Day 74 | Happy Birthday, Grandma Bibi

Since we couldn't celebrate in person, we decided the second best way to celebrate Grandma Bibi's birthday was to spend the morning at her favorite store: Target.

It's always a production when you walk through those doors, isn't it? We ended up with WAY more than we expected but it was a worthwhile trip for sure. Chase and Robbe were real troopers. In fact, Chase really enjoyed his quality time with the red balls out front and one of the chairs on display (we practically had to rip him away from it). 

Happy birthday, Grandma Bibi. Sending lots of hugs!

Day 73 | Mommy Marshall Morning

Last weekend, we celebrated Daddy Marshall Day so today we had to even the score with a Mommy Marshall Morning.

Even though it was a pretty lovely day (weather-wise), we decided to check out a really close neighborhood attraction that has been on our list since we moved. Chase and I walked to the Takoma Aquatic Center for some indoor swimming fun. The kiddie pool wasn't open which was a bummer but Chase did great in the big pool. Lots of jumping off the edge, kicking on a kick board, using a noodle to float, and walking up and down the ramp into the water. 

I really enjoyed the one on one time and I think Chase did, too. We'll definitely be back to the Aquatic Center (maybe we'll go when there's bad weather next time...). What a fun activity to have two blocks from our house. 

Day 72 | Frozen Yumminess

I made this really delicious frozen dessert this week and have been waiting for a quiet day to share it with all of you.

I followed the recipe fully this time...sometimes sugar is, in fact, needed. I did add some of our fresh-picked blueberries to the strawberries. It ended up being about a cup of each. 

I'm in love with the granola bar crust/crunch topping. And the frozen center is just perfect on these hot days. If you have a trusty baking assistant, it makes the dessert even tastier. 

Highly recommend this one:

Frozen Strawberry Crunch Cake

Day 71 | Jump for Joy

We managed to get out of the house in time to make it to Sky Zone in Columbia to help celebrate a friend's birthday this morning.

Chase enjoyed the trampoline park much more than I would have guessed (remember, he takes awhile to warm up to things). He had a blast jumping in the foam pit, honed his somersaulting skills, and started jumping from his feet onto his bum. It was very sweet to see. 

Of course, Chase left wanting to go back again...with Daddy. Seems all of our outings are just dry-runs for the real deal later on with Daddy. Ha!

Day 70 | Hello, Old Friend

Chase and his friend, John, doing legs up the wall.  Cutest thing ever.

We got back on the yoga train after taking a few weeks off. Since we've moved, the Arlington studio of Tranquil Space (where we have been taking tots yoga) is just a bit too far. So now we're taking class at the Dupont location...my first yoga love.

This is where I spent a little over a year (practically every day) finding myself, working a job that I truly enjoyed (What? That's possible?), detoxing from a stressful past work experience, and enjoying my last baby-free moments (even though that wasn't completely appreciated at the time). I couldn't have asked for a more welcoming, nurturing environment as a place to fall in love with yoga and discover a wonderful community of people at the same time. 

It's strange going back now after giving so much of myself to those walls. To see someone else thriving in my old role and experiencing all the same ups and downs that go with it. 

It will always feel like home walking through those doors...even if I'm completely anonymous now. 

Day 69 | Another Trip to the Doctor

One of the downsides to living in a big city is that you never really make personal connections with anyone other than friends. Your dentist won't remember you. The grocery store clerk has no idea if you frequent the store. The bank teller and pharmacist always have to ask for your name.

For those of you living in the city, that's totally normal. Having grown up in a town of 1,000 people, though, this every day occurrence is very odd to me. I don't mind it, in fact the anonymity is kind of nice. Just takes a bit to get used to. 

Where am I going with this? It dawned on me today that we have been going to the doctor so much lately (between Chase's rash and Miles's frequent infant well-visits) that the doctor and staff actually know our names. Whoa. 

The appointments went well. We've got a couple new things to try with Chase for his skin and Robbe proved to be the perfect patient once again. Smiles all around and he showed off his impressive tummy time and rolling skills. He continues to top the charts with height (98th percentile) but his weight trajectory slid a bit (from 88th to 75th percentile). He's happy and healthy, that's all that matters!

I made another appointment for Robbe's six month well-visit...hopefully we will make it that long without another trip!

Day 68 | We Miss Our Neighbors

Our neighbors from the Hill came up for a visit today. The people, including and especially these neighbors, are really the only part of our old life that we miss.

It was always so fun to be sharing a wall with a family with kiddos the same age as ours. We leaned on them so many times and continue to be grateful for the friendship. Hopefully the relationship continues to grow now that we're so far away...a whole five miles!

Chase showed Copeland all around splash park (although he was less than enthusiastic about it himself today, for some reason). You'll notice in the photo that Chase didn't even need a towel. More of a bystander this time around. You never know with toddlers!

Day 67 | Mommy and Robbe Morning

 

Chase and Chris went out for some big boy fun this morning so Robbe and I stayed home for some quality (and quiet) mommy + Robbe time.  It's amazing how productive you can be when you're only responsible for one other human being.  Try telling me that when Chase was a baby and I would have thought you were crazy.  Now, having just a four month old in the house is like a relaxing break from reality.

Day 66 | A Berry Picking Kind of Day

We survived the barrage of fireworks in our neighborhood last night...some of us got more sleep than others. To celebrate, we decided to head a bit outside the city to pick some yummy berries.

Butler's Orchard was great. It was packed.  I mean, crazy packed, but it was really well organized and there were plenty of berries to go around. Seriously, I can't imagine what more plentiful bushes would look like.  We walked away with 2.5 pounds of blueberries and .75 pound of black raspberries. The best deal? Chase ate at least that much of both so we got double for our money! If you ask him, though, he ate "just one."

Day 65 | Happy Independence Day

It's a beautiful day in the District. Perfect for celebrating the Fourth.

So far today:

Patriotic breakfast: check

Outfitted in patriotic attire: check

Discussion about the significance of the holiday: check 

Neighborhood parade: check

Stop at tree park (that's how Chase celebrates): check 

We'll see what other festive activities we can squeeze in today. Just to keep expectations in check, I wouldn't bet on seeing us during the Mall's fireworks show. 

Happy Fourth, everyone!

Day 64 | Sleep Like a Baby

 

Not every day is a dream. 

Full disclosure: I wrote this post several days ago. I didn't post it at the time because I didn't want to bring you all down into my black hole with me. I purposely waited until Robbe had a couple good nights (he has!) to give us all (ok, mostly me) a little bit of hope. Who knows what tonight will bring and who knows how long the next good stretch will last. I'll just hold on to the last couple of nights and keep reminding myself it's all a phase. 

Sleep like a baby? What a joke. How did this phrase come to be? Obviously it originated from a non-parent. Babies are not good sleepers. They are loud breathers, stir constantly and the slightest bit of tummy rumblings wake them up (or is it just my boys?). And that's not even mentioning the frequent night wakings. Which is what brings me to this post...

I'm tired. Really really tired. Possibly because it's 4am as I type and so far I've had about 2.5 hours of sleep tonight. Not my favorite. 

Call it a sleep regression, call it a wonder week, call it coming down with something, call it gas, call it just being a baby, call it whatever you want, I just want it over with. 

As a second time parent, I know that everything is a phase and all the really hard moments will pass. Somehow that doesn't make it any easier when you're up for the third time before 330am. When will it end? Will I survive to witness the end? What comes after the "end"? 

Have I mentioned...I'm really really tired. 

Day 63 | My Photogenic Boys

This post was going to have a different focus today (think: complaining about yet another fruitless doctor's appointment for Chase), but after spending the morning with my beautiful babies and capturing some sweet shots, we'll let the photos above speak for themselves.

Day 62 | Library Auditions: Take two

Chase posing with the loot from completing the challenge.

We found our library home.

It's a short walk and the story time is actually pretty good. Chase seems to really enjoy it. Maybe it's just the fact that he's older but he's so much more comfortable and focused during this story hour. He approaches the librarian without hesitation, gets smooches from the stuffed rabbit, Benjamin, that she uses, and follows along with the dances and songs. They even have choo-choo books (Thomas, specifically) on the shelf...always a hot commodity at the Hill libraries. 

To top it off, Chase and Robbe completed their first challenge today. They both took on the DC Library Summer Reading Challenge. We needed to check off eight out of 16 items in three months to complete it. Both boys managed this accomplishment by day two. Some of the tasks? Ask a librarian for help finding a book (we're looking for train books, obviously), attend a library program (story time!), sing a song about animals (all day, everyday), practice turning pages (more of a challenge for Robbe), etc. Each of the boys won a book for completing the challenge, Robbe got a rubber duckie, and Chase got a free kids meal to Chipotle (??). Quite the haul!

Day 61 | A Blueberry Popsicle Kind of Day

The sun is shining, the temperature is high and the blender was calling my name. The perfect opportunity to use our popsicle molds for the first time (they were a wedding gift eight years ago!).

Here's the recipe I used

.

Pretty much followed directions except I omitted the sugar and didn't substitute anything for it. I think they turned out plenty sweet so no regrets there.

The popsicles were just as yummy as they look. The yogurt was a little overpowering but still delicious. Chase appreciated the flavor (blueberry, of course) and enjoyed getting ridiculously sticky. He does have some work to do preparing his teeth for cold treats, though. He couldn't bite into the popsicle so I had to assist more than I should have!

Happy summer. :)

Day 60 | All is Quiet

And by quiet, I mean full of the requests of an attention-deprived toddler. The last of the family left today (time for one last choo choo playtime with Uncle Matt).

It's going to be a rough transition back to reality this week. Good thing it's a holiday weekend. I think I can make it through four days solo. I'm pretty sure, at least. 

*On a side note, I did do a blog post yesterday but, to my horror, I just realized it didn't publish. Boo! To my devoted followers, please accept my apologies. That's the last time I trust you blindly, Internet. 

Day 59 | And It All Comes to an End

The family parted ways this morning. It honestly could not have been a better break from reality:

-the resort was perfect 

-there was a ton to do on and off site

-the weather was just fine for what we were hoping to do (Virginia in late June could be disgustingly hot)

-everyone got along (not terribly surprising but you never know with that many people for a whole week)

I love my boys and our new house but I  am not ready to face everyday life again away from the constant support (people actually want to rock my baby to sleep?!?), the meal planning and preparation organized by someone else (I think I did one load of dishes all week...sorry, guys), the distractions from everyone when I wasn't feeling particularly positive, the list goes on and on. 

I'm feeling very lucky to call these people family. And after a week with me, they still agreed to take the above selfie. That's love. 

Day 58 | Vacation: Cramming it all in

The days just fly by too quickly on vacation. I'm not ready to call it quits. I've actually got a bit of the depressions about it. So, instead of fixating on that (sniffle, sniffle), I'll focus on what a fun last full day of vacation we had.

Another beautiful day beckoned us to the pool. Chase got even more comfortable in the water and had his dreams come true to be joined by all his cousins, uncle Matt, Grandpa Paw, Grandma Mary and his Dad. I started out on Robbe duty until he was willing to sleep solo on a lounge chair...and good thing...it was hot out!

My friend, Val, was sweet enough to join us for lunch. It has been years (years!) since we've seen each other and yet it felt like no time has past. Isn't that the test of real friendships? We had a ton to catch up on and we shoved as much into an hour as could be imagined. I wish we could see each other more often, but I'll take what I can get. 

After putting the kiddos down for their naps, mom and I snuck out to the outlets to spend some quality baby-free time. Ahhh...a taste of a past life. 

As if all that excitement weren't enough, we came home to a Gullicksrud Family Mini Putt contest and another delicious meal. 

Seriously, vacation life is the best. Now you see why I have the depressions?

Day 57 | Vacation: Poolside firsts

The rest of the fam headed to an amusement park this morning (shout out to Val for helping with tickets!) so we decided to spend a quiet morning by the pool.

I think Chase is on attention overload with all the family around (definitely not complaining!!) so the morning with just our family is hopefully what he needs to snap him out of the crankiness that's been following him around the last couple of days. The poolside morning could not have been more perfect: the shade was a comfortable temperature, it wasn't too busy, and both boys checked a first off the list.

Robbe went swimming for the first time! He seemed to enjoy it...no tears at least. His brother even splashed him in the face a couple of times but no problem. He also enjoyed a lovely poolside nap in his dad's arms. Nothing better than that!

Chase's first? He jumped in from the side of the pool. This probably doesn't seem that impressive, unless you know our toddler who takes a lot of encouragement to try new things. He went from only wanting to spend time in the 4-inch deep kiddie pool to jumping off the side of the big pool, floating on his back, and learning the doggie paddle. Big day! He kept asking to go back with IsabelleAnneLane (all one word) to show off his new tricks!

Day 56 | Vacation: Beach day

And by "day," I mean beach hour and a half for me and the boys.

Apparently the beach is not Chase's idea of a fun way to spend the day. I'm all about pushing him out of his comfort zone to encourage him to try new things and usually it works and he enjoys whatever it is (ie the carousel). After a few too many wake ups with Robbe last night, though, I just didn't have the energy to offer enough "encouragement" for Chase to enjoy himself. So, after an hour and a half at Virginia Beach which consisted of Chase playing on a pretty average playground and the boys sitting with me on a towel in the shade, we loaded the car and headed back to the resort with my dad (who was sweet enough to give up the rest of his beach day to haul us back). 

They'll learn to appreciate it eventually, right?!?

*On a happier note...Robbe decided to spend the first few minutes of his beach lounging learning to roll from back to front. He's done the front to back a couple of times but apparently he was waiting for the right motivation (the ocean...not silly toys like other babies) to tackle the more complicated maneuver. 

Day 55 | Vacation: A boy with his grandpa

Chase is smitten with Grandpa "Paw". He asks about him constantly and will do just about anything to be by his side.

It might have something to do with the acrobatics that ensue when Grandpa is anywhere near the couch (see above photo). 

The relationship that is developing/has developed mostly long-distance is really very sweet (and that's true with all his grandparents, actually). I have a feeling this bond will continue to grow as the years go on. I can only hope.