Snowed In!

Wow - we have lived here almost a year and it has snowed about five times....this last time was the most snow people have seen in years, and the most snow I have ever seen in my life! Estimates are about 20 inches. The entire city shut down and it was so quiet and peaceful. Except for being locked inside the house with two stir crazy kids! Thank goodness a neighbor hosted a caroling party at their house. A normally 10 minute walk took about 30 in the snow but it was well worth it! The entire weekend was spent just having fun sledding, playing, and spending time together (plus a little shoveling for me....I am very proud of my handiwork and my "skills" in that area compared to last year). Snowplows were only plowing the major streets so our neighboring street got turned into an awesome sledding hilll...LOVED it.

Nathan loved the snow and the sledding, but Ellie was another story. Didn't much like the wet and cold and especially the fact that the snow was taller than she was! She'll come around eventually.

Here are some great pics from the weekend. We are getting excited for Christmas! GG and Pop Pop, Aunty Maryanne and Uncle Brian arrive tomorrow and the fun begins! Happy Holidays! Formerly a street, now a sledding hill

Trudging to the neighbors

Ellie and Daddy in the snow

Our house

A boy and his Christmas tree

Orlando in winter! Is Christmas coming soon?

Nothing like Florida in winter! Due to a training event in Orlando for me, the entire family packed up and headed to GG and Pop Pop's house for five days, just as it was getting cold in Virginia. It was great fun for the kids, though I am sure a little overwhelming for Geri and Lee, as they had just returned from a month long adventure to Australia two days earlier! Nothing like jumping from jetlag and exhaustion to two kids full-time! They didn't let their fatigue show, however, and immediately began to entertain the kids as they always do with Christmas preparation, cookie baking, trains, swimming, and lots of quality play-time.

One funny story from the week was Scott and I coming home from a night out at midnight to find Ellie watching the Grinch movie with Pop Pop. He said "she woke up...already slept five hours..." The two of them were so cute together nestled on the couch watching the movie. I guess since five hours of sleep is enough for Pop Pop, he thought Ellie would be fine too! Needless to say it was a bit of a struggle to convince her she had to go back to bed.

The biggest drama of the week occurred when Ellie swallowed fork tines. My dear daughter has quite a talent at the use of utensils, actually, and expanded her repertoire to forks while I was in training. Plastic forks. On Friday at breakfast when I cleaned off her tray I noticed that two halves of fork tines were broken off and missing. Needless to say, one of them came out a few hours later and the other one is still missing....I have been reassured by 3 different doctors that it will come out eventually or else she will start showing some ill effects, but I still have dreams of a plastic fork piece floating around my dear daughter's belly....I guess this explains the child safety warnings on things, "i.e. not for children under 3" or "Ellies under 3." Maybe I should advise they add that warning to plastic forks. Yikes.

Now back home in VA, we are settling in for Christmas and so excited about it. Have the tree up and with lights on it, Scott just put lights outside, presents are wrapped and in the process of being purchased, I am planning the itinerary for our family while in town, and we are looking forward to a fun holiday prep weekend visiting Santa, decorating, and making gifts for family. Really excited to spend some time together with the kids. Feels like work has been busy lately.

Can't believe it is only two weeks until Christmas! I love this time of year! Nathan decorating GG and Pop Pop's tree

Ellie up way past her bedtime watching Grinch movie with Pop Pop

Nathan, chef extraordinaire, baking Christmas cookies

Lots of fun in Pop Pop's T-bird

Snack time at the playground in the backyard

Sliding....

Happy girl sliding!

and swinging....

and watching trains

Nathan helping to carry the Christmas tree

Thanksgiving

Well, we did it. Our first Thanksgiving! With the help from Grandma and Grandpa Wilson, we actually did a good job, if I do say so myself. It was nice to stay home and relax and spend time with family. Scott did a great job with his first turkey (not that I had any doubts given his natural cooking ability) and we had the traditional fixins' of green beans, sweet potato casserole, and then a home made from scratch chocolate cream pie (no, I did not make it...my mom did). It was really fun. Nathan even contributed with homemade cranberry relish from school. We have a lot to be thankful for and I am so happy that we had the opportunity to celebrate.

