Katherine and I are off bright and early tomorrow morning. I’m about to be a proud Godmother to a certain little baby boy up in New York City. When the trip was being planned, I thought it would be fun to bring Katherine along as well. My parents expressed an interest in coming down to the city and of course Aunt Colleen and Uncle Sven call NYC home sweet home. Suddenly it was a little family get together and what better time we thought than to do the big American Girl experience for Katherine. Right now she’s more excited about the airplane ride and the hotel room. As I’ve said before we’ve found measuring time in the “number of sleeps” is a good way for her to understand how much time until a certain event happens. Well she knew this morning that it was only one more sleep until she got on the airplane. So naturally she told us that she didn’t want to go to school and just wanted to go right back to sleep instead.
The American Girl catalog has been coming to our house from quite some time although Katherine has only recently took a real interest in it. I dug it out this week to start reviewing it with her to see what type of doll she may be interested in. Looks like she may be going the historical doll route, with an interest in Julie (1974). We’ll see once she gets to the store. Being a four year old with no concept of money, she’s also informed me that her Julie doll will need a pet and a bed and some clothes and…well…she needs a lot according to Katherine. This maybe a big lesson in wants versus what Mommy and Daddy can afford.
I did drop the ball and totally forgot to make the café reservation a gazillion months in advance, so of course it was booked solid. So we will be forgoing that experience, which is fine since I don’t think the seating times were going to work out very well with our schedule. However, rumor has it that another American Girl store is opening up this summer at Tyson’s Corner in the DC area. I’m thinking another visit is needed with Gram Coberly for a meal at their café.
Yes I have seen the weather forecast for Raleigh. Looks like we should be ok getting out tomorrow morning and I’m hoping we’re back just before the predicted big storm hits Monday afternoon.
Oh and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Teddy had his 9 month appointment yesterday. He’s one healthy boy! Weight currently 19lbs. 14 oz. which I was surprised to learn is actually below the 50th percentile. I’d hate to see the size of those 9 months olds in the 90th percentile.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Happy 2011!
I was in disbelief this weekend that a New Year had actually begun. I had originally thoughts of a post filled with memories of 2010 and resolutions for 2011. I might be able to give a list by the end of the week but don’t hold your breath.
We’re back! I’m thinking it will take us a few weekends to feel completely caught up and back in our routine, especially since Katherine and I are jetting out this weekend to NYC (more on that in another post later this week). If you want to check out our comings and goings on our most recent trip, head on over to the picture site where I actually have the December photo album uploaded…already! Yes, that’s right. I have a couple of videos too that I’ll post up here in the next day or two. Santa was quite good to Miss K and Mr T this year, purchase storage supplies are on my “to do” list now! And snow! Yes, I got my wish for a good snowstorm while we were up at my parents. Katherine had a blast.
Hot tubbing, oh yes, there was hot tubbing…in the snow!
As you would expect in a household with two children under the age of five, we did not stay up until midnight. In fact, New Year’s Eve was pretty much a regular ol’ Friday night around our house…almost. Teddy came down with a cold during our trip and we’ve been having some very rough days and nights with a stuffed up little boy who was tired and hungry and just can’t breathe. Tuesday night it took us two hours to get him calmed down to go to sleep. Wednesday he woke up a 10:45 and stayed awake until 2:15 (I’ll do the math for you, that’s 3 and half hours of walking swaying, rocking, doing anything and everything we could to get him back down). Thursday night was better but then Friday night he was up for two hours during the night. We felt we were making progress because we shaved an hour and a half off of Wednesday’s time. So while we didn’t intend to stay up until midnight we got woken up anyways. And actually, I didn’t have the foggiest idea what time it was until someone around our neighborhood was kind enough to let me know by shooting off a shotgun a good dozen times, thereby waking up the baby I just about had back asleep (Happy New Year to you too #$$^&@*). Since that night, Saturday and Sunday nights have been a bit better so we’re hopeful that we’re on the right track.
Developmentally, our little boy does not want to crawl when there’s standing to be done. He will pull up on anything and everything (and there are now pictures to prove it, go take a look). Actually, he’s quite the handful now, requiring constant attention because he’s so curious. And poor Reeses, lucky for her he’s not that quick yet.
All in all, we may have had the week off but Ted and I are exhausted. Here’s to the hope of a more restful 2011!
We’re back! I’m thinking it will take us a few weekends to feel completely caught up and back in our routine, especially since Katherine and I are jetting out this weekend to NYC (more on that in another post later this week). If you want to check out our comings and goings on our most recent trip, head on over to the picture site where I actually have the December photo album uploaded…already! Yes, that’s right. I have a couple of videos too that I’ll post up here in the next day or two. Santa was quite good to Miss K and Mr T this year, purchase storage supplies are on my “to do” list now! And snow! Yes, I got my wish for a good snowstorm while we were up at my parents. Katherine had a blast.
