Monthly Archives: January 2016

Snowzilla 2016

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We made it all the way through December without winter like weather.  It was amazing actually…we had MANY days in December that were over 60 degrees…a few even close to 70!  We were beginning to think that we would have no snow at all this year.  We were wrong though! Early in the week, the forecasts was indicating that snow, and a lot of it was on it’s way. And by a lot, I mean 1- 2 feet in the D.C area. As the week went on, the forecast was actually stating it was going to be a blizzard with the heavy winds. The forecasters were so focused on the weekends blizzard, that Wednesday night’s snow of one to two inches sort of fell under the radar but wrecked havoc on the cities rush hour.  Trips that should have taken 20 to 30 minutes took folks four to five hours!  Justin even went out in it to Target in Reston in preparation for the blizzard and said that the roads were bad and he was sliding in our neighborhood.   Everyone heeded the warnings and grocery stores were insane and shelves quite empty already by Wednesday night.

Thursday morning there was still snow on the ground and schools were cancelled.  The girls and Ludmila went outside for a few minutes.  This was Ludmila’s first time in snow!  Pretty puny in comparison for what was to come!

Thursday afternoon I went to Whole Foods to get the last of what we needed for the next few days.  Granted, it wasn’t like we would starve with what we had; however, knowing that we were going to be stranded for at least a few days, I would much rather be stranded eating delicious foods than crap. 

The snow started about 1:00 Friday.  By 6:00 p.m, there was already a decent amount on the ground as we walked to the Fosters for dinner and drinks with the neighbors and walking was already proving difficult.  In fact, Justin fell as he was holding Avery just before we got to the Fosters house and really hurt his ankle. Despite his being in extreme pain all night, we had a fun time and by the time we left to come home after 10:00, there was probably already a good eight inches on the ground.

 Saturday morning we woke up to snow, lots of it….and it snowed all day until close to 10:00 p.m! The day was actually fun and we didn’t get the least bit stir crazy.  The whole house slept in until 9:00 a.m. and while the girls did watch two shows before breakfast and watched one show before bed, there was no T.V watching or IPAD playing during the day.  We spent a lot of family time centered around delicious meals and spent some time outside shoveling and playing.  At first all the girls were kind of hesitant to go out, especially since the snow was still coming down hard and in their faces.  However, they ended up having fun playing while Justin and I were shoveling the driveway.  Avery eventually went in because she was too cold, but Emerson and Harper just kept on playing.  They were having a great time despite their cheeks being ridiculously red and their hands and feet and hair frozen.  

Harper in fact was having so much fun that she decided to take her buggy for a spin!
 
Here is what Justin spent much of the weekend doing, despite badly injuring his ankle.  He said that after he was out there, it got to the point that he couldn’t feel his foot.  When he came in though, it was a different story.  When inside he tried to elevate it some as he sat on the couch in front of the fire (yes, we, okay Justin), built our first fire at this home…but it was me who insisted Justin buy the firewood.  So, once again a team effort!
Ludmila joined us for a little while! This was her first time experiencing snow (other than Wednesday night)….and what a first time it was! 
 
Sunday morning we woke up to the storm’s aftermath…beautiful sunny skies with snow glistening!  Sunday was spent doing much of the same as Saturday…eating more delicious food, baking chocolate chip cookies, shoveling, playing in the snow and sledding down the pipestem with the neighbors. Harper was tired and ended up taking two naps in her “cave” while we were outside playing….thus why there are no pictures of her on Sunday.
And more shoveling…..hahaha….Justin’s face says it all!
 
Even the adults were sledding….it was SO much fun and fun to be a kid again!  
Ludmila even joined in on the sledding shenanigans!  
 
School was cancelled already for Monday and Tuesday and I wouldn’t be surprised if they have no school the entire week. Our streets still haven’t been plowed and their is literally no way past the driveway.  The girls went outside today with Ludmila after lunch.  Harper ended  up coming in a few minutes later as she had to go peepee and was tired and wanted to sleep in her cave.  After I put her down, I went to take a few more pictures of Ludmila and Avery and Emerson having fun in the snow. 
 