Nathan and Ellie had a great Thanksgiving too. I think they really enjoyed the time with their grandparents. Nathan went on a turkey hunt in the backyard with some neighborhood kids which he loved. The big backyard really comes in handy for that. Also another example of where my husband is the pied piper...he mentioned the turkey hunt to the kids earlier in the day and we went to run errands. When we came back, as soon as our car pulled into the street all the kids (who had been waiting on the sidewalk watching for our car) started running after the car down the street to our house. One of the many reasons why I love my husband. He is definitely fun. Always an adventure.

Got some good snapshots of the kids over the holiday. The first few I had to share...our attempt at getting a family photo that we could use for Christmas cards. Laugh out loud. This isn't even all of the pictures that we took in our attempt. Really fun and really true to life.
Attempt number 3 (we stood up this time)

Attempt number 2

Attempt number 1....Ellie was really not into it

Family photo around the table

Cheese

Thanksgiving table - Grandma Norton's china and silver, flowers from Mom and Dad

TURKEY!

Scott carving the turkey

Turkey hunting with the neighbors

We're official members of a church

Well, it is official! We are now members of the local Methodist church! Very excited about it and we got a good family picture out of the whole deal too!

Everyone is doing well. Excited about Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa Wilson, who are arriving today, and spending some good quality family time. Then we get some GG and Pop Pop quality time when we head to Orlando for a week, for me to go to a work conference and the kids to hang out at Camp GG and Pop Pop.

Then we are back and hopefully not travelling again until after Christmas. We are excited to be at home...the neighborhood has already started decorating their houses which is hilarious (it is not even Thanksgiving) and inspiring some jealousy in Nathan - he already wants to put lights on our house. And we plan to do the whole deal....holiday party, lights outside, Christmas tree, etc. SO EXCITED!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nathan was a line leader this week

Nate and Daddy after rolling down the hill at the middle school

Ellie on the tricycle

Ellie and her neighbor friend Alina

Nate in the leaves!!

Daddy about to throw nate in the leaves!

Just had to blog for that one statement. I am such a proud mom. Tuesday was the big day and his teacher commented on what a good line leader he was! So cool! He is still quite the ladies man...all the girls in his class love him and today he went to a play gym and had another lady following him around...very cute. We have started to tell stories at night rather than reading and Nathan comes up with the topic, like "windows," or "pandas and lions," and then we take turns contributing to the story. Of course Nathan always throws us for a loop...like "the kid fell from the tree and got a big boo boo...your turn" which makes my brain scramble but all stories end with "they lived happily ever after" and he then throws out the topic for the next night's story. Tomorrow it is "pictures." Cool to see how his brain works and I get a kick out of the storytelling, as does Scott.

Also new is his continued independence. Everything is 'I do it myself' which is so awesome but sometimes results in a clogged toilet or five pairs of pants on the floor as he decides what to wear and also decides he can wipe his bottom by himself. Keeps things interesting and of course we want to encourage it, just keep it clean. : ) As an aside, a very funny thing that happened this week was Nathan finding out boy's underwear has a hole in it, for easy access. Has made me laugh several times - "mommy that is so cool". It's as if we discovered chocolate or cured world hunger or something. God I love my kids!

Big transition this week for Ellie too - I decided we are giving up bottles. Yesterday. Boy has it been rough, but I gave up two times before and so I am determined to see it through. Ellie has thrown her milk cups at me, spit milk at me, thrown tantrums....and REFUSED to drink milk all day both days. Good news is that she is eating a ton to make up for it so I think we are doing ok from a nutrition standpoint. And she is still getting her bottle at night before bed (do you blame me for not wanting to ruin a good thing?!) so she CHUGS that as if it was water on a desert island. Just a baby step towards regaining the upper hand with my daughter. : )

Happy Fall!