Hot tubbing, oh yes, there was hot tubbing…in the snow!
As you would expect in a household with two children under the age of five, we did not stay up until midnight. In fact, New Year’s Eve was pretty much a regular ol’ Friday night around our house…almost. Teddy came down with a cold during our trip and we’ve been having some very rough days and nights with a stuffed up little boy who was tired and hungry and just can’t breathe. Tuesday night it took us two hours to get him calmed down to go to sleep. Wednesday he woke up a 10:45 and stayed awake until 2:15 (I’ll do the math for you, that’s 3 and half hours of walking swaying, rocking, doing anything and everything we could to get him back down). Thursday night was better but then Friday night he was up for two hours during the night. We felt we were making progress because we shaved an hour and a half off of Wednesday’s time. So while we didn’t intend to stay up until midnight we got woken up anyways. And actually, I didn’t have the foggiest idea what time it was until someone around our neighborhood was kind enough to let me know by shooting off a shotgun a good dozen times, thereby waking up the baby I just about had back asleep (Happy New Year to you too #$$^&@*). Since that night, Saturday and Sunday nights have been a bit better so we’re hopeful that we’re on the right track.
Developmentally, our little boy does not want to crawl when there’s standing to be done. He will pull up on anything and everything (and there are now pictures to prove it, go take a look). Actually, he’s quite the handful now, requiring constant attention because he’s so curious. And poor Reeses, lucky for her he’s not that quick yet.
All in all, we may have had the week off but Ted and I are exhausted. Here’s to the hope of a more restful 2011!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Time to pack up
It's been a great trip. Lots of pictures and stories to share. It's time to head home in the morning. Here's everything (plus a few other odds and ends) that needs to come home.
Needless to say, we'll be making some tough decisions and a few things will have to wait for Papa and Gram to bring down.
Needless to say, we'll be making some tough decisions and a few things will have to wait for Papa and Gram to bring down.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Katherine's Christmas Tree
The ceramic Christmas tree you see above has been in Katherine’s room for the past month. We turn it on each night at bedtime for her. My grandmother made it and I remember it being up in our house every Christmas as a child. I think I asked to have it in my own home very shortly after Ted and I got married and it’s been up every Christmas since. The ceramic has gotten brittle over the years and there’s a small chip at the back of the star that I wish could be fixed but I’m not sure how. The light on the base is quite loose however I recently discovered someone on Ebay who makes replacement bases (actually I think he makes the trees too so he might be a resource on how to get that chip repaired...hmmm put that on the "to do" list). I’m keeping it until it completely cracks apart.
The Santa sightings continue. He stopped by school/daycare yesterday for a quick hello. I asked Katherine if she had a chance to talk to him and she said yes. “What did you say?” “I want a Transformer.” Talk about getting right to the point, dude better produce come Christmas morning.
My parents sent her a video email message from Portable Santa. Seriously, if you have little kids and have not heard of this sight you need to go there and do one. It’s free too! Katherine loves it; she’s viewed it multiple times and each time eagerly responds to Santa’s questions.
And she’ll have one more chance to see the Big Guy before he starts his journey around the world. He’ll be heading up to the Fawn Lake Community Center at Ted’s parents tomorrow night for story time. You know there will be one enthusiastic little girl in the crowd…who will probably yell out one more time that she wants a Transformer. Better safe than sorry!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Don't forget my suit!
The picture site is finally up to date. Go on, take a look, I’ll wait. Yes, I know there is no December album but December isn’t over yet, is it???
This week is going to fly or be slower than molasses, I can’t decide which. Katherine has been asking every day whether today is the day we’re leaving to go to Papa and Gram’s houses. This morning on the way to daycare I told her “two more sleeps” to which she promptly replied that she wanted to go to sleep. Right then. Clearly the kid is excited. We started packing the weekend and the first thing Katherine grabbed was her bathing suit…yes her bathing suit. There’s a story to this one.
You see both Ted’s parents and my parents have hot tubs. Being the great Grams and Papas that they are they gladly turn down the heat to make the water just right for a little girl. Katherine loooooves going in the hot tubs. Usually her swims occur in the warmer months, not once the weather starts to head toward the freezing mark. So naturally at Thanksgiving time I didn’t even think to pack a suit for her. However Ted mentioned (on the way there, way too late to grab anything from home) that it might be nice to take a dip in the hot tub. I had forgotten my suit as well but Gram had one I could borrow. Since we didn’t a suit for Katherine we figured she would be happy playing with Papa and Gram inside while the adults took a dip. Well, naturally Miss K took one look at the two of us in our robes, headed for the back door and well…you can kind of guess what happened next. She hasn’t let us forget it. So Saturday morning when suitcases began to come out she raced into her room and pulled out her suit. “Mommy I got my bathing suit out, you forgot it last time.” She upped the ante by actually putting the suit on and wearing it in the house for most of the day. Yeah, yeah, kid…we get it. We messed up (to put it nicely, put your own expletive in there). So it is a certainty that there will be hot tubbing this time around…at both houses. Which reminds me I need to pack her robe and flip flops as well.
In preparation for the Big Guy’s arrival next weekend I did some toy cleaning on Saturday. The main goal was to make room for the new arrivals but secondary to that was getting all the random toy parts in the toy box and in Katherine’s room back to their proper home. A few items here and there were tossed. Anything received as part of a Happy Meal or the equivalent is sadly, no longer with us. At the end of the day I had only one small basket of random “stuff” and the toy box is half empty. Not too shabby. Of course, all of this reorganizing meant that Miss K discovered toys she hasn’t played with in months so by Sunday afternoon the house was a mess again. At least it was an organized mess.
Ted and I attempted to continue a family tradition last night with our annual drive around town to look at Christmas lights. We thought Katherine would enjoy this since she asks to see Christmas lights every evening on the drive home from daycare. Ten minutes before we left Teddy fell over and smacked his cheek which resulted in lots of tears and some tlc time on me (he’s ok, just a little bruise). Recovered from that we hopped in the car in our pjs and turned on the holiday tunes. Two minutes after we left the house Katherine asked what we were doing and after the first street asked if we could go back home. We held her off through a few neighborhoods but just when she was starting to get into it, Teddy declared that he had had enough. I think we were gone 15 minutes at the most. Maybe next year will be more successful.
This week is going to fly or be slower than molasses, I can’t decide which. Katherine has been asking every day whether today is the day we’re leaving to go to Papa and Gram’s houses. This morning on the way to daycare I told her “two more sleeps” to which she promptly replied that she wanted to go to sleep. Right then. Clearly the kid is excited. We started packing the weekend and the first thing Katherine grabbed was her bathing suit…yes her bathing suit. There’s a story to this one.
You see both Ted’s parents and my parents have hot tubs. Being the great Grams and Papas that they are they gladly turn down the heat to make the water just right for a little girl. Katherine loooooves going in the hot tubs. Usually her swims occur in the warmer months, not once the weather starts to head toward the freezing mark. So naturally at Thanksgiving time I didn’t even think to pack a suit for her. However Ted mentioned (on the way there, way too late to grab anything from home) that it might be nice to take a dip in the hot tub. I had forgotten my suit as well but Gram had one I could borrow. Since we didn’t a suit for Katherine we figured she would be happy playing with Papa and Gram inside while the adults took a dip. Well, naturally Miss K took one look at the two of us in our robes, headed for the back door and well…you can kind of guess what happened next. She hasn’t let us forget it. So Saturday morning when suitcases began to come out she raced into her room and pulled out her suit. “Mommy I got my bathing suit out, you forgot it last time.” She upped the ante by actually putting the suit on and wearing it in the house for most of the day. Yeah, yeah, kid…we get it. We messed up (to put it nicely, put your own expletive in there). So it is a certainty that there will be hot tubbing this time around…at both houses. Which reminds me I need to pack her robe and flip flops as well.
In preparation for the Big Guy’s arrival next weekend I did some toy cleaning on Saturday. The main goal was to make room for the new arrivals but secondary to that was getting all the random toy parts in the toy box and in Katherine’s room back to their proper home. A few items here and there were tossed. Anything received as part of a Happy Meal or the equivalent is sadly, no longer with us. At the end of the day I had only one small basket of random “stuff” and the toy box is half empty. Not too shabby. Of course, all of this reorganizing meant that Miss K discovered toys she hasn’t played with in months so by Sunday afternoon the house was a mess again. At least it was an organized mess.
Ted and I attempted to continue a family tradition last night with our annual drive around town to look at Christmas lights. We thought Katherine would enjoy this since she asks to see Christmas lights every evening on the drive home from daycare. Ten minutes before we left Teddy fell over and smacked his cheek which resulted in lots of tears and some tlc time on me (he’s ok, just a little bruise). Recovered from that we hopped in the car in our pjs and turned on the holiday tunes. Two minutes after we left the house Katherine asked what we were doing and after the first street asked if we could go back home. We held her off through a few neighborhoods but just when she was starting to get into it, Teddy declared that he had had enough. I think we were gone 15 minutes at the most. Maybe next year will be more successful.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
A Merry Griswold Christmas
We had our annual Holiday Walk at work on Friday and for the THIRD year in a row the Program Policy, Planning and Evaluation Section took first place for decorations! Clark would be so proud of us! Hard to see in the pictures but we had all the details, moose mugs, exploding turkey, even our own Clark and Eddie!
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
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