By the way, can I just talk about Harper for a second.  Excuse my language, but she is so fucking cute AND she knows it.  The things she says, the things she does, her facial expressions, her voices….ALL of it….it’s like she can drive me nuts sometimes but it is absolutely impossible not to laugh, think she is so cute, or literally eat her up because she is so freaking cute and hilarious and awesome all at once.  Seriously, I don’t know how a kid can be so darn cute but somehow she manages quite well.  Oh and by the way, besides the massive dump she took in her cave (as she now takes her naps in her window cutout behind her chair (a.k.a. her cave) and in her panties (yes, I decided to take a chance), she is potty trained!  Really, in all seriousness, she is doing awesome.  She is still wearing pull ups and nights and for naps (most the time) but they are generally pretty dry when she wakes up.   She is so darn proud of herself…..which also is so ridiculously cute!
P.S. Total snowfall was about 28 inches!
 

Potty Training AGAIN!!

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I’ve been anticipating, dreading, and looking forward to this weekend for quite some time.  With Avery and Emerson, they both wanted to try the potty for months and months prior to me being ready and at first I let them try it, but I quickly realized that sitting on it somehow turned into just a place to read or hang out.  With Harper I knew that the weekend long potty training method was the one that would work for us so while I occasionally let Harper sit on the potty at her request, I didn’t really bother to waste any effort or time potty training before the weekend long event began.  And while Harper may have wanted it to start several months ago, committing a whole weekend in itself is hard enough as it is for two working parents so selfishly (but also for Harper’s benefit) we waited until January when I had a three day weekend and we were able to clear our entire weekend schedule. 

The official kick off to the weekend began Friday night when we all headed to Giant to pick up our M&M’s, salty treats, and juice. We went to the Giant in Vienna so that Harper could have the “Customer in Training” cart that Avery and Emerson used for the same event two years prior.  Unfortunately, they no longer had the carts so the girls opted to carry baskets before they got to heavy.  
While the girls all regularly go to the grocery store without having to use the bathroom, for whatever reason Avery and Emerson both had to use the bathroom while we were in Giant…by the third bathroom request when we were checking out, I thought I too was going to lose my “shit”…no pun intended…lol.Anyway, so morning started off slow but good.  Harper doesn’t normally drink juice so she actually doesn’t like it that much and she was very slow to drink the liquids, which certainly felt like the process was watching paint dry.  We started official kick off at 9:00 and Harper was pretty quick to pick up on the process of staying “dry and clean” and teaching her baby to stay “dry and clean”. By 10:30 no accidents, but no pee either!  Finally a little before 11:00 Harper had her first accident but she knew right away and it wasn’t that bad.  We quickly sat on the potty; however, there wasn’t much more to come out.  Twenty minutes later Harper went pee pee and poo poo in the potty, and she was very upset and scared about it.  I told her she did awesome and she certainly didn’t refuse the M&M rewards. The rest of the day was good, but just slow…Harper took a two in a half hour nap in which she was wearing a pull up and while she had no accidents yesterday evening, she only had one pee pee after her nap. 

Sunday was very similar to Saturday.  Harper had one accident but similar to Saturday she knew right away and it wasn’t that bad.  She went pee pee in the potty a total of three times during the day, no poops, and no accidents after the first one in the morning. 
 
We can’t complain….all in all it was a very successful weekend with Harper staying “dry and clean”. It just felt very different from the weekend of potty training the girls a few years ago.  Justin said to me it felt like they were constantly peeing….so I thought about it did some quick math.  Avery and Emerson were drinking juice excessively their potty training weekend so realistically they were probably peeing twice as much as Harper is.  There were also two of them and one of Harper. So Harper’s four pees a day feels like nothing compared to the 16 daily pees we were cleaning up with Avery and Emerson two years ago. 
 
Anyway, it was an excellent start with a lot of help from everyone! Great job Harpee!

Christmas Break – A Little Bit of Everything, A LOT of Fun!

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The day after Christmas we went to Richmond for the annual extended family Christmas celebration at Rita’s.  I have been going with Justin to these since 2002!  Wow!  The celebration has dramatically changed over the years.  Years ago there were tons of young kids and we all gave presents to everyone.  Fast forward to present and most the cousins are grown.  The young kids are now Avery, Emerson, and Harper and Heather’s kids. Some people show up, others don’t and the celebration is now centered around the meal and not gift giving and is the celebration seems much shorter than in years past (although I think it’s probably the same).

