11 March 2012
Philadelphia- West Hartford - Boston - and back to DC!
In late January I took Ian and Emma on another tour of the east coast, visiting family along the way. My final destination was Boston where I was meeting Tim for his induction into Gordon's Hall of Honor. After leaving DC, I met up with Tim part way in Philadelphia for a Heritage conference and got to spend a night at the Four Seasons and even went on a run down to the Art Museum before picking Ian and Emma up at my parents and continuing my journey north. We also stopped at my sister Sally's house in West Hartford, CT for Will's birthday party- superhero themed. The party was spectacular for the kids! Sally made capes for all the boys, they could decorate them, and get their face painted so they could be a superhero too!
13 February 2012
Gosh I LOVE this Girl
Emma is 18 months going on 18 years. She is one tough cookie. And I love her so much. I can't seem to get enough of her these days. She still is only saying a few words: please (I put that one first to make myself appear to be a good mother), dog, Ian (pronounced E), dad, and yep...that is about it! But, she definitely lets us know exactly what she wants though..and when she wants it, usually five minutes ago. Emma finally passed the 20 pound mark and can still fit in her infant carseat so that is where she is riding these days. She has learned to keep her pacifiers in her crib only for nap and nighttime. She caught on quite quickly actually. Her favorite thing to do these days is pull Ian's hair. She loves playing with Fisher-Price, and according to Emma, people "moo," "baa," and "quack." Emma's hair is all over the place and she usually looks as though she has just been through the ringer, or at an all night bash, but we love her anyway!!! Emma has the best laugh ever: deep, whisky, and full of gusto.
02 February 2012
The tale of the lightsaber
My sister Sally got both Will and Ian a light saber in their stocking....
Will opens his light saber first...still trying to figure out what it is
He figures it out
Ian opens his next
A duel ensues
Emma sneaks in and tries to take the light saber from Ian
Emma stands triumphant
Some of my favorite Christmas shots
Do you think we need a new car?
Hanging out with the soon to be newlyweds on Christmas Even
Ian was literally IN LOVE with his presents
Lighting luminaries with my Dad
The four grandchildren on Christmas Eve...best picture we could get
LuxUmbraTerra
Since getting our new camera Tim has taken up a new hobby- taking pictures and then editing them in photoshop. He started a blog to display all of them. Some of the recent ones of our neighborhood are great!
Check out his blog at : LuxUmbraTerra
Check out his blog at : LuxUmbraTerra
01 February 2012
Because of a somewhat slightly disturbed portion of my brain, I am not able to blog about this year without recapping the end of last year. October, November, and December were very interesting...fun...joyous...and eventful. Let me explain.
October 25th I am determined to run some errands. I throw Ian and Emma in the car and take off for the grocery store. I swing by the pharmacy. I am on a roll. Why not get gas on my way home and really cross things off the list. I should have just gone home. As I turn around to grab my receipt someone opens my front passenger side door and steals my purse and my phone out of my car. Ian saw the whole thing and still talks about the robbers. Emma had no clue what was going on but gave me big hugs when she could tell that I was upset. Needless to say the rest of the week was quite interesting...life with no phone, no money, no drivers license, no library card, no Harris Teeter card, no health insurance cards....quite interesting. I have to say that I think I am still recovering from everything and from the gazillion trips to the bank with Ian and Emma. We pretty much shut down everything that we had in our names and started a whole new life.
Fast forward to that weekend...my sister's bridal shower. We did a wine and cheese cocktail reception. It snowed ALL day...in OCTOBER! It was a beautiful, comforting, and delicious event. I make cake pops and vow to never make them again.
Ian reaches an all time high when it comes to whining around the beginning of November. It is a trying month. I question whether I am a good Mom, whether I have what it takes, whether we should send Ian to boarding school at age 3.5, and whether I should go back to work full-time. Instead another part-time job that will start in the new year falls into my lap and I take it.
Then Thanksgiving comes. We drive to Pittsburgh and meet the two new additions to the Chapman family: Finnean and Olivia. They are so precious and teeny tiny. I immediately want another baby. We spend a few days in Ohio with Tim's grandparents. Ian gets up close and personal with some deer eating at the waters edge and some geese. He also learns how to chop wood. We use our time away to recover slightly from the "wrath" of the Fall...post October 25th.
December comes with a bang. We throw our annual Christmas party. This year's theme is Christmas in Paris. I make 25 loaves of brioche bread. My friend marinates salmon in 2 cups of grapefruit zest for three days. We have an amazing yet exhausting weekend with friends and family. I take a trip to my parents to recover from the party.
And then it is Christmas. Tim, Ian, Emma, Pippin, and I travel to my parents on Christmas Eve. We have a few hours to spare and then off to church, back home for tons of laughter with the Reimold clan, and then off to bed. Christmas is slow and fulfilling. Ian and Emma make out big time. We all rest up after a traditional dinner.
Emily's wedding festivities begin the next day...bachelorette at Limoncello in West Chester (the best spare rib raviolis ever!), pedicures, fittings, hair appointments, reminiscing, a really neat rehearsal dinner in a wine cellar, and then the wedding. Ian walks down the aisle, Emma won't. The ceremony is lovely, sweet, and most importantly short. The reception is wonderful, fabulous, a blast. We get to catch up with family and friends. Ian and Emma attempt to dance and then decide that they want to cling to Tim and I instead. I remember looking around and realizing that we are blessed with so many incredible family and friends. It is a perfect way to end the holidays and the year.
October 25th I am determined to run some errands. I throw Ian and Emma in the car and take off for the grocery store. I swing by the pharmacy. I am on a roll. Why not get gas on my way home and really cross things off the list. I should have just gone home. As I turn around to grab my receipt someone opens my front passenger side door and steals my purse and my phone out of my car. Ian saw the whole thing and still talks about the robbers. Emma had no clue what was going on but gave me big hugs when she could tell that I was upset. Needless to say the rest of the week was quite interesting...life with no phone, no money, no drivers license, no library card, no Harris Teeter card, no health insurance cards....quite interesting. I have to say that I think I am still recovering from everything and from the gazillion trips to the bank with Ian and Emma. We pretty much shut down everything that we had in our names and started a whole new life.
Fast forward to that weekend...my sister's bridal shower. We did a wine and cheese cocktail reception. It snowed ALL day...in OCTOBER! It was a beautiful, comforting, and delicious event. I make cake pops and vow to never make them again.
Ian reaches an all time high when it comes to whining around the beginning of November. It is a trying month. I question whether I am a good Mom, whether I have what it takes, whether we should send Ian to boarding school at age 3.5, and whether I should go back to work full-time. Instead another part-time job that will start in the new year falls into my lap and I take it.
Then Thanksgiving comes. We drive to Pittsburgh and meet the two new additions to the Chapman family: Finnean and Olivia. They are so precious and teeny tiny. I immediately want another baby. We spend a few days in Ohio with Tim's grandparents. Ian gets up close and personal with some deer eating at the waters edge and some geese. He also learns how to chop wood. We use our time away to recover slightly from the "wrath" of the Fall...post October 25th.
December comes with a bang. We throw our annual Christmas party. This year's theme is Christmas in Paris. I make 25 loaves of brioche bread. My friend marinates salmon in 2 cups of grapefruit zest for three days. We have an amazing yet exhausting weekend with friends and family. I take a trip to my parents to recover from the party.
And then it is Christmas. Tim, Ian, Emma, Pippin, and I travel to my parents on Christmas Eve. We have a few hours to spare and then off to church, back home for tons of laughter with the Reimold clan, and then off to bed. Christmas is slow and fulfilling. Ian and Emma make out big time. We all rest up after a traditional dinner.
Emily's wedding festivities begin the next day...bachelorette at Limoncello in West Chester (the best spare rib raviolis ever!), pedicures, fittings, hair appointments, reminiscing, a really neat rehearsal dinner in a wine cellar, and then the wedding. Ian walks down the aisle, Emma won't. The ceremony is lovely, sweet, and most importantly short. The reception is wonderful, fabulous, a blast. We get to catch up with family and friends. Ian and Emma attempt to dance and then decide that they want to cling to Tim and I instead. I remember looking around and realizing that we are blessed with so many incredible family and friends. It is a perfect way to end the holidays and the year.
21 December 2011
Butlers Orchard
I have found that I just can't be a regular blogger. I try, but then the weeks get away from me. I do however, like to use this blog as a sort of diary or chronicle of our adventures. And this one I definitely don't want to forget because it was one of those days where Ian, Emma, and I just happened to all be in a good mood, despite the rain. This does not happen that frequently. So we headed to Butler's Orchard one rainy day back in October...or November. I can't remember now! We had the entire place to ourselves. We picked apples, raspberries, flowers, and pumpkins. We also ran through the fields and just enjoyed being outside.
Life in DC
Life these days with two is slowly but surely becoming manageable. We have found somewhat of a rhythm to life. Ian and Tim spend Saturday's together...running errands, going to the driving range, doing house work, and hitting up H Street while Emma and I clean, walk Pippin, and play!
Bay Creek
Once back from the wedding in September we took to getting back into a routine. Well, not really. We went to Bay Creek! I think this was our last vacation of the Fall....nope I am wrong. We met our friends Ted and Amy and their son Jackson along with our friends Jeff and Jill and their triplets (yes, I said triplets!!!) at Bay Creek, Virginia. It is this excellent resort on the most southern tip of Virginia, on the bay. It was a great vacation. We rented golf carts and ditched our cars for the entire weekend. Ian got quite used to being able to pull over the golf cart and use the bathroom. On Saturday we took a train ride through town, a very SLOW train ride, while eating crab cakes. We even hired a babysitter for an entire day and night so us adults could relax and go out to eat. This was also a major trip because it was Ian's first round of golf! Well, first three holes of golf on a real golf course. Overall I think he did pretty well and most importantly was quiet and followed golf etiquette. We found out many things on this trip. First, Emma loves dolls and second, we love being outside of DC! I am pretty sure I found myself saying over and over again while at Bay Creek, "Yep, I could live here."
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