Nate and his neighbor and friend Alexander

Nathan and Daddy at the neighborhood Halloween party, winning a medal for best pirate costume

Ellie in her butterfly costume at the neighborhood party

On the way to the party

Nathan - Halloween at preschool

Nathan and Alexis at Boo at the Zoo

Pirate Nathan

Daddy and his girl

yay! picking apples

Lots of apples and two kids in a wheelbarrow

Only apples were at the top - Daddy helped

King of the world!

Pumpkin and apple picking at Homestead Farms

First day of school


Getting better about the frequency of posts, though I am still backlogged with photos. Lots from the summer to upload, but oh well. Happy Fall! It is officially getting chilly and we are enjoying all of the fun of the fall season. I could hardly wait for Halloween, our first in the suburbs, and it exceeded my very high expectations! From the "Boo" on our door to the Halloween party to trick or treating, Halloween in the suburbs did not disappoint. Nathan was a pirate this year and got the opportunity to wear his costume a LOT (thanks to Grandma Wilson for making it). Ellie was a butterfly but didn't really wear her costume...too many issues with the wings, tutu, headband, etc. Figures. We had a lot of fun even in spite of a slightly rainy evening and Nathan got LOTS of candy (two bags and they didn't even cover the whole neighborhood) which we donated to treats for troops. It was really fun to be a part of a neighborhood, participate in Nathan's preschool Halloween parade, church "trunk or treat" and all of the other fun festivities. I am loving it.

Speaking of church, we are in the process of joining the neighborhood church. Very small but we like it that way - everyone knows your name. Very excited about it and something we have wanted to do for a while but since we never felt "settled," it didn't seem appropriate.

The drama the past month or so has been around the H1N1 or "swine" flu. Good gracious. Trying to find the vaccine has been darn near impossible and the resulting chaos and stress has been awful. Lots of people getting sick and the distribution and disorganization of the vaccination campaign has really been a mess. Drove me to the point that I even wrote an oped to the Washington Post...and got published! The good news is that after all the drama, all four of us were able to get the vaccine. Nate and Ellie still need a second dose so we are hoping that they don't get sick while we wait the mandatory 28 days in between...the flu is already circulating around Nathan's school and our neighborhood so we will keep our fingers crossed.

Both kids doing well and keeping us busy and entertained. Nathan is liking school more and more and we have really seen him progress. He is so much better now at playing with other kids, sharing, playing BY HIMSELF (this one is BIG) and we are seeing him use his imagination more and more. He is also really into building "forts" and "walls" to keep Ellie out. Funny. Doesn't seem to deter her, however, as she just climbs over or around or knocks them over to get in. The dynamic is funny. Alternates between fighting and biting to love and kisses between the two of them on a daily basis. What is very sweet is to see how Nathan reacts when Ellie gets hurt...runs and gets her blankie and pacifier and says "it be ok Ellie." I am so happy that we had a second kid and the sibling relationship is so special, even at this very early stage.

Ellie is still really into music, doing her own thing, and bossing us all around. She is getting really verbal - says "ba ba (blankie), bear, baby, ball, eye, nose, no (this one comes up a lot when Nathan tries to tell her no...she says it right back), shoes, fish, cheese, nana (banana)" and makes all sorts of noises for airplanes, cars, tigers, etc. Still think she is over the top smart and she is still running the house. I need to get the upper hand soon or I will be railroaded. Gearing up for the cup and pacifier transition. Wish me luck.

At the beginning of the season we went to Homestead Farms for apple and pumpkin picking. So fun. Except for the fact that I didn't take the hayride with Scott and the kids to the pumpkin patch because of my hay allergy and ended up walking for 30 minutes around acres and acres of farmland trying to find one of about 10 pumpkin patches where they were. Finally, sweating, and crying, I saw them across a field just as they boarded the tractor to head back with their pumpkins. I heard it was fun and they actually "picked" the pumpkin from the ground. After pumpkins we went apple picking which I had never done before either. Scott had to pick Nate up since the remaining apples were at the top but he loved it and we are STILL eating the apples (seems like we will never run out). It was a beautiful place and a great day and I think we will definitely head back next year.