Anyway, the ride to Richmond was miserable….it took us close to 4 hours to get there and Avery threw up about 2 ½ hours into the ride.  Thankfully Justin did a load of laundry when we got to Rita’s and cleaned out the car there so we didn’t have to ride the whole way home with the smell of vomit in the car.  Thankfully the ride home took us just over 2 hours and passed by so quickly….probably because along with the kids I was dozing too, something I don’t generally do when Justin is driving.

Since we got back home in record time, we didn’t have to stop at a fast food place for dinner, which was great, but also I hadn’t planned anything at home and it was still close to 7:00.  I decided it was the perfect night for Popcorn and a movie!  The girls went nuts when I told them we would be having popcorn for dinner.  Justin went the extra mile and while the girls and I got situated on the couch in the den, Justin put on his apron, came up with an accent that ranged from French to British to Indian and was HILARIOUS, and the next thing we knew Pierre the Popcorn guy was at our service for the next half hour.  He brought us popcorn, drinks, and apple slices!  I don’t think we heard the first half hour of the movie since Pierre had us in constant laughter. After about a half hour, Pierre’s shift was over and Justin joined us for the rest of family movie night.

Ludmila’s parents came to visit her for a few days after Christmas and she took the time off and is staying with them and sightseeing. Wednesday Ludmila and her parents came over for dinner. Ludmila requested my famous “chicken balls”.  So I made chicken balls along with penne with a garlic lemon wine sauce topped with roasted heirloom tomatoes and basil accompanied with a mixed greens salad with roasted chickpeas, homemade croutons, and balsamic dressing.  I should have taken a picture as the plating looked AMAZING but I didn’t want to come across as cocky (even though I was doing the cocky dance in my head).  Anyway, dinner tasted as delicious as it looked and I think her parents really enjoyed it. I know her mom especially was nervous about meeting the girls.  She was concerned the girls wouldn’t like her, but all three girls took to Ludmila’s parents and I think her parents really enjoyed getting to experience the bond that Ludmila has with the girls.  We ALL played ring around the rosie together and I think it brought out the inner kid in all of us!  And Maddy style, we posed for a few pictures!

The next night was New Years Eve and our plans were to go to the Brophy’s and spend the night along with the Niday’s.  Well the night prior Harper ended up getting sick…fever of 102 and throwing up mucous….very unusual for her.  She seemed okay the morning of New Year’s Eve but having just had a fever and not really knowing if it would occur the following night we didn’t think it was the smartest thing to spend the night out or expose her to our friends.  I was disappointed but since we see the Brophy’s and the Niday’s fairly regularly I wasn’t entirely disappointed.  My parents ended up coming over to our house around 6:00 and they brought Chinese food.  The food was okay but I didn’t have any dinner plans since we had intended on being out.  The girls went down before 9:00 and other than the half of glass of wine I had at dinner, I didn’t have anything more to drink.  We did stay up and I watched some of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Eve special from Times Square (a must of mine since I was about age 10 for it to truly feel like New Years Eve).  Justin and I kissed at midnight and were in bed by 12:15…well actually I was in bed with Harper by 12:15 as she woke up a few minutes after midnight and refused to go back down in her room.  So she slept in my bed and Justin slept on the couch.  The girls didn’t wake up until almost 8:30 and as I told Justin I haven’t woken up feeling so good on New Year’s Day in quite some time!  It actually felt wonderful to have had basically no alcohol the night before!  Normally I get kind of bummed when I don’t do something fun for New Year’s but I felt totally content with staying at home and celebrating in my sweatpants!  And by the way, I realized this was the 15 (YES 15th) New Year’s Eve that Justin and I have spent together…CRAZY!!!

New Year’s Day we managed to get out of the house by 10:30 and we headed to D.C via the metro!  We actually first drove to Arlington and visited Daddy’s office…something the girls have been excited to do since Justin first told them of his intentions to bring them there over a year ago!  We explored the totally open space concept and then went to lunch next door at the Green Turtle.  Then it was finally time….we packed up the stroller and then walked to the Ballston metro.  The whole car ride to Ballston Avery kept asking questions about the metro being underground and if she would get dirty. She couldn’t quite grasp the concept of something being built underground.  Avery was a little scared at first but quickly overcame that fear.  Harper on the other hand was clenching Justin’s hand the entire time to the Smithsonian stop.  Here we are awaiting for the metro.  

