Day 15 | Botanic Garden or Bust

United State Botanic Garden adventures.

Not every day is a dream.*

We set out this morning to have a lovely walk down to the Mall and meet some friends at the United States Botanic Garden.  As you can see from the photo collage, we had a good time and saw a lot of fun things.  However, the story behind the photos is a bit different.  Just a few of the details from our excursion:

1. We fought thousands (felt like millions) of people, ie tourists, on our walk to and from the Garden.  There was a police memorial going on at the Capitol and apparently every high school student group chose today to be wandering around the Hill.  Try navigating a double stroller and fiesty toddler through all that.  Not the most fun I've had.

2. Within five minutes of going inside, Chase got his t-shirt wet (and by wet, I mean a splash of water hit his left sleeve) when he was watering the flowers and he immediately needed his shirt removed.  He walked around the rest of the day wearing an "It's my birthday" tee (that he was wearing underneath) and, for those of you not certain, it is not his birthday.  For the record, the other little kiddos we were with got soaking wet and had no complaints.

3. We got kicked out of two areas of the garden.  One was a non-functioning fountain (pictured above) which would have been the best toddler play area ever.  Nope.  Two was a small secluded garden that was perfect for keeping the toddlers confined.  Would have been perfect, that is, except for the terribly cranky USBG worker that had no patience for the kids.  It's a public garden, for heaven's sake, how can you expect two year olds to not try to touch large blue balls in the middle of the plantings?  So much for teaching kids about plants.  And I swear they weren't actually causing any trouble!  Did I mention that as we were getting kicked out of these two places, Robbe was screaming because he was starving and Chase took the moves equally as well?

4. One of Chase's friends took a digger right before we were leaving and got a big goose egg on her forehead.  The perfect ending.

After all that, we did have a nice time.  I was glad to get out of the house and take advantage of our proximity to the Mall since we'll be leaving here soon.  It was fun chatting with the other moms and hearing Chase's giggles (although few and far between).  It was a lovely day with a nice breeze and comfortable temps.  And now both boys are sleeping and my blood pressure is finally evening out.  See?  I can see the bright side.

*Side note: This phrase, "Not every day is a dream", will begin the posts that don't have a particularly rosey tone.  If you're not interested in hearing me vent, feel free to skip these days.  :)

Day 14 | Green Oatmeal

Chase's green oatmeal.

To continue with the morning theme, here's what a typical breakfast looks like. Chase's green oatmeal (see recipe below) has recently started being doctored up with Cheerios and/or blueberries and he takes his banana "cut up" these days. Most mornings, Robbe is at the table with us but today he slept in. :)

I know the thought of veggies in oatmeal is not particularly appetizing for most of us but Chase has never known any different and I love that he gets a decent serving of veggies in with his first meal. If he doesn't fight it, I'm not mixing it up. And so far, since he was about 9 months old, he's gobbled it right up. 

Green oatmeal:

1/3 cup old fashioned oats

1/3 cup water 

1/3 cup almond milk 

1 cube broccoli (I freeze the blended veggies in ice cube trays)

1 cube kale

Sprinkle of Cheerios and/or blueberries

Heavy sprinkle of flax seed

Directions:

Microwave oats, water and milk for 2 minutes. Stir in frozen cubes. Add flax seed and any extras once cubes are dispersed.

If you end up trying the recipe, let me know how much you love it!

Day 13 | A Morning Routine

Our morning routine.

This is what life looks like around here. Both my beautiful boys set for some quality reading time first thing in the morning. Chase has his snack (just to tide him over) and Robbe eats his breakfast while we snuggle up together (with Big Bear, of course) with Chase's top book picks of the day. Could it get any better? It's really lovely not having anywhere to be or a set agenda most days. It makes for a much more peaceful, enjoyable start to the day. 

And after spending the snuggle time with these two, who could complain about the one million items on my to do list? Have I mentioned we're heading out to Wisconsin in just over a week and moving in 3.5 weeks? Overwhelmed? Just a smidge. 

Day 12 | Tots Yoga

Chase rocking his down-dog split.

