Arggg

Madeline picked up her dance moves watching the marionettes in the Nutcracker at the Puppet co here in DC, i think- check her out!

frosty

"translation"
Frosty the snowman was as happy as the snow
With a corncob button nose
And two eyes made out of coal.

Sings it all day and all night- her version, but (or perhaps because) we love it!

our two year old

Has decided that at night she shall sleep on the floor.
We were trying to get her to sleep in her bed (uhm like normal people) and all of a sudden, a few days ago, the only solution was "you either have to go in your room and go to sleep in your bed or you can play quietly on the floor if you want". At which point she went in, pulled her blankets down and slept on the floor. Since then, every night she has opted for floor.

uhm ok. maybe its just her way of having control? ..."I dont get to choose when i go to sleep but i can choose where"...
And no- she is not afraid or uncomfortable bc she has been napping in her bed- in fact better than ever!

anyway, thought I'd share. any thoughts?

meanwhile... snow continues here, and ice. And these people dont know how to deal with it! They keep closing school and issuing warnings- its so silly! So here is a snapshot of madeline and eliana playing in the snow in our yard.

Baby its cold outside

Apparently I've been singing too much Loesser bc Madeline bust out with her own version of the song today!

We had our one big snowstorm for the season it seems- according to the neighbors, But i hope there is more. We loved being out there listening to the quiet tapping of the flakes falling on the grass and later, getting all bundled into snowgear and having a real snowball fight with the kids on our block!

We love Inaugural Weekend in DC

Just wanted to tell you we had a fabulous time at the pajama ball tonight. We bumped into only a few celebs bc we had to cut out early (Madeline was still not asleep at 10pm so we had to relieve the babysitter). We chatted with Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and bumped elbows with Mad Man Salvatore Romano himself- Both in their jammies too. There were lots of folks decked out in their Ojamas and of course we chatted it up with their creator, Ron Levi, about how they need to create a line for toddlers and infants. We can't wait to buy a pair and be a part of the buzz! Course as im sure you already know, the food was the highlight for us so here we are pigging out at the Ronald Reagan Pavillion ballroom YAY

mmmm

No joke

We are going to the Obama Pajama Party tonight at the Ronald Reagan Building at 8pm tonight- No Joke!
here's the link!

We figure, we arent ballgown people but we love wearing our jammies. And getting to brush elbows with LL Cool J and Marky Mark in their hugh hefner pajamas all in honor of Barak- uhm yeah, okay

pics to follow

To my beautiful wife...

3 Years ago today, we stood on Mt. Tamalpais in San Francisco and stated our vows of love to one another. In 3 years, we have had many great experiences with one another, and struggled through many challenges together. I love you more every day and will do so for the rest of my life.

Happy anniversary my love.

Our vows from 01/17/06:

Ashia – I love you with all my heart. You inspire in me, a side that I have never seen or expected. There is no one else I would like to take this adventure with. You stire in me a passion and excitement for life. I love the way you inspire me and make me feel supported. This is the beginning of the rest of my life with you, as my wife, my partner, I love you. Today I pledge to you:

To be supportive of your goals and desires

To be your strength in times of sorrow

To grow with you as one

To continually remind you of your importance in my life

To be patient and kind to you when you need me most

To be honest and trustworthy

Today I give myself to you as your husband and ask you to be my wife

Don – I love you, and there is nothing more valuable to me in this world than the love you give. The day we met, our connection surprised us both. It was exciting and terrifying and an answer to my prayers. Today I pledge to you with every part of my heart:

To trust you

To give to you generously

To celebrate your life’s accomplishments

To shelter you and protect you when you are scard or you are overwhelmed

To dream great dreams with you

To walk beside you in good times and hard times

On this day, I give myself to you as your faithful wife and ask you to be my husband from now to eternity

Blackberry Jam

Yumm...

Our friends Karl & Julia sent us a can of their homemade blackberry jam for our anniversary. They grow roses and makes jam as some of their many wonderful hobbies. They are all wonderful and many of them place 1st or 2nd in the California State Fair.

Thanks Karl & Julia for the excellent treat! Best wishes to you both

warning

Just a heads up;
i had a computer fatality today and will probably not post for a bit so no hate mail please! don is hard at work with his geek pride on the line to have his wife's hard drive recovered quickly. :)

What do they say?...marry a plumber and your house will forever have leaky pipes?

xoxo

curly q

madeline might just be ready for her first haircut now
what do you say?

random videos

i had these 2 videos on my sd card and thought i'd just upload and let this one speak for itself.


okay well... now im just showing off my cool new spice rack but please disregard the horrible old cabinets and countertops in 2010 maybe we will get around to the big remodel!

thanks aunt margaret!

