Family Snodgrass

It Stuck!

2012-01-25T14:45:00.000-05:00

It's been a pretty mild winter so far, and we haven't seen much snow. Each time there have been flurries, Little Guy's wished and hoped and predicted they'd stick, so he could make snowballs. Well, they finally stuck! Just enough to dust the grass and the tops of the tables and chairs, and covered over with an icy crust. But snowball-able, nonetheless. They kept the Mister busy.

After the Mister's business trip, we enjoyed the rare treat of having him home with us all weekend. It was awesome, and a real balm for all of us.

The boys got balloons at a birthday party and then again at the grocery store the next day. Later, I overheard Little Guy asking the Mister about why the balloons float. The Mister gave an explanation about helium being lighter than air and involving words like standard atmospheric pressure, and I was just smiling to myself, because these types of explanations are par for the course around here, when Little Guy says, "Oh! Yeah! That sounds sense!" He's so his father's son.

Buddy Boy likes to pack a plastic briefcase and pretend that he's going off to work. He carries it across the den, opens the gate, climbs the bottom step and then turns around to wave at us. Then, he lugs his briefcase all the way up the stairs, before turning around for one final goodbye wave from the landing. He points and he grunts and he indicates that he'll be leaving now for work, but when I won't unlock the door to really let him out, he just cries and cries.

Although it's a little frightening to have Buddy Boy imitate his brother in every last feat of strength, there are some definite benefits to his admiration. Oh, Buddy Boy? You don't want to wear a hat? Wait just a second. Let me show you how I put this hat on Little Guy. See? And then he's dying for a hat. And gloves. And carrots.

He'll hardly tolerate being left out of the potty scene any longer. If he sees Little Guy in the bathroom, he's immediately tugging at his diaper, groaning over his snaps. He's sat and he's stood many a time, but so far, no actual results.

Little Guy felt Baby Girl kick for the first time the other day. He'd claimed to have felt it before, but from the way his face lit up, I know that kick was the first he really felt. Now, he'll put his hand on my tummy and if he doesn't feel anything immediately, he'll say, "She must be sweeping. Whyyyyyy she sweeping? She have to get big and bigger to come out in April? Nooooow the time is April?"

To many more playable snows before April! And may they all fall on weekends when the Mister's home!

Oh, the agony of regret.

Portrait of a Day

2012-01-23T10:53:00.000-05:00

For funsies, I thought I'd take pictures throughout a pretty typical day.

This day begins at 5:10 AM, when Buddy Boy starts fussing from his crib. He's battling a tooth. The Mister is out of town, so I am uncharacteristically on duty for the morning shift. That'll make you miss your sweet husband real fast! A few minutes of Buddy Boy fussing, while I do the heavy psychological work of convincing myself to arise, means that Little Guy also wakes up and is ready to start his day.

We all stumble out to the kitchen and they spot the Trix, which Little Guy convinced me to include in my CVS couponing trip the day before, and there is no question what they're having for breakfast. Days without Daddy need a little mood elevation, anyway.

For me, raw oats with a heap of dried fruit and a drizzle of agave nectar. Yum!

Then, a little pre-dawn coffee table jumping. See the big brother lecturing the little one about safe jumping?

He's fearless.

On to dominoes.

We have a group bath, just because I don't have anywhere else to put them while I bathe. No pictures of that. {You're welcome.} And then, a little pre-clothes bed jumping.

Little Guy is learning to dress himself, and is so very, very proud.

As soon as we're dressed, I call out "Vitamin time!" and they scurry to the kitchen bar. They looooove their gummy vitamins and fiber!

After gummies, we brush teeth. Buddy Boy is much amused by his toothbrush antics.

I take a minute to get myself dressed, feeling every bit of 26 weeks.

Little Guy works on a matching game.

Buddy Boy draws for a few minutes, before throwing his supplies to the floor and launching into a meltdown.

Which signals that it is time for second breakfast. What? You don't have second breakfast in your house? We do. Every morning around nine. They eat an entire 'nother breakfast. Like, two or three bowls of Cheerios. Does not matter what I served for the first one...eggs and bacon, waffles, oatmeal, french toast and fruit. Doesn't matter. They're still ravenously hungry again at 9.

It's finally time to head out for the day. Today, our route around the Capitol is blocked off, so we have to take a detour. Gives us a chance to pull over and admire the "Cap'tol."

We circle for a parking spot, parallel park and pay, unbuckle car seats, zip up coats, and make our way to our play spot for the day, where we meet up with some of our best buds.

It's a new place for us, and the boys have a BLAST. For four solid hours, breaking only for lunch and potty.

As we leave, we duck in for a doughnut for the boys and a latte for Mama. More mood elevation. And a dose of caffeine to get me through the afternoon. We're on day 3 of the Mister being gone, and they're getting kind of weepy. Buddy Boy rejects his doughnut, in favor of the pineapple left over from our picnic lunch. Crazy child!

Everrrrrrybody naps. I have to limit Little Guy's nap to an hour these days, so that we have a hope of him sleeping until 6 AM, but it sure is hard to wake him up some days. He just falls right back to sleep, wherever I put him down.

We reach the bottom of the Cheerio barrel. Never, ever a good thing.

5:36 PM. Is there a hairier time in a mother's life than 5:36 PM. Especially 5:36 on a Friday night, with her husband out of town? There are many wailing fits. There are many whiny pleas. There are many little hands pulling at the hem of my shirt. I stick a frozen pizza in to cook and peel up a few oranges.

While we wait on the pizza, we make signs. We try to call the Mister, but his phone is off. There are more tears.

We finish off dinner with some Golden Oreos, dunked in milk. {I promise we usually eat better than this. We had yogurt and turkey and cheese and carrots and hummus and pineapple for lunch, but of course I forgot to photograph that meal. :) And y'all are thinking sure, sure.}

And then we have a little pre-bed ottoman jumping. It's a theme around here, that jumping.

Milk, night diapers, pajamas, toothbrushing, a few books before bed, and we are all tucked in before 8, anxious for the Mister's return.

One Day

2012-01-20T15:24:00.001-05:00

some days i think

just hang in there

it will get easier

one day

they will get older

they will need less of you

they will be more capable

they will be more obedient

they will be more rational

and then i watch them

in footie pajamas

with dinosaurs on them

eyeing me over the rims of their sippy cups

milking up before bed

happy to be sitting with one another

safe at home

content under my care

and i think

one day

they will need less of me

one day

i won't know where they are each evening

one day

they will sleep the whole night long in their very own beds

one day

they won't consider my visits to the bathroom a spectator sport

one day

they won't even wear footie pajamas anymore

especially not with dinosaurs on them

and i think

can't they stay this way forever?

Winter Games

2012-01-18T16:49:00.000-05:00

The short days and cold temps have us spending much more time indoors these days. I've found that if I don't give a little structure to our indoor play, it quickly degenerates into wild bed-jumping, tussles over toys and pleas for TV. So, I've revived some old favorites, borrowed a few ideas from other moms and parenting magazines, tweaked them a bit to fit our supplies and the boys' ages, and enjoyed giving these games a whirl at home.

Roasting pans of dry beans and rice, with a few scooping and vrooming toys thrown in, were a really fun way to an occupy an hour or so.

Very little good indoor play is without peril, and this one is no exception. As you'll notice, Buddy Boy thought it was a really great idea to rain rice on the floor. So, this activity was immediately followed by a family vacuuming adventure. But that was fine, too. The boys moved the furniture out of the way, pulled the vacuum out of the closet, and took turns pushing it across the floor. It's noisily rewarding to vacuum up a bunch of dry rice and beans, so they had a great time. All the surviving rice and beans went into a baggie to be used next time.

We've long had a love affair with colorful pompoms, so when my aunt sent me a link that suggested pushing them through a slit in a tupperware top, I knew it would be a hit. I just used some washed-out deli meat containers, and cut a T with a steak knife. I cut Buddy Boy's T s a little larger to facilitate success, but Little Guy enjoyed the challenge of a smaller T. We've played this several times, and it remains popular.

When the boys get tired of pushing pompoms through, we switch to dried noodles.

And then, we flip the containers over and play drums. The louder, the better!

Little Guy likes arranging shapes out of the pompoms, and both the boys enjoy trying to stack two or three.

A few of our other winter games:
~sink play: This is a year-round favorite. I put the faucet on a cold trickle and give them a few cups, spoons, sponges, or funnels.
~boxes: Any package we receive is much heralded for the box it comes in. We color them, sit in them, drum on them, and make them into tunnels or race tracks for toy cars.
~pipe cleaners: Pipe cleaners are pushed through the holes of an upside down colander or used to string dried noodles.
~recreational bathing: Bath time is frequent and long in the winter. When we're really making a go of recreational bathing, we bring in toys not usually allowed in the tub, like Legos, or pull out the bath paints and have a nice, long soak.
~home videos: I record the boys playing and talking, and let them watch themselves over and over.
They're fascinated!
~laundry: Another year-rounder, by necessity. The boys haul the laundry in, dump it all out on the floor (which they find to be thrilling, as it just seems like something that would be against the rules), and help me sort it. Then, I check it for stains and spray it, before tossing it to them. Standing on stools in front of the washing machine, they make a game of throwing the laundry into the washer. Wet, clean laundry is also thrown into the dryer. There is much cheering and jubilation. It's a homemaker's version of basketball.

Please share your winter games in the comments!!! I'd love to try out some new ones.

Fire Drill?

2012-01-17T20:43:00.000-05:00

At what point in time do you stop seeing the six firetrucks encircling your building and the symphony of sirens...

...and the ax-toting firemen pacing the sidewalks...

...as a really cool evening for your three year-old...

...and decide you better send your men to find out whether it's time to grab the baby and run?

For me, that point came just about the same moment they started raising a ladder right outside our window.

Yep, that was the moment. I saw a guy on the street aiming his camera our way, and I suddenly thought, you know, there's going to be an account in tomorrow's newspaper about this crazy lady who was just snapping pictures while the building burned down around her. I mean, didn't she see all the trucks and hear the sirens and notice the ladder? What was wrong with her?

But, thankfully, the report from my scouts was all clear. So I got right back to snapping.

The Last 5 Years (in Photographs)

2012-01-14T14:14:00.001-05:00

We got married, on a beautiful, 74 degree day in January. We were so happy.

We honeymooned in St. Thomas.

We graduated from law school, left Charlottesville, moved to the lake house, studied for the Bar, moved to DC, started working, and were admitted to the Bar.

We found out Little Guy was on his way!

Our family of two became a family of three.

We saw the Inauguration.

We learned how to nurse babies and change diapers on public lands.

We survived Snowmageddon.

We found out Buddy Boy was on his way!

Our family of three became a family of four.

We had more snow.

We got into the groove of life with two.

We found out Baby Girl is on her way.

And, last night, we celebrated five years of marriage with a wonderful, romantic evening out. We'll just ignore the fact that I came home and promptly threw up my dinner. ;)

These five years have been the most wonderful of my life. It has been a wild, exhilarating ride, and I'm so thankful I've gotten to spend it beside my Mister. I love you!

Just Life

2012-01-11T11:50:00.000-05:00

Buddy Boy, though he still won't say a word, is such an effective communicator. In addition to his baby sign language and his ever-ready grunts and growls and lots of pointing, he pantomimes. Y'all, it is the funniest thing. He'll act out some little scenario with gestures and noises (like, pointing and woofing and going to stand by the window to remind us that we saw a dog outside), and then, if you ask him a question about it, he'll pantomime back an answer (How big was the dog? Oh, very big. Hands held high in the air.). It's the greatest.

He also mimics every last thing he sees. His favorite thing right now is to go climb on top of the toilet, grab a tissue from the tissue box, cough into it, and then stuff it in his pocket. He'd go through a whole box if given half a chance.