Chase and I have been frequenting Tranquil Space's Tots and Tykes yoga class for the last few months. From the beginning when he was almost too scared to go into the studio to today when he rocked practically every pose/activity that was asked of him, it's been fun to see him blossoming into quite the yogi. 

I have to admit: these days his down-dog split is looking better than mine! (*note: That is not me in the photo with him. It's the teacher)

Day 11 | Happy Mother's Day!

The "boys" made this card for their grandmas.

It's beyond clear that Chris and I have the best moms any kids could ask for.

Everyday I strive to show my boys the same love, passion, independence, dedication and strength that our moms have shown us our whole lives. 

Thank you for being you and for creating us. 

Day 10 | National Train Day: Our version

My boys watching trains.

Instead of braving the crowds at Union Station, we decided to celebrate *National Train Day at our favorite train-viewing spot. And a good day for train-viewing it was (although not entirely evident from this photo). As Chase said, we saw "1,2,3,6,9,10" trains. Robbe was even awake long enough to join in on the festivities. A perfect morning overall. 

*Full disclosure: we did not know it was National Train Day when we decided to go train viewing. A nice man yelled from the tracks to let us know there were all kinds of festivities going on inside Union Station. We appreciated the heads up but were very content watching from our isolated perch. 

Day 9 | An Ode to Oatmeal Balls

Delicious!

When I was pregnant with Chase, a friend made delicious no-bake oatmeal balls and shared them with me. Unfortunately, one of the reasons they were so yummy was because they had a decent amount of brown sugar (so good!). I was on a no refined sugar diet as directed by my midwife practice so I went on a mission to find a sugar-free alternative to these yummy treats.

2.5 years later and I can count on one hand the times that my refrigerator has been without these balls. Seriously. They are an easy (one-handed!) snack that is really filling and full of pretty healthy ingredients.  Even better?  Chase now loves them, too.  A great toddler snack!

*Here's the recipe:

• 1 cup oatmeal
• 3/4 cup  unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup flax seed
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix everything together then pat firmly into bottom of bowl. Refrigerate for at least an hour (I've also done it overnight) then roll into one-inch balls or cut into squares. Patting it into the bowl first makes this process easier.  Refrigerate to store.

Enjoy!

*modified from this original recipe.

Day 8 | To the Doctor We will Go

The boys with Dr. McKnight.

Between the frequent newborn visits and recent sick visits attempting to get a handle on Chase's rash, play dates with Dr. McKnight are one of our most regular occurrences. Good thing we adore her.

Chase:
Highlight from today's (and every) visit: seeing the "fish" (fish stickers on the scale, that is...it's the little things). 

Weight: 27 lb 8 oz (40th percentile)

Goal: get rid of this darn rash 

Robbe:
Highlight from today's visit: getting five minutes of undivided attention...even if it did end in shots. 

Height: 25in  (99th percentile)

Weight: 14lb 5oz (88th percentile)

Goal: curb the whole "gain a pound a week" thing. 

Day 7 | CHLG Playgroup

Chase at CHLG.  This is his expression when I asked for his smile...something to work on.

Our one organized activity occurs every Wednesday. Chase has really grown to love our time at the Capitol Hill Learning Group. He looks forward to it the night before and knows exactly what he's going to do and who he's going to see when he's there. So glad we randomly stumbled upon this playgroup. 

And, to make it even more enjoyable, Robbe slept the whole time so Chase got some much needed mommy time. Hooray for cooperative babies! 

Day 6 | Wash Mon Park

Enjoying the sunshine at Wash Mon park.

The sun was calling our name this morning.  Chase's park of choice?  Wash Mon Park (short for Washington Monument), of course.

This amazing park has replicas of the big DC monuments for the kiddos to play in/on/through.  Pictured above from left to right (clockwise): Lincoln, MLK Jr., Washington Monument (you can see the Capitol in the background), White House.  Best park ever, right?  Even if Chase wasn't totally obsessed with the monuments, this park would be a huge hit.  Visiting the Wash Mon is just icing on the cake.

Day 5 | Morning Dance Party

Chase's morning dance party.

Now that all the introductions are complete, we'll get started on the normal posts that will be populating the blog: our daily shenanigans.

This was taken during Chase's morning dance party. Notice Elmo and Nemo are watching from a safe distance. 

