Our sweet little duo!

Caleb - 15 months old - our handsome little man and soon to be big brother!!


Can't believe our first baby is almost three!!!

Outer Banks, North Carolina - Memorial Day Weekend

There's nothing quite as nice as a four day weekend to unwind, relax, and enjoy some quality family time. That being said, we've quickly learned that "vacationing" with small children is rarely relaxing, but we still have to try - and of course we loved being together nonetheless!

It's just two hours from Norfolk to the Outer Banks and we're quite sorry that we didn't pick up on that earlier. The beaches are beautiful and there is a lot to see and do. We rented a little cottage in Manteo - on Roanoke Island - which was a perfect jumping off point for short day trips as well as a quaint little coastal town on its own.
On Saturday we traveled down through the National Seashore to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. We enjoyed a picnic on the beach and the kids played in the sand and splashed in their buckets (still a little unsure of the ocean at this point) to their hearts' content. The kids weren't quite big enough to climb the lighthouse (nor were they all that interested in it), so we just walked around the park and enjoyed the view. The occasional lizard or snake sighting added to their interest for sure!

Sunday we went to a little church in town and then came home for lunch and naps. In the evening we went to the Elizabethan Gardens (strangely disappointing when you're spoiled by wonderful botanical gardens at home) and then out to family friendly diner for dinner.

Monday was one of our favorite beach days of all time. We got all packed and loaded in the car and then headed back to the Cape Hatteras seashore to a huge sprawling stretch of beach with very calm water. After we convinced the kids that the dolphins and pelicans playing in the water were NOT going to attack us, we had a really fun time collecting shells, playing in the sand and actually splashing in the ocean. We stayed just long enough for Elise and Caleb to get perfectly tuckered out so we could all enjoy a quiet ride back home to Norfolk!

A new "toy" for mom

Housecleaning has become a bit of a nightmare for me lately as the crumbs, spills, and general clutter seem to always have the upper hand. I've finally come to terms with the fact that is it unreasonable to replace our sofa once a year, so we've decided to purchase a steam cleaner. We had come fairly close to reaching a point where neither I nor Josh wanted to sit upon the milk spots, juice stains, dirty foot prints, and other questionable marks of discoloration on our couch - let alone wanting to offer it as a place for guests to have a seat. Now, after a serious wash/steam session - the sofa has returned to it's previous pre-children-in-the-house glory. Next up...carpets, car upholstery, and I'm pretty sure Josh would like to steam clean the kids instead of giving them a bath (if there was a setting for that!)

We actually did also purchase a dustbuster to attend to the crumb issue, so now all I need to purchase is a house de-clutterer and I will be set!!! Let me know if you have an idea where I can find one!

Updates, Etc...

Yes, it's true we're expecting our 3rd little bundle this fall...and yes, it's also true that our oldest will turn three in July and that we will now have resided on three different continents within the last three years.

Here it is the beginning of May and life seems to be in fast forward mode as we approach our summer move to Italy. We took the plunge and purchased a mini-van to cart our soon to be family of five on adventures around Europe. Elise and her friends think it's the coolest thing ever and have even had several mini-van play dates just to climb around and check out all the great features (at least someone thinks it's cool!)

We're enjoying the cool(ish) spring days here in Virginia and packing our days full with work and play. There is a lot to do to get ready for our move, so much of our time in the evening is spent making lists and trying desperately to check at least a few things off those lists. Luckily we have some great sponsors in Italy who have been super helpful and informative to us as we plan and prepare for what's ahead!!

Spring happenings.

Well, spring is here at last and boy are we happy about that. Both of the kids would probably live outside and be barefoot at all times if I would allow it, so we are quite glad that warmer weather is upon us. We've recently enjoyed trips to all of our favorite fair weather hangouts - the zoo, the botanical gardens, our favorite neighborhood playgrounds, etc... Caleb is doing a good bit of walking on his own now, but will most likely wear out the knees in all of his pants before the spring is over. (I'm trying to have a good attitude about this!) Elise is ever the adventurer - climbing, jumping, and swinging on everything she finds. We've picked bouquets of dandelions, splashed in puddles, and counted robins and worms around the neighborhood. Spring sure is a busy time!