(None of the pictures are the best quality as we were using our iPhones and it was cold outside so not only were Justin and I in a rush to take the pictures, but the girls wouldn’t stay still for any picture…so all these pictures are more about documenting the event than they are good pictures). We got off at the Smithsonian exit and made our way to the Smithsonian.  

We spent some time exploring a few of the exhibits at the Smithsonian museum. 

Then the girls talked us into getting some popcorn.  Emerson kept feeding the pigeons, which was scaring the crap out of Avery. 

This next picture of Harper I took and is such a bad angle that it makes her look like a giant with a pedestrian sign coming out of her head, but it makes me laugh.

We then made our way to the Washington Monument at the girl’s request, where they ran around for a few minutes. 

We headed into the Freer muesuem for a few but only stayed in for a few minutes.  Harper got a kick out of the Buddha’s.  Avery was trying to figure out where the arts and crafts were.  The girls started to get a little cranky in there and it was well after 3:00 so we decided to call it a day and head back to the Metro.  All the girls loved the metro ride back and even moved seats a few times throughout the ride.  Emerson was standing and trying to balance without holding on. 

The girls did great and it was relatively easy to get down there and it was fun!  I’m sure we will be doing it again sometime soon.  The girls were exhausted and it wasn’t long before we got out of the parking lot that all three of them were out in the car.  At dinner, we all said several things about our D.C. Metro trip that we enjoyed most!

Christmas 2015

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Christmas was good this year.  I worked the morning of Christmas Eve and then Justin and I went to the gym just us around lunch time.  During Harper’s afternoon nap, the older girls and I made sugar cookies with the new gingerbread cookie cutters they had given me for Hanukkah.

I went the easy way out this year and had Justin buy readymade Pillsbury dough and while part of me had some heart ache with it, I’m so glad I did because the girls had a blast rolling and pressing the cookie cutters and then rerolling, adding more flour.  There was flour all over; it was a mess but I didn’t care because I hadn’t slaved over making homemade dough and we had a great time making the cookies.  I hadn’t planned on the girls bathing before Christmas Eve service but they had so much flour on them that I didn’t have much of a choice.  I gave them a quick hose down in my shower and by the time they were done, I had not much more than a half hour to get ready for church myself!  Somehow I managed and that included curling my hair! We took family pictures in front of the tree as planned.

We went to the 5:00 p.m. Christmas Eve service that was a kid’s service and as expected Emerson was very into the service and quiet and listened intently the whole time. She is like a little grown up!  As expected Avery was listening to the service, but constantly moving and talking.  And Harper pretty much was the same as Avery in terms of constantly moving and talking….she mostly sat with Ludmila and told Ludmila what she was thinking.  It was a kid’s service though so they weren’t the only kids talking.

After Christmas Eve service, Ludmila went to celebrate Brazilian style with some of her friends and the Justin and I took the girls to P. F. Changs.  As much as I love cooking, it takes time and sometimes that cooking comes at a price of me spending quality time with my girls.  So when I told Justin I wasn’t cooking Christmas Eve, being the good husband that he is, he was fine with that. The girls were well behaved and the food was good.  I’d say it most definitely was a good choice.  We went for a lap around the mall after dinner to “walk off dinner” and the girls had a blast looking at the window displays and posing for pictures on the benches. 

The plan when we got home was for the girls to put on their Christmas pajamas, brush teeth and go to bed.  Harper refused to wear her Christmas pajamas and we didn’t force it.  The girls went to bed fairly easily as they probably did not want to delay Santa coming.

Justin and I had done all the wrapping of presents earlier in the week so literally all that we had to do Christmas Eve was set out Santa’s presents including the stockings.  It was so stress free…it was great.  That left time for me to prep breakfast so that all I had to do was pop everything in the oven in the morning.

Christmas morning Emerson woke up first around 7:30.  She was okay waiting to go downstairs until closer to 8:00 as long as I put on a show for her.  Avery and Harper woke up about 15 minutes after Emerson and I managed to keep them content upstairs for a few minutes while Justin made some coffee for the adults and put the breakfast casserole in the oven.  At 8:00 it was time.  The girls slowly made their way downstairs and I think were actually surprised to see Santa had left them something because in talking with them before we went downstairs, I told them that I didn’t hear Santa even though I tried to listen out for him. We agreed if he didn’t come it was because he probably gave gifts to other kids and he would come next year.  They were actually okay with that and thought Santa hadn’t come.  So they were in a little shock when they did see something.  Justin captured it on video.  They slowly made their way to the playroom to see if Santa had eaten the cookies and drank the milk (which he had) and left them a letter in response to theirs (which he had). 

Then the girls noticed that he had filled our stockings with things and not coal!  Everyone got different things geared towards each person…Santa knew just what to get everyone.  The girls got a kick out of the fact that Santa left Mommy panties in her stocking….five pairs of panties and one piece of chocolate!

After opening our stockings, we made our way to the living room and the girls opened their presents from Santa.  The older girls got IPADS and make up!  Harper got a cash register, a purse, and a Doc McStuffins X-Ray camera.  All three girls got a sled from Santa. 

Avery keeps asking when it is going to snow….none of us could answer!  We then opened some more presents….from Mommy and Daddy, from Ludmila, from the girls.  We opened presents in an organized fashion so that everyone gets a chance to watch each person as they open up their present.  We opened presents for about an hour and then took a break for breakfast.  Breakfast was great.  We had a strata with mushrooms, spinach, onions, cheddar, and parmesan.  We had fresh fruit and REAL bacon that I made in the oven and was the REAL deal!!

After breakfast we opened some more presents, but still not all.  While the girls were having fun playing with their new toys and IPADs, the weather was an unbelievable 72 degrees and we took advantage by going for a family walk in the neighborhood.  It was muggy and felt like 100% humidity.  It felt like a muggy day in the summer after a rain…it certainly did not feel like Christmas day.  After our walk, I made the girls a small little lunch and they iced and decorated with sprinkles the sugar cookies that we made the previous day. Again, the kitchen was a mess but the girls had fun.  Harper was so messy that I asked Justin to give her a bath before her nap but he didn’t hear me say I wanted him to give her a bath so he just put her down.  Later Justin told me that Harper had been very upset with him and kept telling him “Bath”!  While Harper was napping, Avery, Emerson, and I did puffy paints.  I love how personalities shine through with each person’s artwork.  Here is mine (that york terrier eating from the bird feeder is really a bird)!

This was Emersons…she ended up taking hers and placing it against a second piece of paper for a unique look.

This was Avery’s….her’s took a good five days to dry!

My parents and Grandma Adele came over at 4:00 and we opened the last of the presents including presents from Mary, Russell, Michael, and Caroline. 

Those presents were spot on for each of the girls and were a huge hit!

Dinner was Christmas Italian style!  Last year I made an amazing dinner of beef tenderloin with an avocado, garlic, aioli sauce with an arugula salad and mashed potatoes.  While the meal was excellent, Justin, Karolin, and I were really the only ones who truly enjoyed it.  For the price and the effort, it just I decided it just wasn’t worth it to make that again.  I had a whole frozen baked ziti and homemade marinara sauce leftover from a few weekends ago.  So I decided we would have that with chicken parmigiana.  My mom helped me make the cutlets and I made some garlic green beans and dinner was not only delicious, but everyone enjoyed it.  Even Avery ate some plain pasta and plain chicken cutlets! I didn’t do appetizers and I didn’t even make dessert.  I pulled a few things that I had in the house out and called it dessert!  While I do love cooking, it was nice to have an extra few hours spending quality time with the girls.

Overall Christmas was great this year, although it didn’t feel entirely like Christmas.  We certainly didn’t feel all that stressed out with the process of buying gifts….over the years we have mastered that process and with one  full day of shopping Thanksgiving weekend combined with lots of Amazon purchases, we are able to take the stress out of buying gifts.  And certainly the simplified meal added to it.  But truthfully I think the 70 degree weather was the real winner as to why it didn’t feel completely like Christmas this year. My favorite part of Christmas….being able to witness the joy and innocence that the Christmas spirit instills in my three girls.