Next on the agenda? Tots yoga. Fingers crossed Chase didn't use up all his energy on his dance moves. 

Day 4 | Meet the Team: The rest of the gang

Family portrait circa 2010.  Artist credit to our neice Ann.  She nailed the head size difference between Chris and me.

Rounding out the rest of the family team:

Name: Sara (me!)
Age: 30 (how did that happen?)
Favorites: family (immediate and extended...love, love, love these people), crafting (I'll have time for this again someday, right?), eating Chase's leftover fruit (if there is any), listening to toddler belly laughs, unearthing baby smiles
Biggest hurdle to overcome: middle of the night feedings (I think that post-partum adrenaline has officially worn off)
Dreams for the future: enjoying a glass of wine after 9pm with my hubbie while both boys are in bed sleeping like angels. Someday, someday.

Name: Chris
Age: 31
Favorites: a toddler welcome at the end of a work day, movie trailers (although watching the full movies rarely happens), having every other Friday off, Wisconsin sports teams, Cadbury cream eggs (how can anyone eat those things?), gigantic ice cubes
Biggest hurdle to overcome: helping Chase understand the intricacies of Brewer baseball
Dreams for the future: finally being done with loan paper work for the new house (seriously, are 60+ signatures needed?)

Name: Miga the Cat
Age: 7.5 years
Favorites: being outside, sleeping on white surfaces (only makes sense since she's a black cat), head-butting for attention, showing off her snaggle-teeth (she has two, could we be any luckier?), keeping our feet and crooks of our knees warm at night (really helpful and not at all annoying)
Biggest hurdle to overcome: eating as much grass as desired without the consequences of not being able to digest it
Dreams for the future: a day when she can walk around in a state of bliss without having to be on high alert for toddler tail grabs (it's not as funny as Chase thinks it is...we're getting there)

Name: Moggy the Cat
Age: he was with us for 7 eventful years
Favorites: eating anything and everything (favorites over the years: cell phone chargers, q-tips, hair ties), getting attention from Chase (I swear he really did like it), rubbing up on Chris's work pants (he was a white cat so rubbing on black pants just makes sense), sitting in boxes (why is this fun for cats?)
Dreams for the future: our family challenge is coming to terms with the fact we'll never see that sweet, handsome kitty cat again. He'll always be with us in spirit...

Day 3 | Meet the Team: Chase

Chase | 2 years

I'd like to introduce you to our other little man...

• Name: Chase
• Age: 2 years (finally done counting by months!)
• Favorites: Blueberries, monuments (notice the t-shirt: only a DC toddler), balls, blueberries, trains (watching, playing with, reading about), mama/dada, ma and pas (grandparents: they are grouped into one entity), blueberries (noticing a trend?), books, saying no (a fun new pastime)
• Biggest hurdle to overcome: Reigning in the extreme emotions overtaking his little body
• Dreams for the future: Living really close to "tree park" (hold on, little man, that one's coming true!)

contact me

I would love to hear from you.  

Shoot me an email any time: districtdaydreams@gmail.com.

Day 2 | Meet the Team: Robbe

Robbe | 2 months

Chronological order makes sense for introducing the family but since it's Robbe's two month birthday today (such a grown up!), it seems only right to start with him.

• Name: Robbe (remember: we're going by middle names around here)
• Age: 2 months
• Favorites: his brother (and mom and dad, of course), his yellow chair, baths, eating, wearing stripes (I might be projecting)
• Biggest hurdle to overcome: recognizing that you can't always be the hungriest you've ever been with the intense reaction to follow
• Dreams for the future: sleeping longer stretches at night

We'll check back with the fam every now and then to update their profiles. Get excited.

Day 1 | Capitol Play Time

Life is a dream.

I'm doing it. This is it. Welcome to my journey into the world of blogging.

I'm a mom, crafter, soon-to-be homeowner and it's time to start documenting this fun, unpredictable, fast-paced life we're living in the District (Washington, DC, that is) with a photo a day. It's not always going to be about the kiddos (who go by their middle names around here: blog pseudo-personas are a must!). It's not always going to be about me (the horror!). It's not always going to be pretty (have you spent any time with a toddler?). But this is our life and what a dream it is.