32 week belly shot

Baby boy is doing great according to the midwife and with the help of a great new Doula and the midwife team we are primed for another natural birth in 8 weeks or so.
Madeline is getting ready, hugging my belly and kissing it every morning saying "i love my baby brother".

xoxo

Her artistic Side

Madeline loves her new easel. We put it together as soon as we got back from NY and she asks to paint every day. She has been stamping, coloring and drawing constantly. It is a great imaginative play activity and she loves getting all ready and cleaned up!

Here she is in action.





Thank you Aunt Margaret!
xoxo

More swimming

Madeline has been taking swimming classes again, since October, but has not liked the class as much as the classes in CA. She has not been challenged- it was more like playing around in the water and so she forgot how much she liked to actually swim, kick, blow bubbles and sit-dive.
So we started a new class last night through Montgomery County. The pool is Olympic-sized, in fact they do the local Olympic trials there, I think. The place is busy and bustling and there are big slides and stuff inside. The best part is it is much warmer than our other class in rockville.
The teacher still leaves something to be desired but Madeline and I have been going for rec swims and I am able to remind her of her swim skills.
I dont mind telling you that she is obviously the captain of her class; swimming underwater, pouring water over her own head, blowing bubbles, floating on her back (on my shoulder) and generally loving class. We just need to move her up to the 3's though, for next time so she is actually learning something new.
Here she is in her East Coast wetsuit. It keeps her so much more comfy when she is getting out of the water after class, especially.

And here she is with her too-pregnant for the swimsuit to not look obscene, mommy.
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Rock Band Takes over Auburn Ave

Thanks Dad for the awesome Christmas gift! Don and I have not only been 'rockin out' but last night madeline climbed into bed and literally air guitarred- saying "Im jammin".

Dennis is here for a quick visit and we all had a blast playing some crazy songs after the little one went to bed. And Shawn was here last weekend for a visit and we even created our own band- we own a plane now and played Stockholm already.
Okay, so nobody has mopped a floor or folded laundry in a week but hey, when the baby comes we will not have any time for fun, right?!

...and the best part is it was Don's gift- and i didnt think i would be remotely interested. hee hee
way better than a Wii fit any day.

thanks dad!

dc tourist day

Our cousin, Shawn (13), came to visit this week for a few days and taught us a few things about rocking out on the new wii toy- rock band2. We rocked, we conquored, we snacked. it was a truly essential few days of just vegging out. thanks shawn!

So today i decided it was time to do something educational. So we took him on a morning tour of the National Mall. White House, National xmas tree, Washington Monument, Jefferson memorial, Capital Building and spent some time in the National Museum of Natural History. Shawn points out btw... what would the Museum of Unnatural history look like...?



Playing musical instruments in the Discovery Zone at the museum- obviously the best part of the museum for her. All hands-on and lots of cool new things to discover.



As we were getting ready to send Shawn home, Madeline went to say goodbye and asked "Shawn, you stay here ever and ever?..."
Uhm- how can he deny her?! And he is her godfather on top of it all... isnt it his solemn duty to stay? Well, i guess even the best of teenagers wants to spend a few days at home for their Winter break from school.

We loved having you here Shawn, despite the whole Denny's thing- we will never repeat.


Here is what madeline thought of her day- she started saying this at bedtime:

xmas pics

A few pics from Madeline's Christmas- some from home and some from our family visit to NY.

She had a wonderful holiday, the highlight of which was Santa's visit on Christmas Eve wherein he handed her the teacup she had asked him for. Later she told us all about it. Then on Christmas morning she gathered all of her gifts together (we had tagged them with her photo so she'd know which were hers) and then she distributed them to us. We had to help her realize they were all for her!
Her favorite seems to have been her toothbrush and toothpaste from her stocking- we brushed 3x yesterday afternoon.. but also her shopping cart and grocery basket set. She has been "going out to the store mommy" all day with her baby in tow.

Merry Christmas!


Her Christmas dress from Grandma rose and grandaddy bill.- she loved it.

Holiday Party

Don and I had a night out on the town for the Eplus Holiday Party. It was held at the Hyatt in Herndon, VA and was actually really really nice. They had a live band (full brass section and the lead singer was an american idol finalist a few seasons back), food was great and copious and the dancing and conversation with adults was the highlight for sure!

Here we are all gussied up doing the Holiday party pose- complete with the belly accent!

If you give a pig a pancake...

We took madeline to see her first play!
She loved it- Sat upright for every second of the show, clapping at all appropriate times and just engaged at the whole experience.
The college is right next to our development so there are some great tours that come through. This time the show was called "If you give a pig a pancake" by, of course, the author of "If you give a mouse a cookie" and performed by Theatreworks. They included many other stories which are family favorites: How i Became a Pirate, The Paper Bag Princess etc... What a great show!

Here is Madeline with her program and ticket and another with Dad poised in their seats "cheese".

Facial Expressions

Madeline has been learning about facial expressions and feelings recently ...
and here she is practicing: