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

Crazy Week

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

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.

Fruits of my labors

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.

Too Quiet

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.

Washington Visit

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.

Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby

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?

Merry Christmas

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!

Paige

Bill the Baller or Gala-er

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.

Update

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?

Blessing Day

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.