Happy Halloween, Katie Bug!

Happy Halloween! We couldn't resist this opportunity to dress Kate up as a lady bug and shamelessly parade her around to our friends and the NoVA family! So, thanks for being so generous with giving us chocolate "for Kate." Ahem.

When Kate got tired of her little hat,

Daddy was around to pick up her slack.

A special moment with Great-Pop

3 Months Old!

We can't believe that our little girl is 3 months old today! Happy birthday, Kate! She has brought so much joy to our lives. We love watching her grow and experience the world. To celebrate, we took advantage of the gorgeous sunny (though chilly) afternoon and went for a walk in Old Town. And, to thank us for being such great parents, Kate slept almost 9 hours last night! Hoorah!

Can you tell that Kate loves chatting with her Daddy?

Leaves everywhere!

Sleeping through Lunch

(Gerry the Giraffe is now a permanent fixture)

Exploring her Birthday Toy

Visitor No. 7,623,299

This morning, Kate became one of the millions of people who will visit the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum this year. We had a lot of fun learning about airplanes and space craft - it's no wonder that this one of the world's most popular museums!

Tim plans to take most of this week off from work as paternity leave. Kate and I are really looking forward to spending this time with him! Any suggetions for other fun outings?

Pumpkin Carving Party

Kate hosted her very first party on Sunday afternoon - it was a pumpkin carving party! The weather was gorgeous and we held the party at the playground in our neighborhood. It was fun to carve jack-o-lanterns while the older kids played! Here are a few pics...

Gabriel enjoyed carving a pumpkin with his Dad

The DeSorrento Family hard at work

Kate holding court

One good-looking pumpkin

Checking Out Grandma's New House

On Friday afternoon, we met the builder for a walk-through of Tim's parents' new house. We can't wait for Grandma and Papa to move up here. Only a couple of weeks to go!

Lunch Date with Daddy

Kate and I had a lunch date with Tim today. We arrived at Tim's office early enough to spend some time showing Kate off to his colleagues. It was a fun day! Kate was appropriately charming while meeting everyone but was exhausted when we got home! She took a 3+ hour nap this afternoon! Wow! Maybe we should go out to lunch with Tim more often...

Pumpkin Play Date

Kate and I continued our celebration of autumn by meeting Jessica and Lillie for a fun play date at Burke Nursery's Pumpkin Playground. It was so much fun to re-connect with those girls after we had all been occupied the last several weeks with travels and guests! The girls seemed to notice each other for the first time. Very cute!

Hiking with Auntie Laura

We took advantage of the gorgeous fall weather this afternoon and went for a picnic and hike at Rock Creek Park.

Trip to Mount Vernon

One of my best friends from college, Laura, came to visit us and meet Kate this week! She arrived the same night we returned from our trip to Mississippi. For our first outing, we went to Mount Vernon.

First Jack-O-Lantern (Continued)

First Jack-O-Lantern

Among my favorite memories from growing up are all the wonderful jack-o-lanterns that my Dad carved for Jon and me. He's a pro! The tradition continued this afternoon with a fun family pumpkin carving party!

Hearing Pop Preach

On Sunday we attended First Presbyterian Church and listened to Pop preach a wonderful sermon. He taught us that God is our Father. We think about how much we love Kate and go to great lengths to protect her best interests. Our Heavenly Father loves us even more.

New BFF

Kate has lots of little toys that she enjoys playing with, but, over the last few days, Gerry teh Giraffe has emerged as a clear favorite. She loves to grab on to Gerry and give him a good bubbly slobber... something resembling a kiss. However, Gerry is the most fun when animated by a parent or grandparent. It turns out that Gerry does an excellent rendition of "Starting Spreading the News." Who knew???

We Missed You, Daddy!

Kate and I had a wonderful time in Clarksdale and Chattanooga this week, but we really missed Tim! We were both really glad to see him on Saturday! We love you, Daddy!

Great Outdoor Adventure

On Wednesday, Mom, Kate and I drove to Lookout Mountain, Georgia so that I could attend board meetings at my alma matar, Covenant College. Kate traveled in the car just as smoothly as she traveled on the airplane on Saturday! Even so, we decided to break up the trip a little bit on the way back on Friday. We stopped to take a little hike and check out a natural bridge in Alabama. As always, the fresh air put little Kate right to sleep. It was a fun outdoor adventure!