The Weaversons

The deep thoughts of a SAHM

2012-01-20T14:33:00.006-06:00

*Wow, this picture quality is terrible. Sorry.

My kid loves cars. This shouldn't be news to anyone. Hot wheels, matchbox, airplanes, tractors, trucks, you name it, if it has wheels, he likes it. A lot. He is also really good at making car noises. How is that? Bill and I were lying on the couch playing with his cars one night and we discovered I make a really bad car noise. But after much coaching, I've got the shifting down. I've been driving for 12 years. How is it that my 21 month old can make a better car noise than me?

On to more pressing questions? Out of desperation, (4-5:30 is a hard time of day) I've put on the movie Cars. Scoff if you will. It is a happy movie, sans bad guys. Nemo makes an obviously dumb decisions and thus endangers his father with sharks and bombs and other scary things in order to find his lost child. Come on, a parents worst nightmare, losing your kid. He doesn't get UP. Toy Story is great, but since Asher likes cars so much, we watch it occasionally. It hasn't turned into an obsession for him and we both like it. But every time I watch it, I come up with new questions? What do the cars eat? How come there are no baby cars? Where would they put a baby car, does it already drive everywhere? How did the Cozy Cone get built, I mean the cars have no hands? Who knew a tire could be so versatile, it can wave a flag, but how? Can anyone answer these questions???

Down with the Routine

2012-01-11T14:13:00.005-06:00

By no means is this a "woe is me" post. I'm just sayin.

Is anyone else tired of the routine? I know I have it good, no, I have it great. I have a great little family, a great apartment, my husband has a great job, etc. But I'm tired of the routine of cleaning. Am I the only one who wakes up in the morning and thinks "ugh, the kitchen is dirty already, I just cleaned it last night?" or "I just swept and mopped my floor, why is every kernel of corn served at dinner littering the floor?". I know, having a kid = dirty. I'm just saying. Tell me I'm not the only one. It's mostly those two things. Laundry doesn't bug me, yet I always seem to be folding something. Vacuuming is fine, Asher thinks it's hilarious. Bathrooms, well I should probably be annoyed by them, I guess that just goes to show how often I clean them. But that darn kitchen and the floor. Ugh. I hate them. Though I like my kitchen. And the floors are nice too. Didn't we have kids to clean for us?Among other topics of the day. Asher refuses to feed himself anymore. As you can see here, the little turkey likes to hand his spoon to me so I can feed him. But if you examine the picture closely, you can see yogurt smeared on his face letting me know that at least he tried. Self feeding is inefficient apparently.

Last but not least, the above pictured child likes to scream. He is just exercising his vocal chords, but it is piercing. I think I have ended every day this week with a headache. On the other hand, said child is sitting on my lap playing with my iphone and dancing to the music that he managed to turn on. I like him. And I think it is funny when he turns on siri and siri can't understand his command. Neither can I, siri.

Christmas!

2011-12-27T13:06:00.012-06:00

Merry Christmas, one and all! We had a very merry Christmas at the Weaverson house this year. We were lucky enough to have Bill's mom here with us. We decided to spend the longest day of the year (Christmas Eve) in the District visiting the National tree. It was weak and rather disappointing. But the little trains running around it was a big hit with Asher. So instead of taking pictures with the ugly tree, we took pictures with the National Menorah. Just kidding, there is one, but we opted for the ever festive White House which is right behind the national tree. Next year, we'll head over to the capital building, its tree was much nicer.
We then headed over to my sister's for our Christmas eve festivities. Here is a phone picture of the boys in their matching Christmas jammies. I'll be getting a better pictures soon. But I had to post last years tree pictures, because the boys have changed so much.
Fast forward 12 hours to Christmas morning. We had our obligatory coming down the stairs picture and Asher proceeded to charge to the tree. Or maybe I should say past the tree. He didn't get it. It thus took much of the day before all his presents were opened. We didn't even go crazy on presents for him. He just loves his toys so much, he couldn't part with them long enough to open another present. Cars, cars, and more car related stuff.

We had a very Giant Christmas. I think everyone received at least one Giant's item. Shirts, gnomes, plaques, books, dvd's. You name it, we have it. We love the SF Giants. Don't forget.
Asher got a scooter this year from the grandparents. He loves it. He can't really use it yet, but I'm sure come summer time, he'll be all over it.
I wanted a try, so I kicked him off. Just kidding. He was watching his cousin, apparently the ground is more comfortable than standing.
After a full day of eating, opening, churching, and familying, we did more familying and eating. It was a lovely day of family and friends and celebrating the birth of our Savior. I'm sad that it's over. 363 days seems so far away.

I don't have a good title

2011-12-11T11:28:00.009-06:00

Tis a busy time of year. We went to the firm holiday party on Saturday. Bill pulled out the crushed velvet jacket for this special occasion. Where is the cravat, you ask? How can you wear crushed velvet without a cravat? Well my friends, he went without this year, but next year, we will conquer the cravat. I, on the other hand, went with the classic cocktail dress. It worked out. Who doesn't like the excuse to get dressed up once in a while?
We've been decorating for Christmas. Asher and the cat have slowly dismantled the bottom 2 1/2 feet of the tree. So we are very festive on the top 3 feet of the tree and scrooges on bottom. I've even decided to be crafty and made a wreath. Dang that pintrest, it gets me every time. That website is revolutionizing our Christmas this year. First making a wreath, now I feel the need to make all the tags for the presents. I have the unhealthy desire to be Martha Stewart. "It's a good thing".
We've decided not to buy any presents for Asher this year. Since he loves playing in left over costco boxes, that is what he is getting. Just kidding, none of the above is true. I'm sure he will be spoiled rotten, but boxes are the cheapest toys on earth. I like them, and so does he.
The cat has been spending his days hiding from Asher in either the bathtub or one of the bathroom sinks. I never knew watching me put on mascara would be so exciting for a cat, but he is right there with me every morning. And the tip of his tongue is always sticking out (see picture below) thus causing major halitosis.
Last but not least, an elephant has joined the family. Asher loves this stuffed animal. It likes us too. It has been into photo bombing, or just taking over pictures lately, which ever is easiest. Naughty elephant.
Oh yeah, and I'm 28. I feel like this is a big number. 27 was fine, 28 feels frighteningly close to 30. This month is extra busy because this is the one month that Bill and I are the same age. Must take advantage of our 28ness and be crazy before the old age of 29 rolls in with hearing loss and incontinence. Maybe a black tie new years party is in order?

We've moved

2011-11-28T19:02:00.000-06:00

We've moved, we've had guests, we've had Thanksgiving (or T-give around these parts), we've unpacked, we've (especially Bill) traveled, we've had hair cuts, we've been scanning. We've been busy.

Fear not, he was not this calm at the end.

View from our balcony of our new apartment from 2 weeks ago. All the leaves are gone now.

Taking care of business before we move. He's a good helper.

Our trip to Washington and Bill's trips to the windy city for work. They have been plentiful.

I've been scanning pictures of Bill's family. This is one of my favorites of his Dad. It will be nice to have these little gems around.

Boxing day

2011-11-10T12:59:00.007-06:00

save me from this self inflicted torture, please

I know it is early for boxing day, but it is boxing day for us. We are boxing up our apartment and moving up the street. Huzzah!
Why is packing soooooo hard??? I've been productive, don't worry. I put on the giant head phones and have been jamming out while I pack up my kitchen up and clean my oven.
I've also plucked my eye brows and straightened my hair. Curled my eye lashes and had a peanut butter and honey sandwich. The apartment is a work in progress. We have to go get more boxes, but that can't be done until the babe awakes from his nap. Alas, I'll just have to waste time with..........photo booth. Ya welcome.
This was from a previous session with photo booth. My sister, Tzeitel. Circa Oct. 2010.

Halloween

2011-11-07T20:57:00.005-06:00

Tis a week past Halloween, therefore, I can still post. We had a crazy Halloween this year. All I can say is "Thank you Old Navy for the $6 costume". Yep, I'm cheap, and a procrastinator. But look how cute this little chicken is. Next year, we will get our game on like our dear Cousin, he was Richard Simmons, it was a hoot. He sets a high bar.

Can you see the struggle? Bill is trying to prevent our little chicken from crossing the road. Bahahah. You really didn't think you could get through this whole post without the obligatory chicken crossing the road joke?

2011-10-24T08:24:00.003-05:00

Bill's dad passed away on Saturday.
We miss you and love you, Dana.

Racing in the USA

2011-10-17T14:10:00.005-05:00

I ran a half marathon this past weekend. It was a race of many feelings. I had a great couple of months of training and was excited to put the pedal to the metal. Unfortunately, things definitely didn't go as planned. I felt great for the first half and fell apart for the second. Now this could be due to several things.

Felt good because:
Lost 5 lbs by replacing my brick GPS watch with something a little more sleek and modern.
Trained well
Was ready for the pace.

Felt bad because:
30 mph winds. TERRIBLE.
9 miles of hills...the last 4 miles weren't really downhill like they promised.
It just wasn't my day apparently.

Needless to say, I'm a little disappointed and now I'm looking for redemption. You can't slave away for months on end without a good race, no?

There was a silver lining. Despite the first 9 miles being uphill (whose bad idea was that), I dropped a minute from my 5k time and 3 minutes from my 10k time. I suppose this could have added to my demise...
The end of the race. I beat sports bra girl. Just goes to show that you don't have to sport the bra to beat people. Although those are the people who win. Maybe it is time to make the switch and I'll start winning? Just kidding, I won't.
This little turkey was a good sport, says Bill. I wouldn't know, I was suffering. I'm sure he would have rather been at home in his element (see below). But he did enjoy the endless cheering and all the puppies that were there.
And it wouldn't be a race report without seeing the damage that I inflicted on myself. Shield your eyes if you have a weak constitution, as this is gross. Don't say I didn't warn you.

My big toenail is about to come off. I taped it down for the race so that it wouldn't pop off and then dig into another toe throughout the race. But the tape left a nice little blister on the toe next to it and I have a monstrous blood blister (as you can see) on the side, plus another one on the ball of my foot. Both required multiple drainings. Nike Lunaracers look cool, but they are terrible shoes. Don't buy them.

Chicago Weekend

2011-09-29T11:32:00.012-05:00

*Forgive me for taking so long to document this, I've been on sabbatical from social media. For a more thorough post see Danielle's.