Last weekend Scott put up a rope swing in the backyard which is AWESOME. Like a drug for the neighborhood kids and they are coming over every day to swing. Was a little scary getting it in the tree (let's just say Scott got a ladder out and was about to climb up the tree with the ladder maxed out and very wobbly) but the rope is so long it swings very high and I have even gotten a kick out of swinging on it. So far Scott has executed on everything that he mapped out in the first weeks that we moved into the house - I am impressed - and we are still loving it.

Getting geared up for Thanksgiving, when my parents and brother and sister in law will visit and then Christmas with the Evanses. Really looking forward to the holidays at home with family and the kids. Right now Geri and Lee are in Australia and we miss them terribly! Especially this week when I had to go to Boston for work and Scott was solo with the kids...a little chaotic, but he survived and really stepped up to the plate.

Hoping to see friends, head to New York for a weekend, and keep taking advantage of the wonderful place where we live over the next couple of months. Cannot believe it has been almost a year since we moved here! Seems like an eternity ago.

Ellie Turns 1!

Does parenting exist without guilt?

Every time I log onto the blog I feel guilt at the time that has passed since my last post and the reality that I have forgotten something about my kids' lives that would have been fun and interesting to share. It was brought home especially for Ellie's birthday when GG gave me a copy of the past year of the blog, for Ellie, and I realized how much smaller her book was than Nathan's.....poor Ellie! So here I am, trying to catch up again, even though I am sure I will miss something.

Another interesting fact is that this is the first blog posting I have done from the air as I am currently on a flight from DC to Dallas for a work meeting! Being on the internet while in the air just feels so wrong and yet is really cool at the same time. So sad that this moment when I am captured in a plane with no place else to go and nothing else to do is when I am able to catch up. Life is crazy but boy is it fun!

So, our dear "baby" Ellie is 1. I re-read the last post and have to say that she has become significantly more "independent" which is a polite way of putting it. She constantly cracks us up with her infectious, mischevious smile, and is a lover of music. She has her own unique moves, just as Nathan does, the most recent being waving her arms up and down while swaying side to side. The music just hits her whenever she hears it....we often keep the radio on in the kitchen and as she makes her rounds she will stop by the radio, do a little dance, and keep moving. It is a riot. She loves rock (her current favorite). OH - forgot to say that she started walking while we were on vacation in Maryland. One day before her 11 month birthday, she just got up and walked. A couple of days of being wobbly and she has been going strong ever since. She is very stable and has her own particular swagger, another thing that makes us laugh. For the moment she is in love with her brother's toys, but not her brother's interference in her doing her own thing which has resulted in a couple of pretty serious bites. We try to warn him.....

For her 1st birthday, we threw her a party in our backyard (seriously just wanted an excuse to have another moonbounce and some neighbors over - I recognize it is pretty extravagant to throw a 1 year old a birthday party). Ellie had no clue what was going on but seemed to have fun making the rounds. She is pretty social. Nathan of course loved the moonbounce and the fact that "friends" came over to play. On her birthday Ellie had her first taste of cake and icing and really loved it. She is still a picky eater and still initially refuses something new until she can be in control of putting it in her mouth and trying it. She is not a fan of baby food anymore as she prefers to feed herself. Still loves all fruit, chicken, green beans, gourmet cheeses, mac and cheese/pasta, yogurt, any kind of bread product (muffins, waffles, pancakes) and recently had a first sip of orange juice which she thought was GREAT.