Little Guy has developed an alias...Mr. John Parker. He'll shake your hand and say, "Nice to meet you, sir. My name is Mr. John Parker."

That's a nice, respectable name. But the name he gives everyone and everything else? Pweena. He's pretty determined that his baby sister be named Pweena, too. When I mentioned to him the name we are considering, he informed me that he would be calling her Pweena, regardless.

Another of Buddy Boy's favorite games is to crawl up in his high chair and work on buckling his buckles. For twenty or so minutes at a time. So, he's contained, he's relatively safe, and his brother is happy to unbuckle him repeatedly, so he can do it all over again. Score one for Mama!

I love his sweet, happy self.

I also love his determination to do every last thing Little Guy does.

Which is A LOT of things. They are constantly on the move.

Even though there have been a few more displays of brotherly conflict lately, as Buddy Boy has become a more active participant in everything we do, they are still really, really sweet to one another. It makes me so happy.

We still have our Christmas tree up. We're part of the loud and proud Epiphany crowd, but still. Ever since we begrudgingly switched to an artificial tree, there's been very little urgency to take the thing down. And the lights are so twinkly pretty. It's time, though.

Little Guy said of swinging really high, "There's air in the sky, and it makes me feel fuuuuuunnnnnnny!" Butterflies, my dear, those are butterflies.

I really don't think I could neglect to include in this random assortment of thoughts a big "ROLL TIDE, y'all!" So proud of our team! And only a bit envious of my cousins who are currently in school at the University of Alabama. Why did my four years of college have to be just about the four worst years of Alabama football in the history of mankind???

The game started so late (8:30 Eastern time) that I was waaaay dubious about making it to the end. It turned out to be so exciting, though, that I made it through with no problem and then talked the Mister's ear off until almost 1 AM. Roll Tide Roll!

That brown orb, out of focus, but large and in charge? Oh, that would be my 24 week belly, which just so happens to be measuring 26 weeks. Some expectant women lose sight of their feet; I'm losing sight of my babies!

Crayola Prize Pack Giveaway Winner

2012-01-10T15:35:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Katrina, commenter #23, who won the Crayola Prize Pack. Thank you to all who entered!

Happy Epiphany!

2012-01-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

Crayola Prize Pack Giveaway

2012-01-07T07:12:00.000-05:00

Crayola recently gave us the opportunity to try out some pretty cool products, all of which are great for keeping little hands busy in these cold winter months. The boys especially loved the huge number of crayons and the art supply case, including their very first pair of kiddie scissors. And now I get to give away this awesome prize pack to one of you!

If you have crafty little ones in your house, this is a bonanza! The prize pack includes a 150-count crayon tower, a Glow Book, a Jewelry Boutique, and an Ultimate Art Supplies case. Your children (or niece or nephew or little sibling or some lucky kid on your street) will love it!

To enter for a chance to win, please leave a comment with a way to get in touch with you (email address, blog link, Facebook link, etc.), in case you win. All are welcome to enter. One entry per person, please.

Disclosure: The Crayola Innovative Holiday prize pack, product information and prize pack for giveaway have been provided by Crayola through MyBlogSpark.

MC+A

2012-01-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

Such a happy, handsome couple, uniting in marriage on the last day of the year.

And the sweetest little flower girl you ever did see.

The wedding was beautiful, and just a wee bit past Buddy Boy's bedtime. :)

MC and A toasted their marriage with the same goblets the Mister and I used at our wedding, almost five years ago.

I love time with my brothers.

And my cousins!

My cousins and a couple aunts were out on the dance floor doing the Cuban Shuffle, and I was smiling and snapping pictures, thinking old fogey thoughts like, "Where do they learn this stuff? All I know is the Electric Slide!"

And then out popped my parents, Cuban Shuffling with the best of 'em! Want to know where they learned this stuff? At the Senior Center! Ha! I bet they were the cutest ones there.

The wedding was the first time I got to meet my newest cousin, the bride, and she is really delightful. Welcome to the family, MC!

The boys came to the first few minutes of the reception and then were shuttled back to the hotel by the babysitting team, so the Mister and I got to have a real live date night for NYE 2011! It was nice.

These girlies weren't about to leave the party with the babysitters. They were the stars of the dance floor!

My aunt, mother of the groom, looked so beautiful.

And I know they were so happy for their baby boy.

We saw the couple off at the stroke of midnight, under a canopy of fireworks, ushering them into their new life on the first day of the new year. Ah, the romance of it all!

The Two of Us

2012-01-05T09:14:00.000-05:00

Baby Girl, this is the two of us on New Year's Eve 2011, at 23 weeks.

I feel you kicking and turning all the time now, and I couldn't love it more.

The Road to Greenville

2012-01-04T19:51:00.000-05:00

My mother, my grandmother, the boys, and I set off from Birmingham for Greenville, South Carolina, the site of my cousin's New Year's Eve wedding, with a minivan packed to the absolute gills and a supposed 4.5 hour drive ahead of us. 9 hours later, having survived Atlanta 5 o'clock traffic, having filled and disposed of many a vomit bag, and having kept the boys' mouths so full of Cracker Barrel butter mints that they were physically unable to cry anymore, we arrived, tired and disheveled, to a bellhop who asked "There's more?" after having overflowed his first cart with our luggage and assorted necessities. But we were there! And thank goodness for that!

The boys and I spent our first morning in Greenville exploring the Children's Garden, on the Reedy River downtown, with my beautiful goddaughter and her mama.

The children had so much fun together.

And, most importantly, burned off a lot of energy, which primed them for the ever-dubious hotel nap.

And then, the Mister got to town! We were all so excited to be reunited!

Every bit of the after-rehearsal dinner was beautiful, but my favorite part was the toasts. The groom's two big brothers, rather than taking the traditional roasting route, gave sweet toasts, mentioning that they each found themselves looking up to their little brother, as a "pillar of morality" and an all-around great guy. They said they would have to leave the crazy stories and the "dirt" to the groom's roommates and friends. But when the other groomsmen started toasting, instead of "dirt," we heard conversion stories. TWO of the groomsmen attributed their conversion to Christianity to my cousin's influence in their lives. And, perhaps even more impressive, each of them said it was not because of any direct conversion effort on his part but rather because of the example he gave them of one living his life with Christ. Wow! I was floored. How many people have led two people to Christ, solely by their example? And especially at such a young age. So, so awesome.

The groom and my brother.

After the dinner, we returned to the hotel, where a team of babysitters had been caring for the pack of ten cousins all together in the hospitality room. The scene was so funny, with children asleep everywhere...it looked like a cloud of sleeping gas had hit them!

Did I mention he takes that scooter everywhere? Yep, this is how we roll now.

Mama and Daddy had a wonderful brunch for the almost-married couple at a cute cottage downtown.

It was so much fun to get to spend an extended amount of time with all the cousins we rarely get to see.

And the gorgeous day made it just perfect.

Inspired by his Daddy's mad hand-walking skillz, Little Guy spent some time working on his handstand. He can actually stay up for a second or two, which I find to be simply amazing.

We all had a great time enjoying the good food and good company.

And passin' babies 'round.

Then, it was back to the hotel for a little pre-wedding rest!

Wedding post to come...

Other Things We Did in Birmingham

2012-01-03T15:10:00.000-05:00

Played airplanes with Daddy in the backyard.

Learned how to work an iPad with Gaga. And got, perhaps, a little bit obsessed with Angry Birds.

Took pretend naps after bath time.

With lots of calls for the repositioning of blankets and "toesies covered."

Hung out in Gaga's big chair.

Big enough for three.

Watched youtube Nativity plays with Gr'Mudder.

And climbed the walls.

Literally.

Many thanks to my ever patient, most tolerant, totally welcoming parents for a fabulous stay in Birmingham!

The 'Noon

2012-01-03T14:47:00.000-05:00

Scooter in car, hand firmly on scooter, we were ready to set off for the Christmas feast at Nana's house.

There are 7 siblings in my mother's generation, 21 first cousins in my generation, and 5 (and counting!) second cousins in the youngest generation.

Add in the lovely married-in's and you've got quite a crowd at grandmother's house! Unfortunately, this picture is missing the whole bottom row of cousins, plus those who were out of town, but my camera lens just wasn't wide enough! It's a fun group.

The now three year-old quad cousins had a BLAST playing together, before putting on their best scowls for the annual photo.

Little Guy fell completely in love with his pack of cousins, young and old. We got to spend a lot of time with them over the next week or so, and it was really wonderful. They all played together so nicely.

There's always a lot of family togetherness on Christmas at Nana's, and I love it!

Buddy Boy had a great time, too.

Especially on the piano!

The feast at Nana's was a delightful way to finish out Christmas Day.

The Morn

2012-01-03T14:09:00.000-05:00

This is bound to be the last year that our children are at least somewhat oblivious to the excitement of Christmas morning. When Little Guy woke and wandered into our room, I whispered "Merry Christmas!" and expected that to open up the floodgates of excitement. But all he said was, "I huuuuungry. I want bagel and cream cheese." So, off we went to the kitchen.

And waited about another hour for the rousing of Buddy Boy, who also turned out to be huuuungry, for shredded wheat.

So, we had a very peaceful early morning, and when I just about couldn't stand it anymore, I went and woke up my parents to join us. Their grandchildren may be oblivious, but their daughter's not!

And, oh, was it exciting!

The scooter was Little Guy's Santa gift, and it was a HUGE hit. He goes everywhere on that thing. To the bathroom, to the kitchen, down to get the mail. Everywhere.

Santa brought Buddy Boy a long-awaited Bla Bla doll. My cousins actually gave Buddy Boy a Bla Bla doll when he was born, along with a collection of Curious George stories for Little Guy as a big brother present. Well, Little Guy loved both the gifts so very much that, without our even realizing it, he adopted Buddy Boy's Bla Bla doll as his lovey, and has slept with him every night since. For months now, Buddy Boy's been loving on that Bla Bla doll whenever he's gotten the chance, so I guess it was pretty clear to Santa that Buddy Boy needed one of his own--to keep! It's been a great success.

Mama had her traditional Christmas morning brunch, with the members of the family willing to get out on Christmas morning and come visiting. She served her best menu yet...pineapple upside down bundt cake, gingerbread, breakfast casserole, ambrosia, and sweet rolls. Yum!

We were so glad when my niece showed up for a little cousin fun on Christmas morning.

And brought her parents, too!

Buddy Boy experienced the classic wrapping paper stuck to the bottom of your foot problem.

And Little Guy let us all know that he was uninterested in family photos.

It was a really great Christmas morn!

Boo-Hoo Beautiful

2011-12-27T17:57:00.000-05:00

I'll admit that my waterworks have been a little close to the surface these past few months, but this beautiful video had the tears streaming. Watch all the way to the end. And enjoy!

The Eve

2011-12-26T15:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Boxing Day from Alabama! We are spending the day eating leftover breakfast casserole and sweet rolls, munching on Christmas candy, and resting off the whirlwind of festivities surrounding the glorious birth of our Savior.

As is tradition, we spent Christmas Eve going to Mass and then on to my grandmother's house for dinner with my father's side of the family.

Everybody pitched in a little, whether with the cooking or the dish washing, and it was wonderful to still be able to celebrate at Wowo's.

Or Gigi's, or Grandmother's, or whatever you call the home of this lovely lady of many monikers.

Buddy Boy helped himself to all the appetizers, and spent much of the evening carrying around chips swiped through guacamole, and crackers dabbed with sour cream and topped with salmon and capers. He very kindly passed out his creations to all the partygoers, some of whom mentioned that it seemed as if someone with a highly productive salivary system may have taste-tested them first.

This year's game of the night involved head sensors and ear lobe clips and the brain-willing of a motorized toy. It had all the looks of a great big hoax, but after our very scientific tests of its authenticity, we're convinced it's for real. But really, the most fun comes in watching people get all Star-Trekked up and try to concentrate on concentrating really hard!