This past weekend we had the chance to enjoy 3 days with Josh home from work so we headed back to Sperryville for one last adventure in Shenandoah Nat'l Park. We started off by meeting my Aunt Gail for dinner in Charlottesville. That was a fun and last minute plan, so we were very glad that she could join us. (soooo Woodworth!) On Saturday we hitched up the bike trailer (which fits both kids) and went for a lovely scenic (and rather hilly) ride along RR 600. I think we saw one car the whole time we were out there. The rolling country hills, farmland, and mountain backdrop were really beautiful. Next we headed back to our house in town to get some lunch and take naps. After we all woke up we drove up to the Skyline Drive to enjoy the scenery and have a short hike in the late afternoon. Caleb rode in style on Josh's back and Elise walked along happily for almost 2 miles. She was quite chatty and kept us entertained by saying things like "Elisey is a good mountain climber." "Be careful Mommy, this place is bumpy." and "When you see a rock, say 'Salta(jump)'." (thanks to Dora for that one) We had the special treat of coming back to our car and finding a mother and baby deer eating grass just a few feet away from us. We had a quick dinner in the park and then headed home after a big day of fresh air and exercise. Sunday morning we took it pretty slow and since the weather wasn't very nice we didn't really feel the need to do much. We made our way back to Norfolk in the late afternoon to get ready for the week ahead.

Caleb is one!!!

We had a very fun time celebrating our sweet little Caleb's first birthday. He loved the balloons and singing and thought the cupcakes were really great (though he promptly emptied the contents of his mouth whenever we tried to give him a bite). Still, he had a great time mashing the cupcake into little bits and throwing them all around.



Caleb continues to be our happy, sociable, sweet little man. He's crawling like a maniac and likes walking around with our help...I'm sure he'll be running laps around us in no time!

We had the Smileys and Drydens over for dinner and cupcakes and Caleb really enjoyed all the festivities.

February 2010

JAPANESE DAY!

Today we took a long awaited adventure to the Japanese grocery store and the Kyushu Sushi Restaurant in Va. Beach and it was fun, fun, fun! Our main objective for J Mart was to obtain our very favorite toasted sesame salad dressing (the ONLY way I can get Josh to eat salad!) At $7.75 a pop, I’m sorry to say that Josh will no longer be bathing his lettuce in dressing, but it’s definitely a yummy splurge to help him get down something green. We also managed to find a few yummy candy treats and thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the familiar edibles from lovely Japan.

Next it was off to Kyushu to enjoy some sushi, yakisoba, and tempura – yum! Elise couldn’t get enough sushi and continued to say “more sushi please” and “oishi des everybody” (oishi = delicious) while she stuffed her little cheeks with noodles and cucumber rolls. Caleb did a pretty good job slurping down yakisoba noodles as well!

If you didn’t know this already, I’m a pretty sentimental girl so the trip down memory lane was good for my heart.

A CLASSIC TODDLER MOMENT

Elise confidently declared "I love baby food" during lunch yesterday and preceded to help herself to a rather large spoonful of Caleb's "herbed chicken and pasta" jar of baby food. This, of course, was quickly followed by a gag and some spitting and sputtering as she then "removed" all of the baby food from her mouth and announced "I don't like baby food."

UPDATES AND SUCH...

Caleb is quickly approaching his first birthday and we are looking forward to celebrating with him. He's gotten quite vocal lately and likes to "tell" us all kinds of things! He's also started to repeat sounds that we make and be very playful in his interactions with us. He sings "sh, sh, sh" when we get to the part of "The Wheels on the Bus" when the parents are saying "sh" to the crying baby - he like to bark at dogs when they bark at him and he also enjoys copying "ma-ma-ma,"da,da,da" and "ba, ba, ba" (banana!) Elise and I are working on some simple signs to help him communicate, but so far he prefers using the "screech" when he wants something we have or says "aaaaahhhh" when he wants more food. I guess we should be happy that he's trying to tell us things, but it makes for a very noisy dinner!

February has been a busy month for visitors here in VA. We started the month with a visit from my parents, Lydia, and Phoebe (my parents' dog). We did our traditional breakfast run to the Donut Dinnette (yum!) and enjoyed a lovely day inside while it snowed. On Sunday we had a nice church morning and then got ready for our Super Bowl party with the Smileys. Next came a visit from Aunt Hannah over Valentine's weekend. She escaped from snowy Pennsylvania to hang out with us. We enjoyed an outing to our local library (with a fabulous kids area) and lunch out at Ten Top (a great new find for cute and delicious dining!) Of course, we got in lots of quality sister time while Josh was on-call and watched plenty of Olympics as they were just getting underway. This weekend we're looking forward to a visit from Josh's mom and dad and that will complete our full month of guests from the north!