A couple weeks ago, I was lucky enough to go to Chicago for a girls weekend. I've never done one of these before, and no surprise, it was tons of fun. It was great to catch up with old friends who live close by and who don't. And it was great to be back in the city. I'm going to say Chicago is probably one of the greatest cities ever, and of course New Yorkers will dispute that. But New Yorkers probably haven't spent much time in the Second City.
We had a strict itinerary that detailed our days by locations to eat at. There really wasn't a lot of activities if any included, but food was an absolute. Such as Sweet Mandy B's, Bongo Room, Bandera, Sushi Wabi. Oh I love them all. I miss you vegi burger and grilled artichoke, oh how I miss you...
We did manage a few activities such as dinner with friends in Hyde Park. Best of both worlds friends + dinner= happiness. I'm starting to sound like a fatty, all this talk of food.
After the dinner party, a few of us brave (crazies) decided it would be so fun to go skinny dipping in Lake Michigan. Sadly, the waves were crashing against the rocks at the Point and we decided it would be better to just dip and pass on the skinny. But it was fun and crazy anyway. Thanks Katie for making it happen, and Hammond's, wish you could have made it.
We made it back down to HP for church and a quick trip to one of my favorite places in the whole world, Hyde Park produce. Why is the place so good? Because it is cheap, has great food, carries Boar's Head meats, my favorite Mammer wafers, and good crusty breads.
The ward was awesome. So different, but great to be in a familiar place again. I'd forgotten how loud that ward is, but then I remember some of the conversations I listed to during sacrament meeting, such as how great McDonald's cheese burgers are vs the salads and other random conversations. I guess all the "whispered" conversations aren't very whispered. Did anyone else get to experience these gems from Willy?

We got a pedicure and shopped till there was no money left to shop with. It think it was a very successful girls weekend. Thanks husbands for making it happen.

Good Food Tuesday

2011-09-13T13:10:00.007-05:00

I'm declaring today good food Tuesday, because I ate this yummy sandwich for lunch and it is all I can think about right now. Let me tell you about it so you too and enjoy the last bit of freshness that is summer. Because this sandwich tastes like summer.

It is so easy. It has no name, at least that I know of. Correct me if there is a name, please?
Here is what you need:

Sourdough
Fried egg, from my chickens in my backyard of course.
Tomato
Avocado
Bacon
Spinach (should you desire a vegetable in the sandwich)
Mozzarella cheese

Toast your bread, add a little bit of mayo and layer it on. Give a little shake of some salt and pepper and voila. I heart this sandwich so much.
And last but not least, dearest Cass. Asher has gone down from a nap so Cass feels like he can emerge from his hiding spot in the laundry. Good thing I did whites yesterday, so that a hiding place could exist. Now on to the colors.

Boston

2011-09-07T10:07:00.015-05:00

We took a quick trip to Boston last week as a last hurrah before Bill returns to the firm. Why Boston, because we love that city. I realized that this was our 4th trip there together. Plus it is an hour plane ride. Puerto Rico would take 7 hours of traveling, and there were hurricanes. But like I said, we LOVE Boston.
So we hopped on a plane and had the smoothest ride possible with a 17 month old. Thank you match box cars, and thank you Paige for the idea. They provided hours of entertainment.
We attempted to take a ferry out to one of the islands around Boston, but alas, they don't go to that island on Fridays. Whatever. Luckily, the boardwalk was entertaining and the aquarium was right there.

We all loved the aquarium. I was surprised that Asher enjoyed it as much as he did.
Of course, that evening, we had to go to the famous Pizzeria Regina in the North End for some delicious pizza and Mike's Pastry for the BEST whoopie pies in the country. Trust me, I've tried a lot. No one compares, not even the Amish's. I ate every last bite, all 2000+ calories of it. Be still my soul. (Bill had the chocolate fudge cupcake, also delicious.)
The next day, I had a hankering for pirating. So we headed over to the USS Constitution (aka Old Ironsides).

And alas, of all the trips we've made to this grand city, we'd never made it to a Red Sox game. But we made it this time and had a ball. This was also Asher's first baseball game.
Dare I admit that we had such a good time, I'm almost ready to become a Red Sox fan?? I've been to see the Royals, White Sox, and the Nationals and non of the fans love their team as much as Red Sox fans. It was awesome. (Don't hate on the Royals, they are awesome.)

Someone explain to me how Asher could sit through 3 hours of baseball (first 6 innings) just fine, but not even an hour for sacrament? He did love all the cheering, he felt like a superstar. Of course the crowd was cheering for him, not the home runs that brought the score to 12-3. Poor Rangers.
And now we are back in DC. It is raining and we are stuck inside. Boo. And Bill is at work. Here we go, I guess this is the rest of our life. No more limbo of when the real world starts. This is it.

Tropical Storm Irene

2011-08-29T09:54:00.004-05:00

We were prepared for Irene. Apparently, she wasn't prepared for us. More hype than harm.
Are we done with natural disasters for a while?

Crazy Week

2011-08-27T11:43:00.009-05:00

I don't know if you've heard but we have had a crazy week here on the east coast. First, I've had these two little turkeys all week. Of course I had Asher, but we had cousin as well. The boys have a pretty good time together. Of course there has been a little bit of toy stealing, but that is to be expected, no? Sharing the red firetruck is so hard.
This picture might refresh your memory, here they are together at the ripe old age of 4 months (Asher) and 6 weeks (Cousin). They were so tiny. I like them!
They didn't share a crib, but Asher feels like his crib is so fun and bouncy, so Cousin had to give it a try too. And try out Asher's binki, in case it tastes better than his own.Anyway, these two boys kept me busy. Applause to all you mom's of twins or more.
So like I said, we were full of excitement around here. On Tuesday, we had a nice little earthquake. It was scary. Bill, the native Californian, didn't blink and eye. Although he did say it was the longest earthquake he has ever been in.
Here is the breakdown (if you care to know):
Boys are down for a nap. I'm brushing the cat in the kitchen. I feel a little rumble and walk over the balcony because I think it is just wind. Low and behold, the trees aren't moving. Then the real quake starts and I start running to the bedrooms where the boys are. I could see the walls moving, the book shelves swaying and things are falling off the shelves as I run by. I even managed to catch a vase. I am thinking to myself, "get to the bath tub".
(I'm a native Midwesterner. We grew up with tornado drills and you run to bathtub, I was only acting on my natural instinct, too bad it was the wrong natural disaster). Anyway, I make it to the bathroom door by the time the rumbling stops. The boys are awake and crying. Cousin had a baseball land in his crib, but no harm. Asher was fine.
Point is, it was scary. Cell phone lines were jammed. Only form of communication is email and facebook. Dang that social media, it really is handy. And I will say, it is nice to have a data plan on my cell phone.
The end, all family was fine and accounted for.We did have a tornado of little boys. They can make quite the mess...really fast.
And now, as I type this, we are experiencing tropical storm Irene, I'm glad we don't have the full hurricane to deal with. So fun. I'm just praying we don't lose power, or water.
So there you have it, a week of excitement with 3 natural disasters.

Weavers in Real Life

2011-08-19T09:49:00.008-05:00

Us in real life
My sister was kind enough to take this picture mid-sitting down. Looks like we are, well you can guess what I was going to say.

So I've been told that my blog doesn't really give an accurate picture of what our life is really like. Since you asked, I'll tell you.

Up until 2 days ago, my side of the bedroom was covered in dirty clothes. Much of which were sweaty crusty running clothes. Bill's side on the other hand was nice and tidy, as always.
I wanted to sign Asher up for a music class, but they are really expensive, especially for a 16 month old. So instead, we are doing our own music class. I'm enriching my son with the likes of Bob Dylan and Brandon Flowers. He'll thank me later. I'm still thanking my brother for a music education consisting of Pink Floyd, The Cure, and R.E.M.
We are in freak out mode around here, Bill resumes firm life in 2.5 weeks and counting. I'm probably freaking out more than he is. Okay, it's all me. I'm scared.
My car trunk is a storage unit for strollers. We currently have 3 in there. Usually just two, but a third has been added while we babysit our nephew next week.
I LOVE to eat out side, Bill hates eating outside.
My house is a disaster until 5 minutes before I go pick up Bill from the Metro. Then I rush around and pick up every duplo, dvd, stray cheerio and car and make the house look like we live in a museum. I try really hard anyway.
I miss being able to go to the bathroom with the door closed. Or by myself. Is 2 minutes really too much to ask?
I want to buy these shoes (in chocolate) for Asher. But alas, he will grow out of them before he ever wears them enough to justify the price.
I get weirded out when old people come over and "pet" Asher when we are out and about. I just pray that they don't want to hold him because this little pumpkin is big enough to take home a blue ribbon at the county fair. He is definitely a healthy little boy.
The drama between Asher and Cass never ends. I'm always having to protect the cat.
According to Asher, we have a At named Ass. He can say car, I don't know why he can't say cat or Cass. Maybe he is calling Cass what he thinks he really is.
I had to kill a giant spider the other night while Bill was out of town. I dry heaved 4 times by the time I killed it and cleaned up the guts that had squirted out. It was sick. I prefer to save those jobs for the man of the house.
Lastly, I hate sweeping. Our apartment has all "wood" floors. Keeping the floors nice is not something I excel at. Give me carpet any day (except in the kitchen and dining room).

Another less than perfect picture, no one is looking at the camera. Playing with sand is apparently really interesting.

Bill Returns to Brentwood

2011-08-10T21:28:00.005-05:00

Bill here. I returned to Brentwood, California last weekend for my high school reunion. Brentwood looked exactly the same, except that the population had doubled and all empty fields had been replaced by chains and houses, making the city (now a city!) totally unrecognizable. I had planned on taking pictures at the reunion, but other people were taking pictures so often that I can just get them off Facebook. But I did get a tour of the city (city!) and stopped at my old stomping grounds to take some pictures.

Ron Nunn Elementary

Bristow Middle School

Liberty High School

Old Home (Pontiac not included; saplings now trees; in a city!)

For those of you pondering whether to go to your reunions, I highly recommend it. I had a blast. Everyone was excited to be there and see one another. It was a really great time. Thanks to the Britton Olson home and the Jeff Olson home for hosting me.

July

2011-07-27T08:43:00.015-05:00

It has been a relatively busy month. Our dear friend Britton has been in town this week for a gathering of nerds at a conference (he is a smarty pants at Stanford) and for a wedding of a past roommate. We have been lucky enough to have him stay with us and we had to get a picture of Asher with his namesake since he was named after Britton.

Asher thinks he is so tricky and uses his cart as his new mode of transportation.
I ran a 5k on the 4th of July and placed top ten in the women's division.
We took a trip to Great Falls, the Virginia side this time. Thought it was time to try out the baby carrier for real.

Asher is rather mischievous. Of course when it gets quiet, he is getting into trouble. So we have been busy baby proofing Weaver style...with duct tape. It is pretty effective.
Bill has taped down all the dvd's. It gets rather trying picking up a million dvd's 4x's a day. We've also had to rig it so that Asher can't slide open the doors of the entertainment center. The buttons on the the play station are just too tempting to resist. As is the volume knob on the stereo system. So we jam a toy into the drawers so that he can't close them thus he can't open the doors. Mean parents...
As with the dvd's, removing the billion pens and office supplies we have from these drawers is a daily occurrence. It gets old really quick. Consequence, drawers taped shut.
And last but not least, Asher and I have utilized our pass to Mount Vernon and met up with good ol Thomas Jefferson. Bill doubts the authenticity of this TJ as he would probably make a better Benjamin Franklin, no? But alas he counts, therefore I have pictures with 3 different presidents of the US, I've got a lot more to go.

Asher Walking

2011-07-02T23:00:00.002-05:00

Double click on the video to watch in full-screen.

More NYC/OBX Pictures

2011-07-01T21:19:00.009-05:00

OBX

2011-06-27T12:11:00.000-05:00

We kind of just got back from a week long vacation to the Outerbanks, NC. I say kind of because we have been home for over a week now. But it was a welcome break from daily life and all of my family flew in for the week. We took about a bazillion pictures, so here are just a few...very few. It was a week full of cannon ball contests, the beach, eating seafood, kites, a light house, the Wright Memorial, sand castles in the sand*, otterpops, and so on an so forth. Why is coming home from vacation so hard?

We picked the most windy day for family pictures

Fruits of my labors

2011-06-08T12:49:00.006-05:00

I bought a hiking backpack for my boy this week. I'm really excited about it because those suckers are expensive. I got mine used and had been looking for a while but I never seem to show up to consignment sales early enough to get the goods such as this. But someone just wanted to get rid of it and I snatched it up. It's in great shape and I think we'll be hitting up the Shenandoah's pretty soon for some family hikes! And Asher seems to like it...so far.
I made this delicious pizza last night for dinner. Let me tell you, it was simply delicioso! I made fresh pesto from the basil in my balcony "garden" and those tomatoes came from...costco. But they were pretty good - campari tomatoes.
But wait, look, what is that I see? 2 little tomatoes growing their little hearts out!
Soon they will be on my next pizza, as or whatever else I decide to make. Or maybe I'll just eat them like an apple, like the good ol days.
I picked a lot of basil last night and my plants still look very full. Need more recipes that call for copious amounts of basil. I'm taking suggestions.
And finally, have you all seen the new food pyramid? This is it. Looks pretty good right? My only complaint is that the vegetable portion is so big and the fruit portion is so small. Can't it be reversed? Why is is so much harder to eat vegetables than fruit? They didn't even include any fat into the diet, so where does my peanut butter snickers fit. Protein section?? My dietary guideline plate has a salad plate off to the side for dessert - it's on the other side of the dairy.

Pools out for the summer!

2011-05-29T09:33:00.010-05:00

Happy Summer! The pool at our apartment complex opened yesterday, so we made a family event out of it and graced it with our presence. The great thing about our pool is it has a baby pool and a regular sized pool, there were only 2 other families there and they have a life guard on duty. I didn't know small pools likes this did that, but it seems to be the standard around here. We don't plan on having to utilize the skills of the life guard, but it is a nice thing to have around, no?
We plan on spending a lot of time at the pool. So instead of buying disposable swim diapers, I bought some reusable swim diapers. Here he is modeling one of them. I think they are so dang cute. So far I'm very pleased with them.

It is kind of nice to have an excuse to go swimming again. We all had a great time. Thankfully, we won't have to drag the camera along next time. No need to document the second time swimming.

Now for a PSA:
Do you guys remember these things - the swim tube trainer? Please don't buy them! When I was a life guard, I saw kids wearing these things and they would inevitably tip over when their parents weren't looking and get stuck with their legs above water and head below. Don't do it, they should be banned from the market. Worst idea ever.

The flavors of summer

2011-05-26T14:06:00.005-05:00

Since we are city slickers, having a garden really isn't possible. I shed a few tears over this every year. But alas, we have a balcony so I decided to plant a few things. 1. Basil. I love basil and it is outrageously priced at the grocery store. 2. Tomatoes. What, tomatoes on a balcony, never! Yes it's true. My friend Cami told me she bought some balcony tomatoes at the store just the other day. They only grow to about 2-3 feet high, and the fruit is only a few inches. So, we are giving them a try. I was worried, because last weekend was the end of the world and I would be very upset if I didn't get to taste the fruits of my labors. Aren't we lucky that the world didn't end? Tomatoes will be here in July. Asher is a good little helper. Bad picture, but what kind of a face do you expect when you taste dirt? It did look like chocolate cake crumbs, easy to confuse.
Bring on the flavors of summer: blt's, panzanella, pizza, and caprese salad.

Too Quiet

2011-05-16T13:15:00.012-05:00

You know there is trouble when it is quiet. Here are a few examples.
Cass sleeping in my bed. I'm surprised I didn't find him with his head on my pillow and the blankets pulled up, but it was a hot day so sprawling out in the open is much cooler. Naughty cat.
We tracked down the Lobster Roll truck after reading about it in Bon Appetit. It was delicious and over priced...and had a horrendous line. But we were too busy stuffing our faces with fresh Maine lobster to care. It was naughty...good naughty.

Does this need an explanation? I think not. Naughty boy.

Kung Fu Panda hat, the hat owned by all loyal fans of Pablo Sandoval. It has many uses, obviously more than just for baseball it can be used to scare people. Naughty Bill.We bought a season pass to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. Okay, so no one is particularly quiet or naughty. But you have to be quiet on the tour, or else you can get kicked out. And that is naughty.

But you can be loud when viewing the animals. The sheep sure were noisy. Naughty sheep. That's probably why they live outside.

Giants vs. Nationals. Giants lost, we were quiet. They didn't play quite as well as they did during the world series. But they are smoking hot now. Naughty Giants.

Happy Easter

2011-05-02T13:52:00.007-05:00

Happy belated Easter. I'm not even going to apologize for posting this a week late. Sometimes, that is just the way it is. Easter was kind of a bust for Asher this year. I thought we would have a fun little egg hunt...it was a failure. See picture below. I put Asher in the grass with eggs right by him, visible even. He started to get up then he realized how much he hates grass.

See, he hates grass. He is trying to hold his legs up so that he doesn't touch anything. So we had a modified hunt. I held eggs up to him, and he found them.

Then we took a break in the swing and happiness ensued.

Asher enjoyed the bounty of the egg hunt from the safety of a park bench.And then got to ride on my shoulders back to the apartment. Maybe the traditional Easter egg hunt will go better next year. Hope you all had an awesome Easter, egg hunt aside, we did.

Washington Visit

2011-04-20T20:47:00.015-05:00

While we were in Washington, we didn't do the usual touristy stuff. We stayed away from Powell's bookstore, we didn't go shopping, and we didn't go to the zoo. We had our own fun just hanging around the house as a family and enjoyed all the animals in the area. And there was a lot more animal interaction there than at any zoo I've been to.

Asher working hard on the farm.

We visited some neighbors who have 2 mini horses, cows, a deer, and breed Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

Cow

You can see 4 puppies in the fence, I think they had 7 there at the time. Click on the picture for a better look.

Jumping mini horses, this little horse was a fireball and showed us how it is done. I think my parents have a picture of me that is very similar to this horse - jumping with my long mane of hair flying behind me.

Bill's parents have bird feeders w/ seed and humming bird feeders in their backyard and the birds were plentiful.

Bill with his dog sister, Emma. They love each other. Emma loves to sit in the recliner on your lap, all 60 lbs of her.

One of the new cats at the Weaver farm. Chester was so patients with Asher and he loved to sleep on whoever was around.

Asher loved all the animals (and he clearly loves his dad- he is giving a big squeeze). Not pictured were the regular sized horses next door or the bunnies scampering around the yard, and though Emma made the blog, the other golden retriever, Cashew, didn't. Please forgive my negligence in picture taking during this trip.

Happy Birthday, Asher

2011-04-17T12:13:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to our sweet boy, Asher. Can you believe he is one? I know I can't. We got to celebrate his birthday twice. Once with Bill's parents in Washington, and we had a little party here on his actual birthday with my sister and her family. And with two parties came two different desserts: a cupcake and a giant whoopie pie. Both were delicious and loved by Asher.

Here is the giant whoopie pie. It wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as I had hoped it would be. It spread a lot while it was cooking, thus it is kind of blob like.

Check out these cowboy boots. Don't be jealous, they only make them in baby sizes.
All in all, he had a great birthday. He has made us one very happy little family.

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

2011-04-06T12:30:00.007-05:00

This past weekend, I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler with my friend from our ward. It went better than I ever expected. I was a little concerned that my goal time was a little lofty for the type of training I had been doing for this race. We don't have access to a gym right now, and so quite a few runs were canceled due to the weather, or because I was sick (4 times within 6 months). Despite any of the setbacks, I was very pleased with the outcome of the run. It was a fun course which started at the Washington Monument, ran over the Memorial bridge to Arlington Cemetery, ran by the Watergate Hotel, back through the Tidal Basin and back to the Washington Monument. I even managed to run it 30 seconds faster than my goal time.
My running partner. We've signed up for the Baltimore marathon and half marathon. I'm the half, I'm over running marathons right now. Imagine that?
Asher did not have as much fun as I did. In fact, he was pretty miserable the whole time. Many cheerios were eaten to hold of the crying. It was a little chilly to be standing around.
I'm in the blue. Bill says I'm really good at running behind people just when he is trying to take a picture. Whatever. I wore my new Nike LunaRacers for this race, and despite have a great training run in them, I had monstrous blisters on my toes afterwords. Disappointing, but they look pretty sharp and fast.After the race, Bill and I saw this lady walking up the hill carrying her dog like a baby. It was pretty funny, no? The dog seemed to be enjoying the ride.A post race family shot. Washington Monument in the back ground and Asher crying, he had had enough.

Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby

2011-03-30T14:14:00.009-05:00

Opening day in the baseball world starts tomorrow. Get excited, everyone! To celebrate the impending baseball season, we had a wiffle ball home run derby with my sister's family. Many home runs were hit and many wiffle balls were broken. We take our games seriously, you should see us playing Mario Party, we are 100% competitive in everything we do. Okay, so that was an exaggeration. But, as always, we all had a grand time.

Lets start the season out with our traditional baseball picture.
Circa 1993? I'm taking a wild guess, I really have no idea.Circa 2011, some things haven't changed. Should have gotten in closer (my bad), but he is still as cute as a button.
The babies were set up on a picnic blanket with some snacks. Asher opened the can and poured the puffs all out so that he and his cousin could enjoy snacks to their hearts desire.
Me, hitting a home run. It's what I do best. Well at least we can see that I did hit the ball. The Royals hat must have been my good luck charm. Or Bill, the photographer, used some camera magic to make it look like I hit the ball.
Occasionally, the babies watched long enough to cheer on whoever was batting. And enjoy a bag of cheerios.
As you can see, it was a serious game with no less than 2 cameras on the field documenting at all times. The babies decided they were tired of watching baseball and demanded to be read too, specifically the touch and feel books. Who are we to deny a good book?

11 Months Old

2011-03-20T12:41:00.004-05:00

I thought I would do a little post on the babe. He is eleven months old, so I'll post 11 things about him.
1. He loves to scream....out of joy. At Church, at the store, at home, whenever he is happy and there are people near, he will scream for fun. I'm sure all the people around us love it.
2. The entertainment center provides hours of entertainment. Were these pieces of furniture created for small children, I think so.
3. He has 5 little razor teeth.
4. He will eat just about anything. In fact, I can't think of anything right now that he won't eat. But he loves whatever Bill or I are eating the most.
5. He doesn't walk yet, but he does cruise around the room with the aid of furniture.
6. He has had 3 haircuts in his short life. How do you tame the untameable, we are still trying to figure that one out.
7. He loves to talk. He says mom, dad, and nana (banana).
8. He is a great help when it comes to laundry. He is great at gathering up all the socks, tasting them, and maybe crawling around with them in his mouth until he decides to try another sock.
9. Along with screaming, he loves to wave at people. He has no concept of stranger danger.
10. He loves the cat. The cat hates him.
11. He is excited for nursery, and so are we.

Happy Mardi Gras

2011-03-08T17:34:00.008-06:00

Happy Fat Tuesday! When I was working at the University, one of the Doctor's wife was from New Orleans and she always had a couple of King Cakes shipped to their home. They were gracious enough to share this delicious tradition with all those in our department. So this morning, I sat dreaming about a King Cake and decided to do something about it. I googled King Cakes in the DC area and found a bakery selling them. So when Asher woke up from his morning nap, we trooped over there to partake in the Fat Tuesday tradition. We headed from the bakery to my sister's work to surprise her with our find. Twas a joyous occasion.

Bill found the baby Jesus. Tradition states that whoever find the baby Jesus baked into the cake has to buy the King Cake next year. I will have to help him remember.

2011-02-22T13:36:00.007-06:00

So regarding the last post about couponing. I feel like the pressure is on and you all will be sorely disappointed. Let me just say this, first, we have no storage and so buying multiples really isn't an option for us, second, couponing is a lot of work (and I'm lazy), and third, why doesn't anyone ever have coupons for the stuff I buy the most--produce? My method of saving money is to have a little black book with a page devoted to the various stores in the area that I frequent. Each page I have listed the price of items that I buy frequently, ie. pasta, milk, meats, fruits and vegetables etc. That way I know if something really is a good deal or not, because I could never remember otherwise. I read the adds, and print out coupons when I see things that I need or plan meals around things on sale. So, though I'm not a hard core couponer, I'm working at being thrifty.

Enough of that. On to life. We really haven't done much. While our car was in the shop for 2 weeks, we stayed in most of the time, or went on walks to nearby places. But the weather was great, and it also helped me to be frugal. I do have a testimony of food storage, I managed to scrape together meals with what we had.
Anyway, being trapped at home, Bill pulled out the baseball gloves and baseballs. Like Father, like son, Asher loves baseball. That is fine by me. Like mother, like son, he loves water, bath time is great and pool time this summer will be even better.

Like I said, we've been walking a lot of places. My babe thinks the bar for his car seat is a perfect footrest. Even though it was lovely outside, I put a jacket on him so that he wouldn't get too cold while I was running fast. Just kidding, a light jacket was nice to have.
We went on a lot of runs together. He is generally a good sport, especially when we don't have to have the weather cover on the stroller.
And here is mischief. He was crawling around and got into my bag. He discovered my licorice and dumped it out and then helped himself. He thoroughly enjoyed.
On a final note, I've been reading the Hunger Games series. I need the 3rd book. I'm number 16 on the wait-list at the library for the book. Does anyone in the DC area of the last book I could borrow for a day or 2? Please?

Couponing...SOS

2011-02-16T13:08:00.007-06:00

So I've been trying to be a good little saver and use coupons. I saw a lady at Target using coupons and when I started paying attention, her bill was at $98, after all her coupons were entered in, her bill was $43. I like saving money, but I've never had success like that. Maybe $5 here or there. Here is the problem, I look at couponing website and they have deals on stuff I don't buy - pop tarts, weight watchers frozen ice cream bars, oreos, gluten free food. Don't get me wrong, I love oreos, but I don't have room to buy 2 things of oreos to save $1. So what is the secret? I swear Target never has coupons out at the same time a manufacturer has coupons out. Should I start getting the Sunday paper? Any websites that are a must? Tell me, please! Because I just don't know.

Swimming v. Baseball

2011-02-03T19:49:00.002-06:00

This is Bill. Recently, Kate had a couple blog posts debating which sport was "more athletic," swimming or baseball. The commenters on these posts favored swimming. Their arguments strain all sense of reason. Accordingly, they merit no refutation. Instead, I have put together the following video summarizing the issue. Be sure to let it load and play it with sound to really drive the point home. Double-click for full-screen.

Best you can be

2011-02-01T13:14:00.005-06:00

My baby helps me to be the best that I can be.

He prevents slothfulness:

Apparently 6:15 AM is wake up time. Sleeping past 7 is a waste of a day. Doesn't he realize that the Today show doesn't even come on until 7?

He helped Bill with child proofing duties (see picture above):

We have one kitchen entrance gated, but not the other. He discovered the other entrance, and he also discovered cat food.

He helps me keep a tidy house:

He grabbed my little bag of Doritos while I was checking fb. Of course half the bag was crumbs (thanks Cass for lounging on all the chips), and so he picked up the bag and swung it with all his might. Bright orange crumbs everywhere. I vacuumed the rug, the couch and swept. Family room cleaned, check.

He helps me stay strong:

He helps me stay strong by climbing all over me while doing pilates. Nothing helps your core on a plank hold like 19 extra pounds on your back.

He helps me to be productive:

Leaving the computer open on the couch for Asher is like a moth to a light. He can't resist it, he will pound on it. So we stay busy doing other things.

He prevents gluttony:

He likes food. He likes to try new food...that we're eating. He gets grumpy in the evening, and doesn't like peace and quiet during dinner. He likes to be involved, and yes, he will have a bite of your mashed potatoes.

I just might be able to keep all of my new years resolutions.

Favorite Things

2011-01-27T10:00:00.005-06:00

I just feel the need to share with you a few of my favorite things. Some have change my life drastically, others just make me happy, so I'm sharing the wealth. In no specific order

1. Saigon Cinnamon from Costco. So good. I thought cinnamon was cinnamon until I tried this stuff. It is so flavorful and makes my oatmeal extra delicious!
2. Costco. Enough said.
3. Heated mattress pad. Thank you Maggie! This has revolutionized my life. Our bedroom is almost 10 degrees colder than the rest of our tiny apartment. How, I don't know. Before this, getting into bed was like sliding into a giant freezer, now it is like sliding into the sand in Hawaii.
4. Peanut butter snickers. So good. How could you improve something that is great, ie. snickers, just add peanut butter.
5. Little tiny baby coat in my coat closet. I think it is cute, and it makes me happy to see it there.
6. Morning runs. I'm so productive the rest of the day.
7. Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. It's a good little workout.
8. Jimmer Fredette. Go BYU! I can't wait to see how many little Jimmers are born in the year 2011. Please tell me if you know someone who names their kid Jimmer. Pleeeease???
9. Hoda and Kathy Lee. I wish I had tv in my room, so I could watch KLG & Hoda from the comfort of my toasty bed.
10?????

Wow, I thought I'd be able to get to 10, but I don't want to over do it. Besides, I'm not Oprah where everything is my favorite thing. Did I forget anything vital?

Weirdos of the Night

2011-01-21T13:42:00.003-06:00

One night, I received a phone call at 3:15 AM. I wasn't very pleased, but since it was a Utah number, I answered thinking maybe it was someone I knew. (it's hard to think clearly at 3 am)
Anyway, caller asks for Ricky.
I groggily growled that they had the wrong number.
45 minutes later, I get a text picture of this lady.
I promise, I'm not Ricky. But thanks for the picture.

Does anyone know this person?

Poll Results

2011-01-20T10:00:00.006-06:00

The post you've all been waiting for, well I've been waiting for it. As you can see, the results from you, the people, state which sport requires more athleticism.

Swimming - 77%
Baseball - 22 %

Many of you have probably guessed who is partial to what sport, and I'm sure if I had more male readers, there would have been a few more votes for baseball.

Here are my reasons for siding with swimming:

Look at Michael Phelps, he is the picture of health, strong, muscular, has great endurance. Being a swimmer requires a lot of training. Sure, anyone can become a swimmer, but those who were once heavy, quickly lose weight swimming. It is a sport of constant motion, the person who is the fastest wins. It does require coordination also, fly, breaststroke, flip turns, etc.

Baseball on the other hand isn't the picture of health. Look at Pablo Sandoval, he is fat. He almost always gets out at 1st base because he is slow. But he has great hand eye coordination. And, if you look closely, he has a tin of tobacco in his butt pocket (not to mention all the players who have done performance enhancing drugs - A Rod....). Yep, you can chew chaw while participating in your sport. It is a sport of outwitting the opponent with steeling bases, change ups and curve balls, not of power and endurance.

Kalli and Jo, I see both your points concerning hand eye coordination. But I've done both sports, and I think anyone could learn hand eye coordination. With the right timing, you can hit a ball or you can release a pitch so that it lands in a catchable location. And swimming can be learned also. I'm not saying anyone could be a professional at either sport, but that both sports can be learned by anyone. But one will improve your health, while the other will improve your socialization skills while you are chilling in left field waiting for someone to hit a perfectly timed pitch to you.

I'm still sticking with swimming requires more athleticism. Skills can be learned with enough practice. You can do anything you want to do.

And isn't baseball being removed from the Olympics?

Comments?

Poll Time

2011-01-11T13:46:00.003-06:00

Dear Friends,

Your assistance is needed. Please leave your google readers and come to my actual blog, I need you all to participate in a little poll. Here is the question.

Which sport requires more athleticism?

Swimming or Baseball

I'm going to leave it at that because I'm trying really hard not to skew the results. Be prepared for my follow up post.

Notice that cheerleading isn't included in this poll, that is because cheerleading isn't a sport.

Feel free to leave a comment, snarky or not, I'm interested to hear what you think.

Take the poll. Thanks.

I can't do pictures either, because that would also skew the results of the poll - ie Pablo Sandoval.

Update on life

2011-01-09T15:46:00.006-06:00

We've got trouble on our hands. This little munchkin is pulling himself up on things. He has left behind (for the most part) his army crawl and is doing a real crawl, he said "dadda" a lot today, not just throwing consonants and vowels together, he says "dadda" on purpose. Oy, why does my baby have to grow up so fast. This picture was taken today when we went in to get him after a nap. Yeah, he was a little angry it took us so long to come in and get him. Bad parenting, but the look on his face is priceless.
It was a father son day on Friday. They both wore their matching University of Chicago Law School shirts. We've been sitting on that little shirt for 3 years now and we finally got to use it. While wearing their matching shirts, they had a lively law conversation going when Asher yelled at Bill "moot". There you have it, the conversation was over. Asher won. Like father like son.
My parents were out the week between Christmas and New Years to babysit our nephew and visit with family. While they were here, we decided to head up to Lancaster, to the Amish community. This picture of a covered bridge is the only picture I took on our visit. And I have to say, I was a little bit disappointed. I expected Amish country to be a little less commercialized. Maybe we just visited the wrong places? Comments?? Anyone who has been agree, or disagree? We went to Intercourse and Bird in Hand. Yeah, those are both names of towns in Lancaster county. Those Amish are wily ones.

Merry Christmas

2011-01-05T13:45:00.006-06:00

I know, Christmas has come and gone, but I've got some pictures I want to post. Anyway, we had a very merry Christmas here in DC. We started off the holiday by going up to the DC temple with my sister and her family. And wouldn't you know, all of DC was there that day too. The grounds were beautiful and they had a room full of nativities from around the world.My sister was nice enough to bring snow suits for the babies to wear since it was a cold week (of 30 F - so pleasant compared to the temperatures we experienced in Chicago). I put Asher in one, he looks slightly embarrassed in this picture. I think Asher starfish is funny, no?
On to Christmas eve with my sister's family. As you can see, I didn't do a very good job of documenting the holidays. I'll do better next year. But we did get pictures with the boys in their matching Christmas pajamas (thanks Vicki).
And then we got a million pictures of Asher opening presents on the big day. I'll spare you. But I have to say, this is the first time I've really looked forward to Christmas in a really long time. Though that little stinker didn't care about Christmas, it was probably the best Christmas our little family has ever had.
Hope you all had a very merry Christmas too!

My little Samson

2010-12-23T08:46:00.005-06:00

It's okay, I can admit it. My child's hair was getting out of control. I loved it, but he was starting to look like and orphan, throw in a sucker in one hand and sticky all over his hair and face and he would have looked like a neglected child left by the train tracks. He might have had a little mullet going on, and his hair wasn't completely standing on end anymore, but it was getting ridiculous. Bill put his foot down and pulled out the scissors. I cried. Asher didn't care. However, the day after his hair was cut, he was grumpy, I think all his happy powers were lost with the hair. Bill should have known his hair held magical powers.

Before

After

Also note that Bill cut his own hair too. He decided it was also getting to be ridiculous and so I woke up this morning to find him in the bathroom going to town on his hair with a pair of scissors. It looks good, and it saves money. Anyway, my two freshly shorn boys.

Asher Army Crawling

2010-12-21T16:04:00.002-06:00

We have a number of these army-crawling videos. Asher stops doing most things when we turn the camera on, as its little red light traps him like a deer in the headlights. But if you put the camera where he can get it, the situation is more like a moth to the flame. All these analogies sound bad when applied to a baby. The point is that army-crawling is one of the things he will do not only for the camera, but because of the camera.

Paige

2010-12-08T14:36:00.001-06:00

Cookies and life as we know it

2010-12-03T12:00:00.006-06:00

It's cookie season and I have no self control. I'm trying to be good and eat lots of fruits and vegetables. But lets be honest, the fruit selection this time of year is weak. And frankly, a mini cheeseburger sounds way better to me right know than a salad.
So here is my question (please leave comments), what do you guys eat everyday. Staying home all day makes me want to graze on crackers. I love crackers. Do any of you have any other tasty alternatives¿ Cool, I just figured out how to do the the upside-down question mark¿

In other news (in no specific order):

My sweet babe is crawling. I like it and I don't. I need to get some gates.
We put of the tree last night and I've already had to redecorate the bottom half of the tree, not because of my kid- but because of the cat.
Bill is officially an Esquire. We all rejoiced!
I signed up for the cherry blossom 10 miler, it's a lottery to get in, cross your fingers I win. I need something to motivate me to keep running.
All I want to eat are cookies, like these.
And lastly, well, I don't have anything else to say. I thought by having a kid my life would get less boring. I was wrong. We go to target, we go on runs, he naps, and we chill.
oh I know, I mopped my floors this morning. I feel happy strangely enough. I hate cleaning this apartment, probably because 1 item left out makes the place feel like a disaster. So I always feel like I'm picking up etc. ¿What am I going to do when we live in a place that is bigger than 800 sq feet? Maybe liking the apartment more will give me reason to clean.

Favorite Photos

2010-11-13T19:22:00.013-06:00

I have been sorting through pictures for an extended family photo album. Anyway, I've run into pictures that are awesome, so I'm devoting a post just to those.
p.s. Bill has taken pretty much all of the awesome photos.

Victim of poop street, Chicago, IL

Washington Monument

St. Louis Arch

Cass

Winter in Chicago

Lance Armstrong, Boston Marathon '08

Freemont Street, Las Vegas

Emma, Bill's dog sister

Enough time has passed that I can post this picture now. In case you are wondering, it is cookie dough ice cream, and yes, it was delicious - baby liked it too.

Bill the Baller or Gala-er

2010-11-10T13:57:00.007-06:00

So last weekend Bill was invited to a black tie event - the Lombardi Gala, or something like that. His firm represents the NFL or some aspect of it, and since he worked on the case that went to the supreme court last summer, one of the partners invited him to come along to the event. The firm bought a table, but alas, since people from the NY office and DC office would be there, there was no room for me. Poor me, it would of been fun, but it would have been a nightmare coming up with a formal dress in 3 days time (excuses excuses, I would have made it happen). Anyway, we checked out tux rentals, they are very expensive. Luckily, Bill found one on sale. When he told me that, I asked him if it was baby blue or brown (because who would have a decent looking tux on sale for such an amazing price?). He said it's just black. Score, so Bill is now an owner of a tux, and he looked great if I may say so myself. All the pictures of just him had bad lighting, so you'll have to see my tuxed boy with a pant-less boy. He had a grand time eating good food, and talking law. Oh yeah, and there were even NFL hall of famers. Don't ask who they were, because unless they are Joe Montana or Steve Young, I probably have no idea who they are.

And lastly, here is a few pictures from out trip to the Shenandoah mountains. The colors were amazing and the crowds were ridiculous.

Bit o' life

2010-11-05T13:38:00.010-05:00

It is 2:54 in the afternoon, and the cat is still in bed. I think he is suffering from depression, just can't bring himself to get up in the morning. Or possibly, he is catching up on sleep lost in the night when Asher is crying. When the baby is crying, nobody sleeps. Boo.
Speaking of the cat, when I picked up our new to us car, I had to clean out the Camry, and while doing so Asher was screaming. The guy helping me clean out the car was really helpful and got Asher to stop crying......with a toy mouse he found under the seat (left there from when we moved). Thoughtful, but really?? giving my kid cat toys?? Gross.
Moving on, Mom, this picture is for you. Asher's hair is getting to be a little bit ridiculous (long and standing straight up), so we wet it and combed it down. He doesn't look like my baby anymore.
Took a trip to Utah in October. It was great to see my family, and even some friends. I was told that my blog has turned into a baby blog. Despite my efforts, it's true. But I will say, I have not, and will NEVER, do a post of 20 pictures of Asher in different positions, with no words. I try to have some sustenance in my posts.
Next item of business, we drove out to the Shenandoah state park (along with everyone else in DC) to see the colors of fall and do a quick hike. Unfortunately, both sets of batteries for the camera were dead. I'm still waiting for pictures from my sister who planned better.

And last but not least, one more Halloween picture of Asher and cousin...because I think it is cute.
oh yeah, I'm listening to one of my favorite artists, A Fine Frenzy, as I type this with one hand and hold Asher with the other. He squealed with delight when I turned it on. I'm glad he has good taste in music like his mama.

GIANTS WIN THE WORLD SERIES

2010-11-01T21:45:00.001-05:00

Watching the Giants

2010-11-01T19:07:00.004-05:00

1 more game. 1 more game.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-27T19:52:00.000-05:00

Our ward had trunk-or-treat last weekend, thus we celebrated early. He was a busy little bee.
Too bad he didn't collect any candy. I would have enjoyed every bite of it.

Goodbye, Camry

2010-10-21T19:18:00.004-05:00

Oh, Camry. Like a old relative in a nursing home who drains his family's savings, you just refused to die. And then, to the relief of all who knew you, you did. Your engine shook, your gears stopped, and then all you could see was light. This light was not transcendent. It was not heavenly. It was orange. And it was the check engine light. Since you weren't worth the gas we put inside you, that little light meant it was time to go a better place. Probably the junk yard.

You, our Camry, will not be missed. You were a car; not a person. And you were a bad car. You were an ugly car. Your beige interior matched your beige exterior, which matched your complete beige-ness. Less flashy than a black hole, you excelled only in mediocrity. You had a tape player, for crying out loud. And it broke. You had a broken tape player. Once I left the doors unlocked and the key in the ignition. But even on the South Side of Chicago, no one would take you. And who can blame them?

We have fond memories in you, but no fond memories of you.

That, of course, is a fabrication of the truth. We have exactly two fond memories of you. First, you allowed yourself to be hit by a medical student in a 4Runner. We thank you. That was a nice check we received from the medical student's insurance company. We could have used it to repair you; but, as you know, you weren't worth it. The second fond memory we have of you is our last: the memory of that car dealer actually giving us money to take you. Surely he only did so because he felt sorry for us, and it wasn't that much, but we will always relish the pity that had a price tag.

What is there left to say, Camry? You made it on long trips? You hauled that trailer to Chicago? So what? You were a car. You're supposed to work. The fact that we were thrilled with these achievements only shows how low the bar was set.

Goodbye, Camry. I hated you every day.

Go Giants

2010-10-20T22:47:00.002-05:00

If you are our friend, you are rooting for the Giants. If you are not rooting for the Giants, you are not our friend.

Fear the beard.

Update

2010-10-08T08:05:00.009-05:00

So we are on night 4 and he slept from 7:30-6:45!! Night 1 was the worst as he woke up several times and cried from 2-3:45. It really was awful. Especially when he woke up the next morning because he was hoarse. Oh it broke my heart hearing him cry.
Night 2 - cried for probably 15 minutes.
Night 3 - cried for about 5 minutes
last night - no crying! Success. Thanks for all the comments, it helped a lot, especially on the first night.
So on to happier stuff. My sister and I went to Maryland to go apple picking. You know, to do stuff white people like. If you think that sounds racist, see this (it isn't racist, it's satirical). We had a jolly good time. The weather was perfect and the fruit was delicious. I've been munching on apples all week. Oh yeah, and they had the most wonderful tomatoes. You can't get them like that in the store. Beautiful tomatoes come at a cost, and I'll willingly pay it for a little piece of heaven.

Silly me, I forgot a hat for my fair little babe, so we improvised and used a blanket to protect his strawberry head. He didn't mind. It makes him look like a saint, no?

Sending out an SOS

2010-10-04T12:18:00.003-05:00

Help. I need HELP!
My little munchkin used to be a GREAT sleeper. He would go to sleep by 8, wake up at 4 or 5, and sleep until 8.
Then we moved.
Now he is an awful sleeper. Last night I put him to bed at 7, because he was exhausted and he woke up at 12, 2, 4, 6 and finally around 7:45 for the day. He even napped pretty well yesterday, but refused his last nap.
I can't do this any more. He is almost 6 months old, he should be sleeping through the night. Not every night is like this, but most nights, he wakes up multiple times. We went through a period of inconsolable crying during the middle of the night. It was horrible. I'm sure our neighbors love us. He doesn't have an ear ache, and I haven't seen any sign of a tooth.
I've read online that a move can really mess up their sleeping. I'm starting to reconsider this move, just kidding, but my 2 am self is.
Advice Please. I know you all have it. So save me.
oh yeah, he rolls, it's a huge pain and won't sleep on his tummy. Oh yeah, one more thing, out of desperation, I tried a little cry it out session. He won - he went for 45 minutes. Don't judge, we were checking on him.

Above picture is to showcase his hair. It naturally stands straight up. I love it.

The good & the bad: Chicago

2010-10-01T10:01:00.004-05:00

I think I'll take a minute to give a few words about my beloved Chicago. The things I'll miss, and the things I won't miss.
I'll miss (in no specific order):

Our apartment, we had a great view of Lake Michigan and our apartment was spacious.
The walk-ability of our neighborhood. We could walk to school, church, grocery stores, the library etc. Easily hop on the bus or train to go into the city. Our new place has a "good" walk score, but really, there is no walking.
Our friends, enough said.
The food. Oh man, Chicago has great restaurants. For our last night in Chicago, we went to Bandera, one of our favorite restaurants. Pictured above is their famous veggie burger. Oh my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
The ward. Our ward was great and very unique. I don't think you could find a ward like it any where else. Can I get an A.MEN?!
The UofC. Beautiful campus, weird (insert uber smart) students. I liked it though.
Hyde Park Produce. Oh I miss you so very very much!
The lake shore path. Perfect place to run or bike.

I won't miss:

The parking situation. It was impossible all the time. Add in the bird poop factor and it was miserable.
Kenwood kids, they were scary.
Service or lack there of on the southside of Chicago.
Issues associated with the southside - crime, murders - it wasn't by us, but nonetheless, it was not that far.
Winter.
Corruption in Chicago politics.
Flamin' Hots - you HPer's know what I'm talking about.

I'm sure the lists could go on. But we'll just leave it at that. Overall, I miss Chicago a lot. It was comfortable and part of me feels like Chicago is where I grew up, and it's where our family started. Luckily, we'll always have a piece of Chicago since Asher is a native Chicagoan.

We're Here

2010-09-27T11:03:00.010-05:00

Hello, anybody out there? I'm here, I promise. I just got internet TODAY! Who knew I was so dependent on the internet, but not having it for the last 3 weeks has be difficult....torture even. Can't look up destinations, or recommendations for this that or the other. Luckily, my blackberry has gotten me through a few rough patches (where is the closest CVS...)Anyway, we left Chicago on Saturday morning, and got to DC in about 12 hours. The babe was a trouper and only really had a melt down during the last hour of the drive. I'll take it. I expected him to be way worse! Anyway, last family picture in Chicago next to old reliable - the Camry.In our new place. We decided to paint before all of our stuff arrived. Someone had the bad idea of painting the whole apartment purple.
My sweet babe, growing like a weed. His hair stands on end and he eats his feet and rolls like a potato bug. (it's causing problems, he likes to roll the most when he should be sleeping:(
Bill has started work and is loving it. So while he is working hard for the money, I'm hanging with my sister. We're fun like that.
And the boys like playing together. So we indulge and have regular play dates. There has only been one incident of hair pulling. Of course only one of them has enough hair to pull (see Asher's hair stands on end).And there you have it. Hello from DC!

With Mom and Dad

2010-08-26T11:52:00.005-05:00

Asher is a poor painter. He rarely remembers to put paint on his brush, and he pays far more attention to the TV. But he is excited to be done, because that means we're closer to moving, and that means he gets to spend more time with his mom.

Happy #5

2010-08-20T08:27:00.003-05:00

Happy belated anniversary. Here's to many more!

picture circa 2005

Veni, Vidi, Vici

2010-08-08T20:15:00.007-05:00

I went out to DC this weekend to look for an apartment and to see my sister and her little family. She had a baby in June and I felt like our kids needed to meet. We had a little photo shoot on the couch. My babe is almost 4 months old, and her babe is 5 weeks old. I forget how small they are. He makes my baby look gigantic. I'm glad that the bigger baby is being held up by a 5 week old. Here is more of our photo shoot.
Does this make me a bad mom because instead of putting the babies up right again, I laughed and snapped some more pictures (neither were crying). Oops. Couldn't help myself. Come on, don't tell me this isn't funny.
In other news, we found an apartment! Hurray. I may have cried hysterically 2 or 3 times while searching, but we came, we saw, and we conquered! Let me just brag for a minute. It has a washer and dryer in the unit! I'm excited. And it's reasonably priced...for DC...cough cough. Searching for apartments is the worst. process. EVER! Thank goodness it's over for at least a year.

Mr Mom

2010-08-01T14:37:00.008-05:00

We are alive, I promise. It has just been a busy summer - well busy month of July. First off I went back to work. Lame I know. Something about being responsible and having an income until Bill's job starts. Got to pay the bills:( So Bill has been a stay at home dad all while studying for the CA bar. We made it work. When I got home from work, I would take over and Bill would continue studying until 1 or 2 in the morning. There may have been a day or two when I received a panicked email about a baby not sleeping and thus no studying was accomplished. But over all, it all worked out. And I think Bill enjoyed the time with our babe. I'm sure this was the face made when I walked out the door every day. Just kidding, he was fine.

Also, I ran a 5k this month. I decided I needed a race to motivate me and get back in shape. It went better than I thought, but I looked at the pictures and decided they were all too ugly to post.
Oh yeah, cut my hair way short. I put my faith in Dave to make me look great. He might have failed. It isn't that bad, but I feel like I have mom hair. Dave told me it wasn't a mom cut, it has too much spice for that. Whatever. It's growing on me...get it?! bahahaha. I think I'm growing it out, but I've adjusted and love how easy it is, just not how short it is.
I've also been searching for a new apartment. I'm losing sleep over it. Needless to say, it is very stressful and all consuming - thus no blogging. DC is muy expensive and the apartments are small.
And our final activity of this month was Bill taking the bar. Can I get a hallelujah that it is over?! I've felt like a single mom for the last month. No fun. I know studying for and taking the bar sucked too. Oh well, it's over. Now we have to squeeze in as much fun as possible before we move.
Now onto a busy August, and maybe life will slow down a bit in September. Cross your fingers.

Asher Talking-ish

2010-07-10T10:53:00.002-05:00

Asher and I like to practice talking. So far he has "oooooooooo" down cold. We try other vowel sounds, but he just stares up at me in confusion, either because he doesn't know how to make those sounds, or because he doesn't know why we would say anything besides "oooooooooo."

Tribute to America, My Final Installment

2010-07-05T10:12:00.001-05:00

In case you missed it, Epitome of Patriotism, and Ode to the President were part 1 and 2.
We love America, that is why we gave our baby boy the middle name of Britton? Hail, Brittania! Just kidding, we gave him that name for other reasons. But we do love America, and our next child if it is a girl, will have the middle name of America, and if it is a boy will be Deutschland (because they are kicking butt in the world cup).
We felt the need to be festive for church, so we put the babe in good old red white and blue.
We also had a lovely bbq on the 3rd with some good friends in the ward. I found these disposable bbqs for $5 and it was well worth the money. It's hard being a city slicker and never being able to bbq. So if you want to try these out, check out this website. No, I'm not getting paid to promote these. But yes, the burgers and kabobs turned out delicious!
We also made it to taste of Chicago. If you love America, you support your cities festivities...no?
And finally, I made Bill take a break from studying to go to the beach with us. I might have sweetened the deal with McDonald's, but who cares.

Ode to the President

2010-07-03T14:00:00.004-05:00

I like to get my picture taken with the president -past, present, and future.

Past

just in case you weren't sure. He is pretty authentic hu? I went down to Springfield with my parents and we toured Pres. Lincoln's house, and he just happened to be walking down the street, carpet bag and all.

Present

Future

Just kidding on this last one, he won't be running in any election.

The Epitome of Patriotism

2010-06-30T16:14:00.004-05:00

Bill's been trying to upload a video for 3 days now. So until that finishes loading (if ever), please enjoy our patriotic cat - to help you get in the mood for the holiday weekend.
Cass loves America!

*No this picture wasn't staged, I can't help it if my cat is awesome.

Blessing Day

2010-06-19T14:38:00.008-05:00

We blessed Asher last Sunday. We were so glad that we could have both of our families in town not only for graduation, but also for the blessing. It was definitely a fun filled weekend. Anyway, here is the special boy himself. Bill felt that his outfit was cute for a dress. Whatever, I thought he was adorable, and I could have done a traditional blessing outfit and put him in a dress. It's not girly at all. And, I left off the bonnet that it came with.
We tried to take pictures at the church afterword, but as you can see from the 2 pictures posted, his good mood quickly deteriorated. Apparently, it was time to eat.
So we took some pictures later in the day of the whole family after he had eaten and had a nice long nap. Anyway, it was a great day, and again, we are so glad we had everyone there for this special occasion.

Graduation!

2010-06-14T12:21:00.009-05:00

Bill graduated from law school on Saturday! It was a great day. The day started with a down pour as soon as we arrived at the Rockefeller Chapel where the hooding ceremony was held. But let up as soon as we were all drenched. They really couldn't have picked a better location. They had the organ blaring and a brass quartet and a beautiful location! Anyway, so here are some pictures from our day.
First picture is of Bill Weaver JD (can't put Esq until he is sworn in, it's against the law, he would know). in front of the University of Chicago Law School.

Rockefeller Chapel

I managed to snap this picture during the graduate procession leaving the ceremony, and I like the picture, so I thought I would share it.

Congrats Bill!!
Yeah for never having to go to school again!
Hurray for only 1 more test for the rest of your life!

Happy Trails

2010-06-05T13:19:00.003-05:00

Last night we watched the documentary "Ultra Marathon Man". Can we just say, he is crazy. In case you aren't familiar with this guy, he ran 50 marathons, in 50 days, in 50 states. Madness. But it was exciting in a way that probably only a runner would really appreciate.
I've been getting back into running, slowly but surely. In fact, I have my dream stroller to aid my quest of getting back into shape--The Bob, the Mecca of running strollers. Can I just tell you how much I love this thing...I do. I took my sweet babe out for a run this morning (it has a car seat adapter, so he is nice and safe, don't worry) and a mile into the run, it started to pour. It felt like the good old days of running- except that back then all I had to push was myself. It was most enjoyable and very wet (for me).
Speaking of getting back into shape, I got on the Wii fit yesterday and it said. "Hello Kate, it has been 359 days since your last session!" Then it told me that I didn't succeed in my weight loss goal from 359 days ago. Whose fault was that? I blame the baby.

Now I just need my dream car to haul around my dream stroller. The Audi Allroad Quatro, the sporty/luxury wagon. Too bad they are discontinued.

Asher Smiling

2010-05-30T21:40:00.004-05:00

He's a quick smiler, so we can only catch him on the iPhone camera.

Schools Out for the Summer!

2010-05-26T14:08:00.007-05:00

Bill had his last final yesterday. Which means, he is officially done with law school. Here is a picture from his last day of class. It's worth memorializing, don't you think?

Here is a picture from his first day of school. A true University of Chicago nerd.

Okay, okay, here is a real University of Chicago law student. Calm, cool, and collected...and not as nerdy as the undergrad.Congratulations on finishing law school Bill! You are practically a lawyer.

McSneaky in the Bedroom

2010-05-18T09:17:00.001-05:00

Inspected By: Neil Young

I know this isn't the clearest photo, but my phone was all I had with me to snap this shot. What is the significance you might ask? Well I was doing laundry today...yes I do laundry, occasionally. Yes Bill usually does it and does a great job - separates, and remember so pull things out of the washer to hang dry. I know, I married super man (does this brag fest make you want to gag?). Anyway, I was doing laundry because I wanted the sheets on the bed washed because a certain someone was eating McDonald's in my bed. I'll let you guess who (it wasn't my sweet babe, or the cat). I confronted (might have thrown a fit) the offender and he promised me he wouldn't get any crumbs in the bed. Low and behold, I wake up one night to feed my babe and I feel salt all over my side. I was angry, fuming, extremely perturbed. Mind you, I was already feeling this way when I walked in on the perpetrator person eating fries. There wasn't any salt in the bed when I went to bed, and I discovered the source. The salt was coming from old red, my blanket. My mind flashed back to earlier that evening when I saw that the biggie sized fries were being propped up by old red.
Yeah, so I was doing laundry when I saw this on the back of one of the washing machines "Inspected by Neil Young". I mean, I know Neil Young is talented - I've heard his music, but who would have thought he was also an inspection superstar.

I shouldn't even have to post a poll about this but, do you let your spouse eat in bed?
My husband does it while I'm at work...little wiesel!

P.S. The previous poll about gifts was posted because Bill always wants to do gifts early, like a week early. I like to do gifts on the day of the holiday. Bill thinks I'm the weird one waiting.

Watch Cat

2010-05-12T17:00:00.004-05:00

Cass is a "watch cat". He likes to watch over the baby and make sure he is okay (I'm in the same room, don't worry). When the babe cries, Cass will sit by his crib until we come and get him. He has been trained well. Now I just need to train him to turn off lights and fetch things for me, like chap stick and my cell phone.

The good and the bad

2010-05-11T16:51:00.007-05:00

This is what my life has come to. Trying to get work done on the computer. I use to term work lightly, you know, catching up on my google reader, looking for blessing outfits- yes it's true, we've yet to agree on one. I gave birth, I should have the last word, no? Anyway, to get "work" done, I've strapped my boy into the baby bjorn and lucky me, as soon as he was in, he fell asleep. I love it when he sleeps!
Few things have happened lately, mostly things of the tragic nature (except my sister coming for a quick visit, that was great!). We'll start with the positives.
Good things that have happened:
1. Sister came. Very fun.
2. My babe is finally napping. Hallelujah.
3. I'm still eating chocolate. Thank goodness.
Bad things that have happened:
1. Dish washer. The dish washer is broken again. Bla, I hate it when this happens, the time frame for it being fixed is 24-48 hours, that means 72. What else does that mean, dishes are stacking up and I don't want to do them. Paper plates anyone?
2. The weather. It's cold and rainy out. What does that mean, our (as in me and the babe) outings are limited, or non-existent.
3. Air mattress. Out air mattress has a leak...as usual. This is our third air mattress in as many years. Why? Why? They are too expensive to have to replace after every other guest that comes to visit. Okay, so maybe we've gotten more use than every other, but it seems that frequent. And did I mention that they cost too much to replace frequently, oh yeah I did, well I've said it again. Can't someone make a more durable mattress, or lower the price of real mattresses and we'll buy another bed.
4. The bar. Bill started studying for the CA bar on May 1st. The schedule for bar study is everyday, including Saturday and Sunday. What a bummer.
5. My hair. It looks atrocious. I know, this is a frequent topic on this blog, but hair can make or brake you. I had a hair cut scheduled for the week before my due date. But then the Sunday before the appointment, I decided to cancel. It turned out to be a good move since the babe came early.

No title tuesday

2010-05-04T14:35:00.005-05:00

One of my earliest memories was my mom putting me down for a nap when I was little. I hated naps and thought they were so boring. I remember sneaking down the stairs to see what exciting things my mom was doing. She was doing something equally boring - reading the newspaper. After seeing that, I went back to my nap.
Now here I am, relishing my sweet babe's nap time, reading (not the newspaper though). It's official, I'm boring.

I have a poll for you all to take on the side bar. Please participate.
Do you like to receive presents early or on the day of the holiday. i.e. Do you like to get birthday presents 3 days before your actual birthday, or would you rather receive them on the real date?

By Popular Demand

2010-05-01T19:18:00.004-05:00

I'm back

2010-04-23T14:09:00.007-05:00

I'm back, did you miss me? Well, I'm back as long as I have something to say, so who knows how long that might last. Anyway, I thought I would give you a quick update on our family of 3.5 (I'll count Cass as a half). My mom was here for the last week helping out and it was great. She calmed all my fears, taught us, and fed us. Now we're on our own...it's kind of scary. But so far so good. Thanks mom!The babe, he is good. He eat, sleeps, and poots (a lot). poot= toot/poop, I bet you wanted to know that. I think it is fair to say that we like him a lot. Everyone told me not to wish him out because they are so much easier to take care of in the womb. They were right, he was less maintenance. But I sure love not being pregnant, and I'd rather be able to smother him with kisses than endure endless elbow pokes and waddling.Then we have the .5 of the family. I'm sure Bill would be displeased with me referring to our cat as a child since he is a cat not a human. But Cass has been struggling with older sibling syndrome. He feels neglected and has been acting out. He runs around the apartment like a maniac and misbehaves. He doesn't know what to think of the baby. But he is warming up to him and is very curious. All he needs is a little extra TLC. I think this picture states exactly how he feels about the baby, annoyed.

And last but not least. I love not working! I feel liberated! And I love being able to watch Hoda and Kathy Lee again. They really are hilarious. And lets be honest, the SNL skits about them are dead on, that is what makes them even better. I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to work. Isn't there some way I can make money and have good benefits while being home where I can eat crackers and bri all day with a dose of KLG & Hoda? If you know of a profession that allows this, please advise asap.

Asher Video

2010-04-17T17:39:00.002-05:00

Here is a video of Asher. It was taken today. Don't blame Kate for this suddenly turning into a baby blog, as I am doing the posting, and all of these blogs eventually turn into baby blogs. Kate is intent on that not happening, but we'll see if she cracks under the intense pressure from grandparents.

Asher

2010-04-13T13:36:00.007-05:00

Asher Britton Weaver. Born April 12, 2010, weighing in at 7lbs. and measuring 20 inches. Mom and Asher are perfectly healthy. Here are some pictures. As you can see, Asher is a real Baby Einstein, falling asleep by reading The New Yorker.

Whats happening this week

2010-03-22T12:53:00.003-05:00

A typical Chicagoan

It's spring break round these parts. And it has been filled to the brim with activities. First off, Bill wrote a paper all last week. I wrote a talk and worked.
We did a stay-cation here in Chicago Friday night and enjoyed some Chipotle, Wow Bao (the coconut custard bao are very tasty), and then hit up the sports authority just for fun. It was so romantic. Oh yeah, and we enjoyed the 65 degree weather!
Saturday - snowed all day. How can it be 65 one day and 30 the next? We both worked on our respective writing projects and watched New Moon. Kristen Stewart...oy.
Sunday - same thing we do every Sunday.
This week - Me - work, Bill - starts his mini MBA class, it's a week long for 2 credits. Does this mean he can have his business cards printed out to say JD, mini MBA (or just MBA in superscript)? I think it works.
Oh and did I mention I filled out a bracket this year. I don't follow basketball at all, but I'm tied for first. I was definitely suffering from some march madness until Kansas (my overall champion) decided to lose to UNI? For real?

I'm ready for a real vacation.

Good Hair

2010-03-17T11:14:00.003-05:00

Remember the post I did on hair a while back. Well we watched the documentary Good Hair yesterday. I'll tell you what, it was entertaining and very informative. I had no idea that salons had layaway programs for weaves. Average weave cost around $1000. They interviewed some celebrity, and she said she spends an average $18,000 a year on her hair. It's ridiculous.
Few things I learned:
-Black people make up 20% of the population, hair products for black people make up 80% of the hair product industry.
-If your hair is relaxed, then everyone is relaxed, if your hair is nappy, you aren't happy.
-Hair for weaves come from India.
-Remember Salt n' Pepa's hair from the 80's? It was asymmetrical because their hair was burned off by relaxers.

Which Hat?

2010-03-10T20:19:00.005-06:00

Bill and I had a disagreement (this never happens!) about which hat is cooler. I will not tell you who took what side. Please comment on which you think looks cuter.

33 Weeks

2010-02-28T18:35:00.004-06:00

Me at the car show testing out a nice little Volvo SUV. Good family car, no? Not happening, but I can dream.

Hi, it's me. Do you remember me? I only ask because no one sees me any more. You know people have wondering eyes. No, not particularly inappropriate wondering eyes, but they see my stomach instead of my face. I've lost my identity. I'm the pregnant girl now, whose coat is too small. See the picture. I put on a bright shirt so you could really see what the public sees. It's awesome. My coat fit like a glove when I bought it, now a better fit comparison is that of OJ Simpson trying to put a glove on a rubber gloved hand. It just ain't going to fit. (gross, I just wrote ain't.) Good thing it has been a mild winter here in Chi town because despite my coat being half open, I'm rarely cold.

Hope you like my awesome outfit. Nothing better on a Sunday afternoon than scrubs.

Remember when I was fun and did fun things? I just thought I would throw this picture in for fun. Or, so I could remember the fun me who wasn't tired just walking up a flight of stairs. Oh the good old days. But those days will be here again in approximately 7 weeks and counting.
Funny how short 7 weeks is, because when I was up to 7 weeks pregnant, I was dying of stress. Now with 7 weeks to go, I'm dying of heart burn. I'll take the heart burn any day.

(Don't be a Debbie downer and tell me that fun is a long way out once you have kids, you can make it work)

Law School Musical

2010-02-26T09:10:00.005-06:00

The law school musical has come and gone, and I'll have to say it was a success. In fact, dare I say, it was the best law school musical I've ever seen (I've been to all of them). Okay, so maybe I'm a little biased, but I'm supposed to be. Bill was the head writer for the musical this year and he did a great job. It was funny to everyone, not just the audience members that were drunk. (Have I mentioned that alcohol seems to be a necessary part of any law school function?)
Anyway, here is a picture of my star. In this scene, he was acting as a member of the Edmund Burke Society, hence the cravat, monocle and top hat.

Can we say Pretentious!
abominable, dogma, aficionado, au pair - some pretentious sounding words for your enjoyment.

He did a fine job indeed. Bravo Bill.
Too bad the next law school activity you have to look forward to is...the bar. Bummer.

Did you want to see a scene? Check this out.

Celebrity Sighting

2010-02-15T10:12:00.004-06:00

Bill and I went out to dinner last week. It was delicious! Anyway, while we were eating, Bill kept turning around because President Packer was there. Cool hu? Then we got a better look of "President Packer" as he was carrying a martini and glass of wine from the bar to his table.
It wasn't him. What a disappointing Mormon celebrity sighting.
But, the garlic brioche monkey bread with prosciutto was delightful. I've been thinking about it all weekend.

Stolen Parking Space

2010-02-12T10:03:00.005-06:00

I have a bunch of post waiting to be published, but I'm not feeling any of them. So take this. I laugh my head off every time I see these dumb commercials, they make me want to buy a Subaru. Happy Friday!

Quote of the Day

2010-01-28T10:04:00.003-06:00

Best quote I've heard in a long time:

"Office jobs are the reason blogs exist"
got the quote from this blog who got it from someone else.

This couldn't be more true.

My poopy car

2010-01-25T15:30:00.005-06:00

Not our car, ours was only left on poop street for 1 night

Remember this post I did our first year here about the poop street? Well this street has plagued us for 3 winters now. It truly is the bane of my existence. Why? Because 1) poop street is prime parking, 2) poop street is more than one street, thus more good parking unusable, and 3) even parking around poop street by a small unassuming tree can leave your car looking disgusting.
Oh I hate it. The shame of driving a poop covered car. All it takes is 1 open parking spot which you take out of desperation, and you're done. You can forget having any shred of dignity again until spring.
I drove over to the gas station so that I could wash my windows, I scrubbed for about a half an hour. Those birds poop cement. Later I pulled up the round about of our building to unload my groceries before I parked and what did the doorman say. I'll tell you "Oh girl, I know where you've been parking!"
I should just buck up and fork out the dough for covered parking, but alas I can think of a lot of things I could do with that kind of ca$h. Or better yet, I could think of a way to exterminate those dang crows that should have migrated during the fall.
Hopefully, next year, you won't have to endure my rants about poop street. Cross your fingers.

*Poop street is only poopy during the winter months. And the birds only do their work at night.

Love Story...not mine, someone else's

2010-01-21T10:35:00.006-06:00

There have been a lot of deaths in the news lately. Because of this, I decided I needed to be a true American and honor one of those laid to rest, Erich Segal. I honored him last night by reading Love Story. Can I just tell you that I cried my eyes out. Bill looked over at me and was like "what is wrong?" as I was wiping the black tear streaks off my face. At that point, I threw the book on the coffee table and proclaimed, "you must read this, it's all about law, you'll love it."
So, I might have pushed the law side of the story more than I should have, but come on, everyone should read this iconic book. We'll see if he fell for my for the bate and actually reads it.

Erich, may you rest in peace.

*I didn't say this was the best book I've ever read, I just think it is something you have to read at some point in your life.
** I cry all the time right now, I can't be held accountable for my emotional status at this point in my life.

Happy Birthday Bill

2010-01-14T08:36:00.001-06:00

It's Bill's birthday today, and it is also the Oliver Wendall Holmes mustache contest at school. He decided he would participate this year but opted for quality over quantity. So may I present to you a series of bearded birthday pictures.
1st, we have the full on beard, or shall we say a healthy neck beard. Don't hold it against him, it gets better. It's the closest I'll get to rugged mountain man, which is quite all right with me.
Next, we have completion of the beard trim.........with what could be interpreted as "I mean business" facial hair. Or, maybe a little french, "you killed my father, prepare to die".
And finally, we have the sultry shot. Bill may or may not have used some performance-enhancing substances. But he's not here to talk about the past. The picture is a little Blue Steel, no?

Anyway, to the point of the post. Happy Birthday Bill!! 27 never looked so good...or sultry.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2010-01-04T20:20:00.004-06:00

Since we are back from the holidays, I figured I should probably update. So I'll grace you with one of our activities while visiting family.
You know L!ttle People B!g World? Well they are located just outside of Portland. I convinced Bill (which took a lot of convincing) that we should go check out their farm, despite being closed for the season. What a good husband, he appeased me and we drove down and snapped this picture at the road leading to their farm. I was mildly embarrassed of our touristy actions and rushed everyone back into the car after the picture was taken. However, just as we were driving away, another family unabashedly stopped in front to the sign to snap a picture. I wasn't quite so embarrassed after that. Can we say awesome! We should have hit up "The L!ttle Chocolatiers" store while we were in SLC (as that is another TLC show, also about dwarfs, (and no, our tourist destinations are not based on the locations of little people reality shows))

2010

2009-12-14T08:34:00.001-06:00

I realize this post is a little premature for the new year, but we will be traveling, so I thought I would get this over with sooner than later.
Are you all ready for the new year? I think we are ready for a little adventure. We are excited for 2010 because:

We are expecting in April. It's a boy!
Bill graduates in June!
Bill takes the bar in July.
We move to Washington DC.
Bill starts a real job in the fall.

Could we have planned anymore life changing events for this next year? In hind sight, I don't think this could have worked out any better.

*of course hind sight is always 20/20.

Me and Finals

2009-12-09T20:34:00.003-06:00

Guess what time it is? It finals time, and it's my birthday. Boo on the finals. Hurray for being old. Anyway, we were able to leave the books at home for a bit and meet my dad for dinner, who was in town for meetings. Good thing I'm making my birthday last for at least a week to make up for it's bad timing. Here's to being another year older, and the last year I have to share my day with finals!

Bill, me*, Dad.

*birthday girls aren't supposed to have such atrocious hair. I blame it on the finals.

Blogo

2009-12-08T15:13:00.003-06:00

I walked into the bookstore on campus today and there was a huge line and it smelled like hair. Do you know why? Rod Bl@g0jevich was doing a book signing. I tried to get a closer look at his hair but he had a ton of media and a security detail surrounding him. What I saw though, was intense.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T19:50:00.012-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We drove down to DC to meet my sister and her husband and then we all drove down to Williamsburg to celebrate turkey day with true colonials. Should I tell you what I'm grateful for?
My husband
Our great family
Car making it to Virginia and back (phew)

and the list could go on and on, you get it though, I'm feel very thankful for all of my many blessings.So from one colonial to another, Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night.

Here is my sister and her husband. You know who she is, she looks just like me, only 5 inches taller. In fact, while looking through some of the pictures, I had to think about who was who.
We had a rousing game of pre-turkey football. I think they were planning the play "turkey stop drop and roll"

Here we are in retaliation. Play was called "the Miracle Whip". Can you see that Bill was kind of laughing at my play? Don't mock, it threw the other team for a turkey stupor.
My don't we look festive in fall colors?

Here was the meal, it was delicious, especially for being made in our hotel kitchen. We also had some mighty fine turkey day bowling, you know, to burn off dinner. After which, everyone but me hit the midnight sales at the outlet malls. I made up for it in the morning. Christmas shopping.....done!

Since we were in Williamsburg, he headed over to Jamestown, the first successful English colony, settled in 1607, 13 years before the Mayflower touched down in Plymouth. The actual Jamestown settlement is quite small, and a corner of it has been consumed by the James river. But here is a church that stood in the fort. It isn't original (it burned down multiple times), but the tower in the back is the oldest part, dating back to the 18th century.

Here we have Pocahontas. Don't worry, the John Smith statue wasn't too far from her. He was a murderer, did you know that?

Here is a portion of the fort, with a replica of the barracks built for the first colonials.

We also hit up Colonial Williamsburg (tourist attraction in Williamsburg), which is where many of the Jamestown colonist spread out to in order to start farms etc. Here we found a million tourist, the college of William and Mary, a drum and fife band and of course, colonials everywhere.

We came, we saw, and we conquered our colonial past.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Oprah

2009-11-20T10:49:00.001-06:00

You are leaving Chicago? How could you?

Seen & Heard

2009-11-15T15:52:00.000-06:00

Seen: Box on the counter is open and contents have been rifled through. Upon closer inspection: some items are missing.
Cat on the floor in a catnip stupor. Apparently he discovered where his toys were hidden. Common, you know you like these ridiculous updates.

Heard: An adult said the word "pimpslap" in primary today....to the children. It wasn't a slip of the tongue. Good luck parents in explaining that to your child.

Official Illinois Resident

2009-11-14T07:41:00.003-06:00

I had to get an Illinois drivers license. Talk about disappointment, having to get a new license in the last 6 months of our time here in Chicago. Anyway, I took the test. I passed with flying colors. But I think I am the only person who didn't know the legal limit of alcohol consumption for the state. It wasn't in the hand book. I guessed right though. Hallelujah.

Photo Friday/Saturday

2009-11-07T08:48:00.003-06:00

Bill sent me some pictures to post since I'm lacking material. So I'm posting a picture from this summer. Remember our trip out to Annapolis with my sister and brother in law? Well, down by the water of the restaurant we were eating at, there were tubs of crabs that were too small to eat, and other such things. This little girl was fearless, and grabbed this crab that I can't identify. Who am I kidding, she grabbed all sorts of crazy crap out of those tubs. But oh do I want to eat some crab right now. Yummy.

I'm all shook up

2009-11-04T09:40:00.003-06:00

This is my nephew. He wanted to be Elv!s for Halloween, and I think I have to say this is probably the best costume I've ever seen. My sister made this puppy for him, and it is perfect. And word on the street was that he was a mighty fine Elv!s, "Thank you, Thank you very much". Don't you just want to squeeze him?

Mice infestation

2009-10-19T15:58:00.005-05:00

I've had a problem lately. Mice infestation. They seem to be everywhere. I went to the gym during lunch today, and was digging through my gym bag to discover a mouse at the bottom. Last week, I hauled my cloth bag to the grocery store to carry my goods, and what do I discover as I'm unloading my groceries when I got home? A MOUSE. How disgusting, right? But don't forget this post I did last year. It should calm her fears, the mice infestation is really just little catnip mice that the cat likes to hide. I don't know how he gets them into these weird locations, but nevertheless, here is proof. I decided to pose the mouse in my gym bag next to my mouse at work. They became fast friends.