Usually, we arrive to Birmingham on Christmas Eve, having woken up early and missed naps and travelled all day. It can make Christmas Eve rather trying for the babies. We spent last year with Little Guy passed out in our laps for most of the night and Buddy Boy screaming from the sling. But this year, the boys and I got in a few days before, and it made all the difference in the world. Even in the sleepy, later hours, Buddy Boy was content.

We all were.

One of our it's-not-Christmas-Eve-without-it traditions is to pop poppers at the end of dinner. Everyone must don the paper crowns and read aloud their enclosed corny joke. These jokes are so bad. Like, they make Laffy Taffy jokes seem really funny. And that's what makes the whole thing so great!

After a flurry of presents and merriment, and a little time spent at their Daddy's knee, it was time to head home. Santa was on his way!

T-H-R-E-E

2011-12-21T16:46:00.001-05:00

Our boy is t-h-r-e-e years old! We celebrated with a cinnamon roll cake with t-h-r-e-e candles for breakfast.

And he tore into gifts sent by sweet grandparents and aunts and uncles.

Little brother was every bit as delighted at the sudden influx of toys.

And they played and played and played.

Little Guy was thrilled with his new Caps shirt.

Now he can be just like Daddy!

Fresh off the plane, we had one more little celebration in Birmingham.

It was a very happy birthday for our Little Guy!

Christmas-y

2011-12-16T15:49:00.002-05:00

First of all, thank y'all for the sweet comments about our baby girl. We are so happy, and it just makes it all the more fun for you to share in our enthusiasm! Thank you!

I made four batches of my now-traditional peppermint bark last weekend. And, y'all, it was so much more fun than it has ever been before, because I now have legitimate kitchen helpers. The boys pulled the mini candy canes from their wrappers and dropped them into the Ziploc bags, then got out their wooden hammers (and a magic wand) and pounded them all to bits. It was fabulous!

I also introduced Little Guy to our Elf on the Shelf. I felt a little guilty I hadn't done it earlier in the season, since I was hearing about how much all my friends' children were enjoying their elves. Apparently, there is a nationwide love affair with these elves. We read the book, and talked about how the elf would be in a new place each morning when he woke up. I told him he should "Pick a name for the elf." What did he pick? Why, "Pick," of course. So, we put Pick in his starting spot and really didn't discuss him much more that night. Then, a few minutes after I'd put him to bed, he timidly came out of his room and asked with big, worried eyes, "Do he stay pretend until nighttime and then he get real and move around? He going to come in my room during the nighttime? He going to bite me? I want him be put away." We'll try again next year, ol' Pick!

So, then, with Pick retired for the season, he asks me a few days ago, "Mommy, Santa Claus just pretend like the gorilla at the Halloween party (of which he was completely and totally terrified)? Santa Claus just dressed up, not real?" Panicked, I just launched into the story of Saint Nicholas and said "and that's where Santa Claus comes from!" He didn't seem satisfied, but he hasn't pressed the question. I sure thought I had a few years of him even understanding the concept before he started questioning it! Oh, man.

Once or twice a week, we drive to a community center out in Virginia, just so the boys can play with toys that are not ours in a space that is not ours, for the very reasonable sum of $3. They call it playgroup, but it's really just a random crew of nannies and a few stay-at-home dads and yours truly, all searching for a warm spot to exercise the demons out of the kids.

Little Guy gets on what he calls "the very big bike" the moment we walk in the door and rides it in circles around the room for the entire one and one-half hours we are there. Each time he passes me, he calls out, "I doing great!" or "I not running over anybody's fingers!" or "I practicing sooooo well!" or "I being careful!" and just keeps on a-pedalin'.

When we were in the teenage years, my brothers ran through gallons of egg nog so quickly (like, a gallon for an afternoon snack), that Mama laid down an edict that all egg nog had to be thinned with milk, so as to make the egg nog last from one grocery run to the next. It was an offense of the highest order not to thin one's egg nog, but I think my brothers took the risk every time. The boys have discovered egg nog this week, and I think their consumption levels would make their uncles proud.

Sugar and Spice

2011-12-15T15:41:00.000-05:00

...and everything, everything nice! Baby Snodgrass is a GIRL. A sweet, healthy, perfectly-sized, flexible baby girl. Here she is, pictured knees to nose!

She kept her chin tucked and her arm to her forehead most of the time, and when the ultrasound tech jiggled her a bit for a profile view, she just flipped over, face down. So, her face is still a mystery. But, oh, how I can't wait to see it! To hold my baby girl!

We are in awe of God's goodness. He has given us our two wonderful boys, and so won us over with their love that a whole family of boys would have been just great. But now, He has given us a GIRL. And we are delighted!

From the very start, Little Guy has never wavered from his declaration that he has a little sister in Mommy's tummy. And how right he is!

Bonnets and bloomers and dollies and pigtails, here we come!

Bathtime Doings

2011-12-14T06:56:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, during bathtime, I take pictures. Because I love their sweet, sturdy little selves.

Sometimes, during bathtime, I sing songs. Because there are requests, and who am I to deny such requests?

Sometimes, during bathtime, I wash my face and brush my teeth. Because their simultaneous confinement leaves me free of those who ordinarily like to crawl up my pant leg during such activities.

Sometimes, during bathtime, I wipe down the counters and the toilet with a Lysol wipe. Because I only just then paused long enough to realize how gross they looked.

Sometimes, during bathtime, I simply sit and stare at wispy curls and glossy lashes. Because that's my reward, as their mother.

What do you do during bathtime?

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

2011-12-12T14:26:00.001-05:00

Planes at the Air and Space Museum (or, "the Outer Space Museum," as Little Guy calls it).

Trains at the National Botanical Gardens.

And automobiles, uh, on the street.

Seeing the electric train display each Christmas has become a tradition for the boys and me, and I really wanted the Mister to get to witness the excitement.

Unfortunately, that meant waiting in line for 30 minutes instead of cruising through on a weekday.

But I think the wait was worth it. There's just nothing like seeing your child practically levitate with pure joy.

Buddy Boy was so intent on keeping track of all those trains that every time one went out of sight, the poor thing dissolved into tears.

But he'd bounce right back, as soon as he spotted another train.

All the displays are made out of plant parts...tiny pieces of bark and tufts of moss and tendrils of vine. It's magical.

And I'm not the only one who thinks so!

We finished off our day with lunch at Air and Space, where Buddy Boy attempted to set the world record in french fry consumption by a one year old.

And a quick spin through the Museum's interactive room, currently Little Guy's very favorite DC attraction.

And then it was home again, home again, jiggety jig! Just another day in our cold weather museum circuit!

Scary Pictures

2011-12-09T16:44:00.001-05:00

This...

...may look scary to some...

...but the truly scary part...

...is who's watching.

{Yes, we do allow, with certain rules and limitations, jumping on/off our furniture in our apartment . It hasn't, so far, turned them into wild hooligans.}

{Or, at least not any wilder, more hooliganish wild hooligans than they were likely to be, regardless.}

He's Learned from the Best

2011-12-05T19:41:00.000-05:00

BUT

2011-12-04T09:36:00.000-05:00

It's a pain to park in our building parking garage every day and a pain to have to use a parking garage at the grocery store, BUT on cold, rainy days, it sure does make for a nice, dry grocery run.

I've got sciatica in my left leg and a burning varicose vein in my right, BUT I haven't thrown up in a week!

Quarters are tight in this city apartment, BUT I only have to plug the vacuum cleaner in once to do all the floors in our home.

I'm working out twice a week, which is something I've never before done in pregnancy, BUT it seems to be making no difference in my weight gain. Must be that whole 'muscle weighs more than fat' thing, right?

I forgot to go to my 18 week OB appointment and I forgot to even make a 15-month well baby appointment for Buddy Boy, BUT I can still remember my full name and address. {Small victories!}

We broke 4 ornaments along the way, BUT the boys and I managed to get the tree up and trimmed all by ourselves. And occupy a whole day doing it!

The Mister is sick with allergies, BUT he's spending most of the weekend at home with us.

After mothering my little boys these past few years, I would be perfectly content to have a whole pack of boys, BUT we all think this new baby is a girl. {We'll find out soon!}

Little Guy thinks the three wise men bring gold, myrrh, and "makingsense," BUT he's learning the Christmas story.

Life is good!

Everything's Bigger in Texas

2011-11-30T14:51:00.001-05:00

We're back from San Antonio, and resting away the travel fatigue. What is it about travel that is so bone-crushingly tiring? Maybe it's our two stowaways.

We had a great time for the rest of our visit.

A trip to Sea World was the highlight.

There were several playgrounds and climbing structures to conquer.

And we saw a dolphin show, a sea lion show, and a Sesame Street show.

The Mister and Grandpa took a spin on this. Yikes...not my kind of thing! Little Guy thought it was HILARIOUS to watch them go by.

One night, we loaded up for a drive through Santa's Ranch, which features a mile of light displays. The boys loved that!

The pace with the Mister's parents is usually go-go-go and then go some more, so I was secretly ok with the cold snap that forced us to hibernate for a couple of days. We played and played with the large, ever so sweetly preserved collection of toys, circa 1970s and 1980s.

The Mister led great engineering efforts, constructing space shuttles and launch pads and trains and race cars, all from eleventy million tiny plastic parts.

Once the weather had improved, we took a hike on a nearby trail.

And truth be told, we had a lot more of these Texas-sized tantrums...

...than these sweet smiles. But that's just the way it goes.

Buddy Boy was the world's best 15 month old hiker!

He thought it was all just great.

Trees and sticks and leaves and dirt.

What could be better?

My in-laws had kindly rescued a playset from the neighbor's trash pile for our boys' use, and it was a HUGE hit!

Don't you just love slide static?

Little Guy is so sweet about giving Buddy Boy a boost when he needs it.

It was just exactly like I've always dreamed life in suburbia could be...a completely fenced-in backyard, a playset, and a kitchen overlooking the yard. Just send 'em out to play, with a watchful eye turned toward the window. Of course, it's probably not as idyllic as I imagine. I remember my mother having to lock us in the backyard because we'd keep coming in to wreak havoc and pick fights with one another. But a girl can dream, right?

Little Guy got to practice his handstand, a necessary skill for anyone born a Snodgrass (also mastered by some who have married in. Not I). In a couple years, he'll be expected to start walking on those hands. :)

This extended time with the grandparents was wonderful, as was the extended time with the Mister. Such a refreshing change of pace, and so much fun!

A 77 Degree Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T16:04:00.001-05:00

Is that a beautiful bird or what!?

And it tasted all the better because I had not a thing to do with cooking it!

We're in Texas, visiting the Mister's parents.

Feasting daily on leftovers. Mmmm...turkey sandwiches with all the fixin's.

Soaking up the warm weather, basking under sunny skies.

And reading bedtime stories with Grandma.

Lookin' Up

2011-11-21T14:32:00.001-05:00

Fourteen days and ninety-three indoor art projects later, I can finally say things are lookin' up. We're all on the mend. Buddy Boy still feels pretty puny, but it's hard to know whether it's lingering germs or the SEVEN teeth he's been popping out. The rest of us just have the last of a cough. Hallelujah! Thank y'all so much for all your kind words and well wishes over the last couple of weeks. Y'all really cheered me up!

We had a fairly warm day this weekend, so we ventured out to the Zoo. Little Guy was perfectly content to be pushed around by his baby brother.

I love what buddies they are these days. They play together all the time, and are still getting along remarkably well. Little Guy takes very seriously his role as protector. The other day I caught him giving Buddy Boy a spanking for standing on the coffee table. I explained that discipline was not in his job description, and he said, "I scared he might fall off!" Now, when he finds his little brother in a safety violation, he calls out "Children not give spankings?" and I know to come running.