We still have not taken her to her one year doctor appointment because she has been sick off and on for the past few months and was sick at the time of her appointment. I am not a shot fanatic but am definitely opposed to her getting shots when her immune system is already fighting something. She has had about 5 ear infections to date so seems to be following in her father's pattern of ear infections and also is quite prone to bad diaper rash which is just awful. All new experiences that we never had with Nathan so we are adjusting and have become a frequent visitor to the pediatrician. Ellie also shows some food sensitivities, most recently to milk, so my long awaited transition to whole milk and saving money on formula has been postponed until we can get to the pediatrician and figure out what our options are. She liked the taste of milk, but it resulted in screaming and diaper rash the 3 times I tried it so we are back to formula. Another transition that didn't go so well was my attempt to get her to use a cup for formula instead of a bottle. Again, Nate had no issue and easily took a cup, but Ellie threw the cup of formula in my face and walked away. Did that twice. Can we say stubborn and determined? We will try again on a day when I have nerves of steel and am up for the battle.....

Ellie's favorite toys these days are anything that is Nathan's and baby dolls. They say that gender is not in the genes, but seriously, I disagree. She has loved baby dolls since she first saw one and hugs and carries them around all the time. It is really cute. Kiss me? NO. Kiss the baby doll? OH YES. Also likes airplanes, which could also be in the genes. This past weekend she fussed and fussed while Grandpa Wilson was showing Nathan an airplane movie on YouTube but then got so excited when he showed the movie to Ellie and she sat there and put her hand up in the sky and made the airplane noise. Also makes "vrmm" noises when she is playing with cars. Amazing. Quite the mimic and I swear she can say a ton of words...just not distinctly enough for us to understand. "shoe" has come out a few times (uh oh). She is always chattering, with inflection, and seems to have an opinion about everything. She is quite a little character, our Ellie, happy birthday!

Nathan has had a milestone as well, starting preschool a few weeks ago. He is going 3 days a week for 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon which initially bothered me but seeing as how we are not really morning people in terms of a "get up and go" type of attitude, I think it is working out great. He really likes it and I think is getting comfortable with the other kids. The pressure to have a show and tell object every day has me constantly stressed out but otherwise the transition has been smooth and i secretly think Ellie likes having a little time without her brother during the week.

Nathan also started gymnastics which he seems to have a knack for and also LOVES...it is everything he already loved to do - jumping, climbing, swinging...why didn't we think of this sooner?! Still keeping up with swimming. His third time in "pre-fin" and he is the most advanced in his class but since he still does not like to jump in which is kind of the final test for the beginnger class, we decided to enroll him a third time to get him really comfortable. He is forever going underwater while the teacher is trying to teach the class something (paying attention is not his strong suit) but really looks forward to the class and has shown great progress. I cannot believe he is swimming without floaties or anything and underwater at 3! BTW - another milestone I forgot to document...he learned to swim underwater thanks to GG and Pop Pop's patience at their house in July while I was in Orlando for a business trip....

Nathan still worships airplanes and anything to do with airplanes and can tell you more airplane maneuvers than some experienced pilots. It is really cute - quite the connection with his grandpa Wilson. He has made friends in our neighborhood and loves getting out to ride his bike or play with them. We are still enjoying the neighborhood, more and more each day, and are particularly excited about Halloween. Nathan is going to be a pirate! Our first Halloween in a real neighborhood with tons of kids. Scott and I are fighting over who gets to go trick or treating!

In other news, we have been going regularly to church, which was another one of my hopes once we found a community we liked. We found a relatively small Methodist church locally which is so far a great fit - really like the people, the minister, and the sense of community and support and structure that it provides. It is pretty small so each person makes a difference, but I like that is is not as political as some of the big churches can be and we won't get lost in the shuffle. Still undecided on membership but look forward to going each Sunday, as does Nathan.

So all is well on the home front. I will end this post now even though I still feel guilty that I haven't "caught up" on all the activities since June. Many visits from GG, a trip to Orlando, vacation week in a rental house in Cambridge, MD with Virginia, Patrick, Evelyn, and Olivia (and Gabriela and Isabella and Alex), many visits from friends, our first Nationals game as a family, Navy-Air Force, football...the list goes on and on. It has been a fun summer and now we are into fall where the days are cooler and shorter and we are preparing for what to do with the kids when it is too cold to go outside. Yikes. Also looking forward to our first Thanksgiving and Christmas at home with the kids so we can start to establish our own traditions and not have to lug everybody all over the place. Really looking forward to that actually.

Road Trip to Atlanta

Whew. Remind me why I thought driving 12 hours with two kids in the car was a good idea?!

We made it! Drove to Atlanta for my cousin Catherine's wedding and back (not in one day...we stayed a week). It was truly a vacation which is awesome to say....very relaxing as I didn't have the constant "to do" list hanging over my head that exists at home. God bless Grandma Wilson because we certainly added to her to do list, but I got a break to swim and play with the kids. We had a great time. Nathan improved his swimming abilities exponentially after getting in the pool every day. He started out nervous and apprehensive with his life vest and noodle and by the end of it was jumping off the 4 foot wall of the pool without a life vest! Still can't swim without a vest, but he puts his head in the water, blows bubbles, and generally has a blast in the water. It was so fun to witness.

Ellie has become a little mover which definitely spells trouble. She is figuring out how to get up on her knees to get places and boy is she into everything! She is a little nosy noserston, always grabbing or pulling at something. One of the fun things we did while in Atlanta was feed the neighbors' fish (koi) every day and Ellie grabbed a food pellet out of the cup before I even knew what was happening. I guess it wasn't poisonous because she is still here but she is definitely one to watch, just like her brother. Between the two of them, we are in trouble....As Grandpa Wilson said "two smart kids...boy are you guys in for it." I agree. We're too tired to stay one step ahead of them too!!!
My cousin Catherine's wedding was beautiful and Nate and Ellie did well with two new and different babysitters so Scott and I could enjoy our evenings together. It was really nice. The only incident on the vacation was a busted lip on Nathan....yes, his nonathletic mother should know better than to try to play basketball with a three year old! We played "keep away" and I kept him away pretty well....enough that he fell and bit his lip. Poor guy. Thank goodness we got his 3 year old picture done the day before that incident...

Also of note is Nathan's newfound tennis ability. It has gotten better and better and wow can he whack the ball. Great follow-through also! Puts me to shame. He seriously could come to my beginner tennis class and show me up. And he loves it! We just throw the ball to him in the backyard and he hits the ball, with a full sized adult tennis racket, back to us. I will say it again...he is so naturally athletic it is crazy.

Ellie on the other hand is an athletic eater and has her own floor moves. Rug burns don't seem to bother her nor does hardwood or tile floor. Also a good sleeper from the standpoint of going down easy. At 8:00. She cannot make it past 8:00. VERY different than Nathan. She has an incredibly infectious smile and a sense of pride in her accomplishments that is very cute to watch. Still works hard to figure things out and can play by herself with a toy for a while....Grandma Wilson bought Nate a toy - construction something with plastic hammer and screwdriver and a "chain saw" and other buttons that made noise and Ellie figured it out in no time. She had zero interest in the baby toy keys that Grandma bought her. I felt bad. We are trying to dumb her down when she is ready for 3 year old toys!

Overall a great trip...lots of fun with family and friends and even the drive wasn't horrible. The cool thing was on the way back we got to meet one day old Eaden Wright (Joel and Becca's baby boy) in Chapel Hill, NC. Of course since we were supposed to hang out with them for the night, the baby came early! Very cool to witness our friends as they embark on new parenthood. It is such an amazing journey.
Zonked out Nathan napping after a morning of swimming. I could not wake him up!

David, Virginia, Catherine, me, and Lauren

Nathan jumping to daddy. What trust.

Flying the airplane (remote control airplane) with Grandpa, Uncle David, and Aunt Lauren

Grandma and Grandpa Wilson with their grandkids