spent a little time letting our boys get to know each other. They got along great, possibly in part because they look and act like they could be brothers. (Good luck figuring out who their parents are!) Once they were acquainted, we took them to the National Portrait Gallery.

A pensive JJ and a happy Teresa

Brothers from different mothers, JJ and James.

Stripe twins, JJ and Kevin!

He is so adorable you guys, even these cute pictures don't do him justice

The Portrait Gallery was the perfect place to go because it was mostly toddler friendly in that there almost nothing at ground level. The one exception that stood out was an extremely valuable portrait of George Washington that I'm sure James would have loved to destroy if given the opportunity. Kevin and I made him hold our hands while James repeatedly indicated that he was "stuck," one of his favorite words for both situations where he is indeed stuck and situations where we are restraining him in some way. JJ was the perfect child and napped quietly in his stroller. Another reason I was excited to go to the Portrait Gallery is that it was closed for many of the years that I lived in the DC metro area so I had actually never been before. It did not disappoint! I would love to go back actually because we only had time for one floor of exhibits.

Outside the National Portrait Gallery


James on the loose inside the Portrait gallery

Read more about Teresa and JJ or more about our other family museum trips. Also, here are our recent trips to Washington, DC.

Meeting JJ 2013

During my recent trip to DC, I finally got to meet my friend Teresa and John's beautiful baby boy JJ! He's a lot like how James was as a baby. Couldn't you just eat him up?

My new little buddy JJ

What a little flirt!

Cute family!

Baby JJ 2012!

My friends Teresa and John had a baby a few weeks ago! His name is John K, Jr., or JJ for short. Some of my friends have these quiet babies who sleep all night and barely ever make a peep even when they're hungry. I hate those friends.

But not Teresa and John! Their little JJ sounds a lot like James as an infant. As such, the two of them are totally sleep-deprived and it took them a while to even get around to sharing the baby news. It's okay, guys. This level of cuteness deserves some sacrifice. You have one terrific-looking baby. He probably gets his beauty from the fun he has torturing you all night. I'm sure that's how it works.

JJ at the hospital

Too much cuteness!

Teresa and John's Wedding 2011

Teresa and John during their first dance

Saturday we went to the first wedding we've been able to attend since James was born. My friend Teresa married her boyfriend of many years at the Bronx Zoo. Teresa wore one of the most spectacular wedding dresses I have ever seen at a wedding I've attended.  It was both attractive to her form, and artistically exciting.  My theory on wedding dresses is that it should first of all make the bride look good (obviously), but the second most important thing is that it not be a dress you could get away with wearing to a fancy cocktail party because you could wear that dress some other time.  Your wedding is your chance to bring it, and Teresa definitely brought it.

The Bronx Zoo was also a really cool venue.  The ceremony took place outside in a beautiful garden, and then cocktail hour was inside the Lemur house, Madagascar exhibit. The reception hall was beautifully decorated with flowers and clear vases that gave the illusion of jungle vines, and each table was named for a zoo animal. Congratulations on a beautiful wedding day and on your new marriage, Teresa and John!

The outdoor ceremony

Cocktail hour in the lemur house

The lemurs

With Teresa

The seals during cocktail hour

Inside the reception hall

I LOVE this! Kevin and I also have laser beam photos but mine is NOT cute.

Peacock wedding cake (plus penguin, monkey, and seal)

Me and Kevin at the wedding, and 2 days before our second anniversary

P.S. My friends Rachel and Tim graciously babysat 1-month-old James, whom they knew from the blog to be a little terror. Just to make me seem silly though he behaved really well for them. Maybe James is just a very polite baby in public, and saves his bad behavior for his private life? James had a great time snacking and sleeping and apparently playing catch with Rachel and Tim's son Isaac. I think their version of catch involves Isaac throwing a ball at James's face, and Tim diving to save James's face from impact. James will be playing baseball in no time at all.

Winning! 2011

Kevin just got back from Nick's bachelor party in Atlantic City, and he's up a whole $30 after playing for 8 hours. That's almost $4 an hour! Although, it's a lot better if you count all the free drinks he got.  On the other hand, he's a new dad. All the free drinks he got are sort of a detriment today, and maybe will be tomorrow as well.

Kevin's escapades remind me that we still haven't announced the winner of the Baby Bets game.  Let's do a little break down first. There were 23 guesses total.  Of those, only 9 of you guessed that the baby would be a boy: Kevin's mom, my mom, Chrissy, Cory, Roger, Brady, Christina, Brian, Teresa, and Jon. Everyone guessed low on the weight, I mean, who would have been mean enough to guess that I'd have an almost 10 pound baby? However, Jon, Briggs, and Brady were the closest on the weight, in that order. Melanie, Meghan, my mother, and Jon all guessed the correct length. Brady, Meghan, Christina, and Briggs guessed the correct date, but of those, Brady was the closest in hours. He guessed the baby's birthday within 3 hours and 8 minutes.

The winner was the person with the lowest points, with points assigned as following: Wrong gender: 400 points; Birth date: 1 points / hour; Weight: 5 points / ounce; Length: 5 points / inch. (Perhaps more points should have been assigned to inches?) The winner was Brady with 118.13 points. Runners up were Christina with 138.23 points, and Teresa with 164.30. To see the rest, click the link below. Since we said the prize would be winner-based we're thinking of going to get Peter Lugars burgers with Brady if we can find a babysitter for a lunchtime date.That might take a while though.