I really love the curls atop this little head. And, okay, I'll admit that I style them every morning. Oh, to have curls. Glorious, glorious curls!

We are really struggling with Little Guy's nighttime sleep. He wakes up every night around 4 AM, and wants to be up for the day. Sometimes, he is. He wants to eat and he wants to sleep in our bed. We've been working on sleep re-training for about 6 weeks now. We got one of those stoplight alarm clocks and created a prize box of party store favors, and had slowly worked our way up to his staying in bed until 5:55, but the time change and the sickness really set us back. So now, his allowed waking time is 5:10, and each morning, we've already had a few visits from him by then. He'll go back to bed, but most of the time, he never falls back to sleep. Then, he yawns mid-morning and gets cranky and tired.

I consider 6 to be an acceptable waking time, but just don't know how to get there. We have the added complication of Buddy Boy sharing the room, so we are reluctant to do anything that's going to create a lot of noise and upset, because if there's anything worse than a crying child at 4 AM, it's two crying children at 4 AM. Anybody out there dealt with this issue? I'd love to know how you conquered it. We're all a little tired! Especially the Mister, who heroically takes most of the morning shifts and lets me sleep in!

Did I mention SEVEN teeth? All at once? Poor baby.

We caught the orangutans crossing the O-Line again. So much fun! Both the boys were enchanted.

My friend is starting a photography business and very kindly offered to take some pictures of our family. Unfortunately, the two littlest subjects weren't too keen on the idea. I love this picture, though, because how often am I going to get professional documentation of this very real part of my life?! Two times the tantrums! Keeps things exciting!

This Thanksgiving week, I could not be more thankful for my sweet family of soon-to-be five. And for our safety, our comfort, our health, and our happiness.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

I Washed My Hair in Peace

2011-11-15T11:53:00.001-05:00

For eight solid days, as we've ridden a roller coaster of illnesses, I've been nurse, cook, laundress, cleaner, and comforter in chief. All hours of the night. In sickness and in health. In quarantine. Through pajama days and pharmacy runs. Through mouth sores and concussions and runny noses and coughs and lots and lots and LOTS of tears. I've had a child clinging to each pant leg, a child bouncing on each hip, a child screaming in each ear. There have been sweet, snuggly moments and there have been moments when I've dissolved in tears. I've hugged and held and shushed and patted and sung and read. And it's been a blessing to be able to care for my babies like that. But the reality is that it is just tough--really, really tough--caring for a sick 1 year old and a sick 2 year old, while sick and pregnant myself. Well, today I cried uncle.

Our fully germ-warned babysitter agreed to come give me a break. If I'd felt better, I would have leapt for joy.

I retreated to the gym for a slow and short elliptical ride, followed by lots of stretching.

I took a walk.

I WASHED MY HAIR IN PEACE. It was revolutionary.

I sneezed and snuffled my way through a bowl of spicy Thai coconut soup, with Kleenex in one hand and the Mister's Kindle in the other.

I did a few loads of laundry.

I Christmas-shopped.

I rested.

I feel rejuvenated, and have a renewed hope that one day soon we will all be well at the same time. Soon, soon. But for now, a little more holding and shushing is in order.

Our Goings On

2011-11-09T15:43:00.002-05:00

One bitterly cold day we opted for a little indoor entertainment, in the form of a horse show being held at an arena down the street. This was the last day of the show. The riders were cute pre-teenish girls jumping horses at not too astounding heights. You'll note that it was not exactly sold out, but we had a good time.

For once, Little Guy was allowed to sit by himself. He thought he was so cool. He kept changing rows and testing out different seats.

And at every break, we went to get snacks. No lines and this is the Mister's favorite kind of food--ha!--so we took advantage of it.

Buddy Boy was an enthusiastic clapper.

We had my dear friend and her sweet baby girl in town this weekend. Such fun! I just love loving my friends' children.

Aaaaaaand, she's particularly easy to love. Such a friendly, engaging, easygoing dollbaby.

We also returned to Soccer Tots, and actually played a little soccer! Perhaps from the wrong side of the goal, but who's checking?

And a day or so later, everything started going downdowndownhill. Little Guy began running a fever, and complaining that his tongue hurt. I thought he was suffering from some too-hot scrambled eggs he'd had at brunch, but his complaints only grew. By Monday morning, he was throwing lots o' fits and generally acting miserable. Regardless, my brave and wonderful friend said she wasn't scared of a fever and invited us over to play, in hopes that a little time out of the house would be good for us all. We gladly accepted. Outside of their apartment sits a concrete Georgia Bulldog statue, and the children's tradition is to 'kiss the puppy' on their way in the door. The two big kids kissed the puppy and that left just Buddy Boy to pay his respects. He leaned halfway over, and being the new walker that he is, lost his balance and smacked into the statue. By the time my friend swooped him up and turned to hand him to me, he had an outrageously huge goose egg on his forehead. It was shocking...about the size of half a ping pong ball and so immediate. We called my friend's kind husband, who happens to be a pediatrician at the children's hospital in town, and asked for his advice. He said to just keep an eye on Buddy Boy, watching for lethargy, inconsolability or vomiting. And then Buddy Boy vomited. And his balance, such as it is, seemed off. So, brave and wonderful friend then took her braveness and wonderfulness to another level by offering to keep fever boy while I went to the ER with Buddy Boy. Ugh. I hated to leave one sicky for another, but head injuries trump fevers.

Buddy Boy and I spent 6.5 hours at the ER, which was so busy that doctor-patient consultations were being held in the waiting rooms. Everybody knew what everyone else was in there for, and the results of each test and the progress of each case. I was just really thankful we weren't the ones with a Lego in the lung. Buddy Boy enjoyed himself immensely, making friends with other patients, trying to sneak behind the automated double doors, scaling the sofa to turn out the waiting room lights, and playing with the doctors' stethoscopes. All except the straight-jacketed CT scan, for which I had to leave the room to protect baby #3. For that, he screamed like a madman until, apparently, he fell deeply asleep and they were able to scan his head. Once it was, thankfully, confirmed that there was no bleeding on his brain, we were on our way home. But he's got one really terrible bruise for his efforts.

Meanwhile, Little Guy had slept most of the day away at my friend's apartment, and acted strange once the Mister went to retrieve him. He slept fitfully and feverishly, was drooling a lot and slurring his words, and in the morning, I discovered a mouth full of sores. Welcome to the Snodgrass family, Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Hope you won't be staying long. Wow. I had no idea how bad this would be. Little Guy is completely miserable. He is in constant pain, especially when he tries to eat, and is crying most of the day. We're dosing him up with Tylenol and Advil around the clock, and swabbing the sores with a mixture of Benadryl and Maalox. He's sleeping in the bed with me, and we're giving him whatever food he thinks he can get down. He says lemonade feels good (seems odd, I know, but that's what he says), so I took him to McDonald's today for a frozen strawberry lemonade, which he learned to love this summer as an after-pool treat. After much upset, eighty-two car seat bucklings and unbucklings, and insistence that I carry both him and Buddy Boy into the restaurant (in addition to my purse, a sippy cup, and this belly of mine!), we struggled our way inside, ordered our food and paid, only to then be told that they were all out of frozen strawberry lemonade. I felt like crying. Little Guy did cry. Which, of course, made Buddy Boy cry. Which then made the man taking advantage of the free wi-fi give us evil glances. And to cap off our adventure, Buddy Boy managed to climb all the way to the top of the big kid part of the play space and get himself stuck. So, to the top I went (again, with this belly of mine!). After that, I left the premises, with a screaming child on each hip. Now, they are both napping, but every 15 minutes or so, Little Guy has a 5-minute crying jag. This is pretty pitiful.

Tomorrow has got to be better, right?

Urban Jungle

2011-11-02T14:37:00.001-04:00

My little jungle animals, ready to head out for the night.

This is the first year we've really done Halloween in the city...last year, we were in Birmingham, and the year before that, Little Guy was so young that we just went to our building Halloween party and called it enough.

We had a last minute scare that the Mister was going to be tied up with an 8 PM conference call, but then his boss came by and told him to go do Halloween with his kids instead. Isn't that nice??? We were so relieved!

We were hanging around outside the Mister's office, waiting for him to join us, and Little Guy started a round of his most favoritest game..."Where's me, Mommy? Where's me?" He usually hides in plain sight, employing the "if I can't see you, you can't see me" theory. If I dare find him too early, there are great tears. Instead, I am to make all sorts of guesses as to his location, many of which are suggested by the one in hiding, such as "Oh, he must have gone to CVS." Or the grocery store, or to take out the trash, or to the Building Museum. Sometimes, I am to comment on how I can see his little toesies or his little bottom, but I still can't figure out where he is. And then, the climax of it all is when Little Guy prompts, "Say, 'I can't 'magine, 'magine where he be.'" So I do. And then, lo and behold, he appears! And we do this at least forty times a day.

So, after our rousing game of Where's Me?, we hopped the Metro to Capitol Hill.

Where there are a lot more children than in our neighborhood. And where Hilloween was being held, with bounce houses and hay rides and a balloon man. Such fun to see so many friends and their children!

And then it was on to trick-or-treating on the Hill.

Little Guy was a good bit more timid at first than I thought he'd be, but after a few pieces of candy hit the bottom of that bucket, he started to warm up.

Thanks to his keen interest in everything his brother does, I never had to teach Buddy Boy how to brush his teeth or climb onto the sofa or get down from my bed or apply lotion or go down slides or build Legos or any number of other things. And now we can add to that list that I never had to teach him to trick-or-treat. We had him hanging out in the stroller for the first couple of blocks, but it soon became obvious he was not going to stand for being left out. We released him, and he jumped right in. It was so hilarious to see him toddle up each walkway, with his topsy turvy walking skills, climb the steps on all fours, and then regain his balance in order to stick his hand in an outstretched bowl of candy. He always took just one piece and he always gave a big smile of gratitude before turning around and toddling back to drop the candy in his bucket. My 14 month old is a champion trick-or-treater.

For the parents of peanut allergics, Halloween is a bit scary. About 2/3 of the candy the boys received was not peanut-free, and even with constant vigilance, we were worried that somehow a piece of it would get into their mouths. Little Guy is extremely careful about checking with us before he eats anything suspect, and very cheerful about foregoing anything with nuts, but of course Buddy Boy doesn't know to be careful. It's nerve-wracking for your children to be handed something that could potentially kill them...over and over and over again. Starburst and Skittles and Epi-Pens are our friends. But on the bright side, now I have a quite large, well hidden-away stash of Reese's and Snickers and Butterfingers and I am no longer nursing a peanut allergic!

It was a really fun night, one I'm so glad that the Mister was able to part of.

And I think both the boys had a blast.

Kind of funny to hop on a Metro train after trick-or-treating...just another reminder of how different my children's childhoods are from my own. But they're every bit as happy, I think.

I mean, how could they not be, drifting off to sleep, sucker in hand and passy in mouth?

Hope your Halloween was just as much fun!

Pumpkin Day

2011-10-31T13:51:00.001-04:00

while the Mister led the boys

in carving happy face and "scary, very sharp mouth" pumpkins both

i cleaned and oiled and salted pumpkin seeds for roasting

and baked pumpkin bread, by this delicious recipe, which makes 3 big loaves and thank goodness for that

and then we watched

as the first big, puffy, white, wet snowflakes of the season fell to the ground

it was pumpkin day

Sometimes They Remind Me of Puppies

2011-10-28T20:59:00.000-04:00

Soccer Tots

2011-10-24T14:31:00.000-04:00

The domino players in our house have stepped it up a notch or eight. It's an intense operation.

We took the boys to Soccer Tots this weekend. On the way over, I was holding the Mister's hand and commenting on how this day was sort of the beginning of all that is to come...years of cold bleachers and warm coffee and our boys kicking balls up and down a field.

I took care to explain to Little Guy that he would need to listen carefully to the grown-ups and participate with the other children. Since he doesn't go to school, sometimes his willingness for group activities is a little lacking. He assured me he would follow all the rules and directions.

We arrived with our 5-inch soccer ball, a prize Little Guy won at Dave and Buster's, and hoped the coach would have an extra "real" ball. I'd been told that the morning would be very relaxed, so I wasn't too worried about our lack of equipment.

Well, it was so relaxed that I have not a single picture of soccer-playing. Because there was not a single minute of soccer-playing. I think Soccer Tots should be renamed Playground Tots. But it was super fun!

It was basically a big family playdate at the park. Where the activity only stopped intermittently, out of reverence for the overhead flight of an airplane or the howling passage of a fire truck. You know how it goes with toddlers.

We really had an excellent time.

And Buddy Boy tried to do every last thing that Little Guy did.

He succeeded most of the time.

But when he didn't, he whipped out his scowly face, complete with heavy inhale-exhales through pursed lips. His inhale-exhales carry great meaning. There's the scared set, the excited set, the frustrated set, and the please-oh-please-give-me-that-thing set. We've become very attuned to his breathing around here.

Little Guy conquered the balance beam.

And Buddy Boy mastered going down the slide all by himself.

After a little high-flying swing time, our morning was complete.

Soccer, schmoccer. There's always next year for the real thing.

I've got a few ideas for posts swirling around in my head...Air Travel with Young Children, Storage Solutions in Small Spaces, How We're Curing Our Picky Eater, Baby-Led Weaning: An Update, and Helpful Household Tricks. Which should I write first? Let me know in the comments if you have an interest in any of them! And if they all sound horribly boring, well, no need to let me know that. ;)

Constant Companion

2011-10-21T14:23:00.000-04:00

There may only be four teeth in that little head of his...

...but they sure are clean!

Apple Pickin'

2011-10-19T15:59:00.000-04:00

After the great success of our day trip to the farm, I was itching to recreate the outdoorsy family fun. A Facebook query for good apple orchards led us to Homestead Farm in Poolesville, Maryland. It was another weekend for the ~~books~~ blog.

First up: the petting farm.

Where everybody got together the guts to do a little petting. Even me!

And where this lovely sheep so very kindly performed for us.

Then, it was on to the orchard!

It being the end of apple season, all the trees were bare--except the Pink Ladies. Those apples being my absolute favorite, I was pleased as punch!

No ladder needed.

Just a He-Man Daddy.

This sweet child was so proud of his apple picking system, and followed it quite precisely.

1. Spot an apple with a sufficient amount of pink.

2. Point it out to Mama and Daddy.

3. Check for brown spots, holes, or splits.

4. Twist and PULL!

And that's how you end up with 10 pounds of delicious apples!

After picking our apples, we enjoyed a picnic lunch, and then a hayride out to the pumpkin patch.

Buddy Boy chose our pumpkin.

And then I smuggled it home for us. {Whoa! The baby bump has arrived!}

Sunshine, crisp air, exercise, fun, the four of us all together. It was a truly perfect day.

Safety, Sanity, Pickles, and Skinny Jeans

2011-10-14T16:30:00.000-04:00

The exterminator came this afternoon to check a trap he'd left under the dishwasher and, lo and behold, it seems House Mouse nibbled at the bait and--thankfully--left the apartment to meet his early demise. I am glad to have evidence now that:
Firstly, I did not, as I had considered the possibility of several times, hallucinate the mouse sighting.
Secondly, ding dong, the mouse is dead, the mouse is dead, the mouse is dead!
Sanity and safety, folks. I have my exterminator to thank for those.

In a throwback to my pregnancy with Little Guy, I've been moving through Claussen pickles 3/4 of a jar at a time. Only Claussen, "never heated, from vine to jar in 8 days," kosher dills will do. Don't even think about offering me a Vlasic. I've also been doing some pretty heavy work on a Costco-size bag of Clementines. But really, this is so much better than the Nutty Buddy Bars I've been known to devour before.

The boys continue to get sweeter and sweeter to one another. Last night at bedtime, I presented Buddy Boy to Little Guy for their regular goodnight hugs and kisses. Buddy Boy burrowed his face into Little Guy's chest and Little Guy kissed Buddy Boy's hand. And then, while stroking his little brother's cheek, said "Dis is my sweet baby brudder. I lub him. I don't want him to lose us. He's a sweet baby boy." As a parent, I'm just not sure it gets much better than that.

I've been searching for some cute tan boots and a pair of maternity skinny jeans {oxymoronic, I know} to wear underneath them. I finally found the perfect ones and ordered them the other day. Last night, the Mister came home and--prompted, I believe, by a pass-through of our somewhat yuppy/somewhat hipster, frou-frou farmers' market-- regaled me with a list of his pet peeves, which included:
1. cupcake shops
2. "artisinal," as used to describe gelato, bread, candles, and soap
3. guys in skinny jeans
and
4. girls in skinny jeans {!!!}
I asked hopefully, "What about if those skinny jeans are worn underneath boots?"
He, apparently not picking up on my hopeful tone, said, "Yeah, you can add that to the list, too."

So, I guess I've got my outfit for girls' night out.

Autumnal

2011-10-12T15:44:00.000-04:00

We spent a day at Montpelier Farms in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and LOVED it! I was so excited about this outing and talked about it all the week prior. It lived up to all my expectations!

The day did get off to a rocky start. We walked into the fabulous outdoor wonderland, with all kinds of fun activities, and at Little Guy's request, made our first stop at the paint-a-pumpkin booth. Where he suddenly and without explanation began to pitch a HUGE fit. Including screaming, kicking the painting table, and throwing {violently!} the cups of paint that had just been poured for him. So, he and the Mister headed back to the car, where Little Guy screamed out his demons, and Buddy Boy and I headed to the corn pen for a little play that was just his speed {who got the better end of those parental duties???}. A sandbox made of dried corn kernels. He loved it! And so did Little Guy, once he was fit to return to civilization.

The Mister's got a real hangup about using a stroller. He just doesn't like the inconvenience it can present with stairs, crowds, etc. So he carries Buddy Boy around in a hiking backpack, and it suits both of them just fine. I think Buddy Boy likes the view. Here, he was admiring alpacas!

There was a cute market on the farm, where we bought the most wonderful caramel apples and some delicious strawberry rhubarb preserves. And hung out in the oversized chairs.

My firstborn and 12 weeks of baby #3!

Little Guy's favorite part was the hill slide. He went down with me about ten times and then got brave enough to do it on his own. He was so proud!

The #1 thing I wanted to do was take a hay ride. Hay rides just seem so quintessentially autumnal.

But as it turned out, the day was fairly warm and the hay ride rather bumpy, and by the end, I was glad we'd done it, but glad it wasn't any longer. I feared morning sickness was going to rear its ugly head right there in the middle of that cornfield. That would have been embarrassing.

The Mister and I have a standing disagreement on what constitutes a bribe. I think a carefully worded advertisement of the good things that are to come, once something else is done, with the parental assumption that that thing will be done, regardless {rather than an "if you do this, then you'll get that" promise} does not a bribe make. The Mister says this is all semantics. I say semantics are important. Either way, I've neither bribed nor non-bribed my children for a picture ever before {I'd rather catch them in a natural moment}, but I was just dying for a cute pumpkin patch picture of the boys. And I think my announcement that just as soon as we'd taken a pumpkin picture, we were on our way to the cotton candy booth, got pretty good results, don't you?

Little Guy decided on a little pumpkin-sittin' alone time to eat his cotton candy.

But that's ok, because he left behind a whole apple cider slushie for Buddy Boy and me to share. And those are just about the best things I've ever tasted. I may have had three that day.

Montpelier Farms...we'll see y'all next year!

Geography Lessons

2011-10-11T15:08:00.000-04:00

The Mister hung a world map on the wall this weekend, and the boys really took to the idea! I'll admit I'm learning right along with them {'bout time!}.

City Mouse

2011-10-09T09:58:00.000-04:00

I spend a lot of time on here talking about the fun and glamorous parts of city life...the daily museum tours, the impromptu open-air concerts, the famous politicians in our building. And I guess the less glamorous parts get a little airtime, too...the tiny quarters, the sky-high parking rates, the daily hassle. But nevah have I evah experienced so unglamorous an aspect of city life as I did on Thursday.

Little Guy was playing next to my chair in the den, having abandoned the idea of napping that afternoon, and Buddy Boy was just beginning to stir in his crib. Little Guy, being the doting big brother that he is, was thrilled to hear the baby's noises and ran to go welcome him up from his nap. I leaned forward in my chair to get up, and at that moment--forever burned into my memory--saw a MOUSE in our HOUSE. Eek! Egads! Ick! Yuck! Nasty! Gross! I screamed bloody murder and House Mouse turned right back around and ran away.

I ran to my room, grabbed Buddy Boy and a phone, and threw Little Guy onto my bed, telling him {a bit too dramatically, in retrospect} to stay on that bed until I told him to get down, so that the mouse wouldn't bite his toes. Um, off. Yes, I might have said so that the mouse wouldn't bite his toes off.

Then, Buddy Boy and I, perched on a toddler stool in the middle of the den, on the lookout for House Mouse, called:

First, my knight in shining armor, who, as always, willingly raced home from work to save the day.

Second, the front desk, to request a visit from our building's wonderful all-around problem-solver.

Third, my Mama, who is a great person to call when I am in hysterics, because she takes my hysterics, bumps them up a notch with her own, and totally validates our joint hysterics with extremely grim predictions of the misery that could befall us all, given the circumstances.

The Mister and the Problem-Solver arrived within minutes of each other, and began shining flashlights in dark corners and upending furniture. All while Buddy Boy and I remained perched on the toddler stool, and Little Guy called from the bedroom, "Mommy, dey find de widdle mouse?" "Mommy, de widdle mouse going to bite my toesies?" "Mommy, de widdle mouse still hiding?" I pestered the Problem-Solver with questions about how in the world we could have a MOUSE in our HOUSE, when--tops!-- we'd only ever seen two or three bugs in four years of residence. And how in the world a mouse could even get in. I received very few answers, my friends.

A fruitless search for House Mouse led to the Mister and Little Guy walking the two + miles to and from the hardware store {rush hour...quicker to walk...nowhere to park...city life issues, again} and purchasing thirteen mouse traps.

By this time I'd spoken again with Mama, who had convinced me that House Mouse may very well eat Buddy Boy as we all slept, and so had made call #4 to the leasing office, to request a guest suite for the night. They very kindly and quickly obliged. The Mister, upon his return from the trap expedition, may have rolled his eyes a bit when I told him we were moving out. But it was a very sweet and loving rolling of the eyes. And Little Guy all but refused to enter the apartment, trembling on the stairs, fearful for his toes.

So, the boys and I spent an extremely unrestful {but safe!} night in the guest suite, while the Mister manned the traps in our apartment. Poor Little Guy, who slept with me, ran a fever and ground his teeth and called out in his sleep about mice and alligators, and woke several times to ask if there was a mouse in this house and told me he was "sick for de mouse" (translation: sick because of the mouse). By morning, I'd decided that my poor child was in psychological distress {I'd like to blame House Mouse, but really, I think the fault lies with me and my lack of restraint}, and upon hearing that the traps were all empty, convinced the Mister to tell Little Guy that he had caught House Mouse and taken him back to his family. Neither of us liked telling Little Guy something untrue, but after seeing how upset he'd been all night, I told the Mister we had to do it to protect his psyche. So, protect his psyche we did, and Little Guy immediately felt better. His home was secure. And that's just about the most important thing to a child, isn't it?

After one more night in the guest suite, with the thirteen traps set again for House Mouse, and still no results, I've decided that the Mister must be right. My bloody murder scream must have scared that mouse right back to from whence he came. But every time a tiny blue Ked rolls across the floor or I spot the end of a remote poking out from under the sofa, I do pause and wonder if the Mister is just protecting my psyche.

Unrelated Pictures and Text

2011-10-03T15:46:00.001-04:00

{The pictures in this post are from the two weeks we spent in Birmingham after our family beach trip. I know, a two week period about which I blogged not a word? Shocking. Well, you know how there are some days in the first trimester when you just want to crawl under the covers and take nap after nap, emerging from bed only when the morning sickness forces you to? That's pretty much what I did, taking full advantage of the fact that there were loving grandparents and aunts and cousins who were willing to care for my children, and knowing quite well I'd be back to the grind the moment we returned to DC. It was much needed rest, and quite a blessing. So, aside from a couple meals out and three trips to the McWane Center, I did very, very little. And it was wonderful. And I am thankful.}

Can you see the mud-soaked footie, the grime caked under his fingernails, the scabs on his face? Buddy Boy earned his stripes as a rough and tumble boy in those two weeks.

The Little Guy and I had an interesting conversation recently.
Him: God makes people all different colors.
Me: {wondering where this is coming from, since we've never had that talk...living where we do, he's so far accepted without question that people have different skin colors} Oh, is that right?
Him: Yep, God makes some people black and some people red.
Me: {thinking that this talk doesn't sound very PC} Ah. Well, what color did He make you?
Him: {looking down at his striped shirt} Green and white!

And speaking of God...the Little Guy is absolutely, 100%, totally and completely convinced that the Deacon at our church is God. Despite my very best attempts to convince him otherwise. Every time the Deacon stands or moves toward the center of the altar, Little Guy calls out, "Dere's God! Right dere! Dat's God!"

Buddy Boy has discovered the trash can. Like his brother before him, he loves to throw things away. Unlike his brother, he does not seek affirmation that what he intends to throw away is actually trash. I am forever checking the trash can for my baking mixes and jars of mayonnaise and missing shoes. Oh, and when there's no trash can handy, a potty will do just fine.

Little Guy's imagination is really taking off. He tells stories of giants and ghosts and dogs that get eaten and people that scream and flowers that fly through the air. They go on and on, in an indecipherable loop of shifting details and changing characters. He also has lots and lots of plot lines involving throw up. We'll blame the new baby for that development.

Buddy Boy said his first word last week. As we were coming in from our afternoon stroll, he turned to the doorman, raised his hand in salutation, and called out "Hi!," plain as day. Since then, no words, just his very loud and persistent grunts and screeches. But I'm hoping the spark has been ignited. To the trained eye, he can sign "more," "all done," and "please," which help a ton with reducing the frustration level. I'm tellin' ya, you do NOT want to see this child frustrated.

He has dropped his morning nap. {boo hoo hoo. why so soon, Buddy Boy? can we all observe a moment of silence for the morning nap?} So, while I get dressed in the mornings, we've instituted what we call playpen parties. Little Guy collects a bunch of toys and sits in the playpen with Buddy Boy, trying to entertain and pacify him. "It's okay, Buddy Boy, your Mommy will come for you. It's okay. It's time for a playpen party." :) He is such a help to me. Sometimes, it actually works. Other times, Buddy Boy just screams like a banshee. But what's a girl to do?

Inspired by a friend's blog post, I've been teaching the Little Guy all his important information over the last few months. He can now tell you his full name, his parents' full names, the name of his city, the name of his building, his address, and his phone number. And he knows that if he is ever lost, he should do his best to find "a firetruck man or a police car man or a fireman or a mommy with children" and tell them this information. Somehow, it never occurred to me to teach him those things until I read that post, but knowing that he's armed with that information gives me a little sense of peace. Just thought I'd plant the seed she planted for me.

We're back in DC now. The season's changed, and we have resumed our usual cold-weather museum circuit. It's a fun way to bring up babies.

Third Time's a Charm

2011-09-29T15:46:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty well charmed by the first two, so I can only imagine what joy this sweet little third baby is going to bring to our lives. He or she is already so loved.

Baby looks good, is still curled up tight, and has a strong heartbeat of 170. I don't think I'll ever get over that galloping-horses sound of a baby's heartbeat. We are so thankful to God for this tremendous blessing.

You Might Be a City Kid If

2011-09-26T08:45:00.000-04:00

You might be a city kid if...

~you learned to identify numbers by punching elevator buttons.

~your greatest childhood fear is "dark, dark" subway tunnels.

~there's an ice cream truck parked on your corner. And the next the corner. And the next corner.

~all the grass you play in is publicly owned.

~your mailbox comes with a key.

~you think trees grow on roofs just as easily as on land.

~you and your brother are celebrated for garnering HOV lane access.

~you wield a Metro card with more dexterity than the tourists.

~you can count on one hand the number of bug bites you've had in your lifetime.

~you expect to be serenaded by street musicians on your afternoon strolls.

~you've been commissioned to be the family's official parking spot spotter.

~your mother lets you play baseball and ride a bike indoors.

~you think every problem can be fixed by the resident maintenance man.

And, you might be a city kid if...
~your version of the old song goes, "Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques, doorman vous? doorman vous?"

The Rest of the Beach Trip

2011-09-21T12:42:00.000-04:00

It seems I'm going to have to just let the pictures tell the story of the rest of our time at the beach, otherwise I'll be drafting beachy blog posts, while wearing wool sweaters. We gotta move along here!

A few more shots from our family photo shoot.

Buddy Boy's first taste of the Gulf, guided by Gaga.

Bathing beauties.

My brother's fam.

Don't worry; we grabbed her.

Ahhhhhhhh, sunset at the beach.

Father-son hand-walking.

My Mama and me.

This baby looooooves the sand. Equally good for playing and eating.

A rare picture of the two of us!

Little Guy jumping in the morning sun.

One of the 4-foot cranes we saw each morning.

Taking his first steps.

Watching the {very active, very numerous} dolphins.

That was a great trip.

The First Few Days

2011-09-15T17:54:00.000-04:00

When we arrived to the beach, tropical storm Lee was swirling its way toward us. The wind was incredibly loud, howling past the house at all hours of day and night. And fiercely strong, too. Our bedroom was on the 3rd story of the house, which was on stilts, and we could feel the room rock back and forth constantly. The humidity was so intense and the rain so great that the air conditioners froze over and water leaked from spots all over the house. But--and this is a big but- we never lost power. Woohoo!

Now, if we'd been on a pre-babies beach trip, I suppose we would have all cozied up with books and the Alabama game and snacked ourselves silly and taken long naps. As it was, with four babies in the house, there had to be entertainment! Feeding the seagulls worked well. {As you can see, the wind was seriously messing with our 'dos.}

Until they got all Birds-like and started swarming rather aggressively.

There was also this mechanized fishing game that was played, oh, nonstop for days on end. Like all toys of that sort, it has a truly lovely soundtrack. This game probably occupied about twenty solid ~~man~~ toddler hours, though, so we were all willing to suffer the tune. For the aforementioned twenty solid hours. I shudder to think what we would have done without those little gap-mouthed fishies.

The younger set engaged in lots and lots o' walking practice. They cruised 'round and 'round the large coffee table and up and down the length of the living area, thrilled to have a buddy in each other. All that practice paid off, as Buddy Boy started really walking on our last day at the beach {yay! while the Mister was there to see it!} and his cuz is just moments away from trotting off on her own.

And then, after 3 stormy days--THEN!--the rain stopped and the wind slowed and the clouds parted and--Hallelujah!--there was SUNSHINE!!!

You better believe we were out there when the sun peeked over the horizon. {Might as well be, when the children like to wake before six.}

Jammies and all.

It was still chilly enough that the sand stung tiny, bare toes.

But the promise of beach days was in the air.

Romping

2011-09-13T15:27:00.000-04:00

After I forced my family through a photo shoot {some members of the family requiring more forcing than others :)}, Little Guy took off for the water's edge.

The sunset was casting the perfect, golden light.

And the waves were very mild in comparison to the tropical storm whitecaps of just a few days before.

I thought it was so funny how he hoisted his britches the whole time.

As if keeping the hem dry really matters when you're going to lie down in the wet sand.

This boy really loved the beach...the sand, the ocean, the wildlife. He reveled in it all.

His cuzzie did, too!

How great it is to see something so big when you yourself are so very small. You can't help but marvel at God's creation.

Beach Week 2011

2011-09-08T10:09:00.000-04:00

Eight adults. Four kiddos. One fantastic week at the beach.

More {lots and lots more} to come...

A Lotta B-Ball and a Li'l Playground

2011-09-04T17:26:00.001-04:00

One of the city rec centers nearby has a great playground and basketball gym, and rarely anyone using either.

The boys love it!

And thank goodness, there's always a grubby basketball to be found somewhere. And a chair, for a little extra floor-to-hoop elevation.

Would I have ever let my first child crawl all over a filthy gym floor? Never! Would I ever try to keep my second child from doing just that? Never!

I think Little Guy fancies himself a first-rate player. Although the net hangs far above his head, and his shots fall quite short, he is very earnest in telling me that he "aaaaaaaaallllllllMOST" got it. Every time. I love his determination.

And when shooting hoops proves too frustrating, there's always the ol' PE class favorite...rolling the ball back and forth. Just about the only game I'm much good at. {And here, my family members and close friends, are doubtless thinking of my years in remedial gym. I'll have to tell y'all about that another time.}

I could not be more thankful that my boys seem to have inherited their father's athletic talents.

I'll stick to tinkering with photographs. ;)

Earthquakes and Hurricanes and Flash Floods, Oh My!

2011-09-01T15:24:00.000-04:00

Our fair city has had its share of natural disasters lately, and then some.

We spent the hurricane weekend finding indoor entertainment, which meant a return trip to the Playseum.

And an evening at the Portrait Gallery.

{model baby}

But after the storm, there's always the rainbow.

It's warm enough yet to dip our toes in the fountains.

And enjoy the mist of our "sprinklers."

And splash ourselves silly.

But our late summer, popsicle-slurpin' days are dwindling. We've already had our last pool day {during which Little Guy asked me if the ground would be moving again that day, since we had experienced the earthquake poolside}.

Soon, we'll be back to just our ordinary urban adventures. But there's plenty of good in that, too.

I guess I can get on board with the season change.

Hard at Work

2011-08-31T14:58:00.000-04:00

THAT Kind of Grandma

2011-08-28T21:00:00.000-04:00

Yep, she's THAT kind of Grandma.

And the boys sure love it!

Growing on Me

2011-08-25T19:47:00.001-04:00

Business trips that bring the grandparents to town, marble and limestone all lit up at night, restaurants aplenty lining the streets, symphonies of horns and sirens.

Twilight strolls to walk off dinner, impromptu attendance at outdoor concerts, cool evening breezes at the end of August, nights too fun to worry about bedtimes.

This city...it's growing on me.

The National Aquarium

2011-08-22T16:35:00.000-04:00

We took a little day trip to the National Aquarium, which is in Baltimore, Maryland.

It was SO COOL!

This aquarium is way better than the one in downtown DC, and totally worth the trip.

A few travel tips for anyone who might visit: 1. There is no parking lot at the aquarium. I don't know why I assumed there would be. We found a garage a few blocks down for $20. It felt like home. 2. No strollers are allowed. Pack your baby carrier or borrow one there. 3. We lunched afterward at Hoolihan's, which was next door to the aquarium. It was an excellent choice...the food was good and came fast, it's on the water, and they had the best kids' menu I've ever seen.

4. Buy your tickets online in advance. Some entry times sell out. And if you like jumping dolphins, pick the dolphin show package for a couple dollars more.

Little Guy and I both thought it was great!

The whole thing was so much fun.

The boys loved being able to see all the fish up close and touch the glass as they swam by.

Based on how much he still talk about it, I think Little Guy's favorite part was seeing the sting rays be fed. He does a very nice imitation. :)

But when asked what his favorite part was, he told us it was these bubbles in tubes that decorate the lobby of the aquarium. Ha!

My personal favorite was the jelly fish exhibit. I love me some jelly fish {as long as they're behind glass!}, and these were particularly pretty.

Fun to get out of the city for the day and see something new!

{Had to throw this picture in, because I just love how he grabs onto us like a little monkey. He's always got a handful of shirt or skin or hair. He's such a sweet baby.}

The Mechanics of Vending Machines

2011-08-18T09:14:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure he's ever had the pleasure of actually buying something from a vending machine, but--question by question--he has figured out the magic. And likes to explain it to us quite frequently. ;)

*please excuse the teething baby and my lack of skill in video focusing*

Big Excitement

2011-08-17T11:34:00.000-04:00

Oh, there was big excitement this morning. Super big excitement. It was window washing day for our building. Little Guy first spotted the ropes streaming past the windows, and then noticed the men bouncing from window to window. His excitement was uncontainable, as he ran back and forth from window to window, monitoring the progress of all the "mens." He got waves and smiles from all three of the men who washed our apartment's windows, and even one soggy slap of the squeegee right in front of his pressed-to-the-glass nose. He thought it was hilariously wonderful!

Buddy Boy seems to have inherited his mother's flair for the dramatic. If something terrible happens to him...say, his passy gets taken away...he collapses on the floor, arms outstretched, head buried in the carpet. He may chance a lifting of the head, but if he sees that he stills has an audience, that head flops right back down in despair. I must say it's pretty effective.

He got a little beat up at the pool last week. Sometimes his legs crawl so fast that his arms can't keep up, and he lurches forward onto his face. The pool concrete doesn't help matters. I'm hoping it'll heal up soon, 'cause it's kinda pitiful. :(

This weekend we took a trip to a playground we hadn't visited since the spring. It was so amazing to see how much more competent Little Guy had gotten in just those few months. Last time, I was very nervous about him playing on some parts of the toddler structure. This time, I knew he was totally fine and could conquer even most of the big kids' structure. It's hard to notice the changes from day to day, but they are a-happenin'.

He's turning into a little boy.

Good thing I've got an honest-to-goodness baby right behind him!

We're having such a good time right now. I really feel like we're in a groove, which is the same way I remember feeling when Little Guy was Buddy Boy's age. Everyone told me that having two children so close together would be hard for the first year, and then it would be great, because they would become playmates. Everyone was right. There are a lot of games of chase being played in our household these days. And it's awesome! I love my lively apartment.

I've gotta run...some bathroom cabinet reorganization is calling my name. But don't you love the bear crawl that Buddy Boy has perfected for hot surfaces? Such a smart boy! :) Now, if he'd just stand up and walk...

And Then There Was Cake

2011-08-12T18:29:00.000-04:00

A cake...

a few balloons...

and a birthday boy...

meant we were all set for a mini celebration.

We'll celebrate more fully with his twin cousin at the beach next month.

But we just had to have the traditional foot-in-the-cake event!

Buddy Boy didn't take too kindly to all that.

But there's very little a swipe of icing can't cure!

And fistful by fistful, he polished off his entire slice.

Happy birthday, Buddy Boy!

To My Son

2011-08-10T15:42:00.000-04:00

To my darling, sweet, secondborn son:

Today, we celebrate the first anniversary of the day of your birth. What a wonderful day that was!

You came to us tiny and quiet and totally dependent. And now you are robust and capable and absolutely chock full of your very own personality.

Your father and I have so enjoyed getting to know you this year. We love you so.

You bring such joy to our home.

You are so funny already. I can't imagine what it's going to be like once you can talk. What great times lie ahead!

I love you from the top of your wavy, golden locks...

...to the bottoms of your sweet toesies.

I love your exploring spirit.

I love your feistiness.

I love your independence.

I love your snuggles and your tackling hugs.

I love you, my sweet son.

My birthday wish for you is that you will grow big and strong, old and wise, full of faith and love.

That you will become as good a man as your Daddy, and know the love of your Father all the days of your life.

Happy 1st birthday, dear Buddy Boy!

All my love,

your Mama

Weekending

2011-08-09T16:19:00.000-04:00

We had a really nice weekend. I hope you did, too!

On Saturday, we made a shortish visit to the Zoo.

Shortish really is the way to go, when it's H-O-T outside and the children approach the need for naptime rather quickly.

Some lasted longer than others.

But it was a good time.

Some time was also spent discovering a new obsession: building cup castles. We were rather impressed that he could build this "own self," as he likes to say. Soon, he'll be like this boy. :)

We attended a birthday party at a new park in town.

With a really cool wading pool.

We'll definitely be going back.

The only problem with weekend mornings is there's not enough space in Mama's lap.

If Buddy Boy is awake while the Little Guy is asleep, it is all I can do to keep him from crawling into their room to wake up his big brother. Once I do tell him it's time to get Little Guy up, he'll take off down the hallway, bust through the door, heft himself onto the bed with a one-leg-up maneuver, and then flip, hug and tackle until the Little Guy agrees to get up.

I have discovered a big time and effort saver: frozen, pitted cherries. I love fresh cherries, but it's a lot of messy and tedious work to quarter and pit as many cherries as Buddy Boy will put away at breakfast (two small plates' full!), and he doesn't seem to mind that they're frozen. In fact, I think they feel good on his tender little gums. And Little Guy adores frozen mango. Fruit that's less expensive and already cut into baby bites? Sounds good to me.

Apparently feeling the need to diversify the sports played in this household, Little Guy devised a collapsible colander tennis racket.

I guess my chore instruction has rubbed off on the Little Guy. Either that, or he's Tom Sawyering his brother.

Life is fun these days.

It's sometimes frustrating. Often, hard. Always, exhausting.

But, all the while, it is so very much fun.

Training and a Nighttime Ninja

2011-08-03T15:31:00.000-04:00

There's been some serious training going on over here.

The Mister is determined that Buddy Boy walk by his first birthday, mainly because he thinks the babe is up to the task already. I too think he is capable of walking; he simply prefers to crawl fast. We're at T minus 7 days {I know, can you believe it??? I can't!}, so I guess we'll see soon enough.

We snuck away for a date night this weekend, and it was SO much fun to reconnect after the Mister's long business trip...sushi go-round, a stroll and shop around the neighborhood, and then a fancy dessert. It was pretty great. I love devoting the few hours the Mister's has off each week to spending time as a family of four, and that is usually how we decide to spend those hours. But every time we go on a date night, I think "why don't we do this more often?" We should!

We have a little nighttime ninja. Every morning, in the 4:00 or 5:00 hour, he comes sprinting out of his room, and arrives expectantly at the edge of our bed. If he had a room of his own, I like to think we'd train him to go back to his bed, but under the circumstances, we'd just end up with two very awake--and likely, wailing--boys. So we cave, and haul him into the bed with us. The path of least resistance. Mind you, this is a double bed, so it's cozy quarters even without a nighttime ninja.

Once he is established in the bed, our nighttime ninja takes one of two courses. Course 1: The nighttime ninja chooses a victim and begins to inch closer and closer to the victim, rolling himself under the victim, boring his chin into the victim's forehead, kicking the victim in the back, or otherwise maneuvering, such that the victim must scoot closer and closer to the {very nearby} edge of the bed, until the victim is left hanging onto the sheets, struggling not to fall out, resting his or her head on the nightstand, while the nighttime ninja enjoys the center of the pillow and plenty of room to stretch out. The victim is then left with the choices of a) enduring this dangling-from-the-bed position in hopes that the nighttime ninja will continue to sleep, because then at least someone's sleeping and no one is demanding a sippy cup or hauling out puzzles, or b) abandoning the bed in favor of the sofa, at great risk of waking the nighttime ninja {and his trusty sidekick!}, and thereby rousing the demands for sippy cups and puzzle playing at oh-so-brutal an hour.

Alternatively, the nighttime ninja pursues Course 2. In Course 2, rather than choose one victim, the nighttime ninja makes victims out of both the rightful inhabitants of the double bed. Having been hoisted into bed, he soon begins to spin, until one end of him is draped across each victim. Each victim is left to ponder whether its worse to get the end where small toenails scrape one's cheek and pointy heels dig into one's ribs, or whether the worser end is the one where tufts of fuzzy hair are jabbed up one's nose and sleep-deadened arms are flung over one's face. Course 2 leaves the victims with little choice; they must endure, because there is very little chance of successful escape when one is pinned underneath the nighttime ninja. And one just better hope one didn't drink too much water before bed!

The other night, upon turning in, we discovered that our nighttime ninja had stealthily gotten out of his bed soon after bedtime and fallen asleep in ours. He reports that a giant was in hot pursuit of him and there was nowhere else to run.

I keep hearing people talk about school starting. Ugh. That must mean our pool days are winding down. Please say it ain't so!

I Favor the Double Stroller

2011-08-01T16:17:00.000-04:00

...but he prefers the pack mule approach.

Just Surviving

2011-07-29T16:49:00.000-04:00

The Mister has been out of town for work this week, and I can't say it's been easy getting by without him. All those things he does without mention--the trash, the lightbulbs, the early morning diaper changes, providing a second set of arms when there are two children crying in the night--definitely have been noticed. And we've missed him something terrible! But with the help of a few mood lifters, we've survived. So far.

Little Guy had his first experience with watercolors, and spent a solid hour and fifteen minutes turning white paper into refrigerator masterpieces. Sweet!

The next day, I introduced the glue stick. {Maybe Buddy Boy gets that tongue thing from his big bro?}

Gluing fuzzy pompoms to construction paper was mildly successful, but not nearly as much fun as throwing fuzzy pompoms around the room and applying glue stick to the table.

Discerning that we had tapped out on arts and crafts, we met up with Little Guy's best girl for a playdate at the Playseum.

{Maybe that tongue thing is contagious?}

It was super fun.

And included introduction to a new sport!

Woohoo!

Our rockstars made a pretty good band!

Time for more sports!

And then, a bunny!

Very, very exciting.

What's better than kiddie-size cars and tractors?

And saddles!

I think they were pretty pleased with the day.

Little Guy's buddy let him borrow her balance bike, and he's been riding it around the apartment ever since. I ask him to go get something, and he hops on the bike and shuffles down the hall to retrieve it. He even rides the bike to the bathroom. So funny!

We capped off the week with a pool date with two friends and their girlies.

So nice to have some relaxing fun in the sun, with a couple other mommies there to lend a hand if when needed.

After a week of flying solo, I am worn out and missing my man, but we've survived--and had a pretty good time doing it!

Table Talk

2011-07-25T16:23:00.001-04:00

I figure if a child can hit a home run, he can be responsible for some honest to goodness chores. Real chores, not just those pretending-to-help-when-he-feels-like-it chores. Little Guy takes out the bathroom trash, he carries dirty clothes to the hamper, he clears and scrapes his plate, and now...he sets the table.

Not looking for perfection; just contribution!

Meanwhile, this sweet thing is still rightly in the business of creating chores. And he does so very well at it!

The Little Guy remains fascinated by the kitchen sink. He's pretty good about minding the boundaries of water play these days, so his half hour or so at the sink doesn't even make that much of a mess anymore. And I must say, I do enjoy the fact that he is somewhat immobilized atop the counter for the duration of this activity. It's a win-win.

Did someone say immobilized? Not meeeee-eeeeeeeeeee! I'm an explorer!

And a cute one, at that!

I scrambled 8 eggs for breakfast the other morning, and by the time I'd fed all my men, there weren't any left for me! Turns out we're a 10-egg family now.

I can hardly believe how blessed that means I am!

Funny Boy

2011-07-22T08:41:00.000-04:00

They're a tag team...Buddy Boy pulls all my shoes out of the closet and then Little Guy parades around in them, much to Buddy Boy's delight.

Canvas Print Deal

2011-07-21T08:34:00.000-04:00

Y'all were so sweet about my new canvas print wall.

A few people asked what company I used for the prints, so I just wanted to let you know that LivingSocial is running another 1/2 off deal today for Pix2Canvas. I was so pleased with their product that I've ordered vouchers for a couple more. Check out the deal here.

Summer Nights

2011-07-19T15:51:00.000-04:00

Ah, summer nights...almost as good as summer days.

Lately, we've had the Mister home with us on the weekends a bit more than usual, and it has been AWESOME.

One of the best parts is that he's there to orchestrate some fun at just that time of day when things are usually falling apart. You know, the post-nap nuclear meltdown hours.

We hit the courtyard for some athletics two nights in a row this weekend. Sports of one sort or another are pretty much all the Little Guy wants to do these day. We move from soccer to baseball to golf to jumping to football to hockey to tennis to catch to relay races...it's fun, but exhausting.

And in steps Daddy.

Thank goodness!

They have the best time together, and I have the best time watching and photographing.

And playing with my little Buddy Boy.

It's always so shocking to me that the air actually cools down in the evenings. In Alabama, the night is pretty much just a dark version of the same sticky heat. But up here, there is a little respite in the later hours. Delightful!

By the way, have you tried these? Just perfect for a summer evening spent outdoors. In my opinion, at least. In the Mister's opinion, a complete abomination of everything that is good about beer.

The combination of sunscreen and chlorine and heat and humidity result in quite the rooster-ish look for Buddy Boy. Being completely unfamiliar with curls myself, I may be obsessing over his a bit. They are just so much fun!

Did you ever see that commercial where Tiger Woods bounces the golf ball on the end of his club over and over? Well, the Mister could give him a run for his money. Just sayin'.

Not to be outdone in the displays of strength and coordination, Buddy Boy posed for his first standing picture! See how proud he is?

This is the Little Guy's face as he is telling me about how "verrrry, verrry, verrrrrrry high far over the wall" he hit his ball. And he wasn't lyin'. When I took this picture, the Mister was off searching for the ball in the next section of the courtyard.

The boy can hit a ball.

Ah, summer nights, with the Mister at home. Bliss.

Point-and-Shoot Pooltime-and-Sunshine

2011-07-18T09:57:00.000-04:00

The only thing I could say that I don't like about our summer as pool bums is that I miss out on documenting so much of the everyday play of the children. My hands are too full and too wet to take many pictures. But the other day, I packed my old point-and-shoot and snapped a few pictures of our fun in the sun.

Our membership gets us into several waterparks in the area. Last week, we visited one we hadn't been to since last year.

They have built a new HUGE playground/climbing structure.

First the boys had to test out the toddler area.

And the stationary pogo stick. {Best idea ever! Who can actually jump on a real pogo stick?}

Then, it was on to the sand pit.

{This is Buddy Boy's new thing...sticking just the tip of his tongue out, while he thinks something through. I think it's SO cute!}

And after all that, Little Guy had finally worked up his nerve to climb inside the tunnels and tubes. We had a brief episode where he got lost and then got trapped and was screaming his head off as all these big kids from a day camp barreled past. After giving him a couple minutes to try to work it out himself, it was apparent I was going to have to go in. This thing is not built for adult access! I was shimmying up the ladders and through the spinning columns and down the plastic tubes, all the time bent half way over, with Buddy Boy under one arm like a sack of potatoes. I felt like one of the contestants on that Japanese obstacle course show with the horrible voice overs {please tell me you know what I'm talking about!}.

But we eventually figured out a good path through the maze and the reward was this! Over and over and over again! There are also 3-storey curly slides, but I think we'll leave those for another day. Or another mother!

Once we'd worn ourselves out, it was time to hit the pool for a little refreshment.

And relaxation!

I needed to resume my role as life saver, so the pictures end here. Maybe I'll take my camera again one day when the Mister can go with us. I'd love to get some pictures of the boys in action in the pool. Little Guy is doing so great kicking and paddling. He may actually learn to swim by the end of the summer. And he loves jumping off the side of the pool! Buddy Boy spends his time cruising the wall of the baby pool, collecting toys and then carrying them back to the wall drain and sending them on to a watery demise. He squats down low and watches them until he's satisfied that they have been sucked all the way to the back. So funny!

Life as pool bums is pretty great.

Brothers

2011-07-15T15:54:00.000-04:00

One of the things that, as a mother, I am most thankful for right now is how much my boys adore one another.

It is such a delight to see them loving and enjoying one another. My heart sings when Little Guy carefully shuts the gate, so the baby won't escape up the stairs, or when Buddy Boy follows his brother from room to room in a mad dash crawl. I love it when Buddy Boy laughs in glee at Little Guy's goodnight kisses, and when they paw through a box of trains together. It makes me so happy that Little Guy wants to accompany Buddy Boy to his diaper changes and holds his hand over the edge of the changing table. Even Buddy Boy's insistence that he accompany Little Guy to his potty breaks is a sweet reminder of their affection for one another.

It may not always be this way, but for now, they are the best of brothers. And that is a great blessing!

Buddy Boy at 9, 10, and 11 Months

2011-07-14T18:13:00.000-04:00

Yikes! How did I get so far behind???

I may scrap these monthly updates for any future children we may be blessed with. I never really like the pictures, they're kind of a chore to take, and past 8 months or so, baby does not want to sit still for a photo shoot.

See what I mean?

But for the sake of continuity...

Buddy Boy at 9 months:

At his 9 month check-up, he was 16 1/2 pounds (3rd percentile) and 28 inches (50th percentile).

The big event of this month was the sprouting of two bottom teeth!

Buddy Boy at 10 months:

He started cruising!

And now, at 11 months:

Buddy Boy cruises very well and has begun to stand unassisted for brief moments. He also climbs everything...he can climb into the bathtub, onto the ottoman, up the stairs, out of the baby pool, and onto Little Guy's bed. He's a mover. I'm surprised he isn't walking yet, but suspect he will be very soon.

He seems to understand a good bit of what we say these days, which is lots of fun. I think he's saying "Mama," although it's more of a "maaaamaaaamaaamaaamaaamaaa," when I get him out of the crib or when he crawls over to me. So far, no other words, but occasionally a sign for "more" or "all done."

Buddy Boy loves to play catch, jump (or just sit) on the trampoline, find telephones and remote controls, fiddle around in the toy kitchen, unroll toilet paper, pull dishes out of the dishwasher, test the cabinet locks, splash water, and be his brother's biggest fan.

He's still holding strong with just two teeth, but LOVES to eat! Sometimes he'll eat double the Little Guy's portion! His favorites are shredded cheese, vegetarian sausage patties, yogurt, and pancakes.

Despite my best efforts, Buddy Boy completely weaned himself as of a week ago. He did not like having to turn in to nurse, because he never wanted to take his eyes off what Little Guy was doing. I tried nursing him in a separate room, but if he heard even the slightest peep from Little Guy, he'd squirm to get loose and refuse to nurse anymore. Life away from Mama was just too exciting! He kept dropping feedings and eventually refused the breast completely. I had hoped to nurse him for at least several more months and never dreamed he would wean himself this early, so I was really disappointed. For one reason or another, I keep ending up with babies weaned earlier than I'd hoped. :( But I'm very thankful I had this sweet nursling for 11 happy months. Shortly after weaning from the breast, he weaned from the bottle, and now drinks cow's milk from a sippy cup three times a day. Good thing we finally made Little Guy drop that morning bottle a few weeks ago. Ha! Couldn't have little brother outpacing him!

Buddy Boy is as sweet as can be, and adds so much fun to our family. I can't believe his infancy is almost over. We are so thankful that God blessed us with you, darling boy!

On a Video Kick

2011-07-11T16:47:00.000-04:00

I promise I'll write an actual post soon, but I just had to share one more video. Buddy Boy wants to do everything he sees his big brother do, and jumping on the trampoline is no exception. Sometimes he even gets air!

Catch

2011-07-08T09:04:00.000-04:00

I see many more years of this in our future. SUCH FUN!

Summer Days

2011-07-07T15:20:00.000-04:00

every sunny day we go
sunscreen slicked, sprayed and slathered on
lunches packed and sippy cups full
bags stuffed with swim diapers, towels, toys
we wait for baby to wake up
and we head out
windows down and we play the music loud
we spot the jefferson, the pentagon, the air force memorial
we spot helicopters, airplanes, boats
we get there when the doors open
and we swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim
until the sun is high, high
legs swinging from picnic benches, we eat
head back to the baby pool for more
lifeguard scans the pool in a figure 8
and we throw balls, pour water, float on backs
until somebody shivers or cries
dry clothes and we're on our way
quick stop for a frozen drink to share
chatter and goldfish the whole way home
deep, late, long naps filling the afternoon
i want to remember
this
these happy days of summer

Holiday Weekend

2011-07-05T16:35:00.000-04:00

We have been SICK around here. A virus has made its way through all of us. Fevers, gooky eyes, runny noses, hacking coughs, for days and days on end. On Friday night, I could not stop coughing for hours, and the Mister made a midnight journey for cough suppressant. I woke the next morning to find that he had fed both boys and taken them on a run, letting me sleep late. He'd also left me a note.

He takes such good care of me.

I love holiday weekends. Especially when it turns out that the Mister doesn't have to work! We spent our weekend recuperating, recreating, relaxing, and knocking out a few household projects.

A spur-of-the-moment decision to catch a baseball game.

Mmmmm...ballpark french fries.

Watching the game from his Daddy's knee.

The Little Guy was horrified when he saw the man next to us throwing his shells on the ground. "Mommy, he making a big MESS 'round here!" Context is hard to explain to our cut and dry 2 year-old. He is all about some rules and distinctions. {Not to say that he always follows them, but sure loves discussing them.}

We found cotton candy. Oh, happy day!

We spent Sunday swimming with friends in their rooftop pool and chowing down on gourmet pizza. I love having family friends.

Monday, we had a babysitter for the day and got several projects done. It's AMAZING how much you can do when the munchkins are occupied! My favorite? We hung these canvas prints, which I ordered using a combination of birthday money from my parents and a LivingSocial deal, on the wall of the den. I'm kind of in love and plan on growing the collection.

And then we went to a movie at the independent theatre down the street from us, since we were kidless and all. The Tree of Life. Weirdest movie of all time. Really gorgeous images, but absolutely no plot, very little dialogue, and--in a movie set in the 1950s--scenes ranging from underwater closeups of ocean life to oil bubbles to pictures from outer space to interactions between dinosaurs to desert panoramas. The screen went totally black and silent many times throughout the movie, and it was difficult to tell at any one of those times whether it was over. It was way over our heads. Or else that was the point. Hard to tell. Anyway, I did enjoy it, but less as a movie and more as just a peaceful array of images. Can't say the Mister really thought it was that great. ;) But it was a date! And there were Junior Mints!

And then...we took the boys, all jammied up, to the fireworks show on the Mall. We were so thankful that we could leave our apartment 20 minutes before the show, walk down to the Mall to find a spot, and then just walk home. People camp out on the Mall for hours beforehand and spend hours getting home by packed Metro trains, just to see these fireworks.

The show was beautiful, despite the smoke cloud that hung around in the breezeless air.

Little Guy cried. Buddy Boy craned his neck to see every one.

It was a good night. Happy 4th of July, y'all!

How to Spot the Child of a Southerner

2011-07-01T09:36:00.000-04:00

i am thinking that

he may have been

the only child

riding the Metro that day

in button-on shorts

